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

Post info: By Cliff on July 1st, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talk about a big time blow out loss for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they were beat Tuesday evening 16-5 by the Chicago White Sox.  All four Pirates pitchers in the game gave up atleast one run while three of them gave up aleast three or more runs!  Four home runs by the White Sox sure didn’t help either.

Starting pitcher Ian Snell dropped to 3-7 on the season as he took the loss for the Pirates.  Snell pitched four innings and gave up nine hits, seven runs, and walked six batters.  Now that is a terrible job by the starting pitcher!

Franquelis Osoria came in and pitched two innings while giving up four hits and three runs including a home run.  Marino Salas had a terrible outing after Osoria left the game as he only recorded two outs and gave up two home runs and five runs.  Sean Burnett wanted his turn and got it as he pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one run.  Terrible outing by all four Pirates pitchers.

Jason Michaels led the Pirates at the plate with two rbi.  Both runs scored in the second inning when he had a two run double.  Jose Bautista hit a solo home run to account for his rbi while Nate McLouth and Doug Mientkiewicz also had one rbi each in the game.

I wouldn’t expect another blow out that bad on Wednesday when the two teams face off again.  Atleast I hope it is a little bit closer lol.

Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 18th, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates were able to take two out of three games against the Washington Nationals as they won 7-5 on Thursday afternoon.  The Pirates were able to put a lot of pressure on the Nationals early in the game and knocked Nationals starting pitcher Jason Bergmann out after just a little over four innings pitched.

Ryan Doumit hit his ninth home run of the season in the first inning to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.  Doumit ended up leading the Pirates at the plate with three rbi.  After Doumit’s three rbi, four different Pirates players had one rbi in the game.  Nate McLouth, Jason Bay, Tom Gorzelanny, and Jason Michaels all had one rbi in the game.

Gorzelanny ended up getting the victory (his fifth) after throwing 5 2/3 innings.  Gorzelanny gave up six hits and thre runs while striking out six batters and walking three.  Not too bad of an outing, but it would have been nice to see him throw longer in the game and cut down on the walks.

One cause of concern would be the Pirates Bullpen as they gave up five hits and two runs.  Sean Burnett pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed two hits and one run.  Franquelis Osoria then pitched 1 2/3 innings as he gave up another run.  Tyler Yates and Damaso Marte were finally able to pitch without giving up a run.

The Pirates will now travel down to Baltimore to take on the Orioles in a three game weekend series that begins on Friday.  Orioles Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 12th, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates got by the Houston Astros by the score of 4-3 on Thursday evening.  The Pirates got off to a good start in the first inning with three runs, and then scored another run in fifth inning and made sure those were enough runs even though things got crazy in the ninth inning.

With the Pirates up 4-3 in the ninth inning with two outs, the Astros had runners on third and first but Matt Capps was finally able to record the final out when Hunter Pence flied out to center.  Capps was shaky but did his job and picked up his 13th save of the season.

Paul Maholm had a great start as he pitched eight innings to pick up the win.  Maholm is now 4-5 on the season after earning the victory.  Maholm allowed eight hits but only three runs scored in the game.

Jason Michaels had a three run home run in the first inning and than Jason Bay had a rbi triple in the fifth inning to account for all four of the Pirates runs.

Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 5th, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates were dead at the plate against St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright for the first seven innings but then they exploded for four runs in the seventh inning as they went on to beat the Cardinals 5-4.

Jason Michaels provided the big hit in the seventh inning as he smoked a grand slam to get the Pirates on the scoreboard.  Jason Bay then added on the game winning run in the eighth inning with a rbi single.

Franquelis Osoria ended up getting the win in the game while Matt Capps recorded his 11th save of the season.  Pirates starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and four runs to get a no decision.  Lanny was lucky that he didn’t get a loss in the game, he should thank the offense for scoring some runs late in the game.

It was a good win for the Pirates any way you look at it.  They are now three games under .500 at 27-30 and need to keep on winning.  Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 2nd, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates had no problems on Thursday night as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 7-1.  The Pirates had good innings in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as they scored six of the the runs in the middle of the game.

Xavier Nady and Jason Bay both hit home runs for the Pirates.  Nady a solo shot in the fifth inning, and Bay a two run shot in the fourth inning.  Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, and Jason Michaels all had one rbi in the game for the Pirates.  Everyone did a pretty good job keeping the pressure on the Reds pitching staff.

Phil Dumatrait pitched seven innings and only allowed two hits and one run as he picked up the win.  Dumatrait is now on the season.  John Grabow pitched a scoreless ninth before Matt Capps pitched the ninth inning. Capps did give up a solo home run to Brandon Phillips in the ninth inning.

In the end it was a good productive win for the Pirates as the improved their record to 25-28.

Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 29th, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates were out hit by the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night, but on the part on the scoreboard that mattered the Pirates were ahead 8-4 at the end of the game.  Nice win for the Pirates as they avoided the three game sweep.

Jason Bay hit a two run home run and Xavier Nady had a solo home run to lead the Pirates at the plate.  Bay and Chris Gomez both had two rbi in the game to lead the team.  Nady, Raul Chavez, and Tom Gorzelanny all had a rbi in the game.

Gorzelanny ended up getting the win and improving to 4-4 on the season.  He tossed five innings and allowed eight hits but only two runs.  Damaso Marte and John Grabow both gave up one run in relief.

Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 22nd, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pittsburgh Pirates scored four runs in the eighth inning and then three more in the ninth inning as they came back to beat the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 11-5.  Wow what a come back for the Pirates against the Cardinals.  That is a great way to end a game as they head to Chicago for a weekend series.

Jason Bay had a big three run home run in the eighth inning to spark the Pirates rally.  Nate McLouth also had a home run in the in the first inning that got the Pirates on the scoreboard.  Bay led the Pirates with three rbi while Freddy Sanchez and Jason Michaels both had two rbi.  Chris Gomez, Raul Chavez, and McLouth all had one rbi in the game.

Pirates starting pitcher Ian Snell only lasted four innings as he gave up eleven hits and five runs.  He got lucky to get off the hook as the Pirates came back to win the game.  John Grabow ended up getting the win as he pitched in relief.  Grabow is now 3-1 on the season.

Pirates Blog Fans, we are looking for  Pirates fan that wants to blog and write game recaps for Pirates Homeplate.  If you are interested, please click the contact us link at the top of the blog to email us!

Pirates Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 15th, 2008
Comments: Be the First to Comment »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------