Pirates' Offense Absent Again As Marlins Complete Sweep

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The Pirates entered today’s game against the Marlins trying to avoid the series sweep, and the season sweep, by the N.L. East bottom-dwellers.  Florida was 5-0 against and the Bucs so far this year, and took the first pair of games this weekend at PNC Park by a combined score of 16-4. 

James McDonald took the hill for Pittsburgh looking for his tenth win of the season.  In a year that has had dramatic ups and downs, J-Mac has been arguably the most consistent Pirates’ starting pitcher. 

Unfortunately for McDonald and the Bucs, Javier Vazquez, along with the Marlins’ bullpen, pitched a strong game today, leading the Florida to a 4-1 victory to complete the sweep.

After a strong start to the game, J-Mac ran into trouble in the fifth inning, surrendering the only runs that the Marlins would score all day.  In fact, he never made it out of the inning, giving up four runs on five hits through 4.2 innings, and he was tagged for the loss, his eighth of the season.

Positives from the game?  The bullpen.  All in all, the Bucs used five relievers to throw just over four scoreless innings, which included strong innings from Tony Watson and Evan Meek.

The offense, for the second straight game, struggled to produce anything.  Jason Jaramillo had the lone RBI for the Bucs.  He went 2-2 on the day, while the rest of the team managed only four hits.  The top four in the Bucs’ lineup combined to hit 2-12, including hitless games from Andrew McCutchen and Alex Presley.  For Cutch, despite his 22 homeruns and 85 RBI’s, his batting average currently sits at a mediocre .266.

The Bucs finished 0-6 against a Marlins’ team this year that is right where they are in the record department.  This is certainly turning out to be a disastrous finish for the Pirates, who will finish up this home stand against the St. Louis Cardinals, who are continuing to play well as they make one last run for the postseason.

If they’re planning to turn things around, the Pirates will need to pick it up a TON offensively.  They scored a total of just five runs in the three games this weekend.

Record Vs. Marlins: 0-6

Record Vs. N.L. East: 12-22

Record At Home: 33-42

Overall Record: 66-80

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Sanchez Pitches Gem In Marlins Defeat Of Pirates

by Zane Heiple

Photo by AP

The Florida Marlins once again dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight in a 3-0 victory.  While a three run defeat does not sound bad, the fact that Anibal Sanchez threw a complete game one hitter against what should have been one of Pittsburgh’s better offensive lineups, has to make fans wonder of this team has truly turned the corner.

Pirates’ starter Jeff Locke started his first career Major League baseball game and was not great, but did manage to keep his team in the game over the five innings that he pitched.  All three runs that he gave up came in the in third inning.  Two of his four walks came in this inning, which allowed for John Buck to single home two runs.  Donnie Murphy would then hit into a sacrifice double play, but Gaby Sanchez would score before the third out of the inning occurred.   The Pirates bullpen of Chris Leroux, Chris Resop, and Jose Veras shut the Marlins down over the four innings that they worked.

The story of the night was the Pittsburgh offense or lack thereof.  The big names of Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Pedro Alvarez went a combined 1 for 9, with the only hit being a Walker double in the second inning.  Trade deadline acquisitions Ryan Ludwick and Derrek Lee would go 0 for 6 and youngster’s Alex Presley, Chase d’Arnaud, and Michael McKenry combined for a 0 for 9 night.

Pregame Show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muGEPR3Oa3U

It was sad to see another decent outing and only three runs scored by the other team defeat our Buccos.  It’s really hard to understand why the Marlins have the Pirates number this year.  These two teams have similar winning percentages and the Marlins have no real names or threats in their lineups.  While Sanchez is an above average pitcher, his 8-7 record and 3.64 ERA is nothing that the Pirates haven’t faced before.  I guess that’s why the game is played on the field and not on paper.

Postgame Show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFE1hVOMYVY

Pittsburgh will have one more shot of figuring out these fish from Miami in 2011 tomorrow at 1:35pm.  James McDonald will start for Pittsburgh, while Florida will counter with Javier Vazquez who comes in with a 9-11 record and a 4.29 ERA.

Record vs. Marlins:  0-5
Record vs. N.L. East:  12-21
Record at PNC Park:  33-41
Overall Record:  66-79

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Meet Your Bucs: Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick

by Zane Heiple

With the trade deadline passing on Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up two players that they hope will contribute towards making a run at the National League Central Division title in 2011.  On Saturday the Pirates acquired firstbaseman Derrek Lee from the Baltimore Orioles for minor league prospect Aaron Baker.  General Manager Neal Huntington was not done yet, as he made a move for Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick before the deadline had passed for a player to be named or cash considerations.

Photo by zimbio.com

Lee is a former first round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.  He would debut with the Padres on April 28, 1997.  In 1998 Derrek was traded to the Florida Marlins for pitcher Kevin Brown.  Lee would end up being a member of the Marlins 2003 World Series Championship team and win his first gold glove at first base that season.  After that World Series season he was traded again, this time to the Chicago Cubs.  His best overall season in a Chicago uniform came in 2005 when he would hit .335 with 46 HR and 107 RBI.  Even with his stats slowly dropping after this season, the Atlanta Braves sought him prior to the 2010 trade deadline where he was traded for three Braves pitching prospects.  In 2011 he was signed in the offseason by the Orioles.  In 85 games this year with the Orioles Lee is hitting .246 with 12 HR and 46 RBI.

Photo by zimbio.com

Ludwick was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 1999 MLB draft out of UNLV.  Prior to the 2002 season he was traded to the Texas Rangers where he would make his big league debut on June 5 of that season.  This season would be cut short when he fractured his hip and ultimately lead to him being traded to the Cleveland Indians during the 2003 season.  Between 03-06 Ryan would spend time between the Majors and the Minors before being dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007.  His best year in the Majors came with the Cardinals in 2008 when he batted .299 with 37 HR and 113 RBI.  During the 2010 season he was sent to the Padres in a three team deal.  One of the reasons why San Diego felt like he was expendable to the Pirates was because of his struggles at Petco Park.  In 2011 Ludwick is batting .238 with 11 HR and 64 RBI.

While both of these players are past their primes, I feel that their experience in playoff runs with be a huge upgrade for the Pirates clubhouse.  This will also add some much needed pop to the Pittsburgh offense.  It was also good to see that the Pirates were buyers at this years trade deadline and did not have to give up hardly any talent to do so.

Meet Your Bucs: Jason Grilli

By Zane Heiple

Photo by blog.syracuse.com

On Thursday the Pittsburgh Pirates signed veteran relief pitcher Jason Grilli.  In order for this move to be made they sent Pedro Ciriaco and Josh Harrison back to AAA Indianapolis.  The reason for two players to be sent down is so that either Ronny Cedeno or Steve Pearce can have a spot available when the Pirates start a three game set against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

The acquisition of Grilli should be looked at in one way and one way only, experience.  He is not a guy that’s going to be brought in during tight, late inning situations.  He will probably be used mainly as a matchup pitcher brought in to face right handed hitters.

He has not pitched in the Majors since 2009 and has spent all of the 2011 season pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, which are the AAA team of the Philadelphia Philles.  While with the IronPigs, he would post a 1.93 ERA in 32.1 innings.  He missed all of the 2010 season with a knee injury.

Jason was drafted by the New York Yankees, but chose to play college baseball at Seton Hall.  He was then drafted in the 1997 draft in the fourth round by the San Francisco Giants.  Grilli would make his debut in the Majors during the 2000 season with the Florida Marlins.  After spending the 2002-03 seasons in the Minor Leagues, he would play the 2004 season with the Chicago White Sox.  The next three years Jason would play with the Detroit Tigers.  For parts of the next two years he would play under Clint Hurdle in Colorado before signing with the Texas Rangers after being designated for assignment.  Through 2009 Jason has an 18-18 record with a 4.74 ERA and has 262 strikeouts to his record in the big leagues.

Hopefully this was just a small ripple before the Pirates front office makes a splash with the trade deadline soon approaching.  Grilli does have a lot in common with some of the current Bucco bullpen seeing he has been on the DL at one point in his career.  This move, at least to me, is one the Hurdle wanted to make since he did coach Grilli for parts of two seasons with the Rockies.

Stay tuned to www.fansfromthestands.com for more moves to the Pittsburgh Pirates 25-man roster.

Meet Your Bucs: Chris Leroux

by Zane Heiple

Photo by zimbio.com

With a slew of injuries, interleague play, and double headers, the Pittsburgh Pirates roster seems to change every day.  The most recent change came on Sunday when Chris Leroux was called up from AAA Indianapolis to take Brad Lincoln’s spot, after he pitched in game two of the twin bill against the Washington Nationals on Saturday.

Leroux is a former 2005 seventh round draft pick of the Florida Marlins.  He would join the Pirates after being claimed off waivers from the Marlins on September 13, 2010.  His Major League debut was in May of 2009 with the Marlins and actually was with the Pirates at the end of the 2010 season.  Prior to making his 2011 debut with the Buccos, Chris had played with the Altoona Curve and Indianapolis Indians appearing in a combined 29 games.  His stats in the minors include a 4-4 record with 46 strikeouts, 14 walks, and an ERA of 2.94.  He came out of the bullpen on Sunday to pitch one inning.

Chris Leroux’s time this season with the Pirates will depend on a variety of factors including future injuries, performance, and pitchers coming off the DL.  No matter how long he is with the big club, Leroux will play a part in keeping the Buccos in contention for the N.L. Central title.

Meet Your Bucs: Tim Wood

by Zane Heiple

On Friday, Evan Meek returned to the disabled list with tendinitis and a small tear in the labrum of his pitching shoulder.  He was placed on the 15-Day DL and has been quoted as saying that the injury will not require surgery.  To fill his spot on the roster, the Pittsburgh Pirates called up relief pitcher Tim Wood from the AAA Indianapolis Indians.

Tim was originally drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 44^th round of the 2002 draft.  He would then make his MLB debut on June 25, 2009.  After being released by the Marlins at the end of last year, he would begin spring training with the Washington Nationals, before being released and signing a minor league contract with Pittsburgh.  Before this year he has appeared in 44 games with a 1-1 record, an ERA of 4.18 and 1 save.  In the two days that he has been with the Buccos he has pitched in 2 innings allowing one hit and one walk.  Before coming up from Indianapolis, he had 13 saves and a 2.96 ERA, while not allowing a home run in 23 appearances out of the Indians bullpen.

While injuries have become common over the past few weeks for the Pirates, they continue to play well this year as a team.  Young arms like Wood will have to pitch at a high level if Pittsburgh hopes to break their streak of 18 straight losing seasons.  Stay tuned to Fans From The Stands for more roster updates throughout the 2011 season. 

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Marlins Hammer McDonald, Complete Sweep Of Pirates

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The Pirates limped their way into the final game against the Florida Marlins tonight, having been outscored 12-0 in the first pair of games of the series.  This guaranteed the Pirates’ first road series loss of the season, and they faced their first road series sweep as they took the field tonight.

Pittsburgh sent James McDonald to the hill, hoping to improve from his earlier starts this season.  If the Buccos were going to win the game tonight and avoid the sweep in the series, they would need a strong start from McDonald, to keep the game close throughout, and get timely hits with runners in scoring position.  None of these happened tonight for the Buccos, and the Marlins completed the sweep with a 9-5 victory in the final game of the series.

Unfortunately, this was McDonald’s worst start of the season thus far.  After a strong first inning, he ran into serious trouble in the second.  After a pair of walks and a single, the Marlins had the bases loaded as Scott Cousins walked to the plate, hammering a McDonald fastball over the wall in deep right center.  The grand slam was the first homerun of Cousins’ career, and gave the Marlins an early 4-1 lead.  Hanley Ramirez’s sacrifice ground out, scoring pitcher Chris Volstad, further padded the lead for the fish at 5-1.

The nightmare continued for McDonald the very next inning, as Brett Hayes crushed a three-run homer to deep left, breaking the game wide open, 8-1.  James lasted only three innings, giving up eight runs on six hits, while issuing three walks and giving up two homeruns, including a grand slam and a three-run shot.  McDonald fell to 0-2 with the loss, and his ERA sits at 10.12.

The Buccos attempted to get back into the game in the sixth inning.  After falling behind 9-2, Pedro Alvarez smacked a single down the line to third base, scoring Lyle Overbay.  Chris Snyder followed that up with a single of his own to left field, allowing Neil Walker to cross the plate.  With the bases loaded, Josh Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, scoring Garrett Jones and bringing the game to within four runs.  Rodriguez tallied his first Major League hit in the fifth inning, as well as his first RBI in the sixth.

Pittsburgh had a chance to make the game much tighter in the sixth with the bases loaded and only one out, but Matt Diaz’s ground ball up the middle was stabbed out of the air by Ramirez and flipped around the diamond for an inning-ending double play.  It would be the last time the Pirates threatened all night.

After being silent the first two games, the Pirates’ offense did come alive somewhat.  Alvarez hit his first homerun of the season in second inning.  The round-tripper was one of three hits for the Pirates’ third baseman.  Pedro was the only Bucco with a multi-hit evening.  Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, and Neil Walker were a combined 0-12 in the game.

This was a series to forget for the Pirates.  After a tremendous series in Cincinnati, the Buccos had set themselves up for another successful road trip and a chance to build on their impressive record away from PNC Park.  Unfortunately, starting pitching let them down in this three-game series, something that we were all worried about coming into the season.  The Marlins outscored the Pirates 21-5 in the three games.

With the loss, the Pirates fell to 8-11 on the season.  They return to Pittsburgh tomorrow for the start of a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.  The home stand will also feature a series against the World Champion San Francisco Giants next week.  Jeff Karstens is expected to make the start tomorrow against the Nationals.

Record Vs. Marlins: 0-3

Record Vs. N.L. East: 0-3

Record On The Road: 7-6

Overall Record: 8-11

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Morton Gives Up Six Runs, Marlins Blank Bucs Again

By Zane Heiple

Photo Credit: AP

Someone on the Pirates’ equipment staff may want to go back to the airport and check the lost and found for the Buccos’ offense.  For the second night in a row, the Marlins’ pitching staff blanked Pittsburgh on their way to a 6-0 win. 

Pirates’ fans had reason for hope tonight with Charlie Morton taking the bump tonight.  Unfortunately, a rough night for him and lack of offense gave the Buccos no chance at victory tonight.  Morton went five innings, allowing six runs on ten hits and three walks, while striking out six. 

Even if Morton would have only given up one run, it would have been enough since the offense failed to score.  The Pirates’ bats only mustered five hits in thirty plate appearances.

Florida scored four runs in the second inning.  All of these runs came with two outs.  Singles by John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio, along with a walk to Ricky Nolasco, loaded the bases.  Chris Coghlan brought two runs home with a single.  Omar Infante singled to center to make it 3-0.  Hanley Ramirez finished the scoring for the inning with a single to right field. 

In the third, Bonifacio singled home Greg Dobbs.  Coghlan collected his third RBI of the night two batters later with a single to Garrett Jones.

The only bright side for Pittsburgh, for the second night in a row, was their bullpen.  Chris Resop and Evan Meek combined to pitch three scoreless innings.  Resop struck out three batters and Meek gave up only one hit.

The Pirates will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow with James McDonald taking the ball, who is looking to regain his form from the latter part of the 2010 season.  First pitch is scheduled to be at 7:10pm.

Andrew McCutchen was out of the lineup tonight to deal with family matters.  It is unknown if he will rejoin the team before tomorrow’s first pitch.

Record Vs. Marlins: 0-2

Record Vs. N.L. East: 0-2

Record On The Road: 7-5

Overall Record: 8-10

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Pirates Dominated By Johnson, Shutout By Marlins

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: AP

Following their best series of this young 2011 season against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates traveled south to take on the Florida Marlins for a three game series.  The Buccos were looking to continue their success on the road this season, where they have an impressive 7-3 record.  Pittsburgh sent Paul Maholm to the hill to face off against the Marlins' ace Josh Johnson.

One night after scoring nine runs on the Reds’ pitching staff, Pittsburgh could barely muster a couple of hits against Johnson.  The sturdy right-hander pitched seven flawless innings, giving up only two hits and one walk, while striking out nine Buccos, lowering his miniscule ERA to just 1.00 for the season.  Garrett Jones’ blast off the wall and John Bowker’s pinch-hit single were the only blemishes on Johnson’s card tonight, but neither led to any type of threat for the Pirates.

Johnson also helped his own cause tonight, getting things rolling in the second inning.  His poke single to shallow right center scored Mike Stanton and John Buck, giving the Marlins a 2-0 advantage.

The Marlins put the game away in the fourth inning with four more runs on Maholm.  Buck doubled home Stanton, and later scored when Hanley Ramirez drew a bases loaded walk.  Gaby Sanchez’s broken bat dribbler scored two more runs, giving Florida a 6-0 lead, which would be the final.

Maholm once again didn’t have his best stuff tonight.  While he didn’t pitch a horrible game, he got himself into trouble early and, without the shutdown arm strength available in his arsenal, he wasn’t able to get out of it cleanly.  He lasted only 3.2 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits, while walking three.  His ERA sits at 4.30, and he is now 0-3 for the season.

On a brighter note, the Pirates’ bullpen came in and pitched very well in the losing effort.  Mike Crotta, Daniel McCutchen, and Joe Beimel each threw scoreless ball to close out the game.

This was one of those games where the opposing pitcher was just too good.  Johnson is the type of pitcher who is capable of completely shutting down an offense, and that’s exactly what he did tonight.  The Pirates’ starting lineup was just 1-26 tonight, with the only hit coming from Jones.  Pedro Alvarez and Ronny Cedeno were both 0-3 tonight, with their averages dropping to .183 and .180 respectively.

The Buccos will look to get back on the winning track tomorrow evening against the Marlins.  Pittsburgh will send Charlie Morton to the mound, coming off a superb effort last Friday when he pitched a complete game against the Reds.  Rick Nolasco will make the start for the Marlins.

Record Vs. Marlins: 0-1

Record Vs. N.L. East: 0-1

Record On The Road: 7-4

Overall Record: 8-9

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Offense Explodes For Nine More Runs, Pirates Take Three Of Four From Reds

By Zane Heiple

Photo Credit: AP

The Pittsburgh Pirates won their seventh road game and third road series of the year when they defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the final score of 9-3 on Monday night.

Kevin Correia pitched a great game, going nin innings, allowing two earned runs on fourt hits, while striking out five and walking two.  This was the second time this series that a Pirates’ starter went the distance, after Charlie Morton on Friday night. 

Correia’s only mistake of the night came in the ninth when he gave up a two-run home run to Chris Heisey.  The other run of the night occurred when Steve Pearce made a throwing error to first base, which allowed Scott Rolen to score from third.

The Pirates’ offense struck early for the second game in a row.  Jose Tabata scored on a Neil Walker single.  Pearce singled home Matt Diaz, which was followed up by Chris Snyder singling home Walker. The Buccos held a 3-0 lead before the Reds even came to bat.

Pittsburgh then scored five runs in the fourth inning to seal the game.  Andrew McCutchen doubled home Snyder and Ronny Cedeno to give the Pirates a 5-1 lead.  Diaz and Pearce singled home runs before Lyle Overbay doubled home the final run of the inning.  The Bucco bats added another run in the fifth when Diaz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

This was an interesting series for the Pirates.  The dominated two games, won a nail biter, and got killed on Saturday.  What we can take away from this may be obvious, but when the Pirates receive great pitching, defense, and offense, they can compete with any team in the Majors.  If one of these aspects falters, then they are in for a dogfight, and I’m sure if you have followed the team the past 18 years, you know what happens when two of the three aspects forget to leave the locker room.

The Pirates will head to Miami for a three-game set with the Florida Marlins.  I think it’s safe to consider the Marlins an equal foe for the Buccos, so this should be a good series.  Paul Maholm will get the start in game one with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10pm.

Record Vs. Reds: 3-1

Record Vs. N.L. Central: 7-5

Record On The Road: 7-3

Overall Record: 8-8

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!