The first half of double-headers are always a little strange. When AJ Burnett got into a bases-loaded/no out jam in the third inning, my first concern was about the bullpen and now about Burnett blowing the 1-0 lead he'd been handed by Pedro Alvarez's first inning double. Burnett escaped the jam with only one run […]

While trade rumors fly around like crazy this afternoon, the Pirates are about to face off with the Cardinals in a pretty important twi-night double-header that kicks off at 4:05 PM. In the first end of the twin-bill, AJ Burnett takes the mound against Lance Lynn. I don't think pitcher wins are a useful stat, […]

Brian Wilson has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, so he's no longer an option for the Pirates. I'd still like to see the Pirates get relief help from elsewhere, but given Wilson's recent injury history and general shenanigans, I'm fine that it's not him. As I've said in the past, if they […]

This could be a wild day:  Sounds like White Sox and Pirates are getting close on a deal for Alex Rios. Cash being worked on. Not sure if they can find a middle ground — David Kaplan (@thekapman)

Bud Norris has been scratched from his start by the Astros tonight, and Jeff Passan just relayed this on Twitter:   Sources: Bud Norris very likely to be dealt today, and Pittsburgh could be landing spot. Package built around Tyler Glasnow makes sense. — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan)

The Pirates and Cardinals will play a double-header today starting at four. The Pirates haven't named a starter for game 2 yet, though at this point the best guesses remain Stolmy Pimentel or Kris Johnson. I've been harboring a Jake Peavy pipe dream all weekend (the White Sox seem likely to scratch him from his […]

I'll admit it: this series has been looming on the calendar for a long time, terrifying me. Obviously the Pirates are a good baseball team this year, and obviously they've played pretty well against good teams all year, but the prospect of five games against the best team in baseball right at the trade deadline has always been […]

There is no need to discuss the stakes of this series, because you know them already. The five games the Pirates will play against the Cardinals over the next few days will not make or break the Pirates' season, but they may go a long ways towards deciding whether the Pirates can compete for a […]

Before putting up a preview of tonight's game, let's hit today's news and rumors quickly.  The Pirates have placed

When trade speculation involving the Pirates pops up on Twitter, I'm usually the first person to shoot it down. Giancarlo Stanton for Polanco, Taillon, and two other prospects? Stanton would be nice in a Pirate uniform, but I'd think long and hard about trading two A-/B+ prospects and two B/B- prospects for anyone. Alen Hanson's pulled […]

There are plenty of ways to talk about this game; one is to say that the Pirates lost two of three to the Marlins, who are generally pretty terrible and have the NL's worst record. Another would be to point out that since June 8th, the Marlins are 23-19, which is the NL East's best […]

Gerrit Cole and Jose Fernandez will face off this afternoon in Miami, in what has to be one of the more exciting matchups between young pitchers in 2013. Fernandez is just 20 years old and was the 14th pick in 2011 draft that Cole went #1 overall in. He's been excellent for the Marlins this […]

14 hits, six with runners in scoring position, four from Mike McKenry. That's certainly one way to follow up a shutout loss. Everyone that follows the Pirates knows about their woes with runners on base, but on Saturday night they strung together hit after hit after hit with runners on, overwhelming a Marlin team that […]

Getting shut out by the Marlins was probably not how the Pirates wanted this series to start, but they've still got a decent shot at taking two of three in this series. Tonight, Charlie Morton takes the mound after what was one of his better starts of 2013 against the Nationals earlier in the week, […]

There doesn't appear to be much happening on the trade deadline front quite yet today, though of course that's always subject to change at a moment's notice. For now, check out Jayson Stark's column from yesterday in which he relays that the Pirates may not be as interested in Alex Rios as people think, and […]

Well, that didn't go well at all.

The Marlins got shut out in three consecutive games after the All-Star Break, but then bounced back by taking three of four from the Rockies. They're not a very good team, but at this point they are a very young team and they will cause problems for the Pirates if the Pirates start looking ahead […]

We've finally got more concrete news on Jason Grilli's elbow. This is what the Post Gazette's Bill Brink just shared on Twitter: 

While going through Joel Sherman's twitter feed for the info in the post below this one, I found this;  Hear

The Cubs and Yankees finalized a deal this morning/early afternoon in which Alfonso Soriano will be headed back to the Bronx for minor league pitcher Corey Black. This may seem like it's unrelated to the Pirates save that it's part of the Cub Fire Sale that could give the Pirates some wins down the stretch […]