Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. Milwaukee Brewers: April 26-28, 2010

After losing 6 straight games to NL Central opponents, the LAST team the Buccos wanted to see were the Milwaukee Brewers. After all, the Brew-Crew had dominated the 3-game series against the Pirates a week ago, outscoring the Bucs by over 30 runs in their sweep at PNC Park.

Monday, April 26: This series began the way last week’s left off, with the Brewers’ bats destroying the Pirates’ pitching on their way to another embarrassing blowout. Milwaukee spread the hurt around throughout the game, scoring 2 runs in the 2nd inning, 5 runs in the third, and an obnoxious 9 runs in the 8th on their way to a 17-3 destruction of Pittsburgh. Gregg Zaun was the hitting star of the day for the Brewers, going 4-4 with 5 RBI. Prince Fielder added 3 hits, while Alcides Escobar and Carlos Gomez added 2 hits a-piece.

Zach Duke’s ERA continued to inflate to 6.11 after giving up 8 runs on 9 hits in only 4 innings. The bullpen didn’t help matters any, giving up 9 more runs, all in the 8th. Andrew McCutchen and Andy LaRoche two hits each, but the Pirates manufactured basically no meaningful offense, falling to the Brewers for a fourth straight time this season.

Tuesday, April 27: Jeff Karstens pitched a much-needed solid outing and Ryan Doumit blasted a grand slam in the top of the 9th, snapping the Pirates’ 7 game losing streak, and winning for the first time in Miller Park in over 3 years. Doumit was 3-5 with 4 RBI in the game, while Karstens gave up only 2 runs on 6 hits through 6.2 innings to an offense that has lit up the Buccos’ pitching for the past 5 seasons.

Andy LaRoche had 4 hits and Jeff Clement had a 3-hit performance, as the Pirates knocked off the Brewers, 7-3. Ronny Cedeno and Ryan Doumit delivered the knockout punches against the all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman in the 9th inning. With momentum on their side, the Pirates walked off the field on Tuesday with a chance to take a series against the Brewers in Milwaukee for the first time in 4 years.

Wednesday, April 28: The Pirates finally earned the respect of the Brewers by defeating them in 14 innings, taking the game and the series in Milwaukee.

Andrew McCutchen was 4-7 with 2 HR and 2 RBI, while Andy LaRoche and Ryan Doumit also added a homerun each. Doumit’s HR was again off of Hoffman, tying the game in 9th inning and forcing the game into extra frames.

Paul Maholm pitched a decent game, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits in 7 innings of work. The bullpen, unlike on Monday, stepped in and did a terrific job, specifically D.J. Carrasco, who earned the win by pitching 3 innings of shutout baseball, including a 1-2-3 bottom of the 14th to close out the game.

The difference between Monday and Wednesday in this series was night and day. Following this series, the Pirates have some confidence, they’ve regained some pride, and they head into a 4-game series against a Dodgers team that they won the series against in the season opener. The Pirates have somewhat salvaged a once-dismal road trip. They currently stand at 2-4 on the trip, but with hopes of leaving Los Angeles with at least a split or a victory in the series.

Current Record: 9-12

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!

Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. Houston Astros: April 23-25, 2010

The Pirates’ road trip began EXACTLY the same way their home stand ended: with an embarrassingly dreadful 3-game series against a division foe. This time, it was the Houston Astros.

Friday, April 23: The Pirates once again struggled to score runs against Astros’ starter Roy Oswalt, and Houston did just enough to notch a win in the first battle between the two teams of the season. Oswalt went 7 innings, while giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits on his way to his second win of this young season. Paul Maholm, his on-mound opponent, also went 7 innings, but wasn’t quite as sharp for the duration of his appearance, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits, losing his second game of the year.

Jeff Keppinger doubled in the 3rd inning, driving in one run, and Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz added a double a-piece in the 6th, giving the Astros a 4-0 lead. The Buccos responded the next inning with a 2-run homerun from Garrett Jones and a solo shot from Jeff Clement. Still, it wasn’t enough, and the Astros held on for the 4-3 win.

Saturday, April 24: For the 5th game in a row and the 2nd in as many days against Houston, the Pirates severely struggled to score. This time it was against Wandy Rodriguez, who last 7.1 innings, giving up only 1 run on 5 hits, tallying his first win of the season. Jason Jaramillo smashed a solo shot in the 7th inning, while Andy LaRoche added 2 hits, but the Pirates 7 total hits were scattered across the 9 innings, and the timely inning from earlier in the season was, once again, non-existent on this night.

The Buccos’ chance of a successful start from a pitcher diminished with 2 outs in the first inning, as call-up Chris Jakubauskas was hit in the head by a line drive off of Lance Berkman’s bat. The Pirates drained their bullpen in response, utilizing 5 pitchers on their way to a 5-2 loss. Pedro Feliz, Hunter Pence, and Tommy Manzella tallied 2 hits each and the Astros, once again, outlasted the Pirates for their 2nd straight victory.

Sunday, April 25: The Pirates put out a disappointing effort for the 3rd straight game in Houston, this time notching 14 hits, but scoring only 3 runs, losing for the 6th straight time. The Bucs scattered runs in the 2nd, 6th, and 8th innings, but the firepower wasn’t enough for them to keep pace with the suddenly high-powered Astros offense. Andy LaRoche continued his hot streak after returning from injury, going 4-4 with 2 RBI, while Andrew McCutchen had 3 hits, and Ryan Doumit and Jeff Clement had a pair of knocks each.

Charlie Morton lost again, falling to 0-4, with seemingly no hope to doing anything productive on the mound. He lasted only 3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, slating his ERA at 16.20. Ugh. Brian Bass and Brian Burres relieved Morton with just as disappointing results, giving up 2 runs each. In all, the Astros scored 10 hits on as many hits, including Carlos Lee’s 2-5 performance and Lance Berkman’s solo homerun in the 2nd.

The Pirates’ situation right now is terrible, to say the least. Their starters aren’t lasting more than 4 or 5 innings, while their offense is lucky to score 3 runs per night. The relief pitching hasn’t been terrible, but when asked to go more than a couple innings each, which is more than what they should be expected to do, the execution diminishes, the opposing offenses are making them pay for it.

The Pirates have now fallen to 7-11 and are on a 6 game losing streak. They now travel to Milwaukee for 3 games against a team who outscored them 36-1 in a series last week, followed by a road set with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pirates need to finish these last 6 games of the road trip at .500, or this season may already be over.

Current Record: 7-11

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Milwaukee Brewers Vs. Pittsburgh Pirates-April 20-22, 2010

After a huge momentum-filled series with the Reds, the Pirates welcomed the hated Milwaukee Brewers to PNC Park for a 3-game series.

Tuesday, April 20: The Pirates were never in the opening game of the series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew-Crew jumped on Bucs’ starter Charlie Morton in the first inning, as Ryan Braun smashed an RBI-double in the first to get things started. Two sacrifices by Casey McGehee and Corey Hart pushed the lead to 3-0, which would be doubled the following inning as Rickie Weeks had an RBI-single, followed by a Braun walk and another McGehee sacrifice.

The onslaught continued in the 3rd inning as Alcides Escobar scored on Weeks’ triple, which was followed in the 5th by a Hart solo HR, stretching the Brewers’ lead to an embarrassing 8-0 score. Morton, in all, gave up 5 earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks, and he only made it through the 1st inning. “Reliever” Brian Burres didn’t fair much better, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits through 4 innings. The bullpen did a solid job in relief over the last 4 innings, but by that point, the game had already been decided.

Andrew McCutchen was the lone offensive force for the Pirates, going 3-4 with a trio of doubles, including a two-bagger in the 8th, in which he would eventually score on Lastings Milledge’s double. This was a rough start, both offensively and defensively, for the Pirates against their division foes, forcing them to win the next two outings in order to take the series.

Wednesday, April 21: The onslaught continued in the 2nd game of the series, as the Brewers jumped on top of the Pirates early, and never let their foot off the gas. To make matters worse, the Brewers’ pitching must have stolen the Buccos’ gas peddle as well, as the bats were basically non-existent for Pittsburgh.

Ryan Braun got things started in the 1st inning, blasting a solo homer off of starter Zach Duke. Prince Fielder sacrificed Carlos Gomez in the 4th inning, with the knockout punch following in the 5th. Rickie Weeks nailed a 2-run homerun, while Casey McGehee sacrificed Gomez home, giving the Brewers a commanding 5-0 lead. Milwaukee added 3 more runs over the course of the game, totaling 8 runs on 12 hits on 3 Buccos’ pitchers.

The Pirates’ bats were hideous on Wednesday, with Garrett Jones, Ryan Doumit, Jeff Clement, and Duke contributing one hit a piece. Duke’s pitching numbers were weak as well, giving up 6 earned runs on 7 hits through 5 innings, inflating his season ERA to 4.12. A bright side for the Pirates was Evan Meek, who pitched 2 more scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to a miniscule 0.90. Aside from Meek, it was a dark day for Pirates baseball.

Thursday, April 22: The Pirates lost again to the Brewers on Thursday afternoon. They lost badly…really badly…record-setting badly. Milwaukee throttled the Buccos by a whopping score of 20-0 (no I’m not kidding), handing Pittsburgh its worst lost in franchise history. Ouch.

Starter Daniel McCutchen was dominated once again, just like every other one of his starts this season. Prince Fielder got the scoring rolling early in the 2nd with a solo HR, followed in the 3rd inning by Ryan Braun’s 3-run blast. Braun later added a 2-run double, pushing his season batting average to .417. The specifics are too painful to recall, but the final numbers looked something like this: 20 runs on 25 hits, including 4 homeruns, 6 doubles, and a triple. A total of 9 Brewers’ players tallied multi-hit games, with Jim Edmonds leading the way, going 4-6 with a HR and 3 RBI. Rickie Weeks and Braun each added 3 hits, while 6 others had a pair of knocks.

The Pirates did manage 8 hits, but unfortunately couldn’t drive any runs home, not that it would have made a difference. Not a single Bucco slated a multi-hit game, and the timely hitting that characterized their play in first 2 weeks of the season was non-existent.

The Pirates’ first series of 2010 with the Milwaukee Brewers was by far the worst of the season…perhaps the worst in the last few decades of baseball. In the 3 game series, The Brewers outscored the Pirates, 36-1, out-hit them by nearly 30, got 3 quality performances from their starting pitchers, while severely inflating the ERA’s of Charlie Morton, Zach Duke, and Daniel McCutchen. What is even more deflating is the fact that this series against Milwaukee deteriorates everything the Bucs were able to do against the Reds this past weekend. I’m not sure which is more frustrating, the fact that the Pirates gave up 36 in 3 games, or if it’s that they have only managed 1 run of their own in a series. Both are pathetic, embarrassing, and needs to improve immediately if they want this season to have meaning beyond April.

The Pirates embark on a tough 10-game road trip, beginning tomorrow evening stretching through the end of the month. The Buccos start the trip with a 3-game series against the Houston Astros, who after a VERY rough start to the season, have caught their stride on both sides of the ball. The Buccos need to get back on track, and I mean fast…they need a productive road trip desperately.

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Cincinnati Reds Vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: April 16-18, 2010

Get out your brooms Pittsburgh…your Battlin’ Buccos have returned home and completed a sweep of their division rival Cincinnati Reds!

Friday, April 16: After a difficult road trip, the Pirates returned home for a 3-game series against the Reds, a team that has been in a bit of a slump after a quick start to open the season. The Bucs jumped on Reds’ start Mike Leake early, scoring three runs in the first two innings. After an error allowed Aki Iwamura to score, Garrett Jones hit a sacrifice fly to left, bringing Andrew McCutchen home. Iwamura singled home Bobby Crosby in the 2nd to give the Pirates an early 3-0 lead.

Zach Duke pitched a near gem, but ran into trouble in the 8th inning, With the bases loaded, Jay Bruce walked, bringing home the Reds’ first run of the game. After Duke was pulled, Ryan Hanigan then walked, scoring Brandon Phillips and cutting the Bucs’ lead to 3-2. The Reds then tied it up in the top of the 9th, ruining Duke’s chance of starting the season 3-0, as Orlando Cabrera blasted a sacrifice fly to left center, scoring Chris Dickerson.

The Bucs responded, as they have regularly in this early 2010 campaign, in the bottom of the 9th in dramatic fashion. Lastings Milledge was the hero on this night, singling to center and bringing home Andrew McCutchen in the walk-off victory, evening the Pirates record at 5-5.

Saturday, April 17: For the 2nd straight game, the Pirates took the maximum number of outs to defeat the Cincinnati Reds, walking off the field after another late-inning victory.

The Reds jumped in front early on Daniel McCutchen, scoring in the first inning on Jonny Gomes’ sacrifice fly. The Pirates responded in the bottom of the first with a pair of RBI doubles by Lastings Milledge and Delwyn Young, and earned a 3-1 lead in the 2nd on Ronny Cedeno’s solo homer. After tying things up in the 3rd, Brandon Phillips doubled in the 5th, scoring Joey Votto and giving the Reds the lead, 4-3.

With the score still 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th and the bases loaded, Lastings Milledge drew a two-out walk, bringing home Ryan Church and tying the game at 4. Then Garrett Jones, after getting down 0-2 in the count, worked his way back to 3-2 before belting a blast to deep right center, giving the Pirates a 5-4 win, guaranteeing the club their second straight home-series victory.

Sunday, April 18: Jason Jaramillo took his turn as the hitting star of the day for the Pirates, going 2-3, including a huge 3-run double in the 4th, leading the Buccos to a 5-3 victory over the Reds.

Bucco starter Paul Maholm pitched a terrific game, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits through 6.2 innings, lowering his season ERA to 4.58. The Pirates did all of their scoring in 4th, which, in addition to Jaramillo’s double, also included a Ryan Church RBI single as well as Bobby Crosby getting hit by a pitch with the bases full, driving home Lastings Milledge. Octavio Dotel, despite giving up a 9th inning solo homerun from Jay Bruce, his second of the game, still tallied his 3rd save of the season.

After a difficult road trip, the Pirates returned home and could not have asked for a more satisfying series against the Cincinnati Reds. Of course, any baseball fan knows how significant division series are to a team’s success, and the Bucs got off to a fabulous start this season, sweeping the Reds and starting the year with a 3-0 record in the N.L. Central.

Probably the biggest story of the series was the pitching from both the starters and the bullpen. After getting obliterated in Arizona and San Francisco, the Pirates allowed just 10 runs in the 3-game set against the Reds, a drastic improvement over 27 and 20 they allowed in their previous two series. Zach Duke (Friday) and Paul Maholm (Sunday) pitched brilliantly, while Daniel McCutchen managed the game well on Saturday and kept the Pirates above water, giving the Buccos the chance they needed at the end to win the game. Timely hitting and patient at-bats from the entire lineup set the stage for the dramatics that have become a theme of regularity at PNC Park in this early 2010 season.

The Pirates’ next challenge are the hated (literally, after last year, hated) Milwaukee Brewers. While off to a bit of a slow start, the Brewers’ bats have seemed to reignite as they make their way to Pittsburgh for a 3 game set, Tuesday-Thursday. The Pirates find themselves at 7-5, in second place in the N.L. Central, with another HUGE division series ahead of them.

Zane and I were at PNC Park on Saturday and Sunday. Please check out our Fans From The Stands pre-game and post-game shows:

Saturday, April 17 Pregame

Saturday, April 18 Postgame

Sunday, April 18 Pregame

Sunday, April 18 Postgame

Current Record: 7-5

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. San Francisco Giants: April 12-14, 2010

The Pirates traveled to San Francisco to take on the Giants, a team who has basically owned them at their home stadium. Our battlin’ Buccos haven’t taken a game from them out west since September 2008, so it was an early welcomed challenge for our young, new look Pirates.

Monday, April 12: The Pirates’ pitching woes continued in Game 1 of the series against the Giants, who have owned the Bucs as of late. Monday night’s victim was Brian Burres, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis following word that scheduled starter Ross Olendorf’s back spasms forced him to sit and rest.

The nightmare for Burres began early, as he gave up 3 runs in the first winning off the bats of Mark DeRosa’s 2’run single and Bengie Molina’s RBI single. It didn’t get much better for Brian, as he only went 4 innings, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits, putting his teammates in too-big of a hole for any chance of a comeback. Walks continued to be an issue on Monday, as the four pitchers that took the mound for our Battlin’ Buccos, a total of 6 free passes were given to a Giants team that hits the face off the ball in their home ballpark. Bengie Molina demolished the Pirates’ pitching, going 4-4 with 1 HR and 4 RBI.

Aki Iwamura seems to have found his comfort zone with this lead-off role, going 2-5 with 2 RBI. Andy LaRoche also chipped with 2 hits, while Ronny Cedeno added an RBI-single. Unfortunately, that was the limit of the Buccos’ offense. The team’s big guns were virtually non-existent. Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, Lastings Milledge, and Ryan Doumit hit a combined 1/15, certainly not the recipe for a series-opening win.

Tuesday, April 13: For as bad as Garrett Jones was on Monday, he was that much better on Tuesday night, leading the Pirates on both the offensive and defensive end on their way to a 6-5 win in San Francisco. Jones went 3-4 with 2 RBI, including a run-scoring double in the first and an RBI single in the 8th. He ended the game with a dramatic leaping, game-saving, Pablo Sandoval-robbing snag in the 9th.

Aki Iwamura continued his hot-hitting streak, crushing a homer to dead-center in the 3rd on his way to another multi-hit evening. Andy LaRoche also had a long-ball in the 9th, while Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Doumit, and Ryan Church each added a hit. This was an important win for the Buccos, avoiding their first official losing streak of the season, and setting the stage for a big rubber match on Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday, April 14: So maybe somebody forgot to tell the Pirates that the game started in the afternoon, because they were certainly not ready to play when the first pitch came calling. The Pirates managed just 3 hits in the entire game, two from Lastings Milledge and one from Ronny Cedeno, while the rest of the lineup looked hungover and uninterested in competing, which looked all too familiar to last season.

Charlie Morton had his second straight horrid performance in as many starts to open the season. Wednesday’s line read 6 innings, 6 runs on 8 hits, adjusting his Season ERA to 13.50. Yuck. Relievers Jack Taschner and Joel Hanrahan made quality appearances in the 7th and 8th innings respectively, but the game had already been decided.

The Giants did their damage in two separate innings. Aubrey Huff smashed an inside-the-park homerun in the 2nd (which seems to happen to the Pirates more than any other team), followed by Eli Whiteside’s 3-run HR later in the inning. Aaron Rowand further sealed the deal in the 5th with a 2-run homer of his own, extending the lead to 6-0, which would eventually be the final score.

While the Pirates did avoid the sweep, it’s difficult to be satisfied with a series in which two games were completely dominated by the Buccos’ opponent. 2010 sees our struggles on the road continue, with the road trip ending at 2-4. Granted, the Diamondbacks and Giants have both owned the Pirates as of late, so to avoid a total series domination in each of these cities is a step in the right direction, but overall, this was not a satisfying roadtrip. In the six games on this trip, the Buccos were outscored 47-19…and we thought the pitching was our strength.

The Pirates are sure to be happy to return to PNC Park, starting tomorrow with a 3-game set against the Cincinnati Reds. Mr. Zane Heiple and myself will have coverage of the games on Saturday and Sunday, so be sure to check out the latest Fans From The Stands!

Current Record: 4-5

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: April 9-11, 2010

Our Battlin’ Buccos traveled out west for their first road trip of the 2010 season, kicking off their road schedule against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a 3-game series.

Friday, April 9: The Pirates’ Charlie Morton made his first start of the season in Game of the series against a Diamondbacks club that completely owned the Bucs a year ago. Unfortunately for Morton and the Buccos, he couldn’t even make it out of the 4th inning, giving up 8 runs on 9 hits, including a 2-run single to former Pirate Adam Laroche and a grand slam by Chris Young in the 3rd inning. To make matters worse, the Pirates’ bats were basically non-existent on Friday night. While they tallied 8 hits in the game, most of them were in 2-out situations or after the game had already been decided. Both Aki Iwamura and Garrett Jones slated 2 hits a-piece, while Jeff Clement had the Bucs’ only RBI, driving in Lastings Milledge in the 6th inning. Still, it was an embarrassing effort by the Pirates, and their losing ways against the Diamondbacks continued on Friday night with a final score of 9-1.

Saturday, April 10: Zach Duke made his second start of the season on Saturday night, and as was the case in the Pirates’ opener last Monday, he pitched a clean, good game. While it wasn’t a monumental performance, Duke picked up his 2nd win in as many tries in the 2nd game of this series, going 7 innings while giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, which tallies his ERA at 3.00. The bullpen, unlike the previous 2 games, did a solid job in relief. Jack Taschner, Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, and Octavio Dotel carried the Bucs through the final 2 innings, allowing just 1 run on 1 hit, and Dotel earned his first save of the season.

The Bucs got the offense going early against Dan Haren, the Diamondbacks’ ace, scoring 5 runs in the first 4 innings. Aki Iwamura continued his hot streak from the night before by belting a 2-run homerun in the 4th inning, while Jeff Clement hit a solo shot in 2nd inning. Lastings Milledge and Ronny Cedeno each added RBI’s in a 6-3 Pirates win, handing Haren his first loss of the season and evening the series, setting up a rubber-match on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, April 11: Daniel McCutchen’s first start of the 2010 season looked like this: 3.1 innings, 9 runs on 6 hits, with his current ERA sitting at an astronomical 24.30. Chris Snyder was one of the hitting stars of the day for the Diamondbacks, going 2-4 with a homerun and 5 RBI’s. The game was competitive until the 4th inning, when the Diamonds recorded an astounding 13 runs, which included a 3-run homer, a 2-run homer, a solo homer, a 2-run triple, and a 3-run double. Ugh, nauseas yet?

The Pirates’ bats faired relatively well, scoring 6 runs on 12 hits. Andrew McCutchen went 2-5, including his 1st homerun of the season, while Delwyn Young smashed a 2-run triple in the 3rd inning, which actually gave the Pirates a 2 run lead at that point in the game. Still, the knockout blow certainly came in the 4th inning, the it was obvious the Pirates closed up shop at that point.

So the Bucs lost the series in the first road trip of the season. Saturday evening’s performance was very uplifting, as the bats came alive early, while we had another productive start from Zach Duke and the bullpen cleaned up nicely. Unfortunately, the match-ups on Friday and Sunday were embarrassing, at best. Combined, the D-backs outscored the Pirates 27-13 in the three games, continuing their recent dominance of us. Still, from a fan’s perspective who has seen the Pirates tally losing records for 17 straight seasons, a considerable-goal is for the Pirates to win as many home series as they can, while avoiding as many sweeps on the road. Using this mentality, and their recent performances against the Diamondbacks, the result of this series could have been worse. But the shaky pitching to begin the season, not including Duke or Ross Olendorf, is cause for serious concern as they travel to San Francisco for a 3-game set against the Giants.

Check back here on Wednesday for another series update, right here on Fans From The Stands!

Current Record: 3-3

And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!

Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: April 5-8, 2010

The Pirates kicked off the 2010 season by winning the opening series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2 games to 1.

The Buccos pummeled the Dodgers’ pitching on opening day, notching 11 runs on 10 hits, and getting contributions from everyone on the team. Garrett Jones led the charge with 2 homeruns and 3 RBI’s, picking up right where he left off last season. Ryan Church had a huge 3 run double in the 5th, which helped break the game wide open. Doumit also went 2-4 with a 3-run homer in the 8th. Zach Duke, in limited action (5 innings), faired decently well, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. A sellout crowd, near 40,000, witnessed another strong showing by our Battlin’ Buccos on opening day.

Garrett Jones did it again in game 2 of the series, belting a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the 1st to give the Pirates an early 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, it would be his one and only hit of the evening. The Dodgers fought their way back on Ross Ohlendorf throughout the rest of the game, tying it up in the fifth inning, while the Pirates’ offense disappeared for the majority of the game. Then, in the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded, Ronny Cedeno hit a crisp liner over shortstop to drive in the winning run, giving the Pirates a fresh 2-0 record.

Unfortunately, the brooms didn’t come out on Thursday. The Dodgers looked like the team of last year, and…well…so did our beloved Buccos. Pittsburgh never really seemed motivated to play, and the Dodgers took advantage of that, inning by inning, on their way to a 10-2 rout at PNC Park. Craig Billingsley notched the win, while Paul Maholm took the loss. Ronnie Belliard was the hitting star of the day for Los Angeles, going 3-5 with 1 HR and 4 RBI’s.

Despite the disappointing and rather embarrassing loss yesterday, the Pirates (and their fans) should walk away from their season-opening series feeling pretty good about the situation. Garrett Jones is on fire to start the year, two of the three starting pitchers looked good, and they have gotten quality plate appearances and performances from the majority of their lineup. This has been a bright start, but there is still a lot of work ahead. The Buccos travel out west for an early season set against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a weekend series. We’ll get our first look at starters Charlie Morton and Daniel McCutchen. Drink some caffeine, stay up late and cheer on our beloved Buccos to another series win!

Check Out Fans From The Stands Pre-game and Post-game shows from Opening Day!

Fans From The Stands Pre-Game

Fans From The Stands Post-Game

Current Record: 2-1

And….As Always….Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Opening Day 2010!

Yes Pirates fans, it is that time of the year again. As the Penguins' regular season winds down and the Steelers sink further and further into the off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their season on Monday, April 5, 2010.

For understandable reasons, the "hype" surrounding this season isn't exactly at an all time high. Following the trades and roster moves from a year ago, this season's starting lineup is virtually foreign to the casual baseball fan. After all, the most familiar names of the organization's previous handful of years, including Laroche, McClouth, Morgan, Capps, Grabow, Sanchez, and Wilson, are all part of the past.

Now as we enter 2010, fans are formally introduced to the faces of Jeff Clement, Aki Iwamura, Bobby Crosby, and Ryan Church. Of course, fan-favorites Ryan Doumit, Andrew McCutchen, and Garrett Jones have returned to lead this young team into the new campaign.

Obviously there are many questions to be answered this season surrounding all aspects of the club, including the unfamiliar bullpen, clubhouse leadership, and starting pitching. Major League Baseball is a complex game with variety of factors that contribute to a team's success. There will be some highs and certainly some lows to this upcoming Pirates campaign. Regardless of the outcome, continue to check out Fans From The Stands for updates and analysis from each and every series, all season long.

Here's to a great season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Fans From The Stands! And as always...Let's Go Bucs!