After an extremely rough week of baseball, the Pirates were able to snap their seven game losing streak with a win this afternoon. Solid pitching by Wandy Rodriguez and a couple home runs being hit helped the Pirates end their longest losing streak of the season. Rodriguez had another very good start for the Pirates. He allowed three runs (one earned) and struck out four en route to his eleventh victory of the season. Tony Watson and Jared Hughes combined for a scoreless seventh and Jason ... Read More
Pirates falls to Cubs once again
It's been a tough past couple weeks for the Pirates and their fans, and that continued today with their seventh straight loss. James McDonald once again had a bad start pitching only 3.2 innings. He allowed four earned runs in his outing, and other than two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals this second half, has been awful. The team used seven other pitchers throughout the course of the game. Justin Wilson, Chris Leroux, Kyle McPherson, and Chad Qualls all had scoreless outings. Tony Watson ... Read More
Can the Orioles keep pace with the Yankees?
With 20 games left in the regular season, the Baltimore Orioles are tied (yes, tied) with the New York Yankees on top of the AL East. A month and a half ago the Yankees held a seven-game advantage over the Orioles and looked to be in cruise control, But Baltimore fought back and have played their best baseball of the season to catch up. Will their inexperience in a pennant race affect their play? Or can they stay hot and take a once sure-thing away from the Yankees. Can players like Nate McLouth ... Read More
The “Dude” Who Cried Wolf
A few days ago Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips took to his Twitter account (@DatDudeBP) after a 14 inning victory to accuse one of the Pittsburgh Pirates of shouting something racial at him. He used the hashtags #RealTalk and #Racism to emphasize his point. There’s only one problem with that, none of the Pirates said any such thing to him. So much for “Real Talk.” Naturally the Pirates player in question, pitcher Jared Hughes, quickly and rightfully defended himself but ... Read More
A More Painful Route to a Losing Season
Remember the old days, when the Pirates would be 20 games under .500 before the All-Star break and half the city of Pittsburgh cared more about who would be the backup left tackle for the Steelers? Those seemed like dark times but, compared to now, they may have been easier on the heart. For the second straight season, the Pirates are in the midst of an epic collapse in September, and with 20 games remaining, it seems unlikely they will finish the season with their first winning record in ... Read More
Does Anyone Want the Second NL Wild Card?
Prior to the start of this year’s major league baseball season, Bud Selig and Co. implemented a second wild card (per league) to allow more teams to be competitive longer through a season . Well, in the NL, the second WC has done the direct opposite. In the middle of August the Pirates, Cardinals, Braves and Dodgers looked to be the only four teams battling for the final two spots as they were pulling away from the pack. Then the great collapse happened. Nobody wanted to win to put themselves ... Read More
Pirates swept for second consecutive series
For the second consecutive series, the Pirates have been swept. Despite all three games being decided by less than two runs, the Pirates were unable to cash in on opportunities throughout this series. A.J. Burnett got the start for the Pirates, and suffered the loss. He pitched six innings and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out eight and despite posting a decent, and quality start, did not get help from the offense giving him the loss. Jared Hughes threw a scoreless inning which ... Read More
Pittsburgh Pirates release 2013 schedule
Pittsburgh, PA - The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced their 2013 regular season schedule, which will feature the Bucs opening the season at PNC Park versus National League Central Division rival Chicago Cubs on Monday, April 1. In addition there will be a total of 39 N.L. Central Divisional home games, including the first nine home games of the season, against the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds throughout the reg- ular season as the five teams ... Read More
Pirates lose to Reds in 14 innings
Missed opportunities in extra innings really came back to haunt the Pirates tonight, as they dropped a 14-inning affair in Cincinnati by a score of 4-3. Wandy Rodriguez had a very solid start for the Pirates tonight. He was charged with three runs allowed, despite only one of them coming when he was in the game. He pitched 6.2 innings, struck out five, and was pulled after 89 pitches. He left the game with two runners on and Jared Hughes allowed a two run double to Dioner Navarro which tied ... Read More
Will this season be successful if the Pirates miss the playoffs?
At this point last month, you were considered negative for saying the Pirates were going to collapse and miss the playoffs. The city was in. The true fans and bandwagon fans alike had this team's back. The players believed and the clubhouse was more alive than ever. The public relations staff had to send out an email about ways to purchase playoff tickets. The last time that happened, email was hardly around. The fans waited 19 years for this. They've waited 19 years of constant reminders that ... Read More