What an exciting win the for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they score four runs in the tenth inning to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4.  The Pirates are now only a game under .500 as their season record stands at 19-20.

Ronny Paulino had a rbi single to score the first run in the tenth inning and then Adam LaRoche doubled with the bases loaded to score three more runs.  Paulino was filling in for the injured Ryan Doumit who left the game in the first inning with a left thumb injury.

Nate McLouth got the Pirates on the scoreboard in the fourth inning with a two run home run.  All the other Pirates runs came in the seventh inning when Paulino had his first rbi double, and Jose Bautista and a rbi single.

Marino Salas picked up the win which was his first of the season.  Phil Dumatrait pitched six innings to start the game for the Pirates and he gave up four hits and three runs.  Dumatrait gave up a three run home run to Troy Glaus to account for all three runs.  John Grabow also gave up a run on a solo home run to Albert Pujols.

Good win for the Pirates as they inch closer and closer to the top of the standings.  Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves split a day double header on Monday as the Pirats won the first game 5-0 and then lost the second game 8-1.  The Pirates were outhit in both games, the only difference was starting pitching in the first game was good unlike in the second game.

Zach Duke tossed six innings of five hit ball in the first game to pick up the win.  With the victory Duke is now 2-2 on the season.  Damaso Marte pitched two innings while Sean Burnett pitched one inning to complete the shutout of the Braves.

Freddy Sanchez had a bases loaded double in the fifth inning that got he Pirates on the board and provided all the runs they would end up needed to win.  Adam LaRoche connected on a two run home run in the eighth inning to provide two insurance runs for the Pirates.

Game two was a totally different story for the Pirates however.  They were limited to only five hits once again, but none of the hits were with runners in scoring position etc so they only put one run up on the board.

The only run for the Pirates came in the first inning when Ryan Doumit was safe at first on a error and Doug Mientkiewicz scored.

John Van Benschoten took the loss for the Pirates as he got rocked for nine hits and seven runs in only four innings of action.  Franquelis Osoria pitched the next four innings and gave up one run.

After the double header, the Pirates are now 18-20 on the season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates completed a three game sweep of the San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon with a 5-4 win.  The Giants had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning but the Pirates held on for the win which improved their record to 15-19 on the season.

Starting pitcher Paul Maholm lasted six innings as he gave up six hits and four runs.  Franquelis Osoria, John Grabow, Tyler Yates, and Matt Capps all pitched in relief of Maholm and did a great job.   The Pirates bullpen only gave up two hits as they pitched three innings.

Ryan Doumit led the Pirates with two rbi in the game.  Nate McLouth, Jason Bay, and Adam LaRoche all had one RBI in the game as well.  Some nice production up and down the lineup for the Pirates.

The Pirates are now 15-19 on the season after the three game sweep of the Giants.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates brought out the whoppin sticks as they beat the San Francisco Giants 12-6 on Tuesday night.  The Pirates hit three home runs in the rout of the Giants.

Nate McLouth connected for two home runs and three RBI to lead the Pirates at the plate.  Adam LaRoche had the other home run and two RBI in the game.  Freddy Sanchez and Xavier Nady also had two RBI each in the game.  Ryan Doumit, Jose Bautista, and Chris Gomez all had one RBI in the game.

Zach Duke picked up his first win of the season as he tossed 7 1/3 innings.  Duke gave up eight hits and three runs in the game.  Sean Burnett pitched 2/3’s of an inning allowed two runs while Matt Capps gave up one run in one inning of action.

It was a good win for the Pirates overall but the pitching staff needs to pitch better and not give up six runs.  Usually if the Pirates give up six runs they are going to lose the ballgame.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a close game game in ten innings to the New York Mets on Tuesday night.  It was the Mets who came out on top in the game by the score of 5-4.  The Pirates had scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game, but could never push across the go ahead run.

John Van Benschoten gave up the game winning single to David Wright in the tenth inning.  Van Benschoten took the loss which was his first of the season.  Starting pitcher Ian Snell only pitched 4.1 inning as he gave up five hits and four early runs.  The Pirates bullpen did a great job until Van Benschoten came in.

Nate McLouth got the Pirates on the scoreboard first when he took Johan Santana deep for his seventh home run of the season.  Jason Bay also took Santana deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Freddy Sanchez and Adam LaRoche also had one RBI each in the game.

The Pirates are now 10-16 on the season.  Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping to sweet the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Cardinals had other thoughts as they beat the Pirates 6-2 on Thursday night.  The Pirates were only able to get six hits in the game, and were shut down by Joel Pineiro.

Adam LaRoche was the only Pirates player to record an RBI in the game.  LaRoche doubled in the fourth inning to score Ryan Doumit.

Tom Gorzelanny took the loss for the Pirates as he tossed five innings and gave up three runs on only two hits.  What hurt Gorzelanny was seven walks.  He just couldn’t find the strikezone all night long.  Phil Dumatrait came in and pitched two innings while giving up two runs.  Franquelis Osoria also pitched two inning and gave up one run.

The Pirates will try to get back on the winning track Friday when they start a series with the Phillies.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates got behind early and were never able to come back against the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Dodgers won 8-1.  Bad starting pitching and no hitting really hurt the Pirates on Wednesday night.  I don’t think Pirates are going to turn things around anytime soon either.

Paul Maholm took the loss for the Pirates and his record dropped to 0-2.  Maholm pitched five innings and gave up six runs (four earned) and 11 hits.  Franquelis Osoria pitched two innings in relief of Maholm and he gave up another two earned runs.  Damaso Marte came in to pitch scoreless ninth inniing to finish the game.

Adam LaRoche was the only Pirates player to record an RBI.  LaRoche had a RBI single in the sixth inning.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates battled back in the 9th and 14th innings, but were not able to do it in the 15th inning as the Chicago Cubs went onto win 6-4.  It was a pretty bad game for he Pirates up until the 8th inning as they were only able to get one hit off of Cubs starter Ryan Dempster.  From the 8th inning on though, the Pirates hit the ball a little better.

Going into the bottom of the 9th the Pirates were down one run, and then Jason Bay took a Kerry Wood fastball deep and over the all for a game tieying home run.  The teams would not score again until the 14th inning when the Pirates were down by two runs and Adam LaRoche hit a two-run home run to tie the game once again.  But in the 15th inning, the Pirates were not able to answer the Cubs two runs in the top of the inning and lost the ballgame 6-4.

The Pirates battled but they just didn’t have enough.  Anytime you only have one hit going into the 8th inning, more then likely you are going to lose the game.  The Pirates got lucky that the even made it to extra innings and had a chance to win.

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Adam LaRoche just got a hefty pay raise from the Pittsburgh Pirates.  LaRoche who earned a little over $3 million last year, just agreed on a new one year contract with the Pirates for $5 million.  Yes you read that right, $5 million!

I think that is about 2 million more then he is worth to be honest.  LaRoche definaly hasn’t lived up to all the hype when he came over to the Pirates.

Do you all agree with me?  Bad move my the management signing LaRoche for $5 million?