NEW YORK -- The Pirates followed a vexing loss in the opener at Citi Field with a blueprint 7-3 victory against the Mets on Friday night. Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez disposed with the Mets' lukewarm batting order for six innings, and cleanup man Garrett Jones started one three-run rally with a double and ended another with a replay-reviewed three-run home run. The result was the Bucs' second victory in six games. The victory could have been more easily achieved, but Jose Contreras allowed ... Read More
Snedden’s Take: The Unique Evolution of Pittsburgh the Sports City: Past, Present and the Possible Future
When people think of the city of Pittsburgh here in 2013, very rarely does the industrial past of the region influence the opinion of people from around the Country. Pittsburgh, once known as the most important city in America doing the World War II era, has come along way from its smoke-filled past and steel forged history. While a great deal of the world now knows Pittsburgh as a leading provider of health care treatment, rarely do people refer to our city without bringing up professional ... Read More
The Mind Game of Being a Pirates Fan
The fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates have fans is weird, isn’t it? Think about this for a minute; fanhood is an investment. You pour hours of your day into following the team, and the majority of fans invest monetarily in the team as well, buying tickets and merchandise to prove their interest in the team is legitimate. So what’s the possible return on this investment? Pride, enjoyment and some extent of happiness. Everyone has a different view on the value of time, money, pride, enjoyment and ... Read More
Baseball is out of control
For 20 years, Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been waiting to see a winning team. During that time, the Pirates have lost a lot of its fan base to bigger market teams who have been successful such as the Yankees and the Red Sox. Baseball has proven since 1994 that whoever has the deepest pockets will win. Not many people believe this, but if you look at the numbers, it's true. Baseball is the only league in professional sports without any type of salary cap system to limit team spending. In ... Read More
Jeanmar Gomez fills in quite nicely in win over Mariners
PITTSBURGH -- Jeanmar Gomez is Josh Harrison's new best friend. That's one offbeat way of looking at Gomez's stellar emergency pitching Tuesday night, when he blanked Seattle for the first five innings of the Pirates' 4-1 Interleague victory at PNC Park. The Bucs again pushed a veteran pitcher to a first-inning cliff -- this time, righty Aaron Harang -- only to let him regain his footing. Unlike Sunday against Washington's Gio Gonzalez, however, they survived the clemency, as Gomez and ... Read More
Pirates waste first inning in loss to Nationals
PITTSBURGH -- On Marathon Day in the city, the Bucs came out of the PNC Park gate like racecourse rabbits, setting a blistering pace. But they couldn't run away from Gio Gonzalez, who used his second wind to knock the wind out of the Bucs. The story of the 6-2 loss to the Nationals was written early, long before Tyler Moore's three-run homer off Bryan Morris in the eighth ended any suspense. The Bucs' best chance to avoid losing consecutive home games for the first time this season came ... Read More
Pirates fall victim to Murphy’s Law in loss to Nationals
The Pirates have been one of the better teams in baseball so far this season. There's really no denying that. Unfortunately, every good team will have its bad days. The Pirates fell victim to Murphy's Law as they walked eight and hit three batters as a team, en route to a loss to the Nationals by the score of 5-4. "We've played very good ball to this point. Every once and awhile you have a game where you're not in sync," Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. "All of those walks and hit batters ... Read More
McKenry jumps at the chance to give back to the community
When you think about athletes, some of the words that you'll associate with them right away are rich, gifted and celebrities. I think all three are accurate, fair assessments. There is one major one, though, that I have to disagree with. Too often, the word hero gets thrown around when an athlete hits a game-winning home run or scores the winning goal. With the recent events that took place in Boston, the true heroes are the first responders and the police of the city. True heroes are the ... Read More
Pirates steal finale in Milwaukee to avoid sweep
MILWAUKEE -- As the saying goes, having Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli in their bullpen is allowing the Pirates to shorten games to seven innings. The rest of the National League only wishes that were true. Even the dreaded Brewers. Without an eighth inning, there'd be no Ambush Alley and not many wins. Again, the Pirates came alive Wednesday afternoon with four runs in the eighth off another bullpen in their bull's eye to interrupt their Miller Park misery. Can't say that the Bucs' 6-4 ... Read More
Pirates are proving to be a contender
The Major League Baseball Season is only 25 games old, but the Pirates are showing that they are good enough to battle with the elites of the National League. So far this season they have faced some pretty stiff competition, such as the Dodgers, Braves, and Reds. Last week they had a ten-game home-stand when the Reds, Cardinals, and the Braves came into town. Those 10 games were shortened to nine because of a rainout, but in those nine games the Buccos went 7-2. That’s pretty legit if you ... Read More