Bucs take 3 of 4 from Nats: Nice turnaround

After stumbling out of the All Star break by losing 5 of their first 6 games, the Pittsburgh Pirates bounced back in a nice way by taking 3  of 4 games from the NL East leading Washington Nationals at PNC Park. The Bucs now have a record of 57-41 and are 6 games back of the Cards in the NL Central standings.

I have already recapped Thursday nights game here http://www.yinzyap.com/pirates-7-nats-3-that-was-nice/.

On Friday night, the Bucs got out to an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Pedro Alvarez greeted Max Scherzer with a mammoth 2 run blast to Right Field, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead. That lead would hold until the 4th inning when Jeff Locke faltered, allowing for Washington to put up a 4 spot, giving the Nats a 4-2 lead. The game really picked up in the 5th. After battling Max Scherzer for 11 pitches, Gregory Polanco sent pitch number 12 over the Clemente Wall to tie the game at 4.

The Bucs would take the lead one batter later when Neil Walker took Scherzer deep, making it 5-4 Pirates. Washington would tie things up in the top of the 6th on a solo shot by Ian Desmond off of Vance Worley. Pittsburgh would take the upper hand in the bottom half of the inning when Brent Morel doubled, driving home Francisco Cervelli for the go-ahead run. Gregory Polanco would proceed to drive Morel home with a single, giving the Bucs some breathing room and a 7-5 lead.

Jared Hughes, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon would hold the Nats over the next 3 innings, with Melancon picking up his 31st save. Vance Worley got the win out of relief to improve to 4-5.

Saturday night was one to forget for Pirate players and fans. AJ Burnett was not sharp, allowing 5 earned runs over 5.2 innings. The Bucs tried to rally in the 6th, scoring 3 runs to cut into a 5-0 deficit, but it was not enough. The Nats would add 4 insurance runs over the next 3 innings, featuring homeruns by Michael Taylor and Ian Desmond(again), giving them a 9-3 victory. Burnett fell to 8-4 on the year with the loss.

On Sunday, Gerrit Cole pitched 7.2 innings of 1 run ball, leading the Pirates to a 3-1 win. Neil Walker homered and Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco each had RBI singles, giving Cole all the offense he would need. Cole was also helped out defensively, with Gregory Polanco and Sean Rodriguez each robbing Bryce Harper of hits. Mark Melancon picked up his 30th consecutive save and 32nd overall, and Cole picked up his 14th win, improving to 14-4 on the year.

Overall, this series was just what the Bucs needed after a rough road trip. Sadly, this home stand was brief, and the Pirates will be starting a 3 game series with the Twins in Minnesota starting Tuesday night at Target Field. Charlie Morton will take the hill on Tuesday in an effort  to keep the Bucs rolling. The Twins are a good baseball team and have surprised a lot of people by playing solid ball in the AL Central. This will be another test on the Pirates road to the postseason, and as always, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Bucs drop 2 of 3 in KC: Cause for Concern?

The Pittsburgh Pirates currently find themselves in a bit of a funk. At the All Star Break, the Bucs were flying high at 53-35 and just 2.5 game back of St. Louis in the NL Central. But, after getting swept by the Brewers in Millawkue and dropping 2 out of 3 against the Royals in Kansas City, things aren't looking as bright as they were just a short while ago. Injuries have also began to pile up, as Jordy Mercer injured his knee on Sunday in Millawkue and will be out at least 6 weeks, making things even more challenging for the Bucs infield, as earlier this month Josh Harrison was put out of action for 7 weeks with a broken thumb. Many Pirate fans are frustrated with this stretch, but how do I feel about it? Well, we will find out at the end of this article.

 First, here is a brief recap of the 3 games that took place in Kansas City. On Monday, the Pirates grinded out a wild 10-7 win. Starling Marte and Travis Ishikawa each went 3 for 5, with Ishikawa driving in 4 runs. Gregory Polanco, Andrew McCutchen, Jung Ho-Kang and Pedro Alveraz contributed 2 hits each, as the Pirates had 17 knocks in total, picking up AJ Burnett who had a weak outing, allowing 6 earned runs over 6 innings of work, but getting the win anyway to improve his impressive record to 8-3, while Mark Melancon picked up his 30th save of the season.

Tuesday night was not as kind to the Pirates. Despite a usual stellar outing from Gerrit Cole, the Bucs offense could not get going the whole night. Things fell apart in the bottom of the 8th, when 3 straight defensive miscues from Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco all in succession, put a nail in the Pirates coffin for the night, and KC walked away with a 3-1 win.  Cole took the loss, falling to 13-4 on the year.

Last nights game was probably the least interesting of the 3. Charlie Morton pitched well, but imploded in the 7th, allowing 4 runs, and KC again got it done, this time by a score of 5-1. Morton fell to 6-4 on the year.

So am I worried? Ehh... not really. The reason I say ''not really'' instead of ''no'' is that the injury bug is hitting this team hard, and hopefully Francisco Cervelli's wrist problem is not too serious. But the Bucs made a smart baseball move today, getting former Pirate Aramis Rameriz from the Brewers and giving up next to nothing in return. Rameriz is 37 and not the player he once was, but he still has the ability to drive a ball a long way and I would certainly rather have him at 3rd base than Brent Morell. Bad stretches will happen over a 162 game season, and all it takes is a few wins to get things rolling again.

Bucs Sweep Padres: Team stays hot as Cards come to town

The Pittsburgh Pirates just continue to win. After a tough stretch in which they were swept by Washington and lost 2 of 3 to the Reds, the Pirates returned to their winning ways by winning 10 of their next 12 games. Last night Pittsburgh finished off a 3 game sweep of the San Diego Padres at PNC Park. The sweep did not come easy, as all 3 wins were decided in the late innings. This current hot streak that the Bucs are on could not have come at a better time, as Thursday night they will begin a crucial 4 game set with the first place St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

 The series began in exciting fashion on Monday night. AJ Burnett pitched excellent, allowing just 1 run over 7.2 innings of work, but the Pirates could not get much going offensively. With the game tied at 1 in the bottom of the 9th, Pedro Alveraz came to the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd. The Big Bull delivered, hitting a single to drive home the winning run. More drama was to follow the next night.

Francisco Liriano pitched 6 innings of 2 run ball, but again the Pirates bats struggled to get runs across the plate, in spite of San Diego using their bullpen early as a result of a long rain delay. The Padres defense did not do the Bucs any favors, as Justin Upton robbed Andrew McCutchen of a potential go-ahead homerun in the bottom of the 6th. The Bucs hung in, however, and they were rewarded when Gregory Polanco drove home Sean Rodriguez with a double in the bottom of the 8th to make it 3-2. Mark Melancon shut the door and the Pirates ran their win streak to 4 games, counting the 2 wins over the Clevland Indians in the last series. This win was also significant because it was the first time the Pirates had ever won a series against San Diego at PNC Park. Charlie Morton got off to a slow start on Wednesday night, allowing 2 early runs through his first 2 innings of work. But Morton battled and did not allow a single run thorough his next 4 innings, giving the Pirates a chance to win.

With the game tied at 2 in the bottom of the 8th, Polanco again had a chance to be a hero when he came up with 2 outs and Travis Ishikawa on 1st. He did just that, driving a deep double off of the Clemente wall, scoring Ishikawa and giving the Bucs a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh would add 2 more runs in that inning, and Antonio Bastardo shut the door in the 9th for his first save of the season.

So, this sets the stage for the Pirates biggest series of the 2015 season. Pittsburgh currently sits 4.5 games behind 1st place St. Louis, and this 4 game set could help make or break the division race. Baseball is so hard to predict, but my gut tells me that this series will be split 2 games apiece. Anything can happen, however, and this will be fun to watch.