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.

Post info: By LSchnepp on July 25th, 2008
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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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Post info: By Cliff on June 11th, 2008
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The Pittsburgh Pirates got in the head of Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Randy Johnson and the Pirates went on to defeat the Diamondbacks by the score of 5-3.  Doug Mientkiewicz slowly got into the batters box very slowly against Johnson and that really upset the ”Big Unit”.  Johnson started walking towards home plate as both benches emptied but nothing came of the altercation except Johnson being upset.

With the Big Unit upset, the Pirates took full advantage of his wildness on the mound.  Taking three walks five walks and error by Johnson they were able to score some runs and win for the second game in a row.

Luis Rivas had two rbi for the Pirates while Jack Wilson, Xavier Nady, and Jose Bautista all had one rbi in the game.  Good job by the offense putting up five runs in the game.

On the mound it was Zach Duke throwing six inning and picking up the win as he improved to 4-4 on the season.  Duke only allowed five hits and two runs in the game as he had a pretty good outing against a good Diamondbacks offense.

Damaso Marte gave up one run in relief but then Tyler Yates and Matt Capps finished things up.  Capps recorded his 15th save of the season as well.

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Post info: By Cliff on June 9th, 2008
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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.

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Post info: By Cliff on May 29th, 2008
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The Pittsburgh Pirates scored three runs on Wednesday night and that was enough to beat the San Francisco Giants and Barry Zito.

Phil Dumatrait earned the victory over the Giants and improved to 1-1 on the season.  Dumatrait pitched  5 2/3 innings while giving up three hits and no runs.  Tyler Yates, Damaso Marte, and Matt Capps all pitched in relief of Dumatrait.  Capps was the only reliever to give up runs as he gave up one earned run on three hits.  Capps still picked up his seventh save of the season however.

Xavier Nady had two RBI for the Pirates as he had a two run home run and grounded into a double play to score another run.  Nady was all the offense had and for that matter all the needed against the Giants.

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Post info: By Cliff on May 7th, 2008
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The Pittsburgh Pirates were all over the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon as they won 13-1.  A big seven run second inning was all the Pirates needed, but they kept on scoring to make it a old fashioned butt kicking.

Nate McLouth led the Pirates with three RBI as he went 3-4 on the day.  Xavier Nady went 3-3 with three RBI as well.  We can’t forget about Freddy Sanchez who also had three RBI.  Jason Bay, Ryan Doumit, Chris Gomez, and Tom Gorzelanny all had one RBI each.  Now that is what I call production up and down the lineup!

Starting pitcher Gorzelanny threw five innings of one hit ball to pick up the win.  The only reason he only pitched five innings was because he left the game after the fifth inning with some back pain.  Hopefully it isn’t to serious and he can make his next scheduled start.

John Van Benschoten pitched two innings in relief of Gorzelanny and he gave up one hit and one run.  Evan Meek pitched the final two innings in the game without allowing a run to cross the plate.

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Post info: By Cliff on April 30th, 2008
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The Pittsburgh Pirates scored three runs in the sixth inning and went onto beat the Florida Marlins by the score of 3-2.   With the win, the Pirates improved their record to 3-2 on the season.

Pat Maholm was the winning pitcher for the Pirates as he pitched six inning of four hit ball and only allowed one earned run.  Maholm struck out six batters and only walked one batter.

Tyler Yates, Damaso Marte, John Grabow, and Matt Capps all pitched in relief for the Pirates.  Yates was the only relief pitcher to allow a earne run as he allowed one run in the seventh inning.

Xavier Nady led the Pirates with two RBI while Ryan Doumit had one RBI for the Pirates.  Nate McLouth 19 game hitting streak came to a end in the game as well.

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Post info: By Cliff on April 22nd, 2008
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The Pittsburgh Pirates just couldn’t get the home team advantage going for them on Monday as they lost to the Florida Marlins by a score of 10-4.  With Matt Morris struggling to get his season going, the Pirates failed to take home the win and continue to play bad baseball.

Xavier Nady led the Pirates with two RBI in the game.  Ronny Paulino and Matt Morris both managed to pick up a RBI as well during Monday’s game.

Morris was the opening pitcher for the Pirates throwing for four innings and giving up nine hits, eight runs, and walking one in his third loss of the year.  The Pirates brought in Franquelis Osoria, John Grabow, and Evan Meek to pitch the last five innings of the game.  Osoria gave up two earned runs and five hits in his two innings of action.

Tonight the Pittsburgh Pirates will go up against the Florida Marlins one more time before taking on the St. Louis Cardinals starting on Wednesday.

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Post info: By Cliff on April 22nd, 2008
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Nate McLouth hit a three run homer in the top of the 9th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates came from behind to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4.  That is a very big win for the Pirates, especially as it came on the road and will hopefully give the team some momentum on their road trip.

With the home run, McLouth has now recorded a hit on all 13 games this season.

Jose Bautista got the Pirates on the scoreboard in the 2nd inning when he hit a two-run home run.  Xavier Nady then doubled in the 6th inning and scored another run.  Those two swings of the bat and McLouth’s swing were all the Pirates needed.

Tyler Yates picked up the win as he pitched in relief.  Yates record is now 2-0 on the season.  Matt Capps picked up his fourth save of the season as he shut the door on the Dodgers in the 9th inning.

Starting pitcher Zach Duke pitched six innings as he allowed eight hits and four runs (three were earned), and two walks.  It wasn’t too bad of a performance by Duke, he just needs to keep the ball down and keep this hitters off balance.

With the win, the Pirates are now a game over .500 as their record stands at 7-6.

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Post info: By Cliff on April 15th, 2008
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The Pittsburg Pirates lost to the Chicago Cubs once again and this time it was by the score of 7-3.  The Pirates record now stands at 3-6 after being swept by the Cubs in the three game series.

The Pirates did have a 3-1 lead after the first inning, but after that they couldn’t get anything going against the Cubs pitchers.  Freddy Sanchez, Xavier Nady, and Jose Bautista all had one RBI each for the Pirates.

Starting pitcher Matt Morris did pitch seven innings but he allowed 11 hits and seven runs.  Only four of the seven runs were earned however as the two Pirates errors really hurt.  Evan Meek pitched final two innings of the game without allowing a run.

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Post info: By Cliff on April 10th, 2008
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