Finally the Pittsburgh Pirates have done something this off season! On Sunday they announced that they reached a three year extension with Ryan Doumit. The deal will buy out Doumit’s arbitration years so in the end it should be a very good deal for the Pirates.

The deal is calling for three years and an option on a fourth year. Terms were not disclosed but it is expected to be around $20 million for the four years.

Doumit, hit .318/.357/.501 in 465 plate appearances in 2008. His .858 OPS ranks him alongside catchers such as Joe Mauer and Geovany Soto.

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Starting pitcher Jason Davis was rocked on Wednesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals put a butt kicking on the Pirates. Davis didn’t last long in the game as he gave up nine hits and eight runs in only 3 2/3 innings. The Pirates were going for the short two game sweep but the Cardinals sure had other ideas.

Besides Davis giving up eight runs, Craig Hansen was charged with three hits and three runs over two innigs of action. Romulo Sanchez was the only Pirates pitcher to throw that did not allow a run to score.

At the plate, it was only two runs for the Pirates offense and they both came in the third inning. Ryan Doumit homered as Nyjer Morgan scored on the long blast. It was Doumit’s 13th home run of the season.

The Pirates will now be off on Thursday and then start up a series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

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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.

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 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

The Pittsburgh Pirates were able to come away with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.  The Pirates scored single runs in the first, fifth, and seventh innings of the games and then held off the Nationals late in the game.

Ian Snell picked up his third win of the season and is now 3-6.  Snell threw six innings while giving up six hits and one run.  Snell struckout six batters and walked three in his six innings of action.  Damaso Marte, Tyler Yates, and Matt Capps all threw one inning of scoreless relief after Snell left the game.  Capps earned his 16th save of the season in the game.

Jason Bay got the scoring started for the Pirates in the first inning when he doubled and scored Nate McLouth.  Onto the fifth inning where Ryan Doumit hit a solo home run for the Pirates second run.  In the seventh inning it was Xavier Nady who singled to right field to score Freddy Sanchez.

Good win for the Pirates who will go for the series win on Thursday against the Nationals.  What do you think Pirates fans?  Do they get the series win?

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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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