Burnett Trolls Cubs

     A.J. Burnett took a no-no two outs into the eighth before getting squeezed by the ump, followed by the only Cubs hit by Adrian Cardenas. Burnett would get the final four outs to finish off the shutout. He would allow only four baserunners the whole night.

     Neil Walker had the offensive equivalent to Burnett as he hit a grand slam in the first and added a sac fly in the seventh. The 5 RBI's would be the only offense of the game but it would be plenty. Cutch would have three hits in the game (2 singles, double) and Pedro would add two hits (single, double). Newly acquired outfielder, Travis Snider, would score two runs in the game and go 1-4 with an infield single and a walk.

     The Pirates look to take the series tomorrow afternoon before heading to Cincinnati for a crucial 3 game series with the first place Reds (3 games up).

Starters Lines

     Burnett: (W, 13-3) CG, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 8 K's 

     Coleman: (L, 0-2) 4 2/3 IN, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K's (2 to Burnett)

Turning Point

     Burnett taking the mound - A.J. was dominant from start to finish. No signs of trouble for the ace.

Stud/Dud of the Game

     Stud: A.J. Burnett - Need I say more?

     Dud: Starling Marte - 0-5, 2 K's

Final Thoughts

     -- There were a few transactions over the past 24 hours. Brad Lincoln was traded to Toronto for Travis Snider who went 1-4 with a single, walk, and 2 RBI's. Gorkys Hernandez was sent to Miami for Gaby Sanchez and AAA pitcher, Kyle Kaminska. They also traded Casey McGehee to the Yankees for reliever, Chad Qualls. 

     -- Drew Sutton was also DFA'd to make room for the transactions. 

     -- Daniel McCutchen was recalled from AAA to fill a spot that will be most likely taken by Qualls come tomorrow.

#YouGottaBelieve  

Welcome To Pittsburgh, Starling Marte

     It only took one pitch for Starling Marte to make his mark on Pittsburgh Pirate baseball as he sent that first pitch out in a Pirates 5-3 victory over the Astros.

     The Marte homer was one of three that left the park as he, Jones, and Barmes all left the park. Cutch, Barajas, Walker, Pedro, and Burnett each added singles as well.

     A.J. Burnett was lights-out until the eighth as he threw 2-hit ball until getting light up for two solo homers in the eighth. Brad Lincoln came in and got the final two outs while allowing a walk and The Hammer would come in and allow a run but get the save.

     The Buccos did what they needed to do and what was expected of them to do. Take care of business against the Astros.

Starters Lines

     Burnett: (W,12-3) 7 1/3 IN, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's 

     Keuchel: (L, 1-3) 6 IN, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K's (1 to Burnett)

    

Stud/Dud of the Game

     Stud: Starling Marte - 2-4 with a single, homer, RBI, and a run.

     Dud: McGehee - 0-4 with a strikeout and 1 LOB

Turning Point

     Marte's homer in the first - It took the Bucs one pitch to take control of the game.

Final Thoughts

     -- Starling Marte is only the 28th player in MLB history to hit a homer on the first pitch of their ML career. He ended up going 2-4.

     -- The Pirates have yet to give up a lead after the seventh inning.

     -- Newly acquired LHP Wandy Rodriguez will make his Pirates debut on Saturday against his former team, the Astros.

This Day in '92

W @ ATL 5-4

     Stan Belinda would blow a save in the eighth but get the win by way of an Orlando Merced ninth inning RBI single.

     Jay Bell would homer in the game while Merced (2), King, and Slaught would record RBI's.

     Andy Van Slyke would pinch-hit and get intentionally walked.

Bucs Bats Take Night Off

     It's the first day back from my vacation and I witness the Pirates lay a goose egg in a 2-0 loss to the Cubs. What makes this loss more frustrating is the fact that Erik Bedard looked amazing by only allowing one hit and one run in seven innings of work. Alfanso Soriano and Starlin Castro played Pirate killers by plating both runs by way of two doubles by Soriano after Castro reached base by walk and hit. The Buccos got the tieing run on in the ninth when Josh Harrison led off the inning with a pinch-hit infield single. Drew Sutton and Alex Presley would then strike out and Neil Walker would ground out to end it while leaving Cutch in the on-deck circle to watch. Ugh, just frustrating to watch. There's always tomorrow, though.

     While I was gone, the Buccos righted the ship after a not-so-good start to the second half. They got down early to the Rockies in the second game of their series but were able to come back and win starting a 5-game winning streak which included a sweep of the Miami Marlins. Cutch and Pedro's homerun battle continues as Cutch leads by one, 22-21. Bedard's start tonight is a good sign that he could be coming around to the form he had at the start of the season but it's hard to tell because he faced the Cubs tonight.

     Another thing I was impressed at was the atmosphere tonight. The largest Monday crowd in PNC Park history was on hand (27,586) and the place was electric up until the final out. This is a good reason to say that Pittsburgh is, indeed, a baseball town one again. The Bucs, going into tonight, were tied with the Reds, in the loss column, for 1st in the Central and three games up, in the loss column, to the Braves and Dodgers in the Wild Card.

     Don't worry Bucco fans, we couldn't win the rest of them. It's just time to start another long winning streak to keep this amazing season going.

#YouGottaBelieve

We're Contenders Now

     It's been a while since a post gone out and since then there has been some baseball played. The Buccos ended the first half of the season on a very high note by taking 6 of 7 games in their final homestand before the All-Star game capped off by a clutch Cutch performance where he would send two out of the park. That wasn't the best moment of that game, though, as A.J. Burnett cruised to his tenth win of the season. After being removed in the seventh, he walked off the field to a loud standing ovation in which he thanked the crowd with a perfect gesture. (Pictured below). The Buccos ended the first half a game ahead of the Reds for first in the Central. It is the first time since '92 that this has happened.

     The All-Star break was an enjoying one for Pirate fans as well because our MVP participated in the Home Run derby, although he didn't make it past the first round (4 Homers), as well as going 1-2 at the plate in the All-Star game. The Hammer also made an appearance in the game striking out the only batter he faced, KC's hometown boy (Billy Butler). The NL would win the game which gives home field in the World Series to the NL Champ.

     The second half has started and it didn't go as well as we had hoped. The Brewers took 2 of 3 from us but there are some good things to come out of the series. The offense seems to be keeping up to it's first half power surge as they scored 14 runs in the three games. Cutch homered in each bringing his total to 21 which is second in the NL. He should be in the thick of the MVP race for the rest of the season if he keeps this up.

     Speaking of the thick of things, the Pirates are showing that they want to be buyers as there are talks that they are going after Justin Upton. If we can land him without giving up a lot of our system then it should put us in a great place for a stretch run at the division. Looking ahead, the second to last series of the season is at home against the Reds. Might be time to circle those dates on the calendar just in case.

#YouGottaBelieve

Karstens Owns The Stros

     Jeff Karstens pitched eight really strong innings of four hit ball as the Buccos completed the four game sweep of the Astros 2-0.

     Karstens allowed baserunners in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth but none would get past second. He left after the eighth only throwing 8 pitches but didn't come out for the ninth due to his pitch count coming back from the DL. The Hammer would walk the first batter in the ninth but get a DP before walking another. The next batter would fly out to end it.

     The offense didn't do much but it did enough to get the W. They would get on the board in the second when Garrett Jones led off the inning with a double. Casey McGehee would come up next and hit a double himself to make it 1-0. They would get the final run in the third when Karstens would lead off the inning by helping himself with a single. After a Drew Sutton strikeout, Neil Walker would come up and hit a ground-rule double setting up second and third with one out. After a Cutch walk to load the bases, GFJ would hit a sac-fly to make it 2-0. The bases would load up again by way of a McGehee HBP but Pedro would strikeout to end the inning.

     We all knew that the Pirates wouldn't throw up big numbers in the run column every night but when you can throw in that shutdown performance every so often you can win these types of games. That's what separates the contenders from the "Others" (Right ESPN?).

Starters Lines

     Karstens: (W, 2-2) 8 IN, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 K's (1 to Norris)

     Norris: (L, 5-6) 7 IN, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K's 

Turning Point

     Karstens taking the mound. - The only Astros runner to reach second base was Jose Altuve in the first when he led off the game with a single then stole second. No one else would reach second the rest of the night. Dominance.

Stud/Dud of the Game

     Stud: Jeff Karstens - Need I say more?

     Dud: Pedro Alvarez -  0-3, 2 strikeouts, 4 LOB (Incl. bases loaded in the 3rd)

Final Thoughts

     -- This is the first 4 game sweep since 2006 (Brewers) and first 4 game sweep of the Astros since 1979, that year turned out to be a good one. 

     -- Rod Barajas was scratched from the lineup again due to soreness in his knee he injured in St. Louis. He is still day-to-day.

     -- The Pirates are now 10 games over .500 for the first time since '92 when they finished 30 over.

This Day in '92

L vs. CIN 2-1

     Doug Drabek went eight innings allowing two runs on nine hits but got the loss.

     Don Slaught went 1-4 with an RBI single and Gary Redus went 1-3 with a triple.

     Andy Van Slyke went 0-4 with a strikeout and a run scored.

The Lumber Company 2.0

     They were partying like it was 1979 at PNC as the Buccos broke out the bats in an 11-2 victory.

     J-Mac took the hill for the first time since being snubbed from the NL All-Star team and started shaky. He walked three and allowed a hit but got out of the inning only allowing a run. From there he would go six more allowing only another run by way of solo shot. It wasn't the typical J-Mac dominance, but he was able to escape jams and limit any damage. Jared Hughes would finish the game off by only allowing a hit.

     The offense continues to dominate as they put up eleven more runs and eighteen (yes, eighteen) more hits. they pounded out two homers, two triples, five doubles, and nine singles in the win. GFJ and Neil Walker started the scoring in the fourth by going back-to-back, both off of the right foul pole. The Lumber Company 2.0 would end up scoring four in the fourth and fifth, one in the sixth and two in the eighth to end the scoring. GFJ would lead the way with 4 RBI's, Walker would have 3, McGehee with 2, and Barmes and Cutch (MVP) would have 1.

Starters Lines

     McDonald: (W, 8-3) 7 IN, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K's (1 to Lyles)

     Lyles: (L, 2-5) 4 IN, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 6 K's (1 to McDonald)

Turning Point

     GFJ/Walker back-to-back homers in the fourth - The ringing of the right field foul pole began a barrage of runs that gave the Buccos another "breathe easy" win.

Stud/Dud of the Game

     Stud: Garrett Freakin Jones - 4-5, 2 singles, a double, a homer, 4 RBI's, and 3 runs scored.

     Dud: The Fort - 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and 1 LOB

Final Thoughts

     -- The Pirates are averaging 8 runs per game over their last 7 games (5-2) 

     -- Cutch and GFJ are the first 3-4 hitters to both go 4-5 in a game since 1975. 

     -- Chants of MVP MVP MVP broke out as Cutch went to the plate tonight. He is now batting .354 after tonight's 4-5 performance with an OPS just over 1.000.

This Day in '92

L vs. CIN 2-1

     Jeff Robinson allowed five hits and two runs in 4 2/3 of an inning for the loss. (7-5)

     Dave Clark had the only RBI of the game with a solo homer. (1-3)

     Andy Van Slyke went 1-3 with a walk, double and a strikeout.