Burres Earns First Victory Of Season, Pirates Beat Cubs 3-1

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: AP

Pittsburgh entered this afternoon’s game against the Chicago Cubs at historic Wrigley Field on a five-game losing streak, including a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros.  Hard times have certainly fallen on the Pirates and their fans, as the team sat 13 games under .500 entering today’s game.  Of course, there wasn’t a better place for the Pirates to snap the streak than at Wrigley, where the Bucs are 9-6 in the past two seasons at the Cubs’ ballpark.

The Pirates’ success continued today in Chicago, as Brian Burres pitched 5.1 quality innings and the bullpen held the Cubs in check, helping the Bucs earn a 3-1 victory in the opening game of the series.

Alex Presley went 3-4 with two triples, and Josh Harrison, Jose Tabata, and Garrett Jones contributed an RBI each as the Pirates outplayed Chicago in front of another huge Wrigley crowd of over 35,000.

This game featured a lot of missed opportunities, mental errors, and stranded base-runners, which is something we should expect from two teams whose combined record is 32 games under .500.

Burres pitched a solid game for Pittsburgh today, giving up one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts through his 5.1 innings of work.  The Cubs certainly made him work for it, though, as Burres threw 95 pitches (61 strikes) without getting out of the sixth inning, but he still was able to limit the Cubs to just one run.

The Pirates’ bullpen was equally as effective, pitching a total of 3.2 innings without surrendering a single hit.  Joel Hanrahan set the Cubs down in order in the ninth to secure the win for Pittsburgh while tallying his 33^rd save of the season.

Carlos Pena’s solo homerun to lead off the second inning gave the Cubs the early lead.  Pena, of course, was one of the players that was rumored to be on the Pirates’ radar as they neared the trade deadline back in July.  The homerun in the second was his 25^th of the season, and was Burres’s only major blemish of the afternoon.

The Pirates took the lead away from the Cubs in the third inning.  Presley led off the inning with a triple off the wall in right, and scored on Harrison’s RBI single.  After Neil Walker reached on a fielder’s choice, Jones hammered a double off the wall in right, scoring Walker and giving the Pirates a 2-1 victory.

After a few scoreless innings from both clubs, Presley got things started again in the seventh inning with a one-out triple, his second of the game, down the first base line.  Tabata’s two-out, RBI single scored Presley, adding to the Pirates' lead.  Tabata was originally held out of the lineup today, but after Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch on the hand in the first inning, Clint Hurdle pulled Cutch out and replaced him with Tabata.

This was a nice start to the weekend series for the Pirates, who were in desperate need of a win.  They continue to play well in Chicago, and hopefully they can play well the rest of this series, paying back the Cubbies for the four-game sweep back in August at PNC Park.

The two teams will clash again tomorrow afternoon in game two of the series.  Ross Ohlendorf is scheduled to start for the Bucs against the Cubs’ Casey Coleman.

Record Vs. Cubs: 7-7

Record Vs. N.L. Central: 32-34

Record On The Road: 32-37

Overall Record: 63-75

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Meet Your Bucs: Brian Burres

by Zane Heiple

Photo by zimbio.com

With injuries aplenty and rosters expanding in September, the Pittsburgh Pirates have called up Brian Burres to start today’s game against the Chicago Cubs.  Burres is former 31^st round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2000.  He came to the Pirates after being granted free agency from the Toronto Blue Jays in October of 2009. 

In 2010 he appeared in twenty games for the Buccos and started thirteen of them.  During those twenty games, he compiled a 4-5 record, an ERA of 4.99 with 45 K’s and 34 walks.  For his career, which also included time with the Baltimore Orioles, he is 17-25 with a 5.83 ERA, 214 strikeouts and 156 walks.

He has spent the 2011 season with the Indianapolis Indians where he has compiled a 5-9 record and a 4.66 ERA.  Along with that he has struck out 95 batters, while walking 45.  Burress has started in 23 of the 25 games he has appeared in.

One would think that with the recent woes of the ball club, the Pirates should bring up other players to give them an opportunity to gain some Major League experience to show their worth heading into the 2012 season.  Be sure to check back to www.fansfromthestands.com for the latest news on our Battlin Buccos.

Pirates' Bullpen Continues To Take Shape As Team Cuts Burres

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pirates’ bullpen situation, which a week ago looked to be completely wide open, is really beginning to take shape with the team’s management cutting and demoting players in the past few days. 

The most notable move occurred just this morning when Brian Burres was informed that he had been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.  Burres didn’t allow a run in four of his five outings this spring, seemed to have a legitimate shot to make the team, but one day after three other relievers were cut from the big club, it was manager Clint Hurdle’s duty to once again make another difficult decision.

While Burres certainly wasn’t one of the best arms in the clubhouse, he provided two elements that Pirates’ pitchers need when it comes to the regular season.  First of all, he’s a lefty, which the team is in lack of, especially considering the injury to Joe Beimel.  But he’s also consistently mediocre, meaning the team knows what they’re going to get from him, day in and day out.  He’s capable of putting together whatever is asked of him, whether it be an emergency start in replace of an injured starter, and he’s also able to provide up to three to four innings of middle relief.  It all depends on the situation, but Burres seemed to give the pitching staff a lot more flexibility.

Of course, Burres will start for Indianapolis in the even the Buccos need a spot starter.  It appears as though Jeff Karstens will be the one to step in for James McDonald if he’s not ready for the start of the regular season. 

With the demotion of Burres, the Pirates’ bullpen situation is looking clearer, with a few decisions still left to be made.  There are two open spots available, with three relievers remaining to fill them.  Garrett Olson is more than likely going to occupy one of those vacancies, leaving the last bullpen seat to be filled by either Chris Leroux or Mike Crotta.  Leroux has done nothing that has impressed me thus far in the spring, so hopefully Crotta is chosen to start the regular season in Pittsburgh.

Stay tuned to Fans From The Stands for all of the breaking news surrounding our battlin’ Buccos.

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

No Offensive Support For Maholm, Pirates Fall To Twins

By Zane Heiple

Photo Credit: AP

The Pirates were back in Brandenton today to take on the Minnesota Twins.  The two teams had split their previous two meetings of the spring.  Paul Maholm started the game for the Buccos today and Brian Duensing was his mound opponent for Minnesota.  Coming into today’s game, Maholm had worked 14 innings, increasing his workload by one inning each time.

Pittsburgh hit the scoreboard first in the second inning.  Jason Jaramillo singled to left field, scoring Matt Diaz to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.  Minnesota answered an inning later on a Joe Mauer single that scored Matt Tolbert.  Once again the Pirates gave up a run with two outs and an error on a pick-off attempt by Maholm, allowing Tolbert to get into scoring position. 

The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth when Delmon Young grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, scoring Denard Span from third base.

Maholm lasted six innings today, giving up two runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks.  It was another solid start for Paul today.  It would be nice for him to get his hit total down when the season starts, but he is the type of pitcher who is going to have the batters make contact and rely on his defense to make the outs.

Jose Veras and Scott Olsen came into the game for the Pirates in the seventh and eighth innings respectively.  Combined, the pitchers gave up on hit and had one strikeout.  Minnesota collected two more runs in the ninth off of pitcher Anthony Claggett.  The Pirates dropped the game, 4-1, when they were unable to rally in the bottom of the ninth.

This was one of those games we, as Pirates fans, are used to seeing:  a decent pitching performance from the starter and a lack of offense that led to the loss.  Today’s defeat dropped the Buccos to 10-15 this spring.  Pittsburgh is off tomorrow as they will welcome the Houston Astros to town for their second and final matchup of the spring on Wednesday.  Brian Burress is scheduled to take the hill for the Pirates.

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!