All Star updates

There have been several injuries/replacements to the All Star rosters, so here they are...

Dustin Pedroia will miss the All Star Game due to family reasons. He will be replaced by Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena. Pena's addition means that the entire Rays infield is on the AL roster.

Dodger closer Jonathon Broxton injured his toe and will be replaced by Trevor Hoffman.

And our very own Zach Duke has been added to the NL roster to replace San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain, who took a line drive off his right arm on Saturday.

Mid-Summer Classic

It's that time of the season. The annual contest between the best players of the National League vs. the American League to earn bragging rights and home field advantage in the World Series. This year's star studded event will be held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The starting lineups for each league are as follows (arranged by defensive positions) :

National League
C: Yadier Molina
1B: Albert Pujols
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Hanley Ramirez
3B: David Wright
OF: Jayson Werth (replacing injured Carlos Beltran)
OF: Ryan Braun
OF: Raul Ibanez

American League
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Mark Teixeira
2B: Dustin Pedroia
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Evan Longoria
OF: Jason Bay
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Ichiro Suzuki

The American League has won 11 of the last 12 All-Star Games, thanks to a 7-7 tie in the 2002 Miller Park A.S.G. That is not as impressive as the National League's victory in 19 of 20 All-Star Games between the years of 1962 and 1981. The last three victories by the American League were all by 1 run.
The all time record of All-Star Games is: National League 41 wins, American League 36 wins, 2 ties.

The Home Run Derby, what most people look forward to about the All-Star break, will be Monday night at 8pm. The contestants are the following.
1. Prince Fielder
2. Adrian Gonzalez
3. Ryan Howard
4. Albert Pujols
5. Joe Mauer
6. Brandon Inge
7. Nelson Cruz

Lets take a look at the past 10 winners of the Longball Contest...

2008, Yankee Stadium - New York: Justin Morneau
2007, AT&T Park - San Francisco: Vladamir Guerrero
2006, PNC Park - Pittsburgh: Ryan Howard
2005, Comerica Park - Detroit: Bobby Abreu
2004, Minute Maid Park- Houston: Miguel Tejada
2003, U.S. Cellular Field - Chicago: Garret Anderson
2002, Miller Park - Milwaukee: Jason Giambi
2001, SAFECO Field - Seattle: Luis Gonzalez
2000, Turner Field - Atlanta: Sammy Sosa
1999, Fenway Park - Boston: Ken Griffey Jr.

McCutchen's Month

Andrew McCutchen has been playing with the Pirates for a little under a month and his impact has been felt since day 1. In 23 games in a Pirate uniform, McCutchen has already racked up 30 hits, 10 of which are extra base hits, including 5 triples, tallied 18 RBIs, and stole 4 bases..Before going 0-10 through 3 games against the Royals, McCutchen was on a 13 game hit streak.

McCutchen has been the leadoff hitter who gets on base in consistent fashion that every teams loves having. When he gets on, his speed is always a threat in any way imagineable. It's nice to have McCutchen jump right into the waters that are Major League Baseball when he arrives to the team instead of being a guy who dips his toes in and takes awhile to adjust to the different pace of the game. He has done nothing but exceed the expectations that everyone had for him since the day he was drafted by the Pirates. Hopefully he'll be around for awhile and will turn into the type of player that can contribute to turning around a franchise.

The Comeback that wasn't

Snell Sucks
Adam LaRoche killed his home run... would have been nice to have 2 in the same inning though
Rough Times right now.
Snell is still terrible.

Sweeps Week

Getting Swept is a terrible feeling.. Especially in games where you should have won 2 of 3.

The one good thing is the Alvarez express is making his way to Altoona.


No more use for this then

Morton Gets 2nd Start

Charlie Morton will start his 2nd game in a Pirates uniform tonight, Jason Hammel (4-3)

The Game yesterday was one of the most frusturating of the year.. and I think you can really tell that the inconsistency of the offense, and the Pirates in general has really started to get to Nevrett and Walk. They just sound disgusted in the booth.

Yes the Rockies are probably the hottest team in the majors right now, but when your offense consistently tries to pull an outside fastball on the paint, you are not going to win many games.
Marquis was hitting his spots, and the Pirates could not do anything about it.

Hopefully the spark of the new guy tonight will get something going in our squad because right now it is starting to look bleek.

Craig Monroe got designated for assignment. Pearce is coming up. People think he will be platooning in right field with Moss and D.Y.
He should be the everyday 1st baseman.
Trade LaRoche for a bucket of balls.

Gotta get 2 of 3.

Twins Series Recap

Our offense showed up for 1 Game.
The middle game of the 3 game series.
Nowhere to be found in the opener or closer of the series.

Pitching was decent despite other than Maholm who got absolutely pounded in the opener. Ian Snell pitched well even after blaming every person in North America for his troubles other than looking himself in the mirror. Zach Duke got a lost in the rubber match that he didnt deserve.

Russell gave Sanchez a day off in the closer, which is fine, except for the fact that Delwyn Young, who has been completely killing the ball did not enter the game. Ramon Vasquez was 0-2 again.
Brandon Moss went 2-3 which means D.Y. will be benched for the next 14 games because of Moss' 2 singles. Bank on it.

Joe Mauer is better than your mom.. and so is the Twins ridiculous Interleague record. Imagine if they could feast on the N.L. for more than a few series a year.

Anyone that looks at this series and tries to compare the Pirates to the Twins is an idiot.
The Twins have all-star potential in and out of their lineup and rotation on a yearly basis. Just because they are a small market team that bunts, they are nothing like the Pirates. We have never traded anyone, maybe ever of the cailber of Johan Santana. We have never in our history had a pitcher of his caliber, and since Bonds we have not had a hitter as dominant as him.
We do not have a power hitter-- see Morneau, Kubel. We have noone in our entire system as good as Joe Mauer. Michael Cuddyer has better numbers than anyone on our roster, and barely anyone even knows him.
Of course we could try and ''model ourselves after the Twins'',... who wouldnt want to model themselves after the Twins? Imagine if their owners could spend money to get a free agent, or retain a Johan Santana. Their stars are all homegrown talent. Morneau, Mauer, Cuddyer, Kubel, Liriano if he could get back to pre surgery Liriano. Joe Nathan is the only star that is not homegrown, and when he was with the Giants he was awful. But the best management in the league scooped him up and now he is arguably the best closer in the majors. Of course you would want to be the Twins... who wouldnt?

The Jack Wilson Dilemma

The thought or idea of Jack Wilson being traded has been going on and off for the better part of 2 or 3 years every trade deadline and summer. With the notion that upper management has been giving everyone this year is that, building for the future and acquiring more and more depth in the system is much more important than winning this year and even next.

Most likely place for Jack Wilson:

Boston:
The Red Sox to me seems like the most obvious place for Jack Flash to end up by the end of the year. When you look at their roster there have been two things that they have needed this year that is holding them back from being the elite team in the AL, and that is a Shortstop and David Ortiz struggling. We can help solve these problems with a trade that would benefit both squads by packaging Adam LaRoche with Jack. Everyone knows LaRoche is a notriously slow starter, but for this trade to become possible, he has to be able to show people that he is going to get back to his usual July, August, and September.

What we would get:
With the fact that there is not a suitable major league shortstop waiting in the wings in any part of the minors, it would be nice to pick up a shortstop ready to step in and fill the void Jack would leave but I do not see that happening. The Sox are not going to want to part with their short stop of the future, Nick Green, and the Pirates in no way are going to want to take Julio Lugo by any means. With that being the case, the Bucs will build the farm system, espicially AA with the additions of 22 year old SS Argenis Diaz. Diaz is an above average defensive infielder, much like
Jack but with some speed but with little to no pop in his bat. In almost 1500 at-bats he has a whopping 6 home runs. Hopefully we would also be able to pick up another pitching prospect, hopefully a Daniel Bard or Michael Bowden, but that is unlikely and look for the Pirates to acquire Charlie Zink, a knuckleballer; or the 6'4 lefty Kris Johnson.

D-Train De-Railed

I feel bad for Dontrelle Willis.
Legitimately bad.
He was a dominant pitcher early in his career and it looks like the Steve Blass disease may have come to his left arm.

That being said, we shoulda knocked his ass outta the game in the 1st inning.
Bob Walk almost murdered someone in the booth during Willis' outing with the Pirates lack of plate discipline.
His main targets being Delwyn Young, who went 3-4 once again proving he should be our everyday right fielder, and Robinson Diaz- who went a respectable 1-4 but drove in 3 runs and Jack Wilson. Walk at one point after a 1st pitch Jack Wilson pop up; grunted, and responded with an 'I mean this guy has played the game for 8 years... is he serious?'
Hinske drew 4 walks to lead the Pirates with a team season high 11 walks. wow
Cutch went 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 walks
Delwyn Young is hitting .358, with a .416 OBP 1 Home Run. 11 RBI's 81 At Bats
Brandon Moss is hitting .243 with a .293 OBP 1 Home Run. 14 RBI's 169 At Bats
Please please please tell me who you would rather have in Right Field everyday this year.
Nate McLouth of course.
With the team only being 4 games out of 1st place in the middle of June, that trade is getting more and more sketchy in my mind for the short term. I believe that it still is a good trade for the future and to build on the team, but if Nat McLouth was starting in right field, would we have a legitimate chance of winning the division???
Only time will tell.

Ohlendorf was great. 2 hits in 6 innings.
Steven Jackson was bad for the 1st time this year.
Burnett was of course great,--- Best pitcher in the history of baseball.
Grabow still sucks
Capps closed the deal.

Power Outage

The Pirates continued their torid home run pace with their 2nd and 3rd home runs in the past 4 games.

Its funny when that is legitimately the most power production you can look for out of this team.

• Big Boy Laroche and Sanchez homered.. Sanchez's a grand slam
• Seeing McCutchen in person for the first time, just to see his range in the outfield.. insane
• Duke started a little rough, but settled down for 8 innings only giving up 3 runs to pick up his 7th win. All Star Zach Duke I should say; although Freddy probably wants a say in that.
• Delwyn Young should be playing every single damn day in Right Field. No questions asked. Every Game. Brandon Moss--go sit in the corner. You can spell Delwyn Young once a week.
• Every Pirate that got an at bat recorded a hit.
  
• Every Position player had a run
• 5 Pirates had R.B.I.'s
• 16 Hits
  
• Went to the game, had tickets left at will call-- They turned out to be in a luxury suite. For free. Really nice up there.
• Don Kelly sucks.. He hit 3rd a few nights ago, I guess because no one was pitching to him they had to protect him with Miguel Cabrera?
• Cabrera almost hit 3 Home Runs last night... He was 1-4 with a single.
• Zach Duke: 7-4, 3.10 ERA
• ---5th in the league in Wins; 12th in ERA; 2nd in Innings Pitched; Tied for 1st in complete games and Shutouts (2 and 1 respectively)
  

......

Just got home from NYC

My thought on the draft:



peace

McClutchen's Debut

11 runs.

McCutchen Dominated--Boy is fast

Wasn't on FSN... Highlights showed everything needed.

Ohlendorf wasnt good.. offense saved him

Huntington would have cried if we would have gotten shutout

Who's next?

With the most recent trade of Nate McLouth, Neil Huntington and the Pirates brass has made it extremely apparent that we have no chance of competing for the next 3 years.

This year may turn out to be a fire sale.
Forget .500-- we probably will be looking at 100 losses again this year just for the fact that our lineup has no legitimate power threat right now.
Even when Doumit returns, that is about a half of a power threat. No Adam LaRoche, not you either
There will be a lot of small ball, which can win games; See Twins, Minnesota. But even they have Morneau, Cuddyer, and even Joe Mauer this year hitting the ball out of the ball park.
The one thing that is a definite possibility is the fact that we will almost without a doubt have the least amount of home runs in the league.

Jack and Freddy are both probably gone, even though there is no replacement that can step in for either one of them.
Delwyn Young and Vasquez?
That may be what it comes to if both of them are gone, and that is not good.

Will Doumit be traded now?.
With the emergence of solid play by both Jaramillo and Diaz, that is looking like a viable option now.
I always thought if we were to trade McLouth we would need to get an incredible package and i feel the same way for Doumit, but with his injuries and inconsistency is that possible right now?

Who knows but Huntington honestly... The opening day roster may be a whole lot different than this years opening day roster... let alone right now

McLouth Traded because he roots for Red Wings

The Pirates best/m88ost marketable player over the past 2 seasons is now gone..
**3rd paragraph in**

For 3 minor league players.

1. Charlie Morton- a 6'4 right handed power pitcher on AAA. 7-2 with just about a 2 1/2 ERA
2. Gorkskys Hernandez- a 21 year old outfielder with phenomenal speed. Assigned to AA Altoona
3. Jeff Locke- a 21 year old crafty lefty with great control.. non factor. Wouldnt even call him a prospect.
   

Well i mean this is an obvious deal for the future.
We aren't winning in the next 3 years. Thats a fact. With our without McLouth, we were not going to win.
Gorkskys is Nate in a nut shell... Just with more speed and 6 years younger. He is expected to hit home runs so we will see.
Instead of the McLouth, McCutchen, Tabata outfield it looks like it will be Gorkskys in left, McCutchen is Center, and Tabata in right in a few years.

Charlie Morton.. the only player that will be in the majors any time soon. Possibly as soon as 2 weeks when Snell drops another 2 decisions. He has power with decent control. There is a decent ceiling for him, probably will be our #3 starter opening day next year behind Maholm and Duke. There was noone who could step into the majors and pitch anytime soon. No not even you Virgil Vasquez. You still suck.

Jeff Locke.. a 21 year old high A player. He was drafted 3 years ago.. only in A??
This seems like there is a case where Huntington just said we need 3 players, and took whatever they threw him. If you have already been in the league 3 years and only made it to A ball, where your stats this year are still terrible? Forget about him. He is a non-factor in this trade. 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA. in A? Who are you Daniel Moskos?

Overall-- This is a tough trade to swallow at the point, just because Nate was such a great person/player as Coonley and Huntington both reinterated since the trade has been processed.

Our Projected 2012 Lineup:

C- Ryan Doumit*
1B- ?????*
2B- Andy LaRoche/Shelby Ford*
3B- Alvarez
SS- Jim Megrych/Jack Wilson-- No Bixler.. Jus Leave
LF- Gorkskys Hernandez
CF- Andrew McCutchen
RF-Jose Tabata

*Andy LaRoche platoons, Doumit goes to first, We catch Jaramillo or Diaz

Bench:
Neil Walker
Jaramillo/Diaz
Brandon Moss
Nyjer Morgan--probably will be traded/let go
Delwyn Young

Rotation:
1. Paul Maholm
2. Zach Duke
3. Bryan Morris
4. Brad Lincoln
5. Ross Ohlendorf

Bullpen:
-Jeff Karstens
-Craig Hansen
-Donnie Veal
- Sean Burnett
-Matt Capps
- Donnie Veal
-Daniel McCutchen


We Just Don't Know right now...
Hopefully Huntington is a Boss, or this will go down as bad as the Aramis Deal. Maybe not that bad, but very very close to it.

Good night for Pittsburgh..

Zach Duke out battled Johan Santana, going 7 innings giving up 1 run on 8 hits for his 6th win of the season as the Buccos defeated the Mets 3-1.

Nyjer got tossed in the 5th.

Nate hosed Jeremy Reed at the plate.

Freddy hit another double, bringing his total to 19, as the Pirates won their 2nd in a row and the 3rd out of the last 4.

Pens beat Detroit 4-2 to begin the comeback..

Buccos rally off best bullpen in Majors

Scored 5 in the 8th inning off of J.J. Putz, the man the Mets brought in during the offseason, along with K-Rod to solve their bullpen woes from previous years. Putz's famed splitfinger last night was awful, and his fastball wasnt much better either as he failed to record an out and surrendured 4 consecutive singles in the 8th inning.

Snell was his usual self--- extremely incosistent during the first few innings of the game, digging the Pirates into a 5 run hole before he settled down nicely and did not give up a hit for the final 3 1/3 innings. The bullpen also pitched 3 shutout innings from the uses of Sean Burnett, Steven Jackson-- who was making his 2009 debut with the team after recently acquiring him from the St. Louis Rams.

Grrr

Tom Gorzelanny for 4 pitches, and Matt Capps for the save. Gorzo got the win..by throwing 4 pitches.
Deep Breath... Tom Gorzelanny has as many wins as Paul Maholm... He pitched 1/3 of an inning last night. Seem fair to you?
Adam LaRoche was 3/5 and raised his average to .242. Woooohoo
Brother Andy went 2/4 to raise his average to.... .304 0-19 to start the year seems like a long time ago.

Notes

• 6-7-8- hitters= 7 Hits, 4 Runs, 5 R.B.I.'s
  
• The Mets are really injured... 3 of their 4 best hitters are out
• Duke-Santana Tonight... would be a great game if anyone would watch it
  

....

What sucked more yesterday?

a.) The Pirates offense
b.) The Detroit Red Wings
c.) Mike Hamptons Face

Yay Zac Brown Band

Actually a really good Bucco game last night.
Karstens was money.

Andy Diaz Freddy and Hinske all produced.
Freddy is just destroying the ball right now.

The bullpen tried to give it away... Gorzelanny's honeymoon is over-- he still sucks

Capps' first game back-- also very shaky
Skyblast was bangin.
Band Sucked.
Go Pens.

Pirates Lost, Again

Bullpen blew a 2-2 tie by giving up 3 in the bottom of the 8th.

No run support for Duke again.

Jack and Freddy were giving the day off.

Nate was 0-5.

Ramon Vazquez was 3-4.

Astros are coming to town.

Pirates Lost

It was rainy.

Freddy got 2 hits.

Snell Sucks.

Didnt watch it-- Was on the phone with The Prince of Whales.

Yes.

What a Game...

I mean what a weird, incredible game.. Such a game that it deserves two Different Responses

• First Lets Start with Freddy who had probably the best game out of a pirate that I had ever seen. 6-6- 3 R.B.I.'s- 4 Runs and played really spectacular defense. The catch and throw to start the throw to Jack on the double play to bail Meek out was incredible.
• The weirdness of the game started early in the bottom of the 1st when Theriot makes a terrible sequence of base running errors, which resulted in Neverett and Bob Walk openly ripping him apart.-- Which then lead to a 5 inning discussion on how bad Bob Walk's tie was tonight. I personally didn't think it was as awful as he made it seem
• Mr T. was in attendence behind home plate in a customized 'Mr. T.' jersey.. and wait for it, an American Flag Bandana and American Flag pants. What a Patriot.

Top 10 picture of all time.. omg

• Maholm and Dempster.. 2 Solidifided aces both got rocked.
• Sweet Lou Pinch hit Zambrano.. Which Lead to the Pirates changing pitchers to counter this move.-- The pitch Chavoo struck out Zambrano with might have been the best pitch of the year. an 89 mph slider that broke about a foot and a half and ended at his shoelaces.
• Gorzelanny has pitched in 4 games this year.. and got a decision in 3
• Andy Laroche is hitting .298-- this includes the double play he grounded into with the bases loaded with a pitch in the dirt when Dempster walked 3 stra-- its just going to get me angry.
  
• Freddy Sanchez rose his Batting Average 24 points.. He is 4th in the league in At Bats
• The Cubs scored 5 Runs in their 6 previous games.. They tallied 7 through the 1st 4 innings
• The Pirates had 2 runs in the 27 innings prior to Jack Wilsons 9th inning game tying home run on the North Side yesterday.. They have responded with 12 in the past 9 innings.
• Jaramillo had 3 more hits and has reached base safely the past 10 games-- Diaz and Jaramillo-- what pickups
• Delwyn Young= a trade Dave Littlefield would have never done or had a clue who he even was. What a tool.
  
• Sean Burnett recorded his 1st save
• Nyjer Morgan almost homered.
• Looking at Lou Piniella is just humorous

Rabble Rabble Rabble.. Freddy was out though

• Matt Capps almost got his arm severed by the line drive that took him out of the game. The only real somber point of this game, because Capps looked in prime form. His 2 previous pitches were 95 and on the paint.
• The Cubs had approximately 100 players taken out of the lineup less than an hour before the game
• Nyjer Morgan looked like he got shot when he fouled a ball off his foot in the 8th inning. Nate has fouled a ball off the same spot on his foot the past 2 games.
  
• Season high 18 hits.
• The bullpen worked 5 innings only allowing 1 run, with the use of 7 different pitchers. Yates being out= glorious
• Anyone else cry when they saw the, "John Grabow warming up in the bullpen" graphic.--Soriano almost took him deep on the 1st pitch.
  
• 3 Hours and 36 minutes to complete this one.. longest of the year
• Craig Monroe is 0-13 pinch hitting this year-- he is hitting .333 (15-45) when starting.
• 371 pitches to complete this game.. 203 by the Cubs
• A-Rod went 5-5. The Devil Rays were up 10-2 in the 9th.... and Lost. David Price started, and threw 100 pitches into the 4th inning before getting pulled. wow
• Red Hats looked really terrible on the Royals-- Carpenter is back= Cardinals win the World Series. Said that before the season started.
  
• Neverett and Bob Walk are truly a treat to listen too. Neverett just makes Greg Brown look that much worse. Honestly, this game was made that much more exciting because of their ability to say anything, and not hold anything back about either side. They have meshed great so far this year.
  

Freddy & Co.

The Pirates headed North in Chicago to take on the Cubs for the start of a second 3 game series in the Windy City. The series started in pleasing fashion with a 10-8 victory. 12 pitchers were used, 7 by the Pirates, in an offense heavy game that produced 28 hits and 18 runs.

Maholm went 4 innings, threw 94 pitches and gave up 7 earned runs on 7 hits.
Tom Gorzelanny got credit for the win when he pitched a scoreless 6th after the Pirates took a 9-7 lead.
Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, John Grabow, and Matt Capps all got credit for holds, pitching a combined shutout 2 1/3 innings.
Capps left in the bottom of the 9th when Geovany Soto lined one back to the mound, hitting Capps directly in his right elbow.
Sean Burnett came to the rescue and got the final 2 outs of the game, earning his first career save.

The offense produced a season high 18 hits, atleast 1 by each position player, and one-third by Freddy Sanchez (who was a triple shy of the cycle).

Andy LaRoche and Jason Jaramillo were both 3-5.
Freddy Sanchez and Nate McLouth both went deep, hitting their 4th and 8th homers of the season respectively.
6 Pirates had atleast 1 RBI.

Game Stats/Notes

• Freddy Sanchez: 6-6, 2B, HR, 4 runs scored, 3 RBIs.
• Freddy became the first Pirate to have a 5 hit game since Brian Giles in 2000, and the first Pirate to have 6 hits in one game since Wally Backman in 1990. He is the 2nd player this season to have 6 hits in a game. Before tonight, Sanchez's career high for hits in a game was 4.
• Coming into Chicago, Freddy was 5 for his last 36. He is 9 for his last 13 and raised his average back up to .320.
  
• Andy LaRoche: 3-5, 2B, 10 game hit streak, knocked in his 21st RBI of the season.
• Matt Capps was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for X-Rays, when examination at the stadium was inconclusive about structural damgae. Results are awaited.

Chicago White Sox Series Review:

For the first 18 innings of the series on the Southside the Pirates were scoreless. That is about all that needs to be said about the 1st two games. Two pitchers that noone has ever heard of shut the bucs out. The pitching was there but the offense was non existent.

Hinske ended the drought with an RBI double in the 1st inning of the 3rd and final game, and not another run was scored before Hinske also hit a solo shot in the 8th to cut the lead to 3-2. Bobby Jenks made quick work of Brandon Moss and Diaz-- who looked solid again today. Then Jack Flash steps up without a home run all year and smacks a fastball into the 10th row to tie it up. Jenks had not let up a run in a save situation the entire year.

Nyjer Morgan doubles on the 1st pitch.
Delwyn Young drives him in.
Capps strikes out the side in the 9th-- As stunned after this as the Wilson homerun
Game.
*As the Blackhawks realized that the ChiSox had just given up a lead in the 9th, they decided it would be a good idea to just screw the city of Chicago, and ESPN Chicago completely and let the Wings destroy there lives.

Notes:

• Sanchez and Nyjer finallyyyy hit in the finale. Terrible through the 1st two games.
• Have to somehow get Delwyn Young and Craig Monroe more starts
• Every player in the finale had a hit, 6 with multiple hits
• Grabow is 3-0 to go along with his +5 E.R.A.
• We continue our Tour of Chicago with Maholm Tomorrow vs the Cubbies on the North Side
• Hinske> Adam LaRoche
• Andy LaRoche is hitting .287 with another 10 game hitting streak--- Just think about that and remember the first 6 games of the season when he couldn't hit off of a tee.
  

Wild finish

Freddy Sanchez scores the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th on a wild pitch.

The Pirates won their 5th straight tonight, bringing their record to 19-21, as they crawl their way back to .500

Paul Maholm went 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, 1 run, and struck out 7.

Andy LaRoche went 3-4.

Freddy Sanchez went 2-4 and scored in the top of the 9th to put the Pirates ahead 2-1 when Joel Hanrahan threw a bases loaded wild pitch.

John Grabow earned the win and Matt Capps the save in the bullpen's 3 inning, 2-hit, shutout performance.

The Nationals committed 2 errors tonight, 6 in the series so far.

The Pirates offense has been rather hot in the nation's capital...31 hits in 3 games.

Snell is on the mound tomorrow as the Pirates look for the 4 game sweep of the Nats and to extend their win streak to 6.

Offense Comes Through Again

The Buccos won their 4th in a row behind the offense once again.

Karstens (6 innings, 4 Runs, 2 K's) was staked to a 5 run lead behind a 3 run first, and a 2 run Andy LaRoche home-run (wtf?); before Adam Dunn answered with his own bomb in the 4th inning. Karstens gave up 3 runs in the 6th before getting lifted with the lead 5-4.

Burnett blew the lead in the 9th after a wild pitch allowed Nick Johnson to score after he tripled to lead off the inning.
LaRoche doubled to bring in 2 runs in the top half of the 10th and Brandon Moss singled to bring in a 3rd run of the inning to secure the lead and the game.
Gorzo shut the door with a perfect 1 1/3 innings including the final out of the 9th when he K'd Willie Harris to end the Nats Rally.

Notes

• The LaRoche's went 4-7 and brought in half of the Pirates Runs.
• Brandon Moss is finally finding his swing, going 2-5 with 3 RBI's
• Gorzo looked really good.. His slider had some bite that we had not seen for about 2 years.
• Jack followed his 4-4 effort, going 0-4.
• The Nats defense is awful.. Pretty embarassing actually
  
• Maholm Tonight=5th in a row. Mark it down
  

Pirates score 10+ runs second game in a row.

The Pirates won their third straight tonight, thanks to another big inning at the plate.


A Craig Monroe 3 run homer gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning. Then the Nationals scored 5 in the bottom of the 5th, including back to back home runs by Nick Johnson and Ryan Zimmerman. The Pirates answered with 5 runs in the top of the 6th.

Top 6

• Jack Wilson drove in Adam LaRoche and Robinzon Diaz with a double.
• Brandon Moss doubled, scoring Jack Wilson.
• Moss scored on a Delwyn Young single.
• Nate McLouth doubled, scoring Young to bring the score to 8-5, Buccos.

The Pirates scored 1 in the top of the 8th off the bat of Delwyn Young again. Then 3 in the 9th when Andy LaRoche drove in his older brother with a single, abd Ramon Vazquez doubled in Andy LaRoche and Jack Wilson.

The bullpen only gave up 2 runs in 4 innings of relief to preserve the win for Ross Ohlendorf.

Game Stats

• Jack Wilson: 4-4, 2 2B, 3B, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs
• Ross Ohlendorf (W): 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BBs, 1 K, 2 HR...not a solid performance, but got the support from the offense. sloppy. but then again, a win's a win.
• The Nationals committed 4 errors, but 11 of the 12 runs scored by the Pirates were earned runs.
• Adam LaRoche: 0-3. drew 2 walks and scored 2 runs though...RBIless since May 13th.

Pens took a 1-0 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals...

Karstens vs Martis tomorrow.

"7th Heaven"

Down 4-1 going into the bottom of the 7th, the Pirates knew that their chances to produce some runs were winding down and it was time to make something happen. Opportunity knocked, they answered. 10 runs, 9 before getting an out, in the bottom of the 7th propelled the Pirates to an 11-4 victory over the Rockies, their 2nd straight to win the series.

Obviously an offensively-loaded game, every position player made 5 plate appearances as the Pirates recorded 15 hits today.
Adam LaRoche was the only player to make a plate appearance and not record a hit, (Zach Duke included).

Game Stats/Notes

• Zach Duke (W): 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 Ks, 2 BBs
• Nate McLouth: 3-5, was a triple shy of the cycle. 4 RBIs.
• Andy LaRoche: 2-5, recorded 2 RBIs on his 10th double of the season.
• Freddy Sanchez went 1-13 this weekend, with his only hit coming at his last at-bat of the day in the form of his league leading 15th double of the season.
• Ryan Spilborghs committed 2 errors in the Pirates 7th inning rampage. 1 dropped fly ball, and 1 throwing error that allowed Freddy Sanchez to score and Nate McLouth to advance to 2nd.
  

Minor League: May Update

AAA Indianapolis

• Currently 17-19 and on a 3 game win streak.
• Andrew McCutchen: .286 avg, 8 doubles & triples. 1 for his last 17, including two 0-5 performances in the last three games.
• Neil Walker: .233 avg, 10 doubles, 21 RBIs. Hit a bases clearing, pinch hit double in the 8th inning today to cap off a come from behind victory against the Syracuse Chiefs.
• Shelby Ford: .193 avg. Has 4 hits in 38 at bats in 10 games since May 7th.
• Daniel McCutchen: 2-2 in 6 starts. 3.90 ERA, 32.1 IP, 30 Ks, 14 BBs
  

AA Altoona

• Currently 12-24, lost 2 straight.
  
• Daniel Moskos: 2-2 in 6 starts. 4.41 ERA, 34.2 IP, 12 Ks, 14 BBs
• Jeff Sues: 1-2 in 11 relief appearances. 1 save. 5.18 ERA, 24.1 IP, 23 Ks, 7 BBs
• Jose Tabata: Hasn't played since April 28th after being placed on the DL.
• Brad Lincoln: 0-3 in 7 starts. 2.87 ERA, 37.2 IP, 36 Ks, 9 BBs
  

A Lynchburg

• The first place Hillcats are 23-13 with a 1.5 game lead over 2nd place Potomac.
• Pedro Alvarez: .214 avg, 7 HR, 31 RBIs, 38 Ks. 9-38 since May 7th.
  

Maholm Screwed Again

Maholms Line: 7 Innings Pitched- 5 hits- 1 Walk- 4 K's- 0 Runs
Matt Capps' Line: 1 Inning Pitched- 5 Hits- 0 K's- 3 Runs


This is not the same Matt Capps that we have seen in the past. There is obviously something wrong with him, it might be the arm, it might be his psyche but either way something is going to have to change because he is just getting hit all over the park right now. Our 3 ''guaranteed relievers to make the team in Spring Training have ERA's of: 8.18- Capps. 7.50- Yates. 5.63 Grabow. When things are going this bad you need to have the balls to make changes.

The offense wasn't great again expicially when in need for a clutch hit nobody could deliever--again.

Notes

• Robinson Diaz had 2 more hits. He has had at least 2 hits in every game since he has been bumped into the #5 hole of the order.
  
• Why J.R. is still pinch hitting Vasquez in late game situations in beyond me.
• Chavoo and Burnett each had sub 3 ERA's-- Just sayin.
  

12 Hits- 1 Run.

Pirates Lost.
At the Vet's All Day.
Sorry for no recap.
Rockies Tonight at home then we head to Washington to face the Nationals.. We could get right back to .500 with a couple quick sweeps.
Maholm has to have a bounce back

Oh, What A Night

The Pens celebrate their 6-2 Game 7 victory over Ovechkin and the Capitals in Washington.

The outfield celebrates the Pirates 5-2 victory over the Cardinals

Oh what a night for Pittsburgh indeed.
The Pens owned Washington on their own ice to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. And the Bucs won their 2nd straight against the Cardinals in pleasing fashion.

Pirates

--In 6 innings of work, Ohlendorf held the Cards to 1 run on 2 hits, 5 Ks, no walks.
--The bullpen held up in 3 innings of work, including Matt Capps getting his 6th save of the year.
--Freddy Sanchez went 2-4 at the plate, and was crowned with Sportscenter's #1 "Top 10" play when he robbed Pujols of a base hit with a diving stab up the middle.
--The Pirates managed 11 hits and 5 runs off the Cardinals pitchers tonight..

Game Stats

• In his second game back from the DL, Jack Wilson went 3-4 with a RBI and a run scored
  
• Adam LaRoche was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. LaRoche was also robbed of a homer, but instead of by an outfielder, by a replay official. 1 of 2 overturned tonight.
  
• Ohlendorf (W): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 5 Ks
• John Grabow pitched an inning of relief tonight, and went 1,2,3. Instead of letting the game get out of hand and making a comeback nearly impossible for his offense.

Jeff Karstens and Mitchell Boggs are slated to pitch in the series finale tomorrow night. Both pitchers are coming off No Decisions in their last outings. Boggs' last outing was against the Pirates where he went 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 earned runs. If Karstens provides a quality start and the offense continues to beat up the Cardinals pitching, the Bucs can come off of an 8 game losing streak with a 3 game sweep of the Cards.

Nyjer Morgan Does The Stanky Leg

Zach Duke said after the game that the Pirates have a chance to win 15-20 games in a row.
No Comment.
Cut what I do know is that if Zach Duke pitched every day then there would be a much greater chance of that.
After his 8 inning, 4 hit, 1 run performance last night, Duke raised his record to (4-3) and a 2.52 ERA which comes out to 8th best in the N.L.

The rest of the game was all Pirates after the Pujols bomb in the top of the 1st.
Brandon Moss out of nowhere went 3-4 with his first home run of the year
Adam Laroche ended a 1-30 slump with a home run in the 6th, but still went 1-4 striking out twice
Robinson Diaz hit 5th last night, the highest a catcher has hit since the Doumit injury, and he responded by going 2-4.-- The acquisitions of Diaz and Jaramillo have both shown to be 2 very good moves by Huntington in the past year acquiring depth at catcher off of the waiver wire.

Notes

• Wow is it nice seeing J. Wilson instead of B. Bixler playing shortstop. Such a relief.
  
• Brandon Moss making a sliding catch=Stunned
  
• 5 different players had R.B.I.'s including Duke who started the 2nd inning rally with a 2 out RBI single.
• During Matt Capps' cardiac 9th inning, Nyjer Morgan was dancing.. I don't know if he should be more focused on the game, or if it is a sign that a Pirates player is finally looking like he is having fun playing. Not sure.
• Karstens Tonight.
• Go Pens.
  

Anybody hear an echo?

The Pirates aren't breaking records, they are just beginning to sound like a broken record that is repeating the same song over and over and over. That song just happens to the Losing song and today it played for its 8th consecutive game, a 8-4 loss that completed a 3 game sweep by the Mets.

Bullpen woes continued. Snell left the game after 6 with the score 3-2. Sean Burnett gave up an unearned run in the 7th thanks to a error by Brian Bixler. Grabow gave up 4 earned in the bottom of the 8th.
The infield desperately misses Jack Flash...and the lineup needs Doumit to come back and start producing immediately..that can't happen soon enough.


There was some glimmer of offensive hope today though.

• Robinzon Diaz was 3-4.
  
• Delwyn Young started at 2nd base today for Freddy Sanchez, and continued to show promising things at the dish. D. Young went 2-4 and drew a walk.
• And Nate the Great looked normal today. The Gold Glove-All Star was 2-4, with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored including a 2 run yard ball in the top of the 9th.

I know you can't expect a guy to bat 1.000, but Brian Bixler, please get the bat on the ball. 0-3 with 3 Ks? Thank Ramon Vazquez for saving you from the Golden Sombrero.

And finally, Mrs. LaRoche: We at Lemonaaadehere, would like to wish you a Happy Mother's day. I'm sure Adam and Andy wished you one and told you they love you, but they sure didn't play like it, both going 0-4. Adam is 4 for his last 38. Maybe he confused May for his career norm of April.

The Pirates have Monday off. Hopefully it will be a day of well rest and the bats can come back thriving, starting off a 6 game home stand against St. Louis on Tuesday with Zach Duke on the hill.

Skid Hits.... A Bunch

Rough times for the Pirates right now.
7 in a row, and 12 of 13, 1 win in May.
Just when Paul Maholm, arguably the one thing that has been a success during the streak is on the mound to end everything-- 10-1 happens a few hours later.

Adam LaRoche has made his decently hot April seem like years away, goin 1 for his last 24.
Our infield is desperately missing Jack Wilson.
Our Lineup is missing Wilson and Doumit.
Everyone is missing when we were in the race for the division.
You know things are going weird when Andy LaRoche may be your most reliable hitter right now.
McLouth looked like he may have gotten banged up on a swing and a miss. Cannot lose him for another game.

Blah
Get at 'em tomorrow.

Pens Owned Tonight

If you watched the Pirates game tonight:
a.) Congratulations.
b.) Check The Blog Roll for a recap because we didn't watch.
c.)Suck it Ovechkin
d.) Pujols is good... Really Good

Series Preview

The Pirates, on a 3 game losing skid, head to St. Louis tonight for the 8:15 start of a night/day 2 game series. The Cardinals have lost their last 3 as well. Should be an interesting two games.

Star Watch

• Albert Pujols: 7-14 against the Pirates this season. Pujols has 30 RBIs and 10 Home Runs (both 1st in the NL) and is batting .333.

Probable Pitchers

• Tonight: Duke (3-2) vs Mitchell Boggs (1-0)
• Tomorrow: Ohlendorf (3-2) vs Todd Wellemeyer (2-2)
  

anddd make that 17

Pirates lost their 17th in a row to the Brewers tonight.
Nice Double Play Turn by Freddy

On that note, let's talk about how terrible the ball boy is on the 3rd base side of PNC Park.

• He epitomizes everything that is bad about the Pirates Organization.
  
• When he goes to catch a ground ball it looks like he is taking a dump.
• His glove after catching a ground ball looks like a shovel at the beach with all the dirt in it.
  
• When he actually catches a ground ball, he becomes the happiest person in America.
• After making said catch of foul ball, he in turn becomes a dictator over who receives the ball, seriously. Just watch.
• His Socks.
• Obviously a cake eater because he didn't get that job on skill.
  
• Batting Glove on throwing hand.. Need I say more?
  

16 and Counting.

Depressing.

Andy LaRoche hommered.
Yates Grabow and Capps just aren't getting it done- period.

Brandon Moss: I don't care if you finally got another RBI, when you are down 2 runs in the 8th inning with the bases loaded please at least make an effort on a fly ball that Steve Blass referred to as; "Being in the Air Forever". What an awful, embarrassing play.

Feel bad for Maholm because he was spectacular in this one.

Cueto-ed

We have hit two of the hottest pitchers in our previous two series finales. Starting with Gallardo in the finale in Milwaukee with his unreal performance and ending with Cueto in the this finale.
Cueto went 8 innings giving up a mere 4 singles and striking out 9. Although unlike in the game vs. Gallardo, Cueto did not have to homer to give his team the necessary run support.

Karstens didn't have it today. He worked slow, walked 4. 95 pitches through 5 innings just ain't gettin it done.

The upside from the pitchers point of view is that we may have found some sort of a long reliever. We have all heard the one complaint from our bullpen this year-- other than Yates, is that if our starter's don't keep going deep into games then we will have a very big problem dealing with a lot of short inning men that will need to eat up long innings. Even if a starter goes down with a minor injury early in the game, say the 3rd inning, our bullpen would be in disarray for the next handful of games. Evan Meek may have solved some of that problem after going 3 innings and only giving up one hit, although he did walk 2. Chavoo threw a scoreless 9th

Andy LaRoche lead the team with 2 singles. That's about all that happened.

Notes

• Freddy looked awful today going 0-4, striking out twice.
• Gallardo vs. Mahom Tomorrow; better wake the bats up, gonna be a helluva game.
  
• Ovechkin is a douche-- Go Pens
  

Saturday Night Fever

Reds starter Micah Owings after the Pirates put up 4 in the bottom of the 1st.

Coming off the 4-0, 5 hit loss last night, the offense came ready to play, tallying 8 runs on 13 hits. 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st got the Pirates off to what you could call a good start. In his second game back from an oblique injury, linchpin Nate McLouth looked to be in prime condition going 3-5 and making a few solid defensive plays, including a bullet to third that would have been a definite outfield assist had Andy LaRoche not dropped the ball.

The left side of the infield, Ramon Vazquez and our favorite LaRoche brother (Andy), produced 4 runs despite going a combined 1-6 at the plate. While Adam LaRoche stayed hot at the dish going 2-3.

Ohlendorf earned his third win of the season, going 6 innings while holding the Reds to only 3 runs, all coming off a Alex Gonzalez homerun in the 4th inning that dinged the Left Field foul pole. The bullpen wasn't at its best tonight, but did well enough to preserve the win. Burnett, Grabow, and Capps pitched the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings respectively. Grabow gave up an unearned run in the 8th, and Capps gave up 2 earned off of 5 hits in the 9th.

Game Notes

• McLouth: 3-5, 3 runs, 1 RBI & 1 SB
• Adam LaRoche: 2-3, 2 runs
• Ohlendorf (W): 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 Ks
• The Pirates are now 4-0 on Saturdays, outscoring opponents 38 to 9.

Tomorrow afternoon will close out the series with the Reds before the Brewers come to town for a brief 2 game series. Karstens is scheduled to start against Johnny Cueto. His last time out against the Buccos, Cueto gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits in 6 innings, and struck out 9.

Goose Egg Repeat

The one question I ask myself after this game is-- Why does John Russell keep bringing Tyler Yates, and his 9+ E.R.A. into games that we still have a chance of winning. It is astonishing how bad he is. Maybe it is because of the fact he was given a job in spring training and didn't have to compete as hard? Probably because his velocity last year was consistently 97-- now he is lucky to hit 94, and when it is 94 it's right down the middle. Burnett comes in and strikes Jay Bruce out immediately... why not bring him in at the beginning of the inning?

As to the rest of the game, Duke was great-- giving up 1 run in 7 innings.

The offense-- not great. Again. Haven't scored in 22 Innings. Bronson Arroyo isn't that good.

Started great, back to back singles then McLouth who returned from a 6 game layoff ended all hopes of a run when he either decided to not run out a double play he could have easily beaten out, or he is still hurt. It is obvious that he just didn't run it out because in the 9th there were no effects as he beat out an infield single.

Notes

• Back to .500-- Don't fall below it.
• Ohlendorf tomorrow
  

Swept. Awful.

Snell was good today:
7 Innings- 5 Hits- 5 K's- 4 Walks- 1 Run

Gallardo was that much better:
8 Innings- 2 Hits- 11 K's- 1 Walk- 0 Runs- Game Winning Home Run

Your obviously going to get swept throughout the course of a 162 game season, but the way we lost these 3 is tough to swallow.
Bullpen was terrible in the 1st two, and then today the offense was nowhere to be found.
2 deep doubles by Diaz and Andy LaRoche.

Notes

• 1 through 5 hitters: 0-18, 7 Strikeouts
• McLouth soon
  
• Snell K'd Braun 3 times today
  
• For some reason he is still pissed over Karstens missing on a fastball that hit him in the numbers. Get over it.
  
• Prince Fielder is still a douche
• Only 1 Game over .500= Must Win Tomorrow
  

...

We've lost 17 in a row at Milwaukee, all there is to say.

Nostradamus didn't see the past two games coming.

Even Maholm and Chavo are back to earth.

Jaramillo is producing.

Better get at it tomorrow-- 1:05

Yeah, haven't seen this in a while..

Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers

After traveling to the West coast for a short 3 game series the 11-7 Buc's, winners in 5 of their last 6 head to Milwaukee to face the 8-10 Brewers, winners of 4 out of their last 5 games. The only major changes from '08 on the Brewers roster was the departures of Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia, and the return of Yovani Gallardo from the D.L. who only pitched 24 innings all of last season. The Brewers are as hot as the Pirates, so if we could take 2 of 3 to finish off this mini road trip it would be a promising sign. The Pirates come into this week as ESPN's #7 team in the power rankings

Players to Watch

• Ryan Braun
• Prince Fielder
• Mike Cameron
  
• Bill Hall
• Former Pirate Jason Kendall is somehow still picking up a paycheck as the best 2 out nobody on singles hitter in the league

Probable Pitchers

4/27/09: Jeff Karstens (1-0) vs. Braden Looper (2-0)
4/28/09: Paul Maholm (3-0) vs. Dave Bush (1-0)
4/29/09: Ian Snell (1-2) vs. Yovani Gallardo (2-1)

There's something different about this team...

In years past, the Pirates would not get the type of production game after game after game. First thing, the Pirates would rarely chase pitchers early as their lack of patience was awful. Now we are seeing on a daily basis that even aces of teams, and possibly one of the best pitchers in the league struggle to get through the Pirates lineup. Through 5 innings, Peavy had 100 pitches and through the last 6 or 7 outs you could tell we were getting to him. Things like that didn't happen in past years.

Our starting pitching has been phenomenal, through 18 games our staff is leading the league in ERA (2.93), Shutouts (4), and Quality starts (12). Ohlendorf today gave up a 2-run bomb to Adrian Gonzalez, and in past years starting pitchers would fold and cave and we would lose by 10, or our offense would have no response and we would lose 3-1. Things like that just have not happened yet. Ohlendorf responded by then going 6 shutout innings before giving up a solo home run on his first pitch in the 8th inning, which then brought out another possible question coming into this year, our bullpen.
Captain America came into the game for the final 6 outs and there was no doubt that this was our game. Our bullpen has exceeded so many expectations to date considering all the questions and worries about how we would be able to get to Capps and Cpt. America. The starters have eased many of those questions because of how deep they are going into games. Chavo, Burnett, and company do not have to go into games in the 5th and 6th inning consistently, so when they are called on to produce in a tough spot, as Burnett was the other night, he has a fresh arm to get out of a jam.

On offense, there are a few things this year that we haven't seen in a long time. A great example of this would be to watch our 4th inning today, after we had runners on 2nd and 3rd and no out. Hinske battles and battles against Peavy before eventually getting called out on strikes on a terrible call that even John Whener blatently says immediately that it was 7 or 8 inches off the plate. Following that was a Lil' LaRoche K on a terrible swing, which led to Robinson Diaz in his 2nd at-bat this season. All he proceeds to do is rip a first pitch hanging curve to right to drive the 2 in. Backup catchers for the Pirates never come through in a clutch situation to tie the game against an ace.
Now on to Big Boy LaRoche. Everyone knows his swing in July?.. well that swing is here right now, and my does it look promising. 2 towering bombs today, wow. The question about LaRoche was always what could he do with a full season of him hitting the ball, and that question is being answered more and more every game.
I know that the season is still so young, but with these things going right just imagine the possible depth that we can have with McCutchen in the outfield and Brandon Moss coming off the bench. This team has a lot going for it right now and is playing with confidence that has not been seen in such a long time.. Just keep it up and things can get very interesting.

Notes

• Jack is on the 15 day DL, That means a lot of Brian Bixler and praying.
• Every position player had at least a hit (for maybe the 5th or 6th time this year), and either had a R.B.I. or scored a run
• The Buccos have lost 1 series this year and it was opening weekend at PNC.
• They split with STL and Cincinnati to start the year
• Swept Florida
• Took 2 of 3 from Atlanta and San Diego

Andy LaRoche
-We love ripping on Andy LaRoche because, well, sometimes it is just too easy (See the 1st about 2 weeks of posts). But we will be the first people to say that a 10 game hitting streak is a great accomplishment for anybody.. espicially someone who is just here as a stop gap until Alvarez.

You stay classy San Diego

After last night's extra inning loss, the Pirates made it clear that tonight's game would not be going further than 9. In another gem of a performance by Zach Duke, the Pirates made it seem like they were playing the San Diego Madres in a 10-1 victory, the 10th of the young season.
Duke went 8 and 1-third innings allowing one run on 6 hits while striking out 5. He also had an RBI on a sacrifice fly caught on the deep center field warning track.

With Nate McLouth out of the lineup for the second straight night, manager John Russell had to fill Nate's shoes at the number 3 spot of the lineup. Craig Monroe made J.R. look like a genius for putting him in that slot tonight going 3-5 with a 3 RBIs, two from a double in the top of the 6th to score Freddy and Nyjer. Freddy also went 3-5, hitting his league leading 9th double of the season, and scored 3 runs. The Buccos lineup posted 14 hits tonight, 6 of which were doubles (2 by Jason Jaramillo).

The series closer will be tomorrow afternoon at 4:35 (ET) as the Buccos look for 5th win in 6 games and their 3rd straight series win. The offense needs to stay hot because one of the league's best hurlers, Jake Peavy, will be on the mound for the Padres. Ross Ohlendorf is seeking his second consecutive win.

Game Notes

• Duke (W): 8.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 5 Ks
• Adam LaRoche: 0-4. Has yet to get a hit in San Diego.
  
• Andy LaRoche: 2-4, 2 RBIs, 9 games and counting......
• Eric Hinske: 2-3, got his first Pirate RBI tonight.

Shout out to Sidney Crosby and the Penguins for once again proving that western PA is better than eastern PA, as they ended the Flyers season and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Eckstein Sucks

The first game after going coast to coast is always tough, and even though we didn't play great we frankly we should have won this game. Mainly our opportunities came in the 6th and 9th innings when we just couldn't capitalize on opportunities. After we tied it up in the 6th, we still had a chance to put more on the board with runners on the corners and 1 out. Delwyn Young K'd, Nyjer walked and Jack struck out swinging.

In 9th, Nyjer started us off with a single, and after about 20 throw overs, Heath Bell finally goes to the plate and Jack fails on the would be sacrifice and pops up to the catcher. Terrible. Before the next pitch is even thrown Nyjer gets caught leaning off 1st, inning over. Even Worse. I do not put that play on Nyjer though, as J.R. has to know that Bell is going to throw over. When everyone in the stadium knows that you want to steal 2nd, you try and send him on the 1st pitch?.. interesting.

Snell only went 5 innings, and the bullpen didn't give up a run until the 11th. If he can keep the walks down he's pitching fine.

Notes

• Left 10 men on base, not going to win many with that stat
• Freddy/Jack: 0-10 from the 1 and 2 holes
• 5 2/3 shutout innings from the 'pen
• McLouth was hurt, but should be back soon
• The Andy LaRoche hitting streak continues...
  

Series Preview: San Diego Padres

After sweeping the previous 11-1 Marlins, the Pirates travel out west to face the San Diego Padres in a three game series. The Friars come in with an identical 9-6 record, but have dropped 3 in a row. The Padres main off-season addition was that of everyone's least favorite player in the league, David Eckstein. Peavy is pitching in the finale on Sunday so it would be nice if we could get these first two before having to face maybe the best pitcher in the league.

Players to Watch

• Adrian Gonzalez
• Kevin Kouzmanoff
• Eckstein
• Former Pirates Jody Gerut and Brian Giles (wow, he really needs to retire)

Probable Pitchers

4/24/2009: Snell vs. Kevin Correia
4/25/2009: Duke vs. Shawn Hill
4/26/2009: Ohlendorf vs. Jake Peavy

Give Me That Filet-o-Fish

In the afternoon series closer, the Pirates capped off a three game sweep of the Marlins at PNC Park. The Marlins came to Pittsburgh on a 7 game win streak, and are leaving Pittsburgh with their first 3 losses on the road this season.

Paul Maholm got the start today looking to stay unbeaten and bring his record to 3-0. Maholm got off to a good start, shutting the Marlins out through the first 3 innings. Maholm gave up 1 run in the top of the 4th and 5th innings, then 2 in the top of the 6th. The bullpen came in and pitched 3 shutout innings. Jesse Chavez and Sean Burnett combined to retire the Marlins in the 7th, John Grabow struck out 3 in the 8th, and Matt Capps closed out the 9th for his 5th save of the season.

Offensively the Pirates got hot right off the bat, no pun intended. In the bottom of the 1st, Adam LaRoche hit his first of three doubles, scoring Freddy Sanchez. Then in the bottom of the 3rd, Sanchez scored again on a Nate McLouth single. McLouth then scored on a sacrifice fly by Andy LaRoche. Andy got his 2nd RBI of the day in the bottom of the 5th when his double brought in his older brother. After the Marlins tied the game at 4 in the top of the 6th, the Buccos responded immediately. Delwyn Young led off the inning with a pinch hit double then scored on a single by Nyjer Morgan, who advanced to second on the throw home. Being the crafty speedster that he is, Nyjer stole third and scored on the errant throw by ex-Pirate Ronny Paulino. The Pirates scored in the bottom of the 7th when Jack Wilson brought in Adam LaRoche with a single.
For the second time this series, the Buccos swiped three bases off the Marlins battery. Freddy got his first steal of the season, and Nyjer compiled his fifth and sixth.

Game Stats

• Adam LaRoche: 4-5, 3 doubles, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored.
• Andy LaRoche: 1-3, 2 RBIs. Hit his fourth double this season and extended his hit streak to 7 games.....Batting Title?
• Paul Maholm (W): 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 Ks.

The Pirates have the day off tomorrow as they head to San Diego to take on the Padres for a 3 game series beginning Friday night at 10:05 (ET). Ian Snell will be looking for his 2nd consecutive win when he takes on Kevin Correia.

Vote For Your Favorite Buccos!

Major League Baseball has opened up online All-Star Voting. This years mid-summer classic will be held in St. Louis. You can vote up to 25 times. Vote!

Sidenote

• Andy LaRoche, believe it or not, IS on the ballot. I checked, its not a typo. So....Vote for him and the rest of the Buccos!

Link

• Vote!
  

Sanchez was the Pirates' Fleury Tonight.

The Buc's secured at least the series win with their second straight win against the Florida Marlins with their 3-2 victory tonight.
This was Karstens first start where he actually had the usual 5 day's rest, and he exceeded expectations going 6 innings and only surrendering 1 run on 3 hits. He commanded the fast ball and had a relatively low pitch count (87-54 Strikes). Annibal Sanchez was also effective, going 7 innings and only giving up 3 runs, the offense just had nothing to give any pitcher for the 2nd consecutive night. Karstens has the potential to be very effective, considering he had a no-hitter into the 9th inning last year, and with the quality starts that every pitcher has turned in so far.. is it possible to think that maybeeee finallyy this may be the year?? I have a weird feeling about this team.

On the offensive side, Sanchez was dominant again; collecting 3 of the Pirates 7 hits, including the would be game winning solo home run in the 3rd. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead Hanley doubled in a run, to cut the lead to 2-1 in the top half of the 3rd before the answer from Sanchez in the bottom. Cameron Maybin hit an absolute bomb in the 8th off Yates to cut the lead to 3-2.

Andy LaRoche

- 6 game hitting streak, which i think may be the league lead for this year? His average= .216 We plan on talking about this unbelievable feat in every post until he remembers that well.. he is Andy LaRoche

Notes

• Freddy is hitting .364-- 11th in the NL
• Jamarillo went 1-3 with a double off the wall and 1 RBI in his 1st game as the permanent starter for Ryan Doumit. He doesn't need to be great at the plate, because we know what he can do defensively; he just cannot be unusable at the dish.
• Was there any doubt when Capps came in to close it out.. So Good.
• Would rather see Chavo right now then Yates
• 2nd straight series with a shot at the sweep, have to like the chance with Maholm
• Philadelphia sucks. Go Pens
  

Doumit out 10 Weeks

wtf.
Broken Wrist.
terrible.
Jamarillo will be starting for the foreseeable future.

Do you like fish sticks?

The Pirates opened up a 3 game series against the Marlins, who came into the game with an 11-1 record, tonight on a cold, rainy day at PNC Park. The 8-0 trouncing of the Marlins ended their 7 game win streak.
In his third start of the season, and looking for his first win, Ross Ohlendorf was brilliant, going 7 strong, scoreless innings. "The Big O" only gave up 2 hits, punched out 5, and only allowed one free base. Meanwhile for the Fish, starter Andrew Miller got cooked for 4 runs on 5 hits in 4.2 innings pitched. He also walked 4 and struck out 1. That one, just happened to be Andy LaRoche. Logan Kensing's relief effort was none too pleasing either, as he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, including a towering 3 run homer by Nate McLouth that found its way into the Allegheny River and a balk that scored Jason Jaramillo.
The Pirates offense produced 11 hits, atleast 1 by every starter except Ohlendorf, stole 3 bases, and scored 8 runs, while leaving 8 men on base.

Game Notes

• Nate McLouth: 2-4, 4 RBI, 2 runs scored, 1 SB. Hit his 4th home run of the season, 1st into the river.
• Adam LaRoche: 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 double.
• Ross Ohlendorf: (W) 7 IP, 2 H, 0 runs allowed, 5 Ks.
• Ryan Doumit was out of tonight's lineup due to a sore wrist.
• Nyjer and Jack made up the other 2 of the Pirates 3 stolen bases.
• Going 1-4 tonight, Andy LaRoche is currently on a 5 game hit streak!!!! (knock on wood). He also made several Web Gem worthy plays on the hot corner.
  

Tomorrow night is Game 2 of this series. Jeff Karstens is slated to take on Anibal Sanchez. Karstens is also looking for his 1st win of the season. Unfortunately, tomorrow night's game will not be on TV, as the Pens take on the Flyers in Game 4 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Series Preview: Marlins

After taking 2 of 3 from the Atlanta Braves, the Buccos host Major League Baseball's best team, the 11-1 Florida Marlins coming off a 3 game sweep of the Washington Nationals, their second 3 game sweep of the Nats this year. They have also swept the Atlanta Braves, and took 2 of 3 from the Mets. In the most recent sweep of the Nationals, they trailed each game going into the 9th inning and so far this year have feasted on the opposing teams bullpen.

Players to Watch:
-Emilio Bonafacio
-Dan Uggla
-Hanley Ramirez
-Cameron Maybin- (Remember the name. Will be a top 5 player in 2 years.)
-Jorge Cantu

Probable Pitchers:
4/20/2009: Ohlendorf vs. Andrew Miller
4/21/2009:Karstens vs. Anibal Sanchez
4/22/2009: Maholm vs. Ricky Nolasco

Well that was a good birthday.

On Zach Duke's 26th birthday he proceeded to give up 6 runs, and 12 hits in 6 innings. After this afternoons performance, Duke's ERA rose to 2.95

The Pirates had nothing going against starter Javier Vazquez in his 6 innings of work, mustering up only 5 hits and striking out 8 times.

Pirates Lost By 10- Pens Lost in the playoffs-- Not a good day

Notes

• Nyjer ended his 2 game hit less streak going 2-5
• Freddy also had 2 hits
• Left 17 Men on Base.. wow
  

White Wash

Couldn't have picked a better way to pick up the 1st consecutive wins of the year. Snell looked phenomenal considering he wasn't trying to overpower hitter with his 90 mph fastball. He was working both corners, changed speeds and honestly looked like the pitcher we all expected him to be coming into this year. The Braves really never got anything going, the Buccos turned 4 double plays, 3 inning ender's. If we want to stay above .500, Maholm is going to need at least Snell to keep turning in performances like this. Burnett and Chavez each turned in a hit less inning to close it out.

Andy LaRoche went 3-4 with 2 doubles (Which brought his average to .192), and the game winning R.B.I. for the 2nd consecutive night... please take a moment to let that sink in..

The other star of the day was Craig Monroe, who in his first two at bats hit the ball hard, but right at people delivered two 3-run bombs in consecutive innings in almost identical spots to seal it up. 5 pirates had 2 or more hits, and at least 1 RBI

Notes

• Consecutive Shutouts for the 1st time since 1968
• Doumit had 3 doubles to commemorate his bobble head day
• Nyjer went 0-4, but was picked up by Sanchez and McLouth who each had 2 hits
• Pirates have the lowest team ERA in the majors.. did anyone think that would be ever possible at any point of this season?
• Braves intentionally walked Adam LaRoche (this is still April) in the 7th inning to get to Craig Monroe before his 2nd homer.. what an awful decision.
• Get the brooms for another afternoon game tomorrow.
  

woooo

Candy
3-2

Pirates Of The Allegheny: Curse of The Black Uni's

The Pirates started there series off against the Braves tonight the right way...With a W. Maholm was good again while battling some control issues, he went 7 scoreless innings giving up only 4 hits. He walked 3 and also had 2 hit batsmen, his control lead to him throwing over 100 pitches in 7 innings. Braves starter Jair Jurrjens was equally impressive going 6 and 2/3 innings giving up 1 earned run and 4 hits. He also battled control issues tonight, throwing 120 pitches. In the first inning, the Pirates stranded Sanchez at third after he tripled with one out. However, when the same situation presented itself in the second inning the Buccos werent about to make the same mistake twice. Branden Moss tripled with one out and Andy LaRoche hit a ground ball to second to score the run. Braves also had an early opportunity with bases loaded and only one out in the second inning and Jordan Schafer grounded back to Maholm who started the inning ending 1-2-3 double play. From that point on it was an old fashioned pitching duel. That is until the Pirates got into the Braves bullpen. Former Bucco Mike Gonzales had trouble with his former "shipmates". After striking out Nyjer, who went 0-4, he gave up a base hit to Sanchez which brought up McLouth with one on. McLouth then launched a 2-run bomb that landed 15 rows up in the right field bleachers. With the Pirates up 3-0, Matt Capps came in for the save. Capps had no trouble facing only 3 batters as the Buccos get the W.

Game Notes

• Morgan - 0-4, 2k's
• Sanchez - 2-4, 1 R
• McLouth - 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI's
• Maholm (2-0) - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 SO, 0 ER
• S -Capps (3)

Andy LaRoche

• Were a bit hard on Andy so i gave him his own section because he got the game winning hit
• 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Baseball Tonight Watch

• Nate McLouth made a web gem worthy play in center field tonight as well as going deep
• Touch Em All & Web Gems???
  

The Puma

Not much to say about this one.
Shouldn't have lost 2 of 3 but hey what can you do
Nyjer Morgan was 3-5...just keeps bringing it

Notes

• Andy LaRoche finally got a hit. Then preceded to ground into another inning ending double play in his next at bat in the 8th.
• Take a picture of Burnett's outing because it won't happen again, maybe he could get a call on the corner?
• Helluva at-bat by Sanchez.. still went 0-3
• ATL tonight