Notes, New Lineup

The Reds RHP Mike Leake (0-3, 6.11) takes the bump against RHP James McDonald (1-1, 2.97) tonight. Leake has been struggling, and has to keep an eye over his shoulder for Aroldis Chapman stepping into his rotation spot. J-Mac has been tough his last couple of outings, so this is a match up that favors Pittsburgh. The game starts at 7:05 and will be shown on Root Sports.

The Lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Casey McGehee 1B, Garrett Jones RF, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, James McDonald P.

The slumping Alex Presley sits; Jones goes to right and JT slides across the pasture. Pedro is hitting clean up with McGehee protecting him. And Cutch has recovered from his stomach virus after a couple of days off. We like the order; it's about the punchiest lineup Clint Hurdle can put together.

• Pitchers Jeff Karstens and Chris Leroux, both on the DL with cranky shoulders, were throwing off flat ground yesterday.
• West Virginia SS Alen Hanson made Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet yesterday, while Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon are "In The Picture."
• Ben Badler wrote in Baseball America's Hot Sheet Chat: "Alen Hanson might stay at shortstop, he might slide to second base, but I think there's above-average potential at either spot." He added this about Jameson Taillon: "...there's only a handful of guys in minors I'd throw a potential ace label on, and he's one of them."

Bucs Get Spanked 6-1

The first three innings started out as advertised, with some pretty decent pitching. The Bucs stranded first and second inning singles by Nate McLouth and Pedro Alvarez off Johnny Cueto.

The Reds manufactured a run in the second against Kevin Correia. Jay Bruce lined a one-out double to right and moved to third on a bouncer to Neil Walker. He came home when Chris Heisey dropped a beautiful one-strike bunt that he killed between the mound and the third base line. KC may have had a play at home, but he sure didn't have one at first, and Cincy took a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Heisey continued his ways by drilling a two-out triple over Presley and high off the top of the Notch; they had to review it to make sure the park held it in. The Bucs opted to work on eight hitter Ryan Hanigan rather than face the pitcher, and it backfired when he rolled a 2-2 curve past Pedro for a double to make it 2-0. Looks like it's the book 1, Clint Hurdle 0 this frame.

McLouth opened the Bucco half by lining a first pitch heater off Scott Rolen for a knock, his second of the game. Walker lined a first pitch single to put runners on the corners. Pedro also bit on the first offering, lifting a sac fly to left to halve the lead. Garrett Jones actually took a pitch before tapping back to mound, forcing Walker at second.

Clint Barmes tried to tie it by rolling a slider up the line in left, but Jones was cut down 7-6-2 to end the frame. Good decision with the eight hitter due up and then the pitcher, especially when left fielder Heisey bobbled the ball, but the plan was foiled by a strong relay by Zack Cozart to easily nail Jones.

Cozart opened the fifth with a single and went to second on a groundout. With two away, KC was up 0-2 on Brandon Phiilips, but he lined a down-Broadway fastball into center to give the Reds a two-run pad. Every Redstocking run has come via a two-out knock so far, and two of the three were set up by moving the eventual run up a sack.

One one out for Pittsburgh, Correia picked a heater off his knees and lined it into right for a single. JT bounced into a force, and was quickly picked off by Cueto after breaking too soon. After five, it was 3-1 Reds. Both clubs went down in order in the sixth.

With one away in the seventh, Cozart got ahead in the count 3-1 and launched a hanging change well over the fence in left. Drew Stubbs followed with another dinger off another change on the next pitch, and the Reds were now in cruise control. KC shut the gate after that, but the cows were already out. That would be Correia's last frame. He went seven innings, giving up five runs on nine hits with a walk and 3 K, tossing 107 pitches.

The Bucs squared up on a couple of balls in their half to no avail. Pedro and Barajas both flew out deep, Rod being robbed by Heisey, and Jones doubled with an out but was left at second.

Chris Resop came on; Jay Bruce took him deep on a change and Scott Rolen followed by banging a curve into left for a two-bagger. Hanigan singled with an out to put runners on the corners. Resop worked out of that jam, but Cincy was up 6-1 with six outs to go. Make that three in a hurry; the Bucs went down 1-2-3, nine in a row for Cueto since picking off JT to end the fifth.

Resop walked the first two Reds on nine pitches to open the ninth. He got the next pair on pops, and then lost Rolen on a 3-2 pitch after a long at-bat to juice the sacks. Heisey joined the pop out parade, and it was time for the Bucs' last at-bats.

Cueto again put the Pirates away without a sweat, and took home a complete game win, giving up seven hits, the last with one out in the fifth, and whiffing four to cruise to his fourth victory. The righty wasn't as dominating as he's been in some outings, but located beautifully, And he's money at PNC Park, with a 7-1 record against the Bucs.

The Bucs were beaten all the way around tonight. James McDonald will try to get Pittsburgh in the winner's circle tomorrow against Mike Leake.

• Pedro Alvarez extended his hitting streak to seven games.
• Correia's home/away splits continue to be a chasm. This year, his ERA splits are 2.20/4.84 and last season they were 2.64/7.71. The long ball has a lot to do with it. He's given up three at PNC this year to none on the road, and last year it was 15-9.
• Everyone knows that El Toro has been on a power surge. Of his 19 hits, 4 have been doubles and seven homers, so 58% of his hits have been for extra bases. Ditto for Clint Barmes. Of his 14 hits, seven have been two-baggers and two have left the yard, so 64% of his knocks touch at least two sacks. For the rest of the team, 26% of their hits have gone for extra bases.
• This is the Pirates ninth series of the year. They've lost the first game in eight of them.
• The Pirates drew 20,445 tonight. They've been averaging 22,000+ per home date so far this season, and averaged over 25,000 in 2011.

Lineup, Notes

RHP Johnny Cueto (3-0, 1.39) matches with RHP Kevin Correia (1-1, 2.42). Cueto has been red hot, and Correia has been pretty strong himself so it should be a nice duel. Both bullpens are among the NL's best right now, too. The game starts at 7:05 and will be shown on Root Sports. It's also the free game on MLB.TV.

The Lineup: Jose Tabata RF, Alex Presley LF, Nate McLouth CF, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Garrett Jones 1B, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, Kevin Correia P.

Cutch still has a touch of the flu, and remains a pretty sick puppy. 

• Jose Tabata has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, Neil Walker in seven of his last eight games and Garrett Jones in six of his last seven.
• Kevin Correia is 7-1 with a 4.69 ERA in 15 games against the Reds.
• The Bucs are trying to win back-to-back games tonight for the first time since April 17-18 in Arizona.
• Pedro Alvarez has homered in three of his last four games and hit.424 with four doubles, five home runs and 10 RBI in his last nine games. He now leads all MLB third basemen with a .623 slugging percentage.
• Beginning tonight, the Pirates are scheduled to play 18 of their remaining 25 games this month at PNC Park.

Buc Staff Fans 17, Pirates Win 6-3

Well, it looked like the same ol' in the first frame. The Pirates went down in order facing Jake Westbrook, and the Cards cashed in quickly against Erik Bedard. Rafael Furcal led off with a double, and two outs later back-to-back two baggers by David Freese and Allen Craig gave the Redbirds the lead from Jump Street 2-0.

St. Louis tried to add on in the second. Tyler Greene singled and stole second (in truth, Bedard picked off the runner, but Garrett Jones' relay hit Greene in the back), and an out later Westbrook moved him to third with a dink into center. Then Westbook stole second, completely uncontested; the Bucs didn't even cover the base. Jon Jay walked to load them for Matt Holliday. He got ahead of Bedard 3-0, took a couple of strikes, one very borderline, and after spoiling a couple more, tapped back to the mound.

The Bucs left two on with two away in the third, but Bedard was starting to feel it, whiffing the last two batters to start a streak of seven straight K. The Bucs scored in the fourth. Pedro Alvarez singled to center and went to second on a ground out. Clint Barmes brought him home when his hot shot to third ticked off Freese's mitt and died in short left to make it 2-1.

It stayed that way until the sixth with both sides leaving ducks on the pond. Neil Walker lined a knock into center and El Toro continued his sizzling streak by banging a homer to left center into the first row of seats 408' away. The blast was on a 3-2 pitch - with the runner going. That ended Westbrook's day, and JC Romero came on. That would be it for Bedard, too. The early runners followed by the K parade ran his pitch count up to 104. He went five, giving up two runs on five hits with two walks and 11 K.

Jared Hughes shut down the Cards in the sixth, and the Bucs added in their half of the seventh. JT doubled, stole third, and plated on Alex Presley's bounce out, making it 4-2. Juan Cruz made it interesting in the Bird half of the inning. Two walks and an infield single loaded the sacks with two away, but Craig grounded out to Pedro to close the gate.

Victor Marte took the bump for St. Louis in the eighth. Consecutive two out doubles by Jones and Barmes ran the score to 5-2. Jason Grilli put up a zero to keep it that way going into the ninth.

Kyle McClellan took the ball for the Redbirds, and the Bucs kept on adding to the pot. Casey McGehee led off with a double, but was erased on a rundown after JT bounced to the hill. Tabata took second and scored with two away following a Nate McLouth liner into right.

The Hammer came in to get some work, but we all know what happens when a closer enters in a non-save situation. He walked two guys, and Craig doubled one home to make the final 6-3. It's nice to see the Bucs bats wake up. JT had three hits, while Pedro, Jones and Barmes had a pair. It was equally as nice to see six of the team's 13 hits go for extra bases.

The Reds' Johnny Cueto goes up against Kevin Correia tomorrow night as the Pirates return home.

• Erik Bedard became the first Pirate pitcher to record seven straight strikeouts in a single game. The last Bucco hurler to punch out 7 straight was Brian Fisher (from April 25-29, 1987).
• Seventeen strikeouts is the Pittsburgh nine-inning record, eclipsing the mark of 16 set twice in 1965. GW had the pleasure of being at one of those games when Bob Veale was busy mowing down Phillies at Forbes Field in a game that was rain-delayed a couple of times. The overall marker is 19, set in 1960 in a 16 inning game against the Reds.
• Cutch only made it to the middle of the fourth today. He was pulled with a touch of the flu. Guess that explains why he got the day off yesterday against the division leaders.

Bucs, Burnett Pummeled 12-3

Well, now you can see why the pundits bemoaned the Buccos ability to take advantage of good pitching in the early going, because it's sure gone south in the past couple of days.

AJ Burnett started the evening like he did the last time he faced the Cards by allowing the first three runner to reach. Unlike that outing, St. Louis didn't let him off the hook, and smoked balls all around Busch Stadium to romp over Pittsburgh 12-3.

Heck, it was 12-1 before Burnett left in the third, and Carlos Beltran probably shed a tear when Brad Lincoln climbed the bump. Beltran, who was in the midst of a 3-for-32 slump, had two homers and a career-high seven RBI before AJ's departure; only two Pirates players have seven RBIs so far this season. 

In fact, it was only the second time in Pirate hisory that a starter gave up a dozen runs. The last time was in 1932, when Glenn Spencer was roughed up by the Cubs - and it took them eight innings to put their runs together.

You want to talk an ugly line: Burnett went 2-2/3 frames, giving up a dozen runs on a dozen hits with a walk and beaned batter while whiffing a pair. The Bucco bullpen calmed things down, as Brad Lincoln, Chris Resop, Juan Cruz and Jason Grilli put up zeroes the rest of the way, but it was for naught and not exactly the way you want to burn through your relievers.

The Bucs hopefully got it out of their system. The most heated action was in the second, when Rod Barajas got the boot for complaining about a non-strike call by Angel Campos who has had a tough couple of days. Barajas flipped his face mask toward the heavens when he was thumbed, and Clint Hurdle, maybe having a premonition of what was about to happen, came out to protect his player and was run, too. The umping this series has been pretty bad (for both sides), and the Pirates, being on the short end, had more frustrations to work out.

The Cards Lance Lynn won his fifth game, holding the Pirates to two runs on three hits in 6-2/3 frames. The Bucco bright spots at the dish were Pedro Alvarez, who had a pair of hits, a walk and three runs scored, and Josh Harrison, who had two RBI knocks.

Hey, mama said there would be days like this. Now let's hope the starting pitching is just having an inevitable burp. Erik Bedard will try to salvage a game this afternoon against Jake Westwood.

• The Redbirds lead the NL in runs scored with 135. The Bucs are last in the majors with 68. St. Louis has outscored Pittsburgh 31-14 in their five games.
• 1B Nick Evans has a broken hand that was surgically repaired. SS Chase d'Arnaud is still out with a concussion.
• Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects discusses whether LHP Rudy Owens has regained his status as a legit prospect.

Lineup, Notes

RHP AJ Burnett (1-1, 1.38) climbs the bump to duel with RHP Lance Lynn (4-0, 1.33). Burnett's first start for the Bucs was against the Birds, and he tossed a three-hit shutout through seven frames. LL is the MLB's first four game winner, and has allowed just one earned run per start. Lynn joined the rotation only because Chris Carpenter was hurt. The game begins at 8:15 and will be broadcast on Root Sports.

The Lineup: Alex Presley LF, Nate McLouth CF, Jose Tabata RF, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Garrett Jones 1B, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, AJ Burnett P.

Cutch gets a night off.

• Jose Tabata is hitting at a .367 clip during his current seven game hitting streak.
• Neil Walker has hit safely in six straight games and 13 of his last 15 contests.
• The Pirates have made eight errors in their last four games following a stretch of six straight games without a miscue.
• Alex Presley's 8 infield hits rank third in the majors, behind only Derek Jeter (10) and Emilio Bonifacio (nine).

Cards Blast, Bucs Bungle In 10-7 Loss

Well, the pitching was bound to hit a bump or two, and last night the long ball haunted them mightily. We can't say it wasn't due. The Pirate staff has been remarkably consistent, and the Cards hadn't scored a single run to support Adam Wainwright in April, setting up what the Gunner called the "hidden vigorish."

We'll just give the grisly generalities. Charlie Morton gave up six runs, the big blow being a three-run shot to David Freese in the fifth. He lasted just 4-1/3 frames, giving up eight hits and two walks to go with four K. He was up in the zone, an oddity for Morton, and the Cards made him pay.

Not that the bullpen gave him a lot of help. Jared Hughes gave up a three-spot in two innings, including a Matt Holliday dinger. Tony Watson gave up two hits while getting two outs, the last a two-run yard ball launched by, of all people, Rafael Furcal. Brad Lincoln alone escaped unscathed.

The Pirate D sprung leaks all over the board. The Cards got their first run when Garrett Jones dropped the ball trying to make a throw home. Yadier Molina came across when he was ignored by Morton and stole second on the jog, plating when Clint Barmes couldn't handle a two-out bleeder.Molina was the beneficiary again when he reached on an Alvarez boot and scored when he stole third - Molina! - and Rod Barajas' throw went astray.

In all, the Pirates committed four errors  that allowed four unearned runs. The club has had some leather issues of late; the team UZR/150 is -2.8, and hopefully they'll shore that up.

The Pirates did show some fight, though. They cut the lead to 7-4 and 10-7 in the late innings behind Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez two-run bombs. They even had the tying run up in the eighth, but Nate McLouth lost his battle with Victor Marte to end the final threat.

Pedro and Neil Walker had a pair of hits, while Barajas and Cutch added extra base knocks.

Oh well, the Pirate strectch of alternating wins and losses has now reached 12 games, dating back to the West Coast trip. Guess it's Pittsburgh's turn to win today.

RHP A.J. Burnett (1-1, 1.38) faces RHP Lance Lynn (4-0, 1.33) at Busch Stadium.

Lineup, Notes

RHP Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.65) takes on RHP Adam Wainwright (0-3, 7.32) in the Cardinal lid-lifter. Morton has been solid for the Bucs, while Wainwright was strong in his last outing after missing all of last season following TJ surgery. His problem has been the long ball; he's given up 5 in fewer than 20 IP. The Cards haven't scored a run while he's been on the mound, and hopefully that quirk can continue for one more start. The game will start at 8:15 and be aired by Root Sports.

The Lineup: Alex Presley LF, Jose Tabata RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Clint Barmes SS, Rod Barajas C, Charlie Morton P.

• The Pirate pitching staff ended April with a 2.78 ERA, their best mark in twenty years. Last April 30th, the team ERA was 3.72.
• Pedro Alvarez now has nine extra base hits in his first 18 games after collecting a total of just 14 in 74 games last year.
• Pittsburgh begins a stretch of six straight and nine of 12 games against the NL Central. The Bucs have played 3 division games; the Cards already have 21.
• The Pirates have lost the first game in six of their first seven series.
• Today is pitching coach Ray Searage's 57th birthday.
• The Bucs-Cards are Fangraph's Daily Notes featured game, under the post "It Feels Wrong, But It's So Wainwright," written by Carson Cistulli.

Hughes Recalled

Well, Clint  Hurdle has spent the past couple of weeks saying how nice it would be to have a pair of lefties in the bullpen. But given the option, the Bucs recalled RHP Jared Hughes to take the place of Evan Meek.

Hughes broke camp with the club, but was sent down ten days ago to clear a spot for AJ Burnett, and today was the first day he was eligible to return. In six games this season, he worked 9-1/3 frames, giving up five runs (two earned) on ten hits and four walks with 4 K and a 1.83 ERA. His WHIP is 1.448, and he's a middle inning guy. His career splits are .214 vs righties and .270 vs southpaws.

Doug Slaten, a veteran lefty, was pitching well at Indy. He has parts of six seasons in the show with Arizona and the Nats, with a 3.60 MLB ERA. Slaten had a win and couple of saves at Indy with a 0.69 ERA and .692 WHIP. But he's not on the 40-man roster, and it could be that the FO just wasn't into juggling it this early in the year.

Danny Moskos was another candidate. The southpaw had a solid if unspectacular spring, and a 3.68 ERA at Indy, with a walk per inning being his major concern. He appeared 32 times for Pittsburgh in 2011 with a 2.96 ERA, but a WHIP of 1.562 and just 11 K's in 24 IP.

Evan Meek

A little more on Evan Meek: In the past couple of outings, he's been sitting at 92-94. According to Fangraphs, in his breakout year of 2010, his average heater was clocked at 95.1, and he threw it 59% of the time. This year, it's at 92.7, and he uses it just 45% of the time. Meek has gone more to the cutter, which has dropped from 2010's 92.7 to its current 90.6. But his velocity has been building since the spring.

The larger problem has been location. According to the team, his pitches have been staying up and not moving as much, so it sounds to us like he'll be going to Indy to both get steady innings and tweak his mechanics a bit to drive the ball down in the zone. His ground balls have dropped from 56.7% to 37.1% over that time, and his line drives have jumped from 16.1% to 37.1%, so that analysis sure looks about right.

In nine outings, he has a 5.59 ERA, a .324 OBA, and WHIP of 1.345, and his K rate has dropped noticeably. The Pirates can't depend on him in high leverage situations, and so it's off to Indy to try to find his mojo, which took a hike after his shoulder woes of last season.

We give the Pirate FO credit. They rolled the dice by taking Meek and Pedro Alvarez north after poor camp performances. Looks like one out of two worked out.

And it does again show why the Pirates are leery of investing long-term in relievers specifically and pitchers generally. The issues of injury/performance just don't make pitchers a good bet to lock up over a long stretch of time.