Kuhl & Pen Outpitch Nola & Phils 1-0 To Take Series

Chad Kuhl and Aaron Nola traded clean first frames on a drizzly Sunday afternoon. The second was also quiet, with JJ's single the only action.  In the third, the Phils drew a walk and Fraze singles and the fourth was 1-2-3 for both sides; this game is starting out like Cy Young and Big Train Johnson are on the bumps. The Phils made some noise in the fifth with a one-out double and walk, but the 8-9 guys were due and Chad fanned them both. JJ drew a leadoff walk and eventually made it to third, were he died. Chad left after 82 pitches for a two-out, two-on pinch hitter (Jose Osuna flied out), giving up a hit, two walks and fanning five.

Wade - four outs for win #3 (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Wade LeBlanc put up a sixth inning zippo while the Pirates sputtered their way to a run. Fraze and J-Hay opened with singles to put Pirates on the corners and Josh stole second. An out later, J-Bell was walked intentionally and Freeser took one for the team to force home a run. JJ had a chance to provide some breathing room; instead, he hit into a 4-6-3 DP. The Bucs went into their prevent D with Danny Ortiz to right, Jaso to 1B and J-Bell to the pine. Wade was touched for a one-out knock in the seventh and Juan Nicasio came on to get the last two outs while Pittsburgh was unable to dent Nola as Ortiz's fly was hauled in short of the fence.

Felipe Rivero climbed the hill for the eighth. With two gone Cesar Hernandez reached on an error; Rivero's throw to first was short and JJ couldn't come up with it. Freddy Galvis followed with a foul fest before pushing a ball off the end of his bat past short on the ninth pitch to put a pair aboard. Aaron Altherr got ahead 3-1, but Felipe came back to record his second whiff. Edubray Ramos took the ball and walked Fraze. An out later, he was caught stealing ahead of Cutch's walk. Alen Hanson singled. Luis Garcia came in to face Freeser and won the battle with a comebacker. Tony Watson looked to close it out and did so easily with a whiff, tapper and routine bouncer for save #10; Wade got his third win.

Tony Watson picked up his tenth save (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

It was good to see Cool Chad back in the groove and the bullpen do its thing. It wasn't quite as good to see the offense shoot itself in the foot, but at least for today, one run was all it took. So that's back-to-back-series wins and off to Atlanta for a four-gamer.

Notes:

• Fraze had two hits and a walk; JJ had a knock and a walk.
• In a very good sign, Chad not only had five K in five innings but also got seven of the in-play outs on the ground, a strong pointer that his sinker arrived at the bottom of the zone today instead of the belt.
• His peripherals may not support the old-school stat line, but Tony Watson has converted 10 of his 11 saves this season and is 25-for-29 in save opportunities since taking over the closer role.
• The Pirates have won 6-of-8 games and are getting closer to .500 with a 20-24 record a series at a time.
• There were 24,445 slightly soggy fans in the house today. The game couldn't have ended at a better time; it is quickly followed by a couple of strong showers.  
• The Pirates aren't the only ones whose nerves are frazzled by the Cubs. Milwaukee had a Saturday doubleheader with them rescheduled after a damp AM, then the rain stopped well before game time. Per Dan Benton's post on Larry Brown Sports, Brew Crew skipper Craig Counsell said "It's the first time for us that we've had players treated for sunburn after a rainout."

Bucs Claim Pair, DFA Clement & Fryer

The Pirates claimed RHP Chad Beck from Toronto and C Ali Solis from San Diego off waivers yesterday. They designated 1B Jeff Clement and C/OF Eric Fryer for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster.

Solis, 25, is an interesting pick-up for the Pirates. He signed with San Diego in 2005 as a Mexican free agent, and last season he played at AA San Antonio, putting up a line of .283/.307/.419 in 329 at-bats with six homers and 40 RBI.

He was selected to both the mid-season and postseason Texas League All-Star teams, throwing out 28 % of runners trying to steal (29 of 104). Solís appeared in the All-Star Futures Game as a replacement for minor league teammate Yasmani Grandal on the World team. He was behind Jason Hagerty, Grandal, Nick Hundley and John Baker on the Padres depth chart.

Beck, 27, has 18 innings in the majors, with a 5.50 ERA, 12 strikeouts and five walks. In AAA Las Vegas in 2012 he posted a 2-0-18/1.31 slash, with 24 K and 13 BB in 48 IP from the bullpen. Beck became the 51s closer after spring training Bucco RHP Ryota Igarashi was waived. His K rate is a red flag; while strong at the A level, in the past two years at AA and AAA, he averaged just 5.7 strikeouts per nine.

He was a 14th round draft selection of the 2006 Diamondbacks, and joined the Blue Jays in 2008 in a straight-up deal for David Eckstein. Beck has four pitches: a four-seam fastball at 94–97 mph, two-seamer at 92–95, slider and changeup in the high 80s.

Fryer, 27, came to the Bucs in 2009 from the Yankees for Eric Hinske, and was viewed as a utility guy in the outfield that could catch in a pinch. Clement, 29, the number one draft choice of the Seattle Mariners in 2005, became a Buc as part of the 2009 Jack Wilson trade. He fought a gimpy knee for most of his Bucco career, and went just 3-for-22 (.136) as a pinch hitter for the big team in 2012 after a bounce back year at Indy, sealing his fate.

These moves before the forty-man roster is set prior to the Rule 5 draft are always problematic. Last year the Bucs made several early claims that they ultimately cut free, so we'll see what the shelf life is for these guys in the coming weeks.

Edit - this afternoon, the D-Backs said they claimed Rule 5 pick Gustav Nunez from the Pirates. The SS spent most of the season injured with an ankle problem.

More News And Notes: Arb Figures, Catching Market

While we're waiting for the World Series to get going and the Baseball Meetings to convene...

• Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors has Matt Swartz's arbitration salary projections for the Pirates. They range from $7.5M for Hanny to $1.3M for Chris Resop. He also discusses who's likely to stay and who may not be tendered.
• Just a couple of possible catching scenarios: On the trade market: The Blue Jays have J.P. Arencibia behind the dish now, but Travis d'Arnaud's time is about due. Toronto is looking for pitching, so there may be a match up. Overpriced and underproductive Geovany Soto of the Rangers and Nick Hundley of the Padres should be available, too. Potential FAs: Mike Napoli, Russell Martin, Miguel Olivo (who has an option) David Ross (who was a Bucco briefly in 2005) and Kelly Shoppach.
• Tom Singer of mlb.com has a feature on prospect Victor Black, a power closer drafted in 2009. Singer writes that "Black is hoping to use his time in Arizona to build off a dominant season with Double-A Altoona. The 24-year-old appeared in 51 games out of the bullpen, boasting a 1.65 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 60 innings." 
• Here's the Pirate's Top Twenty Prospects.
• Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review wrote that "Neil Walker also hopes the club will add some established impact players this offseason. 'I think there needs be a good balance,' Walker said. 'We’ve brought in guys like A.J. (Burnett) and Wandy (Rodriguez). Adding a couple more pieces like that could really benefit us.'" And Casey McGehee told Tom Singer that "...truth be told, I think the time to look at things to build on is starting to run out. I think it's starting to get time to do it instead of having building blocks." Should stir the pot for an interesting hot stove season.
• Old Bucco lefty reliever Sean Burnett, according to Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors, will turn down his option with the Nats and look for a multi-year payday.
• State College Spikes GM Jason Dambach was named NY-Penn League Executive of the Year.  Wonder if that has anything to do with swapping out the Bucs for the Cards?

Notes And News

 A little news to keep the baseball fires lit:

• Tom Singer of MLB.com wrote that Domincan rookie Starling Marte cited Vladimir Guerrero as the ballplayer he most looks up to.
• Steve Stevenson of the Steel City Sports Report wrote "The Nationals Show The Pirates How Not To Handle Gerrit Cole."
• It's a week old bit of speculation, but Jeff Moore of Rant Sports suggests that Nick Swisher might be a fit for the Bucs.
• Tristan Cockroft of ESPN listed the early fantasy line on top 75 starting pitchers for 2013 and included AJ Burnett (48), James McDonald (60) and Wandy Rodriguez (73) among them.
• Matt Eddy of Baseball America picked the Top Ten minor league free agent signings of the past season, and three have Pirate connections: Brandon Moss of the As, who thrived in a platoon setting at first base, along with infielders Pedro Ciriaco of the Red Sox and Luis Cruz of the Dodgers, both of whom look like solid bets to claim at least bench, if not starting, spots in 2013.
• Kristina Kahrl of The Sweet Spot posted "Leyland Uses Every Bullet," showing how he used his NL managerial toolkit to steer the Tigers through the season and to the World Series.
• Some old Bucs that were waived or are free agents: OF Ryan Ludwick (who is seeking a longer-term deal with the Reds), OF Nate McLouth, RHP Ross Ohlendorf, C Ronnie Paulino, SS Brian Bixler, RHP Kip Wells, RHP Ryota Igarashi, LHP Justin Thomas, LHP Garrett Olson, LHP Dana Eveland, C Carlos Maldonado, C Luke Carlin and C Steve Lerud. Pirate farmhands RHP Evan Meek, LHP Doug Slaten and UT Drew Sutton declared for minor league free agency after the season ended.
• Hard to believe, but Neal Huntington is the second-longest tenured GM in the NL Central, behind only the Brewers' Doug Melvin, who was hired in 2002.
• Upcoming signing dates: 12 days after the World Series is the deadline for arbitration; November 30th to tender contracts; the 40-man roster has to be set by December 3rd, and the Rule 5 draft is on December 6th.

Bucs Go Quietly Into The Night 4-0

Well, even a spring training pitching rotation couldn't get the Bucco bats to respond; the team ended 2012  the same way it started, victims of a whitewash. Eight Bravo pitchers combined to shut out the Pirates 4-0 this afternoon. AJ wasn't up to the task, having a rough afternoon and leaving after giving up a four-spot in 5-2/3 innings.

Though he gave up eight hits, he wasn't exactly pummeled. He gave up a run in the first when he went full and then walked Michael Bourn, who promptly swiped second and third and touched home on Martin Prado's sac fly. In the fourth, Jason Heyward bounced a ball up the middle, stole second, and came in on Dan Uggla's single.

In the sixth, Chipper Jones hit a ground ball single to right and Heyward legged out an infield single. A bouncer moved them up, and they plated on a single and a bobbled DP roller to first. There were a pair of ovations that inning; the first for Chipper, who was a pinch hitter, and the second for AJ when he came out with two down and gave a tip o' the cap to the crowd, finishing the year 16-10/3.51.

The 20,615 fans got their feet a third time when Andrew McCutchen was taken out in the eighth frame. And those ringing cheers, Bucco fans, were the highlights of the day.

Offensively, it was just another bad day at the office, as we've seen too often. Four hits, 11 punch outs, and just three runners stranded. But hey...wait 'til next year. It's only 179 days away.

• The Bucs finished 79-83, finishing in fourth place in the NL Central.
• Cutch's numbers for 2012: .327 BA, 31 homers, 96 RBI, 107 runs and 194 hits.   
• The AJ/Hot Rod tandem ended up giving up 38 stolen bases in 38 attempts, though Burnett did pick a couple of guys off, including one today.
• The final attendance for 2012 was 2,091,918 (avg. 26,149/80 games), the second highest in franchise history.
• Rob Biertempfel of the Trib tweeted that "George Washington University is expected to announce Tuesday that hitting coach Gregg Ritchie will be their new head baseball coach." We wonder if he'll be the only sacrificial lamb?

Last Lineup of the Year...

The Braves send RHP Ben Sheets (4-4, 3.54 ERA) to the mound against Bucco ace RHP A.J. Burnett (16-9, 3.43 ERA). Sheets is retiring after today's game, and hasn't pitched since his shoulder acted up on him in late August. He'll toss a couple of innings today, followed by rookies Randall Delgado and Julio Teheran. The start will be the 250th of his career for Sheets, a former Milwaukee ace and four-time All Star, has a career record of 94-96/ 3.78 ERA and 1,323 strikeouts in 1,595-2/3 innings. AJ, 35, is living proof that Neal Huntington can occasionally swing a sweet deal. He hasn't had an ERA this low (3.43) since 2005, back in his Marlin days, and he's been both a spark and a mentor to the staff. The game begins at 12:35 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Alex Presley RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Josh Harrison 2B, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, AJ Burnett P.

Bravo manager Fredi Gonzalez played seven bench guys yesterday, and had an all B-Team in by the middle of the fifth. He said today that he'd get his starters a swing or two and then sit them down before Friday's wild card game against St. Louis. The Bucs are sending out the A-Team for the finale.

• Garrett Jones has 45 career home runs at PNC Park, which ties him with Brian Giles for the third-most in PNC Park history. Jason Bay is the all-time leader with 61 HR, followed by Craig Wilson with 47.
• The Pirates are looking to win three consecutive games today for the first time since winning four in a row from 7/25-28.
• For the first time since 2000 with Jason Kendall and Keith Osik, the Pirates have gotten away with using just two catchers, Hot Rod Barajas and Mike "The Fort" McKenry, during the season. What a difference a year makes -  they used eight guys behind the dish in 2011.
• The Pirates have guranteed their best overall single season home record at PNC Park with a 45-35 mark. Their only other winning season at PNC Park came in 2006 when they finished 43-38.
  

Bucs Beat Bravo B Team 5-1

KC opened with a clean first, collecting a whiff and a pair of grounders. Starling Marte has been on fire and greeted Tommy Hanson with a double to the opposite field. Alex Presley pulled a slider to first, moving Marte up a station. Cutch bounced a heater to short, and the Bucs had manufactured the first run of the night. Garrett Jones flew out, and it was 1-0 after an inning.

Correia lost Lyle Overbay on a 3-2 pitch to begin the second. After a fly and bounce out, Overbay was on second. Jeff Francis went fishing with two strikes, and KC had his second K and goose egg. With two down in the Pirate half, J-Hay was clipped by a pitch, and stole second two pitches later. Clint Barmes softly lobbed a two strike slider down and away into center, and the Bucs had their second point of the night. KC K'ed but was up 2-0 after a pair of frames.

Jose Constanza singled to get the third going, and Hanson bunted him up ninety feet. Michael Bourn got ahead 3-0, but two heaters and a slider later took a seat. Tyler Pastornicky bounced out, and it was Pittsburgh's turn. Marte tried to bunt his way on, with no luck. Hanson worked The King away, and he knocked a slider into center for a knock. Cutch drove a fastball deep to center, but there was enough room for Bourne to squeeze it. GI lined out, so Hanson danced through the third thanks to a couple loud outs.

With one down in the fourth, Overbay ripped a double to left center. After a ground out, Correia hung a change to Juan Francisco, who banged it for a two-bagger to left to cut the lead in half. KC got out of the frame by catching Francis looking. With an out, Pedro clobbered a fastball to right center for a double. After a Harrison grounder, Barmes was intentionally walked; Hanson learned his lesson a couple of innings ago. KC K'ed again, and it was a 2-1 game after four.

Constanza led off the fifth with an infield knock, and was sacrificed to second by Hanson.  There he stayed; KC has played with fire and left a runner on second four straight frames so far. Marte opened with a soft knock to right off a full count change up and swiped second.  Presley blooped a fastball away into left for a leg double, plating Marte. Cutch went down looking. Jones made up for it by bombing a 2-0 fastball, up and away in the strike zone, over the Clemente Wall to put the Pirates up 5-1. The Fort whiffed while hacking away, and Pedro followed with a poke into center. J-Hay flew out to end the frame, but it was a good one; crooked numbers on the scoreboard have become a Bucco rarity.

Surviving an Overbay belt to deep center that Cutch corralled, KC gave up a two out knock to David Ross. No prob; he whiffed Francisco for his fifth K. After two outs, Marte lashed his third hit of the night, a single to center, and stole second, his second swipe of the game. it didn't help this time as Presley rolled out on a 3-2 pitch.

Clean innings have been tough for KC to come by. With two outs in the seventh, Reed Johnson smacked an 0-2 hook to center. That was it for Correia, who went 6-2/3 innings, giving up a run on six hits and a walk with five punch outs, tossing 97 pitches. Justin Wilson came on to face Eric Hinske to set up a lefty mano-a-mano. Hinske won the battle, drilling a 2-2 pitch just off Cutch's mitt to right center for extra bases, but lost the war when Presley-Harrison-McKenry teamed up to nail Johnson at home on a nice tag by the Fort on the hurdling Brave.

Cristhian Martinez climbed the hill for Atlanta. He K'ed Cutch looking, got Jones on another long fly, but allowed a runner on Francisco's throwing error on The Fort's grounder. He survived it nicely, getting Pedro to fly out to left.

Chris Resop took the ball in the eighth. Pastornicky led off with a knock and made it to second with two down, one a strikeout of Freddy Freeman that got him bounced from the game after he disputed the check swing call a bit too enthusiastically. JC Boscan flew out, and the Fat Lady was stirring. Chad Durbin took the bump for Atlanta. He got the first pair of outs handily, then Resop's pinch hitter, Travis Snider, banged a single. Chase d'Arnaud came on to run and stole second; seems like a bit of overkill at this point. Marte whiffed to leave him there.

Bryan Morris was in to tie up the bow, with Jordy Mercer taking second and Gaby Sanchez first.Did a nice job, too, with a pair of fan jobs and a comebacker to ice the Bucs 5-1 win, their 79th victory of the year and the most since 1997's "Freak Show."

It was a good night for KC. He tied his season high in wins with 12, and picked up some bonus bucks, too. He got $125K for making his 28th start and another $100K for passing 170 innings (it was exactly his 28th start, and he finished the year with 171 IP). No wonder he was upset when he was sent to the pen. To make it a little sweeter, he almost reversed last year's home record. The road warrior of 2011 was 2-8 at PNC last season, but finished 7-3 in 2012.

• Jones' homer was the Bucs 170th of the year, one off the team record.
• The Pirates broke a streak of five consecutive one-run games with the win. They were 2-3 in those contests, with an overall 28-29 record in squeakers.
• Tonight's crowd was 15,727.
• Cutch, Detroit's Miggy Cabrera and LA Angel rook Mike Trout were named the finalists for MLBPA's Player of Year Award. The honor is voted on by the players.
• West Virginia prospects SS Alen Hanson (.309) was nominated for Breakout Prospect of the Year and RHP Nathan Kilcrease (1-3, 15-for-15 in saves, 1.28 ERA) was nominated for the Relief Pitcher of the Year. It's based on fan vote, and you can make your selections here.
• Atlanta RHP Ben Sheets will start tomorrow in place of RHP Tim Hudson. The start will be the 250th of Sheets' career, and last - the often injured Sheets will retire after the game. 
• Once a Bucco...Jack Wilson said he'd be back in town for Pirate Fest and accepted an invite to be a coach/instructor at Bradenton this spring.

Lineup, Notes, News

The Braves send RHP Tommy Hanson (13-9, 4.38 ERA) out against RHP Kevin Correia (11-11, 4.33 ERA) tonight. Hanson hasn't been terribly effective since returning from a back injury a few weeks ago. For KC, this could be his final game as a Bucco after a two-year run; he's 23-22/4.55 since arriving in 2011. The game begins at 7:05 and be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Alex Presley RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, MIke McKenry C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Josh Harrison 2B, Clint Barmes SS, Kevin Correia P.

Interesting; first time we remember seeing Marte and Presley paired up, with J-Hay going at second.

• Yesterday's win was the first come-from-behind victory for the Bucs since they won the 19-inning game in St. Louis on August 1st. 
• Pittsburgh is just two homers short of the team record of 171, set in 1999.
• The Pirates have put together their best overall single season home record at PNC Park (44-35). Their only other winning season at home came in 2006 (43-38).
• Last night was likely Chipper Jones' last regular season game. He wanted to see a lefty, which he did with Jeff Locke, and now has a chance for a three day break before the playoffs.
• Whom is hosting whom is still up in the air in the NL playoff race. Atlanta will host a wildcard game on Friday; with two days to go, the Cards magic number is one for the other wildcard over LA. The Giants will visit the number two division winner. Washington and Cincinnati are tied for the #1 seed, with a tie already decided in Washington's favor after a 5-2 head-to-head record.

Locke, Marte Lead Bucs To 2-1 Win

The first inning went down quietly; Jeff Locke tossed a clean first, and Paul Maholm whiffed a couple of Bucco pups in Starling Marte and Chase d'Arnaud, walked Cutch, and closed out on a Gaby Sanchez line out to left.

Chipper started the second with a line out to third, then Locke walked the next two Braves. Brian McCann came to his rescue, pounding a ball to Gaby, who started a 3-6-1 DP. Maholm lost The Fort on a 3-2 pitch and tried to do the same to Pedro, but he couldn't lay off a pitch down and away and fanned. JT bounced into a force, and went to second on Clint Barme's knock to left center. Locke fanned, but at least the lineup was turned over.

The bottom pair of the Bravo order went down in the third before Michael Bourne singled and Martin Prado walked on five pitches. Locke didn't want to go 3-2 on Jason Heyward, but he did, and with the runners going, he singled home Bourne and sent Prado to third. The he lost Jones on a full count change that missed low. Fortunately, Freddie Freeman went after the first pitch and grounded out to Gaby to keep it 1-0.

Maholm hung a 1-1 curve to Marte, and he spanked it up the line to left for a triple when Reed Johnson couldn't come up with the ball cleanly. d'Arnaud bounced to short, and it was 1-1 in the thrid. He got Cutch swinging at a shoetop curve; Gaby did the same thing. Locke tossed a clean fourth, picking up a couple of K. With two down in the Bucco half, JT took a change up that was down and away to right for a double. That earned Barmes an intentional walk to bring up Locke, who was punched out again.

After fanning Maholm to open the fifth, Locke lost Bourne on a 3-2 fastball; that's his fifth free pass. This one was erased, though, when The Fort tossed him out trying to swipe second. Prado flew out to end the frame. Maholm seems to like hanging pitches to Marte. This time it was a change, and Starling blasted it over the wall in center to give the Bucs the lead. After d'Arnaud lined out, Cutch smacked a curve to left center for a ground rule double. PM pounded Gaby inside; on a 3-2 pitch, he lined a shot to third that turned into a DP as Cutch was on the move. Good thought; bad luck on ball placement.

In his most impressive work of the night, Locke battled Heyward for 10 pitches, never giving in and throwing strikes on the black to get him to fly out and got the duo routinely. Locke went six, giving up a run on two hits and five walks with six K after 105 pitches. The key with Locke will be making him more aggressive in the strike zone; he's effective when ahead but that's not nearly often enough. Still, a good final outing for the rookie. The Bucs didn't pad the lead, going down in order.

Jeff Karstens climbed the hill in the seventh and put Atlanta away without a peep. Maholm did ditto to the Bucs, ending his night giving up a pair of runs on five hits and eight K. Tony Watson toed the rubber in the eighth. With two down, he put Prado aboard via the free pass. Heyward flew out, and like yesterday, there were just three outs left to nail down.

Peter Moylan took the ball in the bottom half and put the Bucs away in order. But it wasn't Hanny time; it Jared Hughes that came out in the ninth (back-to-back appearances made by Hanrahan), and Jordy Mercer went to second. After an out, Freeman reached when Pedro misfired on a throw across the diamond, and Jose Constanza came in to run. Using the bat an old Bucco to beat the Buccos ploy that worked so well for the Reds last night, the Bravos sent up Lyle Overbay. He got good wood to the ball, but lined out to Marte. McCann tapped back to the mound, and the Bucs had a win. Hey, they're undefeated in October!

Good to see guys like Starling Marte and Jeff Locke taking advantage of the last few innings lweft in the season. Marte had his fifth long ball, Locke his first win, and Hughes his second save. It's all good tonight.

Tommy Hanson and Kevin Correia take the mound tomorrow night.

• Andrew McCutchen, as the Pirate rep, presented the retiring Chipper Jones with one of the specially branded bases used during this series, and club president Frank Coonelly handed Chipper a $5,000 check made out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, one of the charities close to Jones' heart.
• Pirates pitchers fanned 226 batters during September, the highest total for any one month in club history. But Pittsburgh's own batters struck out even more times during the month: 237.
• The Pirates will finish this season with the second-highest attendance in club history. The 2012 total is 2,055,576 after tonight. The club will surpass the #2 Three Rivers Stadium crowd of 1990 (2.065 million), though the top spot is safe: 2.464 million in PNC Park's first season, in 2001.
• Dave Littlefield, former Bucco GM who now works for the Cubs as a special assistant, was in attendance tonight. He was part of the 15,009 in the yard tonight.
• The Bucs victory clinched first place for Washington; Atlanta will be the #1 wildcard team.

Linep, Notes, News As Chipper Takes His Bow

The Braves send  ol' familiar  LHP Paul Maholm (13-10, 3.71) out on his former home bump to face LHP Jeff Locke (0-3, 6.35). Maholm is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA this season against Pittsburgh (as a Cub), while Locke is looking for his first W in the show. The game starts at 7:05 and be aired by Root Sports.

The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Chase D’Arnaud 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Mike McKenry C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Jose Tabata RF, Clint Barmes SS, Jeff Locke P.

Hey, Chase d'Arnaud gets a start.

Atlanta has won 7-of-8, peaking at the right time for the playoffs and looking to keep the pedal to the metal. Their hot finish pulled them within hailing distance of Washington, but the Braves are three back with three to go. This is also the last regular-season series for retiring Braves legend Chipper Jones. Pittsburgh is 7-21 in September, a collapse of Biblical proportions and are finishing up the year by sending Locke, KC and AJ to the hill.

• The Bucs have a special ceremony in store for Chipper Jones tonight, but they aren't spilling the beans as to what it will entail. Gotta be there, we guess.
• The Pirates had three players ranked in Baseball America's Top Twenty Prospect List for the short-season NY-Penn League. They were RHP Luis Heredia, OF Barrett Barnes and RHP Clay Holmes.
• Dan Connelly of the Baltimore Sun has a feature on Nate McLouth, who tells him he never saw the 2009 trade to Atlanta coming.

Bucs Unravel In Ninth To Lose 4-3

After a nice ceremony held through a steady drizzle to celebrate the Great One's 3,000th hit, collected on this date in 1972, Wandy Rodriguez went to work to see if he could reverse his first inning mojo.

He got off on a high note, whiffing Brandon Phillips, but Wilson Valdez followed with a knock. The umps stopped the game then, calling for the tarps; two minutes later, they decided to play ball, so the teams suffered through a four minute rain delay, maybe a new record (it wasn't). A Joey Votto roller moved Valdez to second, and Todd Frazier popped out to get Wandy off to a strong start. Johnny Cueto routinely retired the first two Bucs, then lost Cutch on five pitches. Jones went down swinging after fouling off three straight fat offerings, and it was scoreless after a frame.

The second batter again got to Wandy. After a pop out, Miguel Cairo singled to center. An out later, Ryan Hanigan spoiled enough deliveries to earn a nine-pitch walk and turn the order over as Cueto went down swinging. Cueto had a quiet start to the Bucco second. Pedro flew out to left and Travis Snider went down looking without ever offering at a pitch before Clint Barmes beat out an infield knock. In a Ripley's moment, Hot Rod Barajas hustled out an infield single of his own. Wandy fouled out to end the frame.

After catching a call on an 0-2 pitch just off the black, Phillips opened the third with a single. Valdez followed with another knock to put Reds on the corners. Votto added to the woes when he went the opposite way on a 2-2 pitch for a ground rule double that a fan touched. A Todd Frazier ground out to short brought in a second run. Chris Heisey whiffed after a pesky, eight pitch at bat and Cairo flew out, but the Reds were up by a pair.

The Bucs went to work. Alex Presley got to second on a boot by Votto, but was caught trying to go to third a batter later on a Josh Harrison comebacker. Cutch launched one deep to center, but the park held it in for Stubbs. It couldn't hold Jones' fly, as he banged his 26th to right to tie the game, a no-doubter that splashed down in the Allegheny. Pedro followed with a knock, but Snider went down for a second time. After three, it was 2-2.

Wandy put away the bottom of the Cincinnati order in the fourth, as Cueto did with the Bucs 7-8-9 hitters. Rodriguez was dealing now; he got a pair of whiffs and ran his consecutive out streak to nine after five. Presley opened the Buc half with a double, and was bunted to third by J-Hay. He touched home after a Cutch liner dropped in left. Cutch reached second an out later when a pick throw went astray, but died there when Pedro popped out. Still, 3-2 Buccos after five.

Wandy's streak ended at eleven in the sixth when Cairo spanked a two out double to the opposite field. He came back to fan Stubbs. That should be it for Wandy, who went six innings, giving up a pair of runs on six hits with a walk and seven whiffs, tossing 105 pitches. Cueto put the Bucs down quietly.

Tony Watson toed the rubber in the seventh, and punched out two of the three Reds he faced. Cueto batted; Cincy is hoping to get him his twentieth win, and he is at just 88 pitches so far. And looking good; it took him ten pitches to retire the Bucs in their half.

Jason Grilli took the bump, and Starling Marte was sent into left. Valdez went down on three pitches, but Votto banged a single to center. Frazier was punched out, and so was Jay Bruce. It was an emphatic recovery from yesterday's blown hold. The Reds opted to keep Cueto fresh for the playoffs and sent Sam LeCure to the hill. He K'ed Cutch, who never offered a swing. Gaby Sanchez batted for Jones; Sean Marshall was waved in for LeCure. Marshall got Gaby to fly out and Pedro on a bouncer, and just like in the old days, it was Hanny time.

Ugh. Pinch-hitter Xavier Paul caught an elevated 0-2 heater away, leaned out and took it yard to right. After a pair of infield outs, another pinch hitter, Ryan Ludwick, rattled a double to left. What is it about these guys that turn them into mashers once they leave town? Zack Cozart doubled him home before Hanny could get a Valdez bouncer. Now it's the Bucs that are down to their last three swings.

JT led off with a four pitch walk against Aroldis Chapman. Chapman went to first, and threw the ball away, fortunately for him. Tabata easily got to second; he continued on to third, waved on by Nick Leyva, where he was out. To make it worse, Barmes followed with a five pitch walk, and Hot Rod singled him to second. The Fort went down looking, Marte swinging, and the Bucs lost 4-3.

It was kinda a microcosm of the season; try as they may, nothing quite works out at the end. Well, three to go.

Tomorrow night, the Braves' Paul Maholm, who is 1-1 against his old mates, takes on Jeff Locke, looking for his first big league win. As an added incentive, the series will be last regular season appearances for Chipper Jones.

• BTW, for those of you wondering what Wandy's real first name is, wonder no more - it's Wandy. And he did pitch as advertised. As a Bucco, he was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.267 WHIP, with 50 K in 75 IP.
• The Bucs drew a very nice crowd of 32,814. The sun's out now, but at game time it was chilly and rainy. Looks like Clemente and fan appreciation giveaways trumped the clouds.
• Tom Singer of MLB.com noted that rookie Kyle McPherson might have earned a new nickname, as "McFear" signs were spotted in the PNC Park seats last night. After all, K-Mac is pretty generic.
• Oh, and yes - it is now officially 20 consecutive losing seasons.

Lineup, Notes, News on Fan Appreciation Day

RHP Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.83) is on the bump against LHP Wandy Rodriguez (12-13, 3.79) this afternoon. Cueto is looking to add the twentieth notch to his holster in his match against Wandy, whose been steady in the Bucco rotation and hasn't taken a loss since August 24th. A key will be the first frame; Wandy has allowed six of his seven runs in the opening inning in his last two starts. The game begins at 1:35 and will be aired by Root Sports on an afternoon that's better suited for the Great Race than Fan Appreciation Day.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Travis Snider RF, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, Wandy Rodriguez P.

Travis Snider gets a start, and J-Hay takes his turn at second base.

• Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th career hit collected at TRS. To celebrate the event, the Clemente family will be joined on the field by Roberto’s former teammate Steve Blass for a pregame ceremony and video.
• With 31 home runs and 20 stolen bases, Cutch is just the fourth player in team history to reach those totals in one season. Dave Parker (30 HR/20 SB) did it in 1978, Barry Bonds did it in three straight seasons (33 HR/52 SB in 1990, 35 HR/43 SB in 1991 and 34 HR/39 SB in 1992) and Jason Bay (32 HR/21 SB) was the last Bucco to do it, in 2005. McCutch and Ryan Braun are the only players in the Major Leagues this season with at least 30 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
• No one's safe. While being interviewed after the game, Cutch got cream-pied and a gatorade bath.
• As a team, the Bucs have K'ed 1,316 times this year to set a new club record, breaking last season's old mark of 1,308 whiffs.
• They're going to the wire in the junior circuit. With four days to go in the season, not a single team has clinched a playoff spot, with eight clubs still in the running for the post season.

Cutch Happens; Bucs Walk Off With 2-1 Win

What on paper looked like hitter's delight turned out to be another pitcher's duel at PNC. Kyle McPherson and Mike Leake went six innings each, twirling four-hit shutout ball, taking over from the classic shootout yesterday between Homer Bailey and AJ Burnett.

K-Mac K'ed five, and after giving up back-to-back ground ball singles to open the game was impressive, at one point retiring nine in a row. Leake was only in one jam, working out of a bases loaded, two out situation in the second on a nifty stop by Joey Votto on an Alex Presley ball aimed toward the second base hole.

In the seventh, Jared Hughes put the Reds down without a run. The Bucs took the lead when Alex Presley doubled to The Notch off Jose Arredondo to plate Chase d'Arnaud, who was running for Clint Barmes.  The lead brought on an armada of changes - Jason Grilli took the hill while Starling Marte, Jordy Mercer and Jose Tabata took the field. It wasn't quite enough.

Ryan Ludwick opened the eighth with a double, turning on a heater and lining it to left. His pinch runner, Dennis Phipps, was on third with two down when Scott Rolen blooped a 3-2 heater into short left to tie the game. The Bucs threatened to regain the lead in their half off Logan Ondrusek. Gaby Sanchez lined out short of the wall in left and Pedro blasted one to the track in right center to open the inning. The two loud outs were followed by a pair of walks and an infield single to load the bases for Marte, who popped a slider to first base to end the frame.

Hanny came on in the ninth, and with his usual flair for the dramatic, walked two Reds but escaped unscathed. Jonathan Broxton came on for Cincinnati. He got J-Hay on a liner to center, then worked the count to 2-2 against Cutch, pitching him away. He fired a heater over the outside half again, and McCutch took it over the wall in right center for his third career walk-off homer and a 2-1 Bucco win.

It was sweet vindication for Cutch, who was mired in an 0-for-16 streak despite spanking a couple of balls prior to his game winning blast. It broke a seven game losing streak for the club at PNC and could give them a chance to end a frustrating year with a couple of wins to build on against teams headed for the post season.

Johnny Cueto goes for his twentieth win in the rubber match tomorrow afternoon against Wandy Rodriguez.

• Both teams snapped 15-inning scoreless streaks during the game.
• The Pirates had lost 9 of their last 10 one-run decisions before tonight.
• Tonight's 77th win is the most by a Pirate team since 1999. 
• 38,623 fans were at PNC Park tonight for the Bucs 17th sellout of the season. The crowd put the year's attendance at over 2,000,000 for the first time since the yard's opening season.

Lineup, Notes, News; K-Mac Looking For First Win

The Reds RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.73) gets it on this afternoon against RHP Kyle McPherson (0-2, 3.54). Leake, the Reds fifth starter, is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA against the Bucs in four starts this year, so Pittsburgh has had some success against him. But he should be pitching with a chip on his shoulder as he's fighting for a roster spot come playoff time. K-Mac is looking for MLB win #1. It could be tough. The Pirates have yet to score a run when McPherson was in the game during his first two starts. The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired on Root Sports, though you gotta be there to catch the post-game fireworks and Lifehouse show.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones RF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Mike McKenry C, Clint Barmes SS, Kyle McPherson P.

It's J-Hay's turn at second tonight, and Gaby Sanchez is getting a start against a righty, keeping Travis Snider on the pine as GI moves to right field. The Reds will keep the pedal to the metal; they're tied with the Nats for the best record in the NL. And it won't get any easier tomorrow afternoon when Johnny Cueto goes for his 20th win.

• Neil Walker told Tom Singer of MLB.com regarding contract talks: "...my focus is on the arbitration process. I'm open to talks this offseason. When the season starts, my focus is on that, but if they want to talk in Spring Training or after the season, I'm open to that." Walker, 27, is a Super Two player and starting next season has four arb years ahead of him, giving him some added leverage for the long term.
• Tonight the Pirates will go over the two million mark in home attendance for the fourth time in team history and for the first time since the club drew a record 2,436,139 fans during the first season of play at PNC Park in 2001. The Bucs also drew over two million fans in 1991 (2,065,302) and 1990 (2,049,908).
• Pittsburgh has lost seven straight home games, but has posted a 42-34 record at home this season.
• Until last night, the Pirates had at least one hit in each of its previous 6,541 games.

No Hitter No Big Thing - Losing Big Is

OK, everyone is outraged because the Bucs got no-hit. Don't be. There are lots of reasons to go postal over this club and its swoon, but last night's no-no wasn't one of them. After all, it is the seventh of the year, tying the MLB mark set back in 1990.

Homer Bailey wasn't overpowering but tossed a nice game, painting the edges all evening. He gave up three hard hit balls all night by our count, which is the Pirate MO of late. You need a little luck, too, starting with no bloops, bleeders or seeing eye rollers dinked to spoil the fun.

He got his horseshoe kissed when Scott Rolen's backhand try for Clint Barmes' ball skipped off his mitt and was ruled an error rather than a knock, once more when Pedro's liner was hit into the teeth of a shift, again when Garrett Jones' drive landed on the track instead of in the seats and Travis Snider's rope to right was an at 'em ball, and finally when Cutch was nailed trying to steal third. He might not be on the mound in the ninth if it was a 1-1 game.

Remember that Justin Verlander and Matt Cain were both one batter away from their own no hitters against the Pirates this season; their rabbit's foot was just one rub shy. Verlander gave up a ninth inning knock to Josh Harrison while Cain's bid was spoiled by a James McDonald single.

The last Pirate nine to be no hit was the 1971 squad, the team that won the World Series. They were the feared Lumber Company of Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and the boys, who had a .274 team BA that season. So it happens to the best of them.

But outrage focused at the last two months of play is understandable, heck, demanded if you care about the team. The club was 11-17 in August and 6-19 so far this month. The math works out to a 32% winning pace, or 52 wins over the season. That's sad.

Some mark the nosedive from when Cutch got clocked in Cincy, or the 19 inning win at St. Louis. We say it started at the deadline. Before that, the team was in a comfort zone, and everyone - the starters, the bench, the rotation and the bullpen - all had their roles well defined and were filling them capably.

Since then, the rotation picked up Wandy Rodriguez and lost Eric Bedard. James McDonald imploded, then Jeff Karstens went down and has been pretty much in the doghouse (and bullpen) ever since. So KC is back, along with Indy's Jeff Locke and Kyle McPherson, who are 0-5. That has been the root of many of the team's problems. Wandy added some stability with AJ, but without JK and J-Mick performing, the club found itself climbing out of a hole game after game.

The bullpen lost Brad Lincoln, and no one was ever brought in to take his swingman seventh inning/multi inning role, even though Chris Leroux and Bryan Morris were ready at Indy. Then they jettisoned Juan Cruz, another bridge arm. They added castaways Chad Qualls (6.75 ERA) and Hisanori Takahashi (9.82 ERA) and made Kevin Correia the long guy. They called up all of Indy's starters in September and used them from the pen before Leroux or Morris.

And since August, the lineup has been a jumble. The bottom of the order was and remained an abyss, hitting .224 in the 7-9 spots without the pitchers included; it's .197 with their at-bats in the mix. The top of the order was barely better; the 1-2 spots have hit a combined .247 with an OBP of .298. That's hardly setting the table.

Clint Hurdle was also tasked with finding playing time for Starling Marte, Travis Snider, Alex Presley and Jose Tabata on Cutch's flanks. Losing Neil Walker put a gaping hole in the order. Brock Holt replaced The Kid's OBP, but not his gap power, lineup flexibility, or glove. Gaby Sanchez was the only position player added that fit in with the pre-August scheme, slipping into Casey McGehee's platoon spot.

The bench? Well, now that the ol' skipper has so many toys, the eighth and ninth innings are a scorekeeper's nightmare, with an army of pinch hitters parading to the plate, along with double switches enough to make a test pilot dizzy.

As far as a comfort zone goes, fuhget about it. Half the team realizes its on audition for 2013, so discipline and little things like hitting behind the runner or working the count are out the window; they all want to prove they're the next Cutch. And don't think it doesn't carry over to the big guys like McCutch and GI, who are carrying the weight of an underperforming club squarely on their backs. We don't think they're physically spent, but mentally worn down.

So to us, the reasons for the slide are pretty simple. In August, the FO tinkered with a team that was successful, but had obvious holes. And while they strengthened a couple of spots - Wandy and Gaby are upgrades - they created a couple of bullpen gaps, didn't do anything to bolster the top or bottom end of the order, and couldn't find a long-term difference maker at a price and fit they felt they could afford. Strike one.

Then in September, they called up half of Indy - they're carrying 36 players now - and adopted a "throw 'em against the wall and see what sticks" plan for playing time. That sent absolutely the wrong message, loud and clear, to the guys who were in the clubhouse all year - we're worried about 2013 and beyond, not about contending this season. Strike two.

The final straw wasn't anything the FO could be particularly faulted for - injuries happen, and who could have foreseen McDonald and Karstens falling off the face of the earth - but exposed the much ballyhooed system's lack of MLB-ready depth. Strike three.

That lack of depth and the failure to craft a blueprint to finish out this season, with a dose of the baseball god's fickleness, should be the source of your outrage, not Homer Bailey.

Bucs No-Hit, Lose 81st Game 1-0

Not a great start for AJ. Brandon Phillips started off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a Zack Cozart single. Joey Votto walked to juice the sacks with no outs and Todd Frazier lifted a full count sac fly to right to make 1-0. But Jay Bruce couldn't keep it going, pounding a first pitch grounder to Jordy Mercer at second, who started a 4-6-3 DP to end the frame without any additional damage. Alex Presley opened with a bouncer to second. Mercer went down swinging at a Homer Bailey slider that was down and away. Cutch grounded out to third, and it was 1-0 Reds after a frame.

The Reds' second didn't begin much better, as Scott Rolen singled to start it off. AJ collected his first punchout, getting Drew Stubbs swinging at a slurve.  Burnett got the grounder to second on time this inning, getting Ryan Hanigan to finish the frame on a 4-6-3 note. The Bucs went down in order again.

Cozart singled on a 2-2 curve with two down in the third. AJ worked Votto in and out, and got him on a grounder to short. Barmes became the first Bucco runner when he knocked a curve to third and Rolen booted it. His brother Killer B's didn't help - Rod Barajas popped out and Burnett K'ed on three straight foul bunts. Presley flew out to end the Pirate half, leaving the score at 1-0 Cincinnati.

Again, the first two Reds went down before Rolen tapped an infield knock. He didn't last long; he was nailed stealing - with AJ and Hot Rod as the battery! The Bucs went down in order with a pair of whiffs. Bailey has been really sharp, carving the edges and leaving nothing in the hitting zone through four. AJ's been dealing himself since the rocky first; he put away the bottom of the Reds order in the fifth. Bailey kept on rolling, too, picking up another pair of K to bring his total to seven after five.

Votto singled with two down in the sixth, and stayed put as Frazier bounced out. For the Bucs, it was three up, three grounders, three down. AJ's working on a gem, too - he punched out a pair while setting the Reds down in order in the seventh. Bailey climbed the ladder on Mercer, whiffing him on three pitches to open the Buc half. He was careful to Cutch, and lost him on four pitches, all down and away, and he swiped second on the next pitch. McCutch tried for third, too, and that was one base too many as he was nailed. Good thought; Jones flew out, only the second Bucco ball to the outfield, but it ended the inning instead of tying the game.

With two down in the eighth, Phillips legged out an infield knock to the right side. Cozart lined out, and the Buccos were down to six hitters to take a crack at Bailey. After Travis Snider flew out, Pedro hit the first ball on the screws tonight, but it was a liner right at Rolen. Jeff Clement went down swinging.

AJ did his part. The veteran righty went eight, giving up a run on seven hits and a walk with five K, tossing 107 pitches. Tony Watson took the hill, and Chase d' Arnaud went to second. Watson retired the heart of the Red order routinely. Bailey fed Brock Holt high heat and got him swinging on four pitches. The Fort put up an eight pitch battle before flying out to left. Presley popped out, and Homer Bailey had his no hitter.

Give Bailey his props; he never gave in and never tossed a ball down the middle, and Bucs hit just a couple of balls hard all game. Maybe there should be an asterisk in the record books, though; this team is such a mess at the dish. Anyway, that guarantees another non-winning season; the next loss will assure a twentieth losing straight losing year.

Tomorrow night matches up Mike Leake with Kyle McPherson.

• The Bucs were last no hit on 8/14/1971 by Bob Gibson at Three Rivers Stadium; the score of that one was 11-0. Before that, they were no-no'ed in 1955 when the Cubs' Sad Sam Jones pulled it off at Wrigley Field, winning 4-0.
• Homer Bailey has three complete games in his career; all three have come against the Pirates at PNC Park.
• Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated wrote a piece on the Buc's collapse: "Pirates Fade To Black" focusing on the deadline moves NH engineered.
• Cutch is in an 0-for-12 funk, his longest hitless streak of the year.
• Pedro Alvarez has whiffed 175 times this season. He has the single year record now, having broken Craig Wilson's 2004 mark of 169 sometime during the Mets series.
• Even with the 1-0 loss, AJ Burnett is the only pitcher with three wins against the Reds this season.
• A lot of people will be able to honestly say they saw this little bit of dark Bucco history. There were 34,796 in the house tonight; the attendance should go over 2,000,000 tomorrow.

Lineup, Notes, News; Walker Done

RHP Homer Bailey (12-10, 3.92 ERA) takes the bump against RHP A.J. Burnett (16-8, 3.53 ERA). Bailey has been strong away from Great American this year, going 7-2/2.75 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP. AJ is 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in four starts against the Reds this year, three of which came at Great American Ball park against Homer Bailey. He's also one win away from tying Zach Duke's Pirate mark of most PNC Park victories in a year at nine. One last note: AJ has lost his last three home starts and Bailey has never lost in Pittsburgh. The game starts at 7:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup:Alex Presley LF, Jordy Mercer 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Jose Tabata RF, Pedro Alvarez RF, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, AJ Burnett P.

Whew - Cutch is back, and Jordy Mercer, after a two-hit game, is at second. The Kid (see below) is done for the season.

The series means something to Cincy; they're a game behind the Nats for home field, so Pittsburgh will be playing the A Team. Oh, and it's the last chance to stick one in Brandon Phillips' ear for both Cutch's and Hughes' sake.

• Neil Walker's back diagnosis is a herniated disc.  The bad news is he's done for the year; the good news is no surgery is needed. The question, of course, is why the Pirates let him play with the injury.
• Jeff Karstens won't get another start this year, sez Clint Hirdle.
• Linda Olson of Fan House: "Cutch Is Living The Dream."
• The Bucs finished 34-47 (.420) on the road this season.
• Washington's third base coach, Bo Porter, was hired as the new Astro manager. He'll take over after the Nat's post-season concludes. Also, the Indians canned Manny Acta, although they may have been better off firing the team instead.

KC Clocked 6-5

Another day, another loss. The Bucs made this one interesting, scoring twice in the ninth to put a little fear of the Lord into the Mets before bowing 6-5. The first inning was a breeze for both RA Dickey and Kevin Correia.

In the second, Garrett Jones led off with a double to left and went to third an out later on a bloop knock to left by Travis Snider. Rod Barajas followed with a ground rule double, plating GI and putting Bucs at second and third. Jordy Mercer gently rolled a ball 60' up the third base line and Wright couldn't finish the tough play to make it 2-0 Bucs.

The lead was cut in half quickly when Correia served up a leadoff homer to Ike Davis on a 3-2 slider to start the second. An out later, Mike Baxter was served an 0-2 meatball heater that he drove to right center, causing KC to hang his head, sure he had been touched for another long ball. But Snider climbed the fence, and extending maybe three feet over the rail, he sno-coned the ball to take the homer away, hanging on as he came down to earth. That'll be on Sports Center tonite.

The third went quietly. Hot Rod hit a solo home run in the fourth off an 0-2 dancer. KC had retired six straight before giving up a single to Daniel Murphy to open the frame, followed by a David Wright grounder that went off Josh Harrison's couldn't corral for a single to put runners on the corners. An out later, Jerry Hairston lined an RBI single to right field to make it 3-2.

Dickey struck out the side in the fifth, sandwiched around a walk to Jones. It was the last frame for Kevin Correia.

Andres Torres walked on five pitches to lead off the NY half. With one out, Ruben Tejada blooped a single and Daniel Murphy banged one up the middle to score Torres. Hairston singled in another run. Wright, who owns KC in his career, clocked a 2-1 fastball into the bullpen in right-center to give the Mets a 6-3 lead. That was it for KC. He went 4-1/3 frames, giving up six runs on seven hits and a walk with two K while throwing 80 pitches. It was the second straight game that he exited after a three-run homer. Hisanori Takahashi closed out the frame.

Neither team did a whole heckuva lot after that until the ninth. Takashasi, Chris Resop and Tony Watson put up goose eggs. The only compelling moment was  in the seventh when Cutch dove for Murphy's bloop in center, trapped it but still got a force at second. Nice play, and we hope it doesn't cost him. He left the field between Hurdle and the trainer but under his own power with a left knee contusion. He said after the game that he would be good to go, but we'll hold our breath until the docs check him out in Pittsburgh tomorrow.

Meanwhile, RA Dickey struck out 13 , tying a career high. The knuckleballer retired eight straight batters during one stretch with a run of five straight strikeouts. He left after a two-out walk in the eighth to Snider, and Jon Rauch got the last out.

The Bucs tried to climb the hill in the ninth. Mercer battled for 11 pitches and drew a leadoff walk. An out later, Alex Presley's 10th homer off a 1-2 fastball, cut the lead to one. Bobby Parnell got the call, and retired the next two batters routinely to earn his fifth save of the season and ice Dickey's twentieth victory.

The Bucs come home for a season-ending six game homestand. AJ Burnett will take on the Reds' Homer Bailey tomorrow night.

• Cutch went 0-for-4 to finish the day at .332; he's now behind Buster Posey in the BA race.
• In his first start since the Gettysburg Address, Jordy Mercer went 2-for-3 with a walk. Hot Rod Barajas and Garrett Jones also had a pair of knocks.
• The Pirates whiffed 14 times, led by Starling Marte and Pedro with three apiece.
• The next Bucco loss ends any hope for a winning season. It looks like the streak lives on.
• Neil Walker will see a back doc tomorrow in Pittsburgh to diagnose his progress. The visit was previously scheduled, and is just a maintenance exam.

Travis Snider catch:

Lineup, Notes, News - Dickey Looking For #20

RHP Kevin Correia (11-10, 4.11 ERA) will have his work cut out today against the Mets RHP R.A. Dickey (19-6, 2.66 ERA). KC is going for his 12th win, and has been throwing some nice ball in September, with a 2.59 ERA, but will have his hands full this afternoon. The Mets juggled Dickey's schedule so that he faced Pittsburgh today rather than Atlanta tomorrow, both because the Pirates are easier pickings and to try to get #20 at home. The knuckleballer can become the first Mets pitcher to win 20 games since Frank Viola in 1990, has a shot at the pitching Triple Crown (wins, Ks, ERA) and is on the short list for the Cy Young. The game starts at 1:10 and will be aired by Root Sports.

One guy to watch today is David Wright. He's hitting .339 in his last 15 games against the Pirates, with five hits (one homer) and four RBIs so far in this series. Even worse, he's 11 for 14 (.786) with three doubles and two homers off Kevin Correia.

The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Travis Snider RF, Rod Barajas C, Jordy Mercer SS, Kevein Correia P.

The Kid is down; hopefully he'll be put on ice now that the playoff race has officially ended. And my goodness, a Jordy Mercer sighting!

• Pedro Alvarez had his seventh four+ RBI game of the year in Tuesday's 10-6 victory. That's tied with Texas' Josh Hamilton for the most in MLB.
• One place the Pirates didn't improve: The Buccos have gone 34-46 away from PNC Park this season after posting a 36-45 road record last year. Today's their last road game of the season.
• Starling Marte has swiped 10 bases since being called up on July 26. It’s the fourth straight season a Pirates rookie has stolen at least 10 bags in a season. Chase d’Arnaud pilfered 12 last season, Jose Tabata had 19 steals in 2010 and Andrew McCutchen committed larceny 22 times in 2009.
• Pittsburgh is 13-32 (.288) over their last 45 games.

Pirates Embarrrassed 6-0

Well, Jeremy Hefner looked like a young man on a mission in the first; he whiffed Starling Marte and Alex Presley, then retired Cutch on a fly to center. In the Met half, Jeff Locke got ahead of Ruben Tejada 0-2, came inside with a heater, and he fought it off to single to right. Locke came back to fan Daniel Murphy on four pitches and got David Wright to fly out to Marte short of the track in left on a 3-2 fastball. Scott Hairston bounced out to a diving Pedro, who recovered to toss a bullet to first, and it was a scoreless opening frame.

Pedro singled after a GI Jones whiff. The Fort fought a nine pitch battle, eventually popping out. Josh Harrison flew out, and it's been a no sweat start for Hefner. Locke lost Ike Davis on five pitches to open the NY half. Kelly Shoppach whiffed, swinging through a heater, and Lucas Duda did the same, missing a slider in the dirt. Andres Torres lifted a pitch away to Marte, and Davis stayed anchored at first.

The Pirates went down without a peep in the third. After whiffing Hefner, Tejada yanked a 3-2 heater to left for a knock and he second a heartbeat later when he was picked off on an early break but Jones throw to second glanced off his helmet. It hurt a couple of pitches later when Murphy banged a 1-2 heater into center for an RBI single, helped by Cutch slipping as he fielded the ball; not much help for Locke so far this frame.

The defensive lapses continued. Wright dribbled one up the left side and Pedro airmailed the toss for a single and error; Murphy scored and Wright went to second. Hairston doubled to left, and it was 3-0. Davis flew out to center for the second out with Wright tagging to third. He came in when Shoppach slapped a 1-2 curve into center. Duda went down swinging, but two misfires by the Buc infield gifted the Mets with four runs when Locke couldn't pick up his scatter-armed defenders.

Pittsburgh went down in order in the fourth. Hefner, who was yanked from his last start when he allowed the first seven batters to reach without getting an out, is tossing a one-hitter with five K. Torres opened the fourth with an infield knock to short, the third straight lead off hitter to reach. He was bunted to second and stole third. Tejada brought him in with a single off Pedro's mitt with the infield playing in. He wanted second, too, but Locke picked him off as he broke and this time Jones' throw got through for the out. Good thing; Murphy banged a single to center.

That hit stuck the fork in Locke; Chris Leroux was waved in. Locke went 3-2/3, giving up five runs on nine hits with a walk and five whiffs after 70 pitches. Nine of the twelve balls the Mets put in play against him ended up hits. David Wright kept it going, greeting Leroux with a single. Hairston banged another knock to left, but Marte's arm stopped the merry-go-round as Murphy was chopped down at home.

Pedro at least has Hefner figured out as he led off the fifth with his second knock, a single to center. Two outs later, Clint Barmes walked on five pitches. Jeff Clement hit for Leroux, though the result would have been the same as he whiffed, missing a curve in the dirt. Jeff Karstens got the call and tossed a clean frame.

Marte opened the sixth with a knock, and was erased stealing a pitch later. He may have been in, but still...behind 5-0 and stealing? No diff; he wasn't going anywhere anyhow after a pop and fly out. Torres opened with a knock against JK. Hefner bunted him to second and he came in on Tejada's fourth hit, a single to center. That knock made it 6-0 after six.

The Pirates went down without a fight again in the seventh. Bryan Morris marched up the hill and tucked away NY, fanning a pair. Jeurys Familia took over in the eighth for Hefner, who tossed 102 pitches, and threw a 1-2-3 frame. Chad Qualls faced the Mets. After an out, Torres ripped a fastball to center for a double. Chad got a pair of grounders to end the frame, the last one ending Tejada's bid for a five hit evening.

Marte led of the ninth with a walk; Presley rolled one to second for a 4-6-3 DP. Cutch ended an 0-for-4 night with a fly out, and the Bucs were dropped by a 6-0 tally. One batter reached second; no one touched third. Lotta wounds to lick after tonight's performance.

Kevin Correia closes out the series against RA Dickey, who is going for his twentieth win, tomorrow afternoon.

• MLB.com polled a panel of experts to create an All-Time Latino Team, and Roberto Clemente got more #1 votes than any other player named to the squad.
• Jeff Locke now has the Pirates second longest streak for a starter looking for his first win at nine outings.
• The Bucs were eliminated from wild card contention tonight.