The Pittsburgh Pirates were down 4-0 but then came back to beat the visiting Colorado Rockies by the score of 6-4.  The Pirates held the Rockies scoreless the final six innings of the game and that is what allowed them to keep chipping away and come away with the victory.

Luis Rivas was the big man at the plate for the Pirates as he finished 3-4 with three rbi.  The Pirates also got rbi from Jason Bay and Chris Gomez in the game.  It was great to see the offense as they just kept the pressure on the Rockies as the game went on.  This just might give the team more confidence at the plate and hopefully some more runs on the scoreboard in the future.

Pirates starting pitcher Yoslan Herrera lasted five innings as he gave up all four runs to the Rockies.  Herrera came away with a no decision in the game.  Jason Davis earned his first victory of the season and is now 1-0.  Tyler Yates tossed the ninth inning and came away with his first save of the season as well.

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The story of the night was Yoslan Herrera, pitching 6 innings of shutout baseball. Although his fastball never clocked above 90mph he was able to keep the ball down, change speeds and throw his breaking ball for strikes. Yoslan showed his ability to pitch, rather than throw by effectively using a fastball and curve. His fastball, having a nice late sinking action, induced a good number of groundouts, while he was throwing an “11-5” curveball for strikes early in the count and out of the zone as an out pitch.

The most productive outfield in baseball continued to impress, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and Nate McLouth all homered , Bay and Nady collected theirs together when they went back to back in the fourth for an early 4 run lead. Nate McLouth added his 2-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to cap the scoring at 9. Doug Mientkiewicz, Freddy Sanchez, and Ryan Doumit also chipped in 2 hits apiece with Doumit doubling in a run in the first. Overall it was a very consistent offensive output.

The Bullpen did a great job of closing out Yoslan Herrera’s first major league win, Denny Bautista came in in the seventh to strike out the side, Sean Burnett closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth striking out 2. Overall Bautista and Burnett combined for 3 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 5 without walking a batter.

Streaks: Xavier Nady continued his hot hitting bringing his hit streak to 13 games, Freddy Sanchez pushed his multi-hit streak to 4 games, while the offense scored 8 or more runs for the fourth straight game as well.

The Pirates continued their offensive onslaught today, winning 8-7 in Houston. The Pirates scored 8 or more runs for the third consecutive game while completing their first road sweep of the year. Even though today was a third straight Pirate win, Ian Snell is missing and someone else is throwing in his place. Pirate fans cannot help but wonder where we would be this season if Snell and Gorzelanny had continued the success that they had last year.

The Pirates opened in the first frame with a 4 spot thanks to a 2-run home run by Bay, his second in 3 days. Ian Snell kicked in an RBI single as well and things looked very promising for another runaway win for the Bucs. Unfortunately, Snell gave 3 runs right back in the bottom of the first, all starting with a walk of the leadoff batter.

The Pirates continued to score, getting a run in the second inning and the third, but the Astros kept pace with runs of their own in the second, third and the run in the fourth tied the score at 6. Ian Snell lasted only 3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits, walking 3, and striking out 6, while the bullpen consisting of Beam, Osoria, Yates and Grabow gave up only 2 runs over the next 5 innings. Marte, in his new role picked up his fifth save of the year.

The real star of the night was Doug Mientkiewicz, going 4 for 4 with a double and 2 runs batted in, while playing solid defense at third base. The rest of the offensive was provided by LaRoche, Nady, and Sanchez, who all had 2 hits apiece. The 2 hits for Sanchez gave him his third multi-hit game in a row, giving a small indication that adjustments he has made after the break is beginning to pay off.

Once again the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Houston Astros.  This time it was by the score of 8-2 on Tuesday evening as the Pirates went up 2-0 in the three game series.  The Pirates will now be going for the sweep on Wednesday.

Freddy Sanchez had a solo home run in the first inning to get the Pirates on the scoreboard.  Little man Nate McLouth then added a solo shot in the third inning and then Ryan Doumit went deep for a two run shot in the seven inning as the Pirates extended their lead.  Doumit finished the game with three rbi while Sanchez had two rbi.  Jason Bay and McLouth both contributed with one bri each.

Paul Maholm pitched a very good game as he went eight inning to pick up the win and improve his record to 7-6.  Maholm allowed five hits but only one run through his eight innings of action.  Sean Burnett tossed the ninth inning and gave up one hit and one run but it really didn’t matter as they Pirates had a big lead.

So how do you like the Pirates chances at a sweep on Wednesday?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

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The Pittsburgh Pirates erupted for seven runs in the top of the 9th inning and went on to beat the Houston Astros by the score of 9-3 on Monday night.  The Pirates went into the 9th inning trailing 3-2 but they were able to jump all over Astros closer Jose Valverde and knock him out of the game and take the lead and eventually win the game by six runs.

Jason Bay got things started with a solo home run in the 9th inning and then Adam LaRoche followed up with a two run shot to give the Pirates the lead.  Jack Wilson tacked on a two run single while Freddy Sanchez had a three run inside-the-park home run to score the final three runs of the game.

Sanchez led the team with four total rbi.  Bay and LaRoche both had two rbi while Wilson had one rbi to help out.  The offense was lucky to get going against Valverde and it was a huge win on the road for the team.

Tyler Yates who pitched the bottom of the eighth inning recorded the win and is now 4-3 on the year.  John Van Benschoten pitched the first five innings of the game and gave up six hits and and allowed the runs to score.  The Pirates pitching staff got lucky as the Astros left 30 runners on base and really should have scored more then three runs.  Oh well, the Pirates will take any breaks they can get!

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John Van Benschoten stepped out on the mound tonight with a chance to land himself in the Pirate rotation, all that was required was a quality outing. Everything started good with Van Benschoten getting the first two batters out,but then he hit Lance Berkman, walked Carlos Lee, and gave up a 3 run home run to Geoff Blum. After 3 straight singles and another run, Van Benschoten got the pitcher Brian Moehler to strike out to end the inning. Over the next 3 innings Van Benschoten didn’t give up anymore runs but he managed to walk 5 more batters. Those 6 walks to a team(Astros) that has the lowest amount of walks in baseball will tell the tale for John Van Benschoten, his control issues have not been solved. It is a shame that he cannot take advantage of these opportunities, and you wonder how many more he is going to get.

Nate McLouth padded his lead in doubles over Lance Berkman with 3 tonight, scoring 2 of the 4 runs. Jason Bay and Jack Wilson each kicked in doubles of their own, with Xavier Nady legging out a triple. On the night, the Pirates scored 4 runs on 8 hits, 6 of those hits went for extra bases. The Pirates were able to battle back and tie the game in the bottom of the 5th with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Freddy Sanchez, but that would be the last of the runs as the Astros bullpen shut down the Pirates for the rest of the night.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros had to sit through a 27 minute rain delay on Tuesday night but that didn’t bother the Pirates who came from behind to beat the Astros 4-3.  The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to shock the Astros and steal a victory from the divisional foes.

Adam LaRoche went 3-4 and had a solo home run in the 8th inning to get the Pirates comeback started.  Little man Nate McLouth then had a two run single that scored Jose Bautista and Luis Rivas for the tying and go ahead runs.  McLouth also had a solo home run in the fifth inning as he finished the game with three rbi.

John Grabow improved to 5-2 as he pitched two innings to pick up the win.  Damaso Marte pitched the ninth inning and picked up his third save of the season.  Starting pitcher Ian Snell only pitched 3 2/3 innings and gave up four hits and one run.  He was taken out of the game after sitting through the rain delay.  T.J. Beam gave up two quick runs after he came in for Snell when the game resumed.

Good come from behind win for the Pirates who are now 42-47 on the season.  Pirates Blog

The Pirates opened the evening with bad news about their closer, just another setback that this team will have to suffer through. In the late afternoon, Wednesday, Matt Capps was placed on the 15 day DL for a shoulder injury, possibly not to return for 8 weeks. With Capps out, concerns about the closing role were paramount but with the Pirates scoring 4 runs on 5 straight hits off of Reds rookie Darryl Thompson in the 1st inning, those concerns were temporarily shelved. John Van Benschoten returning to the Bucs from Indianapolis got the start and struggled with pitch placement, and was hit hard, giving up 2 home runs to Reds leadoff hitter Jay Bruce. Van Benschoten only lasted 2 and a 3rd, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits. He gave way to Denny Bautista, who locked down the reds for the next 3 innings, giving up 1 hit and striking out 2. That was a huge effort from Denny to bridge the team to the bullpen. The bullpen, consisting of Burnett, Grabow, and Yates completely shut down the Reds hitters allowing the Pirates to take full advantage of the 9 runs the offense produced

The Pirate offense has continued to produce with the most productive outfield in baseball continuing to live up to its billing. Nady led the squad tonight with 2 home runs out of 3 hits with 3 runs batted in, while Bay had 2 hits and Mclouth chimed in with his league leading 28th double. Even with the success of the outfield, tonight the offense was a combined effort, Doumit, Rivas, Laroche all had 2 hits apiece, Jose Bautista hit his 10th home run of the season knocking in 2. I was impressed with the patience of this team at the plate, and felt that the success of the offense is due to being very selective and capitalizing on mistake pitches.

Overall, it was an important series win in the light of the consistant bad fortunes of the Pirates pitching staff of late.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won a wild game on the road in Cincinnati as they beat the Reds 6-5 on Tuesday evening.  The Pirates and Reds played 11 innings and it came down to the final out before anyone could actually breath.  It was a back and forth game the entire game and the Pirates were lucky to come out on top if you ask me.

Jack Wilson and Nate McLouth delived rbi’s in the top of the 11th inning for the Pirates.  Wilson had a rbi triple while McLouth had a rbi single for what would be the game winning run.  Adam LaRoche, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jason Michaels, and Jose Bautista all had one rbi in the game to go along with Wilson’s and McLouth’s rbi’s.  Offense came through when they needed to and they were the mvp of this game.

Pirates starting pitcher Zach Duke tossed five innings and gave up six hits and one run to get the no decision.  Duke pitched pretty good but only lasted five innings.  Denny Bautista, John Grabow, and Tyler Yates all pitched in relief before Damaso Marte gave up two runs in the eighth inning.  Matt Capps gave up one run even though he picked up the win in the game to improve his record to 2-3.  Romulo Sanchez got his first save of the season as he pitched the bottom of the 11th inning.  Sanchez didn’t make it easy on himself however as he did give up one run in the inning.

In the end it was the Pirates coming out on top which is always good to see.  Now can they win the rubber match on Wednesday?  Pirates Blog