Couldn't watch yesterday's game due to blackout, so I'm not going to write anything up. Looked ugly. Instead, let's talk about something else.  When the Pirates signed Brandon Inge this winter, the idea was that he'd essentially take Josh Harrison's role on the club; pinch-hitter, utility infielder, maybe spell Pedro Alvarez against tough lefties, etc. […]

Before previewing today's game, let's talk about yesterday's loss briefly. It was frustrating to watch in just about every way possible. On one hand, the Pirates walked six hitters, hit three batters, gave the Nationals three runs on bad defensive plays by the two guys (Barmes and Marte) that are supposed to anchor the defense, […]

For once I have nothing bad to say about Bud Selig's Blackout Zone: the Pirates and Nationals play on FOX today at 4:15 and on 364 days a year I find it annoying to live in what's been insanely classified as Nationals Territory here in North Carolina, but today that means that I'll get to […]

Most of Pittsburgh will have its eyes on the Consol Energy Center tonight. That's fair, of course; the Penguins are an awesome team, and nights that Sidney Crosby takes the ice should be celebrated. That being said, I do want to point out that there's a really exciting series happening at PNC Park this weekend. […]

Within about twenty minutes this afternoon, Charlie posted over at Bucs Dugout about how Jordy Mercer really deserves a shot with the Pirates this year, then 93.7's Dan Zangrilli tweeted this:  Hearing from sources that Jordy Mercer will likely be brought up from AAA…

This game looked like it was going to be a disaster. Jeanmar Gomez struggled through the first inning with some awful defense behind him, but somehow escaped with only a 1-0 deficit. Pedro Alvarez erased that quickly with one swing of his bat, but then Gomez served up back-to-back homers to Carlos Gomez and Yuniesky […]

Long story short: the lock at my apartment got jammed shut last night and no one answered the emergency maintenance number, so I couldn't get into my apartment and as a result didn't see much of last night's game besides Rickie Weeks's homer that sealed the deal for Milwaukee. There were home runs, bad pitching, […]

If there ever was a day that the Pirates needed James McDonald to be "Good J-Mac," this day certainly qualifies. They played terribly last night in their least favorite place in the universe, but today is a new day. Jonathan Sanchez's Pirate Rein of Terror is over, as he's been designated for assignment to make […]

Mike Newman at FanGraphs today has a great look at Stetson Allie's return to prominence as a hitter with the West Virginia Power this year. After his two-homer night last night, Allie's tied for the Sally League lead in homers with eight and his season line is a ridiculous .351/.409/.660 in 110 plate appearances. There's […]

I want to say that nothing went right in this game, but that's not true in the strictest sense. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and then nothing went right from there. Wandy Rodriguez couldn't find the strike zone in the first inning and when he had a chance […]

The Pirates are probably the hottest team in baseball right now, rolling to 14 wins in their last 19 games against mostly good teams and first place in the NL Central. No matter how well they're playing, though, a trip to Miller Park is a terrifying thing for the Pirates. Last year the Pirates won […]

Before the game started, I laid my gameplan out thusly: Jeff Locke needed to keep the game close for as long as Shelby Miller was on the mound, the Pirates needed to work Miller to get him out of the game reasonably early, and the Pirates needed to pile runs on the Cardinals' struggling bullpen. […]

After yesterday's late comeback victory, the Pirates find themselves in the same place that they were in when this series started on Friday — a half-game behind the Cardinals. If the Pirates win today, they'll move into first place in the division and they'll ensure themselves at least five wins on this 10-game road trip […]

I'm not sure what possessed Mike Matheny to take Jake Westbrook out of the game after six shutout innings and only 91 pitches, but the move certainly went appreciated by the Pirates and their fans. As soon as Westbrooke came out of the game, Pedro Alvarez singled and Russell Martin homered to turn a 2-0 […]

The Pirates play a weirdly timed 4:15 PM EDT today, presumably because the FOX games are at 1 PM this weekend. Last night did not go well for the Pirates, obviously. Jonathan Sanchez faced four batters, retired none, and got thrown out. Clint Hurdle got thrown out protesting Sanchez's ejection (obviously arguing that there's no […]

After a nice start to their ten-game road trip, the Pirates are now entering the portion of the trip that I'm most interested in: six games in St. Louis and Milwaukee. The division has a new shape this year without the Astros in it and how the Pirates play the NL Central teams is going […]

It is Friday, April 26th, and the Pirates are 13-9. They're 12-4 since their 1-5 start and that 16 game run has been mostly made up of good opponents, the Phillies notwithstanding. This is a little bit different than the way things have played out in the first two years of the Clint Hurdle era. […]

For the second game in a row, the Pirates got a middling start against a pretty good one from one of Philadelphia's better pitchers. Neither Good James McDonald nor Bad James McDonald was anywhere to be seen today; instead, Middling James McDonald made an appearance with the ability to occasionally get some big strikeouts (he […]

In the last two-odd weeks, the Pirates have:  – Won two of three in Arizona. – Swept a home series against the Reds. – Split two games against the Cardinals. – Taken three of four from a previously red-hot Braves team. So what say we add three of four from the Phillies at Citizen's Bank […]

Through six innings, the only hit the Pirates had was a Pedro Alvarez RBI single. Through seven innings, the only two hits they had were a Pedro Alvarez RBI single and a Pedro Alvarez solo home run. Roy Halladay looked much more like the Roy Halladay that we're familiar with and Wandy Rodriguez had an […]