Bucs Bop Tigers 7-4

It sure is nice to get a point quickly, and the Bucs did that to open against Justin Verlander. John Jaso, who loves to go the opposite way, doubled to left, went to third on a Cutch fly and touched home following a Matt Joyce knock, also to the opposite field. It ended just as quickly with a strike 'em out, throw 'em out DP. Jon Niese tossed an easy first frame.

The second was better. Gregory doubled to open and an infield single followed by a walk loaded them up for Jordy, who shot a two-run single up the middle (bonus points - it was the seventh pitch of an 0-2 count!). To boot, Verlander took 37 pitches to get three outs. Niese looked good, until Nick Castellanos took a two out, first pitch heater yard to make it 3-1.  Pittsburgh manufactured an answer when Joyce doubled and came around on a bouncer and sac fly; Jonathan had clean inning.

Fran had three hits today (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Josh doubled to open the fourth, S-Rod drew his second free pass, and Jordy bunted them up a station. JJ's fly plated Harrison to make it 5-1, while Niese tossed another quiet frame. Justin and his 91 pitches tottered to the hill, but after a one-out Marte double and Fran single, Drew Verhagen got the call. Gregory greeted him with a RBI double. Josh walked to load the bases and S-Rod's bloop brought home another. JD Martinez led off for Motown with another homer, again on a first pitch fastball.  It's 7-2 after five.

Logan Kensing took over and gave up a couple more knocks, but a DP saved his bacon. Jon got one, too, but gave up a pair before it came on a walk, error, blooper and ground ball single; 7-4 is a little more exciting than it should be. It was another Buc zippo in the seventh, and Neftali Feliz got the ball. Niese went six, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits (two HR) with five K and a walk after 88 pitches. Detroit went down 1-2-3. Mark Lowe took his turn for El Tigres in the eighth and tucked the Bucs away without a peep.

So did El Coffee (photo Gene Puskar/AP)

A little late maneuvering by Clint took place, with S-Rod going to first, David Freese to third and Tony Watson to the hill. He put up another zero, and Kyle Ryan claimed the bump for Detroit. He gave up a couple of two out knocks, running the Bucco total to 17, but kept them off the board. It was Shark time, and a single, DP and whiff put this baby to bed. Niese got his first Bucco win, Melancon his third save and Neftali/Tony earned their third holds.

Back at it tomorrow afternoon, when Juan Nicasio faces Anibal Sanchez.

• Every Pirate starter had a hit today. Cutch moved to 22nd place on the Pirates all-time hit list today with knock #1,159, behind Carson Bigbee at 1,205. (S/O to @John Dreker of Pirates Prospects) 
• Gregory and Fran had three hits each; JJ, Matt Joyce, Starling and Josh added a pair apiece. 
• Every Pirate starter either scored or drove in a run; four did both.
• Lots of twin killings; the Bucs hit into four DPs and turned three.
• Today was the first time since his rookie season in 2006 that Justin Verlander threw 100+ pitches without getting through the fifth frame. He got 13 outs, and two were sac flies, two were caught stealing and another was a sac bunt.
• JJ is adjusting to first; he's not only made a couple of nice fielding plays, but has picked a couple wayward throws. He's not a natural yet, but the FO looks like it won the dice roll with him so far.

Cole Train v Lance Lynn; Lineup (Marte Still Out; Ishy In) & Notes

Today's Game - It's a marquee matchup between Gerrit Cole (12-3, 2.28) and Lance Lynn (6-4, 2.53) tonight. Cole leads the major leagues in wins while Lynn is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his last six starts. Cole Train, meanwhile, is 7-1 with a 2.19 ERA in his last nine starts. He's faced the Cards four times, all last year, and slashed 1-2/3.42, giving up two or less runs in three of the outings.

Ishy gets a start in left tonight (photo Keith Srakocic/AP)

Lynn came off the DL a couple of weeks ago, and has gone 2-0 in three starts since, giving up three runs (1.59 ERA) in 17 IP on 14 hits with 20 K, so we'd say he's recovered. He has one no-decision against the Bucs this year when he and AJ hooked up in a game that STL eventually won 2-1 in 10 innings. But the Pirates usually do OK v Lynn; his career line in 5-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 16 outings (14 starts) against Pittsburgh. And Lynn won't have to deal with two players who have given him trouble historically, with Starling Marte (8-for-21) and Josh Harrison (7-for-19) both out.

The game will start at 7:05 and be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. And today's drizzle is supposed to be it, at least for the Cardinal series. The ground crew deserves a beer after the last couple of home stands - the Pirates have already had over 14 hours of PNC Park rain delay time this season.

Today's Lineup - Gregory Polanco RF, Neil Walker 2B, Cutch CF, Jung-Ho Kang 3B, Jordy Mercer SS, Pedro 1B, Travis Ishikawa LF, Stew C, Cole P.

Stew is in with Cole Train on the mound and Starling is supposedly available of the bench tonight. Ishy is in left, so the lineup is a little more alien than usual.

• Cutch's 16 game hitting streak is the longest streak by a Pittsburgh player since Neil Walker hit safely in 17 consecutive games in 2012.
• Mark Melancon has 98 career saves, 77 as a Pirate. That puts him behind just ElRoy Face (188), Teke (158), Mike Williams (140),  Dave Giusti (133) and Joel Hanrahan (82) on the Pirate leaderboard. Tony Watson has quietly become the franchise top dog in holds with 101, easily surpassing Scott Sauerbeck's 86.  
• Matt Eddy of Baseball America has an updated report on the Bucs' brightest prospects.

Post Season Stuff...Schedules, Ex-Bucs, Final Regular Season Stats

 Some facts, figures & trivia per the season and the playoffs:

• The playoff picture: For the NL, the Bucs and Giants kick it off Wednesday night at Pittsburgh. The winner goes to Washington for a Friday opener. The Cards visit LA Friday, too. In the AL, Oakland goes to KC on Tuesday for the wild card game, with that winner visiting the Angels on Thursday. Detroit opens at Baltimore on the same day.
• The Pirate game is scheduled to have Edinson Volquez (13-7, 3.04) face lefty Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98) at PNC Park beginning at 8:07, televised by ESPN. Kent Tekulve will throw out the first pitch. Volquez didn't face the Giants this season, while the Bucs had their way with Bumgarner in his one outing against them in May. Pittsburgh is 4-2 against the Giants this season.
• In was in the cards for San Francisco & Pittsburgh to meet. The two teams finished with identical 88-74 records and even had the same run differential, +51. They finished 28th and 29th in pitching, with SF's ERA at 3.50 and Pittsburgh's at 3.49. The biggest split is in OPS, with Pittsburgh at .734 and the G-Men at .699.

 (2013 blackout v Reds, photo by Jared Wickersham of Getty Images)

• The Giants bring a boatload of old Bucs with them, especially pitching: Ryan Vogelsong, Javier Lopez, Hunter Strickland, Jean Machi and Erik Cordier are all on their September roster, along with 1B/OF Travis Ishikawa.
• Other ex-Bucs on playoff teams' September rosters: Adam LaRoche (Washington), Kevin Correia (LA Dodgers), Steve Pearce & Evan Meek (Baltimore), Rajai Davis & Don Kelly (Detroit), Erik Kratz & Jayson Nix (Kansas City), Jason Grilli, Yoslan Herrera, John Buck & John McDonald (LA Angels) and Brian Moss & Jesse Chavez (Oakland).
• Tuesday at noon at Market Square, the City, County, PNC and the Bucs will sponsor a Pirates Playoff Rally to get the troops revved.
• Colorado manager Walt Weiss said it was his decision to sit Justin Morneau for the last two games to set him up for the NL batting title, and Morneau took it with a .319 average. Josh Harrison finished with a .315 BA to come in second and Cutch finished third with a .314 average.
• Cutch has produced a slash line of .300/.400/.500 or better in three straight seasons.

(photo from USA Today)

• Four Pirates (Cutch/6.9, Josh/4.8, Starling/4.0 and The Kid/3.7) ranked in the NL's top 25 in WAR per Fangraphs. Russ, by the way, had a 5.2 WAR and would have made it five, but he didn't have enough plate appearances to be a qualifier.
• NH explained to MLB.com's Tom Singer about as succinctly as possible why the Bucs didn't deal at the deadline: "we couldn't find the right impact coming in the door to match the impact that would've been going out the door."
• For those looking into the future, the Pirates draft 23rd this year after going 22nd in 2013.

Cole Train Rolls But Bullpen Rocked In 4-1 Loss As Cueto Does It All

After getting a pair of routine grounders to open the game, Johnny Cueto gave up back-to-back knocks to Cutch and The Kid before getting Starling on a fly. The unstoppable Kris Negron singled hard to left against Gerrit Cole to start up the Reds. Brandon Phillips dropped a flare into center to put Redlegs at first and third, and a chopper, speared by a leaping Josh, brought Negron home. Two K's later, it was 1-0 Reds.

With two gone in the second, Stew ripped a double to left center that turned Chris Heisey around, but Cueto put Cole away on four pitches. The Cole Train picked up a couple more whiffs while tossing a clean frame. Cueto matched him in the third, with two K's sandwiched around a Travis line out. Negron kept it up against the Bucs, singling to right with an out and getting to second on a wild pitch. A roller, again nicely converted by Josh, moved him up 90', but Todd Frazier's grounder to short ended the inning without a score.

The Kid led off the fourth by going long; it's good to have his bat back after a two-week slump. Cueto polished off the remaining Buccos, one being Gaby, who came in to hit for Ike; maybe Davis' flu is acting up (it was). Two more Reds K'ed, then Heisey had the unusual occurrence of running into his own batted ball for the third out.

Stew is on a roll; he dropped a hustle double, his second, into left to open the fifth; he only had three two-baggers coming into today. So much for hustle; he was thrown out at third on a pretty poor bunt effort by Cole; all he had to do was bunt it toward third. Two flies ended the frame. The Cole Train kept on a rollin'; he tossed a 1-2-3 frame and has nine K.

Ditto Cueto, who tossed another easy inning in the sixth. Cole finally got Negron, thanks to a dandy spin-o-rama play by Josh at third. No more dramatics as Gerrit K'ed two more. Gaby drilled a fastball to left to start the seventh, but the liner was gloved by Jason Bourgeois. Two routine grounders ended the frame. And Cueto's not going anywhere at 90+ pitches; the Reds will keep him in until he's in line for a win, as he's looking for #20. After a punch out, Jay Bruce broke Cole's string of 12 in-a-row with a single to right. No prob; Stew tossed him out trying to steal followed by a pop out.

Andrew Lambo came in for Cole in the eighth; the Bucs do have another day to live for. Lambo whiffed and Josh lined out to third; even when the Bucs do square up, they can't find grass against Johnny. Travis hit one to center that the Reds couldn't flag and chugged into second, with Gregory Polanco coming in to run. Cutch got hit in the back by the next pitch, but Walker couldn't make Cueto pay, grounding out to first.

Tony Watson came on, and Bourgeois greeted him with a triple. A liner to Josh kept him there for an out; it was the fourth really sweet play he's made today at the hot corner. The Reds let Cueto (.119) bat, and it paid off; he ran the count full after being in a 1-2 hole and singled into center to plate Bourgeois.

To add insult to injury, his back swing caught Stew on the wrist, and that brought Tony Sanchez into the game to catch. Cueto was replaced by pinch runner Yorman Rodriguez; it will be Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. Justin Wilson came on and promptly gave up a homer to Negron. After an out, he walked Frazier and plunked Mesoraco, whether to avenge Cutch or out of frustration is tough to tell. He got Bruce to end an inning the pen would like to forget.

Marte opened with a knock, followed by a Gaby K. Starling stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Jordy went down looking at 100 MPH heater, and Tony Sanchez swung through a 102 MPH fastball. Guess the Redbirds get to save Adam Wainwright for another day now.

Well, see you all Wednesday at PNC Park as Madison Bumgarner and the Giants try to beat the black out against, we assume, Eddie Volquez. The game will be on ESPN and starts at 8:07 PM.

• This was Cole Train's third double-digit strikeout game of his career. He equaled his career high of 12, set against San Diego last year.
• Neil Walker has gone deep five times this year at GABP. He has 14 career homers against the Reds, his most versus any opponent.
• Kris Negron devoured the Bucs this series, going 9-for12.
• For those following the grand tour's finale, Derek Jeter legged out an RBI infield single and was removed so he could end his career with a hit.

Here We Go: Scenarios, Cole v Cueto, Lineup (No Russ)

Well, the Pirates and Gerrit Cole need to stop Johnny Cueto from winning his 20th game and the D-Backs have to somehow defeat Adam Wainwright for an NL Central tie and 163rd game. Stranger things have happened, but not often.

Still, it's a remarkable last day considering where the Bucs started from this season, and you can't blame Hurdle for using all his bullets, even if logic dictates otherwise. His message is pretty clear: we're not taking our foot off the pedal. And it's not just Clint; he talked about the game with his Player's Leadership Council, per Travis Sawchik of the Trib, and they were all for Cole taking the hill today.

The Pirates are guaranteed to host the Wednesday wild card game at worst, and could win the division at best to avoid a one-game crap shoot. We'll see how things shake out. If there's a playoff tomorrow, Jeff Locke is due. Eddie Volquez, who has been performing as well as top guns Liriano & Cole, is in Clint's hip pocket for Wednesday (and that's the game that really counts), or Frankie could go on three days rest.

No sense belaboring you with the Cole-Cueto blurbs; you know them both well. Welcome to the September asylum; a wild season just got a little more crazy.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Starling Marte LF, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Chris Stewart C and Cole P. Sorry for being late; we assume Clint was holding out until Russ' status was determined.

• The other big sidebar to today's game is Josh's run for the batting title. He's sitting second to Justin Morneau, at .318 to .319.

Frankie, Bullpen Can't Find the Target In 10-6 Loss

Alfredo Simon plunked Josh with the first pitch to open the game and he stole second, but there he remained.

Francisco Liriano, who has been virtually unhittable but walking guys left and right, finally had his control catch up to him. A walk, hit and walk loaded the bases with no outs, and then Devin Mesoraco rolled one that just got by Josh at third and went under Marte's glove to plate a pair; a grounder plated another. A fourth run was saved when Jordy's throw home on another hopper just barely beat Mesoraco at home and just as barely survived a blocking the plate review; they ruled Stew had the ball before planting his leg at home. A whiff ended the frame, but it was 3-0 Reds.

The Bucs got a run back in the second when Starling doubled and a pair of bouncers brought him home. Frankie gave up a two out single to Kris Negron, who's been killing Bucco pitching so far this series, before a pop ended it. The Bucs went down in order in the third; Liriano survived another pair of walks to put up a second zero. Cutch got to third in the fourth frame after a leadoff walk and pair of grounders, but Ike whiffed. Negron banged a two out double, and Frankie left him there.

The Bucs woke up in the fifth. Jordy homered to left on the line with an out, Frankie (!) singled and Josh doubled high off the wall in right, barely missing a long ball. Too bad the runner was Liriano; anyone else scores. Travis lined out to right and Cutch unhappily walked to load the sacks for The Kid. Andrew needn't have pouted; Walker dropped the first pitch into center to bring in a pair and chase Cutch to third. Starling bounced out, but the Bucs climbed out of a big early hole to take a 4-3 lead.

Todd Frazier drew his second walk of the day to start the Reds and a swinging bunt moved him up a station. A wild pitch got him to third. Frankie punched out Chris Heisey, but Ryan Ludwick went with a fastball down and away, rolling it into right for the game-tying single as the Bucs were in a shift the opposite way against the righty. Three of the four runs that have scored were aboard on walks. Ludwick was thrown out trying to steal on the next pitch, but the damage was done as it's 4-4.

JJ Hoover came in for Cincinnati in the sixth and struck out a pair, featuring high heat. Jared Hughes took the bump and plunked Yorman Rodrigeuz, who had K'ed in first two at-bats, with his second pitch. A medium fly and a 4-6-3 DP ended the music. Still, that's six free runners in six frames.

Sam LeCure took the ball in the seventh. He went soft for a pair of groundouts, then a fastball hit Travis in ther knee. Pinch runner Gregory Polanco stole second and came in on Cutch's smoked single through the left side that barely eluded Ramon Santiago at short. The Kid caught a 3-2 change and rattled it into right for a triple to score Cutch before Marte's fly out, making it 6-4 Pirates.

Big John Holdzkom got the call. After a K, Brandon Phillips rolled one up the middle. He fell behind Frazier 3-0, losing a couple of close corner calls, came down the pipe with a heater and watched it drop into the first row in right field to tie the game, a classic GABP dinger. A K and pop ended the frame with a brand new ball game at six-all.

Jumbo Diaz worked the eighth. Jordy banged a one-out double to left but was stranded as Stew looked at a called third strike that just nicked the zone (or maybe not, but you gotta protect on close pitches) and JT bounced out. Justin Wilson got the call for Pittsburgh and struck out a pair in a clean frame, the first one tossed against Cincy today.

Aroldis Chapman, who had some dead arm syndrome of late, came on. Looks like he's over it; seven pitches netted two K's and he hit 101 on five of the seven. Tony Watson came on for the Pirates, and he punched out two Reds in a 1-2-3 inning, registering at 96.

Dylan Axelrod spun an easy tenth. John Axford walked Todd Frazier to start the Reds, then went 3-2 on Mesoraco before getting him to line out to the center field track. Heisey fell behind 0-2 with fastballs, then got a curve that he rolled up the middle. Ludwick walked to load the bases.

Switch hitter Brayan Pena pinch hit and Bobby LaFromboise was waved in. Pena got ahead 3-0, ran the count full thanks to a gift strike call and then popped out to short right. It was a tease; two pitches later Santiago yanked a tight sinker barely over the left field fence for a grand slam, only his second homer of the year, to put the Pirate pitchers out of their misery.

Tough to win if you can't throw strikes. The Bucs did put up six runs - they went 2-for-12 with RISP, but offset that by driving in four two-out runs. But it has been a remarkable September run, and every so often a clunker will pop up. They've done what they had to in the regular season. Buctober is in the cards now, and that's when the strikes and clutch hits count.

Gerrit Cole is slated to face Johnny Cueto tomorrow afternoon as Cueto looks for his 20th win. The proviso is that if the Cards win today and clinch that we'd probably see a different starter since home field is locked up for the wild card game. Right now, Edinson Volquez looks like the guy to go against Madison Bumgarner on Wednesday.

• Josh's hitting steak is at 15 games and Starling Marte has a 12 gamer.
• Liriano's run scored was his first of the season - oh, and the first of his nine year career.
• Frankie's in a strike-challenged stretch; he's walked 14 batters in his last three starts, covering 17 innings of work.
• Cutch has 69 extra base hits this season, which is tied with Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton for the NL lead. Andrew is trying to become the first Pirate to lead the league in extra base hits since Barry Bonds did it in 1992 with 75 extra base knocks.
• The legend of Big John Holdzkom may have taken a hit today, but teammates have christened him after a legendary character, Sasquatch - he is 6'7" and maybe more. The two-run homer he gave up tallied the first runs he's surrendered in nine appearances.
• Since last season, the Reds had lost their last 45 games when allowing at least six runs, a club record that they snapped today.
• Coming into this afternoon's game, the Pirates had won 10 of their last 12 games while allowing just 19 runs over that span. Pittsburgh was the only team to give up fewer than 20 runs over a span of a dozen games in the league this year.

Liriano v Simon, Lineup (No Russ), Bucs Home For the WC, Josh & Starling...

Francisco Liriano (7-10, 3.32) goes against Alfredo Simon (15-10, 3.34) this afternoon.

Frankie scattered three hits over six scoreless innings in his last start and won a 1-0 decision against the Braves, though he walked a bushel load. Since he's come off the DL, his numbers have been off the charts: Liriano has gone 6-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 14 starts since then, has allowed a total of three earned runs in his last six outings (39 IP) and is 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA in his first four starts this month. To boot, Francisco has posted a 2.17 ERA on the road this season.

With all that, he's not be very ace-like against Cincinnati. Frankie is 0-2 with a 4.32 ERA in four starts this season versus the Reds, with only one really solid game out of the bunch.

Simon has been a Bucco buddy in September, twice defeating St. Louis; his last outing was a 7-2 win against the Redbirds. The 33 year old was an inning eating middle reliever when the season opened; now he's looking like a part of the Cincy 2015 rotation.

He's 2-1/3.60 against the Bucs this year. Pittsburgh hasn't hit him very hard, but he has almost as many walks (10) as hits yielded (13) in his three Pirate starts, so a little patience sometimes goes a long way against Simon.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Starling Marte LF, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Chris Stewart C and Liriano P. Russ is out; we're thinking it may have been better in the long run for him to have sat out yesterday.

The game starts at 1:05 and will be aired by Fox Sports 1, Root Sports and 1020 KDKA-AM.

• The Chase: The Giants lost last night, so the Pirates have home field for the wild card sewn up. If that's how it ends, the game will be at PNC on Wednesday. The Cards won in extra innings, so Pittsburgh is still one game behind them in the NL Central title chase.
• Day of Rest: Russ is sitting today and is considered "day-to-day" with his hammy. Ike is over his flu and back in the lineup.
• Hitting Steaks: Josh has a 14-gamer and Starling is at 11 games.
• Help Wanted: Ken Rosenthal tweeted "Add Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister to list of managerial candidates that the Astros have contacted by phone."

Bucs Rally Late To Take 3-1 Victory

Mike Leake opened the game with an easy inning and Vanimal gave up a two out single to Brandon Phillips in a scoreless first. With two gone in the second, Starling rolled one up the middle, but he was caught stealing two pitches later, and by a mile. Chris Heisey led off with a single, banging a hung curve to left. Two outs later, Tucker Barnhart's knock moved him to third. Leake, a fair hitting pitcher, lined back to the box to finish the frame.

All the Bucs could get going in the third was a two out walk by Vanimal. The Reds got a leadoff knock from Kris Negron, but a soft fly and a 6-4-3 DP took care of that. Travis singled to start the fourth. Two outs later, Russ K'ed on a wild pitch; he made it first and Snider to third. Marte whiffed on a heater to strand them. worley worked his first clean frame.

Gaby, playing because Ike has the flu, drilled a first pitch cutter over the wall in left center to draw first blood in the fifth. Jordy was retired on a hard hit grounder, followed by K's of Vanimal and Josh. Zach Cozart singled off Jordy's glove and got greedy; he was cut down heading to second. An out later, Leake doubled and Negron singled him home to tie the game, going to second on the throw home. The pitcher barely slid under Cutch's throw home which was a bit on the first base side of the plate. Brayan Pena flew out to end the frame with the score knotted.

It was a 1-2-3 sixth for Leake. After a pair of swinging punch outs, Heisey doubled on a soft fly that Cutch had tick off his glove and a wild pitch moved him to third. A grounder closed the frame.

Russ walked to open the seventh. He gimped to first, and Chase d'Arnaud came in to run. Starling went down chasing a curve in the dirt. Gaby barreled up on a hook, but Heisey had his liner measured in center, then d'Arnaud was caught stealing to end the frame. Chris Stewart put on the gear to catch.

Barnhart rolled a single through the right side with one gone. Todd Frazier hit for Leake, and Clint yanked Vanimal - he's only at 74 pitches, but has surrendered nine hits - for Jared Hughes. Frazier whiffed, then Negron got his third hit when he gently rolled a slider that was way inside and at his shins to the left side for an infield knock, but another grounder ended the inning without any damage.

Pedro Villarreal took over in the eighth. After a bounce out, Andrew Lambo hit for Hughes and lined out to left center. Josh picked a slider almost off the dirt and rolled it into center. Travis got a fat slider that stayed in the middle of the plate and drilled it to right center for a double to plate Josh. Though it was crushed, it should have been caught - Jay Bruce either lost it in the lights or completely misread the liner. Cutch followed by ripping a 2-0 slider to center for another two bagger, scoring pinch runner Gregory Polanco. The Kid was walked intentionally, and it worked as Stew flew out foul in right.

Tony Watson climbed the hill against the heart of the Reds order. Phillips led off with an infield single to the right side when he fought off a tight sinker. After Bruce K'ed, Heisey sent a sinker to the track in left, but Starling was there at the wall for the grab. A pop out left the Bucs three outs from victory.

JJ Hoover got the call for the ninth. Gaby walked with one away. After a fly out, JT hit for Tony, and ran poor Gaby ragged, fouling off five straight 3-2 pitches with Sanchez in motion before he flew out to short right. Mark the Shark claimed the bump. After two easy outs, Jason Bourgeois hit and tapped out 6-3 as the Bucs kept on rollin'. What a difference from the 2011-12 Septembers.

The Bucs were outhit 11-6, but that's misleading. Pittsburgh had several well hit balls that turned into outs while the Reds had a handful of soft knocks. Give Vanimal credit; he kept throwing strikes and stranding runners, and the pen shut the door.

St. Louis and San Francisco are playing on the coast. The Pirates magic number to host a wild card game is one, and of this moment, they're just 1/2 game behind the Cards. Liriano and Cole are due up to pitch next, and it looks like the Bucs are going to go all in for the NL Central rather than set up post season matchups, so there are still a lot of scenarios and sidebar stories to play out this weekend..

Francisco Liriano is scheduled to face Alfredo Simon tomorrow afternoon.

• Josh Harrison has a personal best 14 game hitting streak; it's also the longest of the year by a Pirate. In fact, it's the longest since Neil Walker hit safely in 17 straight in 2012. Starling Marte's hitting streak continued too, and has reached 11 games.
• Vance Worley had his streak of 13-2/3 scoreless innings ended tonight. 
• Cutch has 200 career doubles.
• The Pirates announced that Charlie Morton underwent surgery today to repair the labrum in his right hip. The surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Byrd in Nashville, and the estimated recovery time is 6-8 months.
• In other injury news, the media gang reports that Pedro will see a doc on Tuesday to evaluate his foot and determine when he can start baseball activities. The FO seems guardedly optimistic that it will be soon.

Worley v Leake, Lineup, Hitting Streaks & Crowns, Records...

Vance Worley (8-4, 2.93) takes the bump versus Mike Leake (11-13, 3.78) to lead off the Reds' series.

Vanimal was one tough hombre last outing. He scattered four hits over eight shutout innings and won a 1-0 decision against Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta Sunday afternoon, starting 21 of his 27 batters with first-pitch strikes and retiring the final 13 hittersd he faced. Vance has won his last three decisions. He did have a break, missing a start when Charlie Morton bumped him briefly and claimed the short rest did him good.

He's been so-so against the Reds, going 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Cincy. This year, Vance allowed two runs in two innings of relief and won a 3-2 decision at PNC on 8/30. Another thing to watch: Vanimal struggles on the road. He's 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in his last four starts away from PNC Park.

Leake has developed into a dependable workhorse type of pitcher, and passed the 200 IP mark for a season for the first time this year. There might be a price to pay for all those frames, though, as September hasn't been very kind to him. After going seven shutout innings against Pittsburgh to end August, Mike has given up 18 earned runs in his past four starts (21 IP) this month.

He's 1-0/3.71 against the Pirates this season in four starts.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider 2B, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Russ Martin C, Starling Marte RF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Jordy Mercer SS and Worley P.Gaby's in because Ike has the flu, but we're surprised to see Russ behind the dish. We'd hate to see him pull up lame; he's been tempting fate lately.

The game starts at 7:10 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• See Ball, Hit Ball: Josh Harrison had a 13 game hitting streak; Starling Marte's streak is at 10 games. Harrison leads the league with a .319 average with Justin Morneau next at .317 and then Cutch at .314.
• See You In September: The Pirates are 16-7 this month, which is tied for the best record in the NL along with Washington. It’s also the first time Pittsburgh has won 16 games in September since 2000. The best month of the campaign to date was June when the club went 17-10.
• Bumpy Road: The Pirates have won five of their last six and nine of their last 11 games on the road. Still, they're only 36-42 away from PNC Park. Pittsburgh has lost 4-of-6 games in Cincinnati this season.
• No Penalty: Henry Schulman, Giants beat writer, tweeted that "If SF, STL, PIT all end with same record, and PIT loses playoff for Central, it still HOSTS Giants in wild card game. Per league exec, can't penalize Bucs for playing well enough to catch Cards for Central by making them go on road for wild card game they'd otherwise host."
• Second Half Plunge: Since the All-Star break, the Reds are 23-41. The Cincy record for fewest wins following the All-Star Game during a full season is 25, set in 1933, so this year could mark the biggest second-half collapse in franchise history. They have shaken off a long losing streak to take three of their last four games, though.
• NL Home Field: The Washington National's 4-0 win over Miami this afternoon guaranteed them the top spot and home field advantage during the NL playoffs. The Nats will play the wild card winner in the NLDS while the NL Central winner will face the Dodgers.

Bucs Bop Bravos 10-1

The Bucs struck early and first, for a change, when Travis Snider got all of a low hook and dropped it into the CF seats. Edinson Volquez had a pretty sweet inning, with three swinging K's on three different pitches - sinker, change and curve. Ike doubled with two gone in the second, but Jordy was intentionally walked, then Eddie whiffed. Volquez tossed another clean frame.

Josh opened the third with a knock and was chased to third by Travis' single to right. Cutch brought him home on a dink sac fly that went foul over the RF line; for some reason, Jason Heyward never even made a throw home to challenge Josh, who went on his own. The Kid is still in his funk, tho, rolling into a 3-6-3 DP, and it would be nice to get him back on track for Buctober.

Anderelton Simmons fell behind 0-2, but watched the next four miss the mark for an opening walk. Ramiro Pena bounced one to first, but Ike's feed to second was kinda leisurely and he just got the force. Pena was bunted to second It didn't hurt as Eddie punched out Emilio Bonifacio.

Ike doubled again with two gone in the fourth. Same scenario: Jordy was walked and Volquez was retired, this time on a short fly to center. Russ looked a little gimpy running out his grounder, but came back out.  Phil Gosselin got the Braves first hit, an infield roller to short. Two punch outs - Eddie now has seven - and a routine grounder later, he was still on first.

Hale got a pair of routine outs to open the fifth before walking Cutch, who stole second. The Kid walked, too, and Hale was up to 92 pitches as the Bravos loosened his 75-pitch leash to try to get him through the frame. That was his last batter; Juan Jaime was waved in and got Russ on a fly to right.

Simmons got the second hit for Atlanta, another softly hit infield knock. Pena followed with a solid single to left; like last night, the bottom of the order is carrying Atlanta. Ryan Doumit came up to pinch hit. It took seven pitches, but Eddie whiffed him. Bonifacio barreled up, and Cutch was equal to the task, gloving his liner to end the frame.

Lefty Luis Avilan took the ball in the sixth, and Starling rolled a single to left to open. Gaby hit for Ike; Marte stole second and came home when Sanchez bounced a heater away into right for a seeing eye single. Jordy took the bloom off the rose with a 6-4-3 DP before Volquez K'ed, then came out and worked a 1-2-3 frame against the braves, notching his ninth K.

Josh opened the seventh with a knock through the left side, and Travis lined a meatball to left for a two bagger. Gregory Polanco came in to run for Snider, ending his three-hit night that's a triple shy of the cycle. Cutch was walked intentionally. Avilan tossed a heater past Walker for the first out, then with two righties due up, Gus Schlosser got the call.

He jammed Russ to get a pop out to the mound. Schlosser was almost out of it when he got Starling to fish for a couple of sliders, but then launched a wild pitch trying for a final chase, plating Josh. The next delivery was scorched to right, and it was par-tay time as two more runs crossed on a double. Gaby popped out, but the Bucs had plenty of breathing room at 6-0. Heyward singled to right to begin the Bravos at-bat, but Eddie got the next three, helped by nice plays from Jordy and Starling.

Though at 95 pitches, Eddie batted in the eighth with an out and continued his big game with a single, his second hit of the season. Josh followed with a double to right for his third hit of the game. El Coffee flew out to medium left center; no chance of Eddie tagging on that.

Ump Jerry Layne called ball four a strike against Cutch; it hurt the Braves when Andrew dropped the next pitch gently into center to bring home two more Buccos. Cutch has been on base all four times he's been up. The Kid finally had something to feel good about when he crushed a 3-2, 87 MPH fastball down the middle over the center field wall. James Russell came in, as did Chris Stewart for Russ. Stew singled, but Russell retired Starling. Well, 10-0 with six outs to go is certainly breathing room.

Lotta subbing went on for the Bucs as Cutch, Josh and Russ took a seat, and Bobby LaFromboise took the hill for Eddie in another good move. Bravo pups yapped a bit as Tommy LaStella led off with a single, and two outs later Joey Terdoslavich doubled him to third, but the goose eggs remained.

Russell stayed on for the ninth. Jordy singled with an out, but the Buc bats were done for the night, despite some sharply hit balls. Casey Sadler took the ball and walked Heyward to open. He went to third when Bethancourt rolled a soft single to right. A strikeout later, Pena lifted a sac fly to left to get Atlanta on the board. A grounder ended it.

Eddie was money again. And hopefully, now that the pressures pretty much off, the Bucs will swing free and not choke the sawdust out of their sticks. Getting The Kid back in the groove would be a big boost, too, and *knock on wood* his homer may be the catalyst. Very good win; three more games at Cincy and then the post season, although those Red games have meaning as Pittsburgh chases the Cards and looks to bring the Giants to Pittsburgh if they can't catch St. Louis.

Vance Worley opens the final series of the year against the Reds' Mike Leake tomorrow night.

• Pittsburgh is one game back of the Cards and have a magic number of two to clinch the home wild card spot. They're a game ahead of the Giants, playing at San Diego tonight.
• Josh Harrison has a 13 game hitting streak, tied for the year's longest with Russ and himself. It's also tied for his personal best. Starling Marte's streak is at 10 games.
• Josh took over the NL batting title lead for the time being; he's hitting .319.
• Before tonight's 10 whiffs, Eddie Volquez's top strikeout number this season was seven, against the Mets and Marlins. He's had double-digit whiffs 10 times in his career now. His scoreless streak is currently at 18 innings. In yet another season milestone set tonight, his single snapped an 0-for-45 streak at the dish.
• The 10 runs by the Pirates tonight is the most runs scored for the Bucs at Turner Field since Opening Day 2008.
• It seems like yesterday that the Bucs were trailing the Braves for the wild card, but after tonight, the Pirates are a full 10 games ahead of them in the standings.
• Ben Lindbergh of Grantland looks at what Sabermetrics seperate successful playoff teams from also rans, and finds there's not much in the numbers to identify the winners from losers.

Volquez v Hale, Lineup (Russ & The Kid Are Back), The Race, Josh, Starling, Cutch, Vanimal...

Edinson Volquez (12-7, 3.15) takes on David Hale (4-4, 3.27). Sorry we're running a little late; Clint was apparently checking out Russ before making the lineup. The wait was wroth it; the A Team is playing.

In his last start Saturday v Milwaukee, Eddie scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings but had a no decision in a 1-0 loss. He's won eight of his last 10 decisions, and is 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. Steady Eddie is making his 31st start of the year and has been a constant in the rotation, navigating through a couple of rough spots to put together a remarkably workmanlike campaign.

Volquez is 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA in six career starts, but hasn’t faced the Braves this year, winning his last outing against them in 2013 as a Padre. He has traditionally been solid against the Bravos, being charged with three earned runs or fewer in five of his six career starting assignments against Atlanta.

This was supposed to be Mike Minor's start, but an inflamed shoulder has put him on the shelf. David Hale gets the call as his replacement. Hale has five 2014 starts (2-0 with a 2.22 ERA as a starter) under his belt, but none since late June. He did work three innings/59 pitches against the Mets on the 20th, so he should be stretched out a bit. He's auditioning for a possible fifth starter spot in the Bravos 2015 rotation.

In two outings against the Pirates this year, both in relief, Hale has tossed 1-1/3 innings of scoreless ball with one walk.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Russ Martin C, Starling Marte LF, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS and Volquez P. The Kid's back and so is Russ.

The game begins at 7:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• The Race: Everybody lost yesterday. The Bucs remain a game ahead of San Francisco for home field in the wild card and 1-1/2 games behind St. Louis (one in the loss column) in the NL Central standings. The Cards are off today, so that 1/2 game will swing dependent on tonight's Pirate game. Milwaukee was eliminated completely from the post season picture with a 5-3 loss to the Reds. 
• Josh, Starling Go Streakin': Josh Harrison enters today with a 12-game hitting streak, which is the third-longest active streak in the majors. Josh has hit safely in at least 10 straight games on three occasions this year, including a career-high 13 straight games. Starling Marte also extended his hitting streak to nine games.
• Muscle Man: Cutch hit the 128th homer of his career Wednesday night and is tied with Richie Hebner for 12th place on the club’s all-time home run list. Al Oliver is next on the list with 135 career homers.
• Staff Grounded: Tony Biengino of Fangraphs looks more at Bucco ground balls generally and Vanimal specifically.

Locke Rocked; Bucs Go Down 6-2

Julio Teheran had the first inning you'd expect - a couple of outs, a Cutch single, and another routine out. Jeff Locke also got two easy outs before walking Freddy Freeman in a long at-bat. Then he lost Justin Upton on five pitches, but came back to whiff Jason Heyward on three pitches, so no damage.

Russ banged a ball into right to open the second and moved up a base on Ike's sharply hit grounder to first. An out later, Clint Barmes was walked intentionally before Locke went down on strikes.

Chris Johnson turned on an inside heater and drilled it into left for a lead off double; it was misread by Marte, who may have lost the ball in the lights. A grounder moved Johnson to third, followed by a five pitch walk to BJ Upton, who stole second. Teheran rolled a soft grounder up the right side; it froze the runners and also Ike as Julio legged it out for an infield single. Emilio Bonifacio singled to right on a routine grounder with Barmes shaded toward the middle to bring in a pair. Another grounder put Braves at second and third before Freeman flew out. Chalk that frame up to some lackadaisical D.

Starling walked with an out in the third, and swiped second as Cutch K'ed. Travis drew a free pass, but Russ whiffed as the Bucs left a couple more ducks on the pond.

Justin Upton opened with a bloop knock to right and stole second with an out. But he got happy feet, and was thrown out at third on a come-backer. It hurt the Bravos when Christian Bethancourt followed with a ground rule double, snatched up by a knucklehead fan. BJ Upton was intentionally walked, but it didn't work this time, as Teheran roped a two-run knock into center. Bonifacio K'ed, but it was 4-0.

Ike yanked a hung curve to right to begin the fourth with a double; he never moved off the base. Russ landed awkwardly on his second inning single, and Chris Stewart came on to don the tools (later it was announced Russ had tightness in his hammy). With an out, Freeman walked and Justin Upton drove a change over the wall in left center over the 380' mark. An out later, Johnson doubled before the inning came to an end with the Bravos up 6-0.

Starling singled off of Teheran's glove with one gone in the fifth and trotted home when Cutch banged a tight heater over the left field wall. Travis followed with a single that dropped into right center. Ahead 3-1, Stew looked at two fastballs pretty much down the pipe and Ike lined out. Jeanmar Gomez grabbed the ball. He walked Bonifacio with two away and Andrelton Simmons singled, which brought on LOOGY Bobby LaFromboise to face Freeman. Freddy bounced out to end the frame quietly.

Anthony Varvaro took the hill for Atlanta, and Jordy opened the sixth with a walk. Two grounders for a force and DP squelched the frame. Justin Wilson came in and got two easy outs before Phil Gosselin's third base dribbler was ruled an infield knock. He was out by a step, and the Pirates asked for a review; it took about 30 seconds to overturn the call.

Juan Jaime took the bump in the seventh. After Josh hit a rocket short of the track in right center that was nicely run down by Heyward, Starling dropped a soft liner into right. A wild pitch moved him to second. Cutch flew out and lefty Chasen Shreve came on to face Travis. he got him chasing a slider; the Bucs have stranded eight and are 0-for-8 with RISP. John Axford got the call, and Bethancourt greeted him with his second ground rule double. With an out, Barmes dropped an at 'em liner; he got the out at first, but Bethacourt moved to third. It didn't cost as Bonifacio tapped back to the mound.

Jaames Russell worked the eighth, and Stew said "hi" with a single to right. Gaby hit for Ike with a lefty twirling and K'ed; nobody throws him a fastball anymore, and his average shows it. Two garden variety outs later, and the Bucs had their ninth runner left aboard. Stolmy Pimentel was sent in and gave up a lead off knock to Simmons, but retired the next three Bravos routinely.

Jordan Walden came on in the ninth, and Josh singled with one gone. Gosselin booted Marte's bouncer, and that brought Craig Kimbrel in to face Cutch. Andrew went down swinging; the pitch before should have been ball four, but ump Manny Gonzalez gave Kimbrel a pass, though in justice he probably missed a strike earlier in the count. travis went down swinging and the Bucs dropped a 6-2 decision.

Disappointing but not surprising that Jeff Locke can't seem to build on his good outings. And the Buc bats continue to be cold, scoring just twice ven with nine hits, four walks and an error. They missed quite a few balls down the middle as they caught Teheran on a day when he was struggling with command, but couldn't take advantage. Well, gotta lose sometime; time to shower off and get 'em tomorrow.

Edinson Volquez finishes up the series against David Hale tomorrow night.

• Keeping our fingers crossed; Russ' left hammy is what landed him on the DL in late April. Hopefully, he caught tonight's tightness in time to prevent a recurrence.
• Josh kept his hitting streak alive at 12 games with a ninth inning knock.
• Martin Scherer of MLB Dish looks at Russ Martin's FA options when his contract expires at the end of the season, with LA, the Cubs and Blue Jays at the top of his list.
• Wilbur Miller of Bucs Dugout notes that two GCL payers, SS Cole Tucker and RHP Mitch Keller, made the Top-20 All-Prospect team selected by Baseball America.
• The Pirates claimed RHP Chaz Roe from the Yankees. He's had a couple of cups of coffee in the show, and the 6'-5", 27-year reliever is a guy with a good K rate and a shaky walk record. Charlie Morton was moved to the 60-day DL to clear a 40-man roster space for Roe.

Locke v Teheran, Lineup (w/o Walker) Pitching, M-3-P, Starling, Russ, Vanimal, Tony & More...

Jeff Locke (7-5, 3.60) and Julio Teheran (13-13, 2.88) mix it up tonight.

Locke's coming off an impressive no-decision against Milwaukee that the Bucs later won; he was aggressive and throwing strikes. Hopefully, that will carry over tonight. He's won five of his last seven decisions, so even when he's nibbling, he's been good enough.

He hasn't faced Atlanta this year and overall, he's 1-0/4.41 against them. A little trivia: the lefty won his first MLB game against the Braves on 10/1/12 with a 2-1 victory over Paul Maholm at PNC Park.

The 23 year old Teheran broke out last year and is a tier removed from ace material. He lost his last four decisions, but only given up two earned runs in his past 15 innings, a victim of the Bravos inept offense. One thing to watch for is whether he's wearing down or not; he's worked 216 innings after setting a career high of 185 IP in 2013. This will be his first outing against Pittsburgh.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Travis Snider RF, Russ Martin C, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Clint Barmes 2B and Locke P.  The Kid gets a day off; his bat has been AWOL

The game starts at 7:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• Elias Sez: Pirate pitching has given up eight runs in the last eight games, the lowest total for that stretch by a Bucco staff since 1968.
• Out? Who, Me? Cutch has reached base safely in 12 of his last 15 plate appearances and enters today with a league-leading .408 OBP.
• Banging 'Em Out: Josh Harrison brings an 11-game hitting streak into tonight's game. Starling Marte has hit safely in 18 of his last 19 game, and Russ Martin just had a 13-game hitting streak snapped.
• ESPN Stats: The Pirates are only team in MLB to have three position players with at least 5 Wins Above Replacement in Cutch, Russ & Josh.
• Lefty Ironmen: Tony Watson is now one of four Pirate lefthanders who has made at least 75 appearances in a season, joining Scott Sauerbeck (club record 78 in 2002; 75 in 2000), Rod Scurry (76 in 1982) and Damaso Marte (75 in 2006).
• Vanimal: Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs has some props for the pitch deception of Vance Worley.
• Marchin' In: Mark Simon of ESPN examines the Bucs march into the post-season.
• Exorcism? KDKA Radio has Sid Bream's thoughts on the clincher in Atlanta.
• Bucs & Birds: For the first time since 1979, the Pirates and Orioles will appear in the same postseason.

Cole Train & Cutch Propel Bucs To The Playoffs With 3-2 Win

The Bucs made a run at Alex Wood early. Jordy singled with an out, moved up a station on a wild pitch and Cutch joined him on base with a walk. But Wood came back strong, getting Russ looking and Starling swinging to shut the gate.

Gerrit Cole jumped ahead of Emilio Bonifacio 0-2, then missed badly with his next four offerings to issue a lead off walk. A bunt resulted in a force at second, but a 2-2 slider that hung over the plate was drilled into right by Freddy Freeman and the Braves had a quick 1-0 lead. Freeman had happy feet, and was thrown out at third trying to advance on the throw home. Good thing, too, as Justin Upton singled. He was tossed out trying to steal second; Atlanta ran itself out of a promising frame.

Gaby walked with an out in the second. The frame ended quickly when three pitches later Travis bounced a heater to second for a 4-6-3 DP.

Justin Heyward opened with a 3-2 walk, taking a fastball that could have gone either way. Christian Bethancourt singled on an 0-2 curve that caught too much plate; that's the second guy already that's reached after being in an 0-2 hole. Chris Johnson singled sharply up the middle on a ball Cole could only deflect to load the bases. Before it could get worse, Andrelton Simmons banged into a 4-6-3 DP as the Bucs traded the outs for a run. Wood whiffed with a 2-0 lead after two.

Pittsburgh went down in order in the third, thanks to a great diving snare of Josh's liner by SS Simmons. Gerrit worked a clean frame, too.

Cutch opened the fourth with a knock to right, and was chased to third an out later when Starling rolled a 3-2 change into center. Wood got a big out when he punched out Walker for the second time. The Bucs stole a run when their usually suicidal fake steal of second play worked; Cutch held up long enough to draw a throw to second, 2B Phil Gosselin couldn't come down with airmailed toss, and Andrew scored. Good time for it to click; Gaby K'ed looking. Cole worked a three-fly frame.

Travis made amends for his DP by hammering a first-pitch heater into the right field stands to tie the game in the fifth. Wood retired the next trio routinely. It was another rocking chair inning for Cole, who added a couple of strikeouts to his boodle bag.

Cutch began the sixth by rapping a full count change into left for a two-bagger. Russ banged a change, too, but his liner was right to Simmons. That's was OK; Starling picked a two-strike curve off his shins and dropped it into left for an RBI double. The Kid's slump continued as he popped out to first with Freeman making the grab over the railing. Gaby flew out, and that ended the inning with Pittsburgh up 3-2. Gerrit has retired 14 in a row with another clean frame. His velocity is down a tad, but he's dominating with 93-94 MPH fastballs.

With two gone in the seventh, Josh lined a single to left, banging on an 0-2 heater. That brought on David Carpenter; Wood was at 109 pitches. Good pick; he punched out Jordy with heat. Gregory Polanco went to right as Cole returned to the hill. And wow - three more down, two by strikes. That's five consecutive 1-2-3 innings by the Cole Train. A run or two of breathing room would be nice, though, as he's at 111 pitches.

Cutch walked to open the eighth, the third time he's reached as the lead-off hitter. Russ bounced into a force, and Marte almost gave the Bucs a pad, but his drive to straight center was grabbed on the track by Bonifacio in front of the 401' mark. Rven lefty, The Kid went down on three pitches. Jared Hughes came on. Jordy helped him out with a great play in the hole to retire Johnson, and it was big as Simmons drove a ball to right opposite the shift for a single. No sweat; Evan Gattis grounded the next pitch to Jordy for an inning-killing 6-4-3 DP.

Jason shreve took the ball in the ninth. He got Gaby on a tapper, K'ed El Coffee (with Hunter Wendestedt, who was pretty solid behind the plate, giving Shreve a couple of gift calls) and then surrendered a single to JT. Chase d'Arnaud came on to run, and got himself picked off.

Three outs to go and a one run lead for Tony Watson against the top of the Atlanta order. Tony K'ed Bonifacio, then gave Gosselin two heaters dwon the middle, with the second rocketed into center. Freeman banged one to Gaby, and the 3-6-3 guaranteed the Bucs a second trip into the post season as the Reds knocked off Milwaukee 3-1. Now it's just a matter of who and where.

The Braves had Cole on the ropes early, but some bad baserunning and a timely DP kept him alive, and he roared back to retire 17 straight Bravos. Big-game Cutch was on base four times and scored twice. It looked a lot like last year, with the D turning three DPs and Cole Train getting stronger as the game wore on.

Jeff Locke takes the bump versus Julio Teheran tomorrow night.

• Deja Vu All Over Again - the Bucs clinched a playoff spot on this day ayear ago against the Cubs; Starling Marte had the game winning RBI in that one, too, with a homer.
• Josh has a 11 game hitting streak; Russ' ended at 13 games.
• Tony Watson got the night off last game, and Clint Hurdle planned the same break tonight for Mark the Shark, who has tossed in 5-of-7 contests, though he didn't absolutely rule him out.
• One record is safe after tonight: The 1906 Cubs remain the only team to play four straight 1-0 games.

Cole v Wood, Lineup, The Race, Streaks, Zeroes, Pitching & D, Stat Man and More...

Gerrit Cole (10-5, 3.85) and southpaw Alex Wood (11-10, 2.78) bump heads tonight.

The Cole Train's last start was a 3-2 win over the Red Sox at PNC Park Thursday. The 24 year old has won his last three starts and traditionally finishes strong; he's gone 7-1 with a 2.98 ERA in nine career starts during September. He's posted a 3-1 mark with a 3.99 ERA in six starts since being reinstated, so he still has a way to go before being a dominator beyond tantalizing flashes. However, the Bucs are 14-6 in his 20 starts this year, so even when Cole isn't dealing, he finds a way to keep the club in the game.

The righty has faced the Braves once. He received a no-decision in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 come-from-behind win in August at PNC Park. His foe was Wood, and they both went seven frames, leaving the game with the score knotted at two.

The 22 year old Wood has quietly become a force on the hill for the 2014 Braves. His chief weapon is a knuckle curve with some wicked movement, and he also features a four-seamer and change up. The lefty hasn't surrendered more than three earned runs in an outing since late July, so expect another grinder-type game. Outside of his meeting with Cole last month, he's only faced Pittsburgh one other time, working two innings of relief in 2013.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Jordy Mercer SS, Cutch CF, Russ Martin C, Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Travis Snider RF and Cole P. Travis gets the nod over JT against a lefty; otherwise a normal southpaw lineup.

The game starts at 7:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• The Race: The Giants won in 13 innings last night, and ex-Pirate Hunter Strickland picked up his first MLB save in their win. The Cards won too, so except for Milwaukee being a game closer to going down the drain, the race is unchanged. A Pirate win tonight combined with a Brewers loss would clinch a Pittsburgh playoff berth for the second straight season while the Bucs remain tied with SF with the tiebreaker in hand for the home wild card.
• Hot, Hot, Hot: Pittsburgh has won 10 of their last 12 games and gone 14-3 in their last 17. The club is season-high 14 games over .500.
• Zippos: The Pirates have been involved in three straight 1-0 games for the first time since 8/31 to 9/1, 1917. They lost all three back in the day. The Pirates last recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins on October 3rd, 1976, vs. the Cardinals in a doubleheader sweep.
• Hand In Hand: Mike Petriello of Fangraphs examines how improved defense and pitching - and aren't they the proverbial horse and carriage - fueled the Pirates resurgence in the second half of the season.
• Stats N' At: Ben Lindbergh of Grantland has a fascinating look at how Clint Hurdle and Mike Fitzgerald, the Pirates SABR hound, cooperate to a degree perhaps unmatched in MLB. 
• From There To Here: Richard Justice of Sports on Earth recaps the road that made the Pirates contenders after the biblical drought.
• Rookie Tales: After 13 seasons and 1,095 minor league games, 31 year old Guilder Rodriguez of Texas got a call up to the show and collected his first MLB hit with his parents in the house.

Frankie, Cutch & the Pen Team Up To Chop Bravos 1-0

The Bucs got - what else - a two out walk from Cutch off Aaron Harang; he also K'ed the first and last batter. Frankie walked two of the first three Braves he faced, but worked out of that jam even though Emilio Bonifacio swiped a pair of sacks.

The Bucs opened the second with back-to-back knocks by Russ and Starling, but three straight whiffs calmed that uprising. Christian Bethancourt led off with a pop single to short right that clanged off The Kid's mitt. An out later, a wild pitch moved him to second, where he died.

Harang put away the Bucs in order in the third; at least they hit the ball. He's got good sink on his fastball and his slider is tight with a lot of dive so far and he's had enough movement to get away with balls over the dish. Frankie went 3-2 on the first two Bravos, but caught them both swinging at sliders. Freddy Freeman saw four straight sliders; he lined the last one into center for a knock. Justin Upton K'ed; lotta sitting down going on so far.

Russ singled with an out in the fourth, and a short fly and whiff kept him on first. Bethancourt walked with one gone. He was forced at second on Andrelton Simmon's tapper, and Simmons got to third on BJ Upton's knock.  Liriano threw four balls to Harang, but was fortunate enough to have him swing and miss three of them to get out the inning.

After making Jordy look bad with sliders to open the fifth, Harang gave up the best contact of the night when Frankie made BJ Upton break a sweat running down his liner to left center. Josh followed with a single, with Travis flying out short of the track in right. Phil Gosselin walked with an out, but a strike 'em out, throw 'em out DP ended the frame.

Cutch got ahead 2-0, got a fastball above the belt, and lined it over the wall in left to make it 1-0 to lead off the sixth. Two grounders later, Marte tried to copycat, but his drive to left was gloved in front of the 380' mark. Frankie worked a clean frame, likely his last as he's at 101 pitches.

Harang pitched a clean seventh with a couple of hard outs. Jared Hughes took the ball for Pittsburgh and tossed an easy inning. Jordan Walden took over in the eighth and struck out the side. He's the guy with the jump in his delivery that looks illegal to everyone but the umps (he's been in the league for years, so it must be OK, just sayin'...) Big John Holdzkom climbed the hill - it's Tony Watson's night off. Freeman singled with two down, and a foul pop on the next pitch ended the music quickly.

Craig Kimbrel took the bump in the ninth and tucked the Bucs in. Mark the Shark got the call for the fifth time in six games. After two easy outs, Melancon mishandled Simmon's dribbler to keep the Braves on life support; it may have spun out of his glove. Pinch runner Jose Constanza went to first and remained there as BJ Upton went down swinging at a curve. It was another nailbiter, but as long as they're wins...

Sort-tossing Harang might have pitched the best of the last three games against the Bucs, but he was helped by a lot of chasing. Two runs in 27 innings with two wins of three isn't very sustainable. There are only six games left, and this isn't the time to go into a hitting slump. But it is a good time to have sizzling pitching, so there are two sides to that ice and fire coin.

Gerrit Cole faces lefty Alex Wood tomorrow night.

• Russ has a 13 game hitting streak (his personal best is 15 games), equaling the longest this year by a Buc; Josh also went 13 straight. Speaking of Josh, he has a 10 game streak going on now.
• Cutch leads all NL center fielders in extra base hits (66), home runs (24) and total bases (284).
• Pittsburgh starters have three straight shutout starts and 23 straight shutout innings. The last time Pirates starters had a scoreless inning streak of 23+ was June 30-July 2, 1997 (24 IP). The Buc staff as a whole has surrendered six runs in the past seven games.
• The magic number to clinch a post season spot is two; for a home game, it's six. Milwaukee was off, the Giants play later and St. Louis is taking the Cubs to the woodshed right now.

Liriano v Harang, Lineup, Josh, Tony, The Race, Media Awards & More...

Francisco Liriano (6-10, 3.45) opens the Atlanta series against Aaron Harang (11-11, 3.68).

Frankie has resumed his ace role in Pittsburgh even with his pedestrian record. He's allowed three earned runs in his last five outings covering 33 IP and has gone 5-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 13 starts since returning from the DL. The only dark cloud is the last time there was a Liriano-Harang matchup in mid-August, Frankie was batted around and took an 11-3 loss. Let's hope that's out of his system.

Harang has been up-and-down all season, but in his last two starts against the Nats, he's given up three runs (two earned) in 14IP with 11 hits, two walks and 17 K. He won his only start against the Pirates this season in a laugher last month, and has had lifetime success versus Pittsburgh with a 16-7 record, though with a so-so 4.15 ERA.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Russ Martin C, Starling Marte LF, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS and Liriano P.

The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired by the MLB Network, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• Lickin' Stick: Josh Harrison enters today’s action leading the NL with a .318 batting average, just a decimal better than Justin Morneau's .318 BA. Cutch ranks third in the league with a .309 average. He has an eight game streak, trailing Russ' current 12 gamer.
• No Rest: The 74 appearances by Tony Watson so far this year are the most by a Pirates southpaw since John Grabow also pitched in 74 games in 2008. The club record for most appearances in a season by a left-handed pitcher is 78 by Scott Sauerbeck in 2002.
• Movin' On Up: The Giants lost, so they and the Bucs are tied for the wild card lead - and Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker. Milwaukee is five games back for the second WC with seven games remaining. The Cards are guaranteed a playoff spot, but they lost to the Reds last night, leaving the Pirates two games behind them in the loss column in the NL Central race.
• Star To Finish: The Pirates began and ended their home schedule in 2014 with 1-0 wins. The Bucs blanked the Cubs 1-0 on Opening Day, winning on a Neil Walker walkoff home run in the 10th inning. 
• The Envelope, Please: The Pittsburgh Baseball writers voted the following 2014 Bucco media award winners: Roberto Clemente Award (MVP) - Cutch; Chuck Tanner Award (media good guy) - Neil Walker; and the Steve Blass Award (top pitcher) - Tony Watson, per Rob Biertempfel of the Trib.
• Garcia Gone: The Pirates let go of Altoona manager Carlos Garcia, a former All-Star second baseman for the Bucs per Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror. Carlos also managed at Bradenton and was a big-league coach, and had been in the system since 2008.
• Report Card: Matt Snyder of CBS' Eye on Baseball gives the Bucs an A for the week.
• Elias Says: Yesterday was the first time that the Pirates traded 1-0 victories in consecutive games, each against the same opponent, since August 1-2, 1945 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
• TOOTBLAN: Carlos Gomez told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he took the wide turn yesterday because Josh was away from third in pursuit of Rickie Weeks' chopper. "I had a chance to make third if I don't stop," he said. "Nobody was on third. I don't know why I stopped...if I continue to run I make it easy; I think 99%. It was a mistake."A big one - he was picked off in a rundown, costing the Brewers a golden opportunity in a 1-0 game.

Pirates Payback Brewers With 1-0 Win; Magic Number Three

Vanimal got three grounders to open the game, and did a better job at keeping his pitches down, at least compared to the early going of his recent starts. Travis Snider walked with one gone, but was quickly erased when Wily Peralta got Cutch to roll over on a slder for a 6-4-3 DP.

Aramis Ramirez led off the second by bouncing one past Worley and into center. Ryan Braun got a fat heater that he banged up the middle, but the Bucs were at DP depth and turned two, 6-4-3. Gerardo Parra took a gimme bunt single before Lyle Overboy grounded ot to Ike. Peralta worked a 10 pitch rocking chair inning as the Buc bats are still in the freezer.

The third started with a Jean Segura infield single to the SS hole; Jordy made a nice play, but speed carried the day. A bunt moved him to second, and two routine outs kept him there. Ike drew a walk to open and was forced on a Jordy tapper that was a heartbeat from a DP. Vance bunted him up, and Josh's slow roller up the middle put Bucs on the corners. Travis hit one past first; 2B Scooter Gennett was shaded that way and made a routine grab-and-toss to end the frame.

The Brew Crew hit a pair of balls firmly up the middle to start the fourth, but the Bucs turned them into outs. Braun singled through the left side, but Vanimal came back with a three pitch K of Parra. Cutch walked, but in a bit of bad luck, was off on the pitch to The Kid, maybe trying to steal or on a hit-and-run. Walker stroked the ball up the middle and right into Segura's glove, who was coming over to cover second, for the tailor-made 6-3 DP. Russ bounced out and Peralta had another goose egg.

Worley worked another easy inning in the fifth; about time the Bucco bats started banging. Not this time atound; Peralta needed six pitches to finish the frame. Vanimal kept the pressure on with a 1-2-3 sixth. Josh dragged a bunt to third for a one-out knock; he was picked off first before another pitch was delivered. A grounder ended the frame. The Bucs have played 24 innings against the Brew Crew so far, and scored in just one of them.

In the seventh, Vanimal ran his streak of retired Brewers to 10. Cutch led off with a swinging bunt single up the left side and went to second on a passed ball. The Kid K'ed, swinging at a shoetop slider. A wild pitch on a 55' fastball moved Cutch to third, and a two-strike liner into center by Russ broke the ice. Starling followed with a knock, but Peralta easily put away Ike and Jordy.

Vance came out for the eighth with Big John Holdzkom loose in the pen (Mark Melancon has a day off after three straight appearances). Sit down, John - Vanimal tossed a quiet nine pitch frame. Marco Estrada, helped by a couple of pretty good plays in the field, put the Bucs away in order.

Tony Watson took the hill in the ninth against the top of the Brew Crew order. Gomez chipped a change over The Kid's head for a leadoff knock. Rickie Weeks pinch hit, and beat out a Baltimore chop. Watson's late throw dropped out of Gaby's mitt, which froze Gomez for a moment as he made his turn. Sanchez threw behind him, and he was caught in a rundown and tagged out heading for second, which anchored Weeks at first. That blunder more than made up for Josh's pick-off.

Jonathan Lucroy popped out to Jordy in short left for the second out, then Tony plunked A-Ram in the butt to bring up Braun. The drama didn't last long as Braun went after a high, 97 MPH first pitch heater and punched it into medium left center where Cutch cradled it, and the Bucs had a big win in the bag.

Man, September baseball that counts is some amazing stuff. Watson picked up his third career save and first this year while Russ Martin keeps on pumpin' up his RISP. But the day belonged to Vance Worley. After an iffy opening frame, he settled in, working down and on the edges. Vanimal threw 82 pitches in eight shutout innings, giving up four hits, whiffing five and with nary a walk. He retired the last 13 hitters he faced. The Brewers only registered three outs that were in the air; the rest were grounders and K's. It was a big time performance from a guy who was skipped over his last start.

The final road trip begins in Atlanta tomorrow night with Francisco Liriano taking on Aaron Harang.

• Russ Martin has a 12 game hitting streak and Josh's is at eight. Harrison and Justin Morneau are both hitting .318 in their duel for the NL batting crown.
• Today's attendance of 38,650 was the 23rd sellout of 2014, tying a record, and capped the Pirates single-season highwater mark of 2,442,546 fans.
• The Bucs also set the record for most wins at PNC Park in a season with 51. The record is 53 wins at home in 1992 at TRS.
• The Pirate magic number for a playoff spot is three. They remain three back of the Cards in the NL Central and one game back in the loss column behind the Giants for the home wildcard. Both St. Louis and San Fran Francisco play later today. The Braves, btw, were officially eliminated from the wild card race with their loss to the Mets today.

Worley v Peralta, Lineup, Streaks, Stats & Stuff...

Vance Worley (7-4, 3.18) faces Wily Peralta (16-10, 3.70) this afternoon.

Vanimal is coming off his second brief bullpen stint to replace an achy Charlie Morton. The dew has evaporated from his rose; five of his last six games failed to meet the loose standard of a quality start, and he hasn't worked more than five innings in his last two outings. Maybe a rest will bring help restore the sheen.

He lost to the Brew Crew 4-3 in late August, and was banged around for 12 hits in 6-1/3 IP. Hopefully he can improve on that outing today.

The 25 year old Peralta hasn't fared so well against the Bucs this year. He's 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA in three starts and was pummeled 10-2 by Pittsburgh on August 23rd. Could be we're looking at a few runs crossing the plate in the home finale.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Russ Martin C, Starling Marte LF, Ike Davis 1B, Jordy Mercer SS and Worley P. If it looks familiar, that's because it's the same as yesterday's lineup.

The game starts at 1:35 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

• Lumber Company: Russ enters the game with an 11 game hitting streak, Josh with an eight gamer and Starling with a 15-of-16 game streak.
• Pythagorean Myth: Tom Singer of MLB.com notes that despite their 12-6 edge in the season series between the teams, the Brewers have been outscored by the Pirates, 80-66.
• On The Road Again: Following today’s game the Pirates leave for Atlanta and the start of their final regular season road trip. After four games against the Braves, the trip concludes with three games in Cincinnati next weekend. Pittsburgh has won six of its last seven games played on the road and have gone 33-41 away from home overall this season.
• Ex-Bucs: Ollie Perez recorded the first four-strikeout inning in Arizona franchise history yesterday.

Brewers Stay Alive With 1-0 Win

Scooter Gennett doubled off Edinson Volquez with one gone in the first, but always-in-hot-water Eddie stranded him at third. The Bucs had a quick start against Matt Garza, with a one-out Travis two bagger, wild pitch and walk to Cutch. But Neil Walker and Russ both flared soft liners to Gennet at second, so both sides left something on the table.

In the second, Lyle Overbay banged a two-out double; Eddie whiffed Hector Gomez to strand him. Starling led off with a bunt single, but even with a ump review going in Pittsburgh's favor to foil a DP, Pittsburgh couldn't move him. So far, lots of runners but no runs.

Volquez walked his mound opponent of five pitches to open the third. After a fly and a force, Jonathan Lucroy drew a full count free pass. He came back to get Aramis Ramirez, who chased a 3-2 change for the final out. With two down, Cutch got drilled with a fastball, right in his sore left side, just to become the fourth Bucco stranded after a Walker tap-out in front of the plate.

Eddie buzzed Ryan Braun to start the fourth, the benches were warned, and Braun K'ed. Khris Davis flew out to the track, and Overbay hit a soft roller that Volquez threw away; he cost himself a pair of runs last game with a similar error. Overbay stole second (his second swipe of the year; Edinson is kinda snoozing lately. But he woke up in time to whiff Gomez again.

Russ led off with a double, but Starling was caught looking at a ball that was called a strike. Ike got a 3-2 heater down the middle; he bounced it to short for the second out, with Russ taking third. It was a big out as Jordy was walked intentionally. He swiped second, but Eddie K'ed.

After a Garza K to start the fifth, Carlos Gomez bombed one to left center, but it into The Notch where Cutch ran it down. Jordy climbed the ladder to pull in Gennett's liner and it was a 1-2-3 inning. After two strikouts and a 1-2 count on Cutch, Garza drilled him again in the left arm, getting himself tossed. The benches didn't clear, but the Bucs were at the top step. Ump Marty Foster behind the plate kept the peace, managing to keep Josh, Travis and Gerrit Cole on their leashes. Marco Estrada took Garza's place on the hill. He didn't have to work long; Cutch was caught stealing on the second pitch.

Lucroy led off the sixth with a single. A fly out, a nice force by a diving Jordy who flipped to The Kid and a liner TCB nicely. Estrada spun an easy inning. Overbay walked to open the seventh; the Bucs can't keep him off the sacks. Gomez K'ed for the third time, this time trying to bunt. Gerardo Parra hit for Estrada, and rolled one to short for a 6-4-3 DP; like Josh last night, Jordy is scooping up everything hit his way tonight.

Jeremy Jeffress took the bump. Ike flew out to right and Jordy lined out to center before pinch hitter Andrew Lambo singled to center and Josh chased him to third with a lined two strike knock to center. lefty Will Smith was waved in; Clint sent JT up for Travis. Gregory Polanco ran for Lambo, but Josh finished off the inning. He broke for second, was picked off, and tried to get into a rundown. Overbay at first base didn't bite; he pumped to second, Polanco broke home on the fake (the second baserunning blunder of the play; he has to make Overbay throw) and was easy pickings at the dish.

Tony Watson got the eighth inning call. Gomez tried to bunt his way on, but popped to Josh. Rickie Weeks hit and singled off Josh's mitt. Lucroy hit back to Tony; his throw to second was off line, putting Brewers at first and second. No prob; A-Ram rolled the next sinker to The Kid, who started a 4-6-3 DP.

Brandon Kintzler got the call, and Brent Morel greeting him with a swinging bunt single up the third base line. Chase d'Arnaud ran for him, and Cutch walked. The Kid's tapper moved the runners up, and Russ was walked intentionally. In and guarding the line, A-Ram had Marte's liner come right to him; d'Arnaud did well to get back to third. Lefty Zach Duke got the call to face Ike, and Gaby got the nod to hit for Ike. Gaby slammed one to short; Gomez bobbled the bullet, but it was hit hard enough for him to get Martin at second. Two shots, and both at 'em balls.

Mark the Shark took the hill for the ninth. Braun opened with a bouncer softly hit through the SS hole. Elian Herrera bunted into a force. Overbay did it again; with Gaby holding the runner, his one hopper just cleared Sanchez's mitt and went for a soft double; Herrera thought of heading home, but thought better of challenging Polanco's arm. Pinch hitter Matt Clark was intentionally walked. Another sub, Logan Shafer, lifted a pop fly to medium left; Marte threw a floater home and it went for a sac fly. Gomez whiffed, but the Bucs broke first; it's 1-0 Brew Crew.

Francisco Rodriguez came in for the save, and after getting a scare from Jordy, who flew out to right center just short of the Trib sign, he picked up a couple of routine bouncers to keep the Brewers alive.

Some games are just meant to be; the Bucs ripped a pair with the bases loaded and came up empty; The Brew Crew rode a pair of soft bouncers and a short fly to victory. There's no explaining how Garza put up goose eggs. The Brewers live for another day.

As for the beanballs, you'd think Garza was just working Cutch up and in; that's a hole in his swing, as it is with most MLB hitters and these games do count. But as the Ace of MLB Stats noted "Matt Garza had 2 HBP over his previous 874 batters faced, he hit McCutchen in consecutive plate appearances tonight." So there's that to consider.

For the rubber match, Vance Worley faces Wily Peralta in tomorrow afternoon's last regular season home game of 2014.

• Russ Martin has an 11 game hitting streak and Josh extended his to eight games. 
• This is the first game in his career that Cutch has been plunked twice. In an oddity, he got four plate appearances without an at bat, being hit twice and walked twice.
• It was a fireworks night sellout at PNC with 39,027 warm fannies at the game.