Pedro's 10th Inning Walk Off Gives Bucs 5-4 Win

Great night, great matchup with the yard packed with bodies early. Jimmy Rollins ruined it right away by dropping a soft jam shot into left. No prob; Gerrit got a grounder up the middle to S-Rod, who used a glove flip to get it JHK to start the 6-4-3 DP. A whiff brought up the Buccos. Clayton Kershaw's scoreless streak of 37 IP lasted one pitch; Gregory banged it into the stands to make it 1-0. A one-walk Cutch walk caused a small stir, quickly quieted by A-Ram's around-the-horn DP.

Cole Train punched out the first pair of Dodgers, the Yasiel Puig's hooking liner to left stayed up long enough for Starling to corral. Kershaw sat down the Pirates with a whiff, liner and tapper.

With one gone in the third, Joc Pederson doubled high off the Clemente Wall. An out later, Rollins walked on four pitches and stole second without a throw. Howie Kendricks shot one to third; A-Ram dove to make the play, threw off his knees, and the wide toss took Morse off the base; two runs scored. Not exactly a sterling start tonight for Mr. Ramirez, even tho it was graciously ruled a single.

The Bucs were as about fundamental as a whiffle ball team in their half. Stew dropped a bunt single to open, but Cole popped up trying to bunt him over. El Coffee banged a single to right; Puig hit the cutoff, stopping Stew, and Polanco who took a hard turn, was gunned down by Rollins trying to get back to first; a straight to the bag slide would have done the trick, but Gregory tried to reached around the side of the base and was tagged a hand short of being safe. A pop up ended a frustrating inning; Kershaw is getting some help in the early going on both sides of the ball, and he's not a guy you want to let off the hook.

Cole came out with smoke coming out his ears and lost Andre Ethier, but he was erased on a chopper that S-Rod turned into a tag-and-toss DP; Ethier made no effort to extend the play, thank you. Puig whiffed to end the frame. The Pirates answered with three straight singles to load the bases. Michael Morse then lined out to first in a good news, bad news scenerio; if the liner gets into the corner, Bucs are running all day, but if Adrian Gonzalez was awake, he had JHK doubled off first. S-Rod whiffed, fouling a hung curve on the prior pitch. But Stew got a nerve wracking RBI walk. He went up 3-0, was victim of a gimme strike well down, took another borderline pitch that went Kershaw's way, then finally one was far enough off the plate for ball four, tying the game.

With one gone, Pederson walked and Kershaw was clipped in the ankle. Rollins lifted a fly to left; Marte came a long way, but it ticked off his mitt and LA was up 3-2 before the fire was out. He made amends; with an out, Starling was banged in the back shoulder by a heater, then came around when Cutch doubled to the left center bullpen. he went to third on a short wild pitch, going. stopping and going again, beating the rap by slidinh underneath a high tag. The infield came in and A-Ram slapped one into right; it's 4-3 after five.

The Big Bull ended a long night with a laser to right (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Cole had a 1-2-3 sixth. The Kid hit for Gerrit with two down and singled, followed by a Gregory fly to right. In came Joakim Soria, as The Kid remained in the game and S-Rod went to first. He got the first two outs, but Carl Crawford hit a soft roller to third, but was awarded first as his gloved ticked Stew's mitt. It cost the tying run as Rollins drilled a 3-2 pitch off the right center wall, missing a homer by inches, to tie the game before A-Ram made a nice stop on Kendrick's bullet to end the frame. Juan Nicasio took the hill; the two aces were both gone after six. The Pirates went down in order, with Cutch and A-Ram going down swinging.

Tony Watson climbed the hill and got a whiff, walk and pair of pops. Nicosia gave up an infield, broken bat knock to JHK. Ishy grabbed a bat, and lefty Luis Avilon jogged in to face him. Fran then hit for Ishy and dropped a 3-2 pitch into left. S-Rod wanted to bunt, but was walked to load 'em. In business? Nah. LA brought the infield in and routine one hoppers by Stew and Walker (bad at-bat; he didn't see a strike) turned into forces at home. Gregory's tapper to first ended the frame.

Mark the Shark was next up and had an easy ninth inning. Jim Johnson toed the rubber and walked Cutch with an out; A-Ram bounced into a DP on the next pitch. Antonio Bastardo answered the phone for the tenth. A one out double by Kendricks, a two out walk to Scott Van Slyke and a wild pitch set up the Dodgers, but AB got Yasmani Grandal swinging.

Johnson lost JHK on four pitches and Fran bounced one into left. S-Rod bunted to the left side; the LA 3B'man inexplicably never left the bag, and it went for a bases-loading single. Lefty JP Howell came in to face pinch hitter Pedro; that emptied the Pittsburgh bench. But hey, who needs a bench? Against a five man infield, Petey rocketed a 2-2 pitch over 1B Gonzalez's head into right, and the Bucs finally cashed in to take a 5-4 walk off win.

Certainly not the type of game we anticipated; both Gerrit and Clayton struggled. And the Bucs shot them selves in the foot most of the night. But in the end, every win is well played. Tomorrow afternoon, Frankie takes on Mat Latos.

• Big time Cutch - he was on base four times tonight with a pair of hits and two walks. Gregory, A-Ram, JHK and late sub Fran also banged out a pair of hits.
• El_Coffee is the first Bucco to hit leadoff dingers in back-to-back games since Nate McLouth on 4/27 & 4/29 2008.
• Tonight's attendance was 39,404, the 16th sellout of the season and second largest crowd behind Opening Day.
• With a day off after this series, the Bucs decided to skip JA Happ's start against the Cards. He was in the bullpen tonight.
• The Pirates sent Vance Worley to Indy as he cleared waivers.
• Deolis Guerra has been unclaimed - ends up he has a bum knee, so the Indians returned him. The Bucs put him on the 15-day DL and DFA'ed Wilfredo Boscan.
• Travis Snider was DFA'ed by the Orioles; he fell to earth in July, hitting just .088.

Showtime - Cole v Kershaw; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.29) takes on Clayton Kershaw (9-6, 2.37) in the lid lifter, and a grand one it should be. Gerrit is 9-3/2.23 in his past 13 outings, and has given up two runs or less in every game he's tossed that hasn't involved the Reds. He's 2-0/4.50 v LA, having beat Dan Haren this year and Zack Greinke last season, both by 6-3 scores. His personal nemesis: Yasiel Puig is 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles against Cole.

Let's see...Kershaw has won the Cy Young three of the past four years, has a killer curve, leads the league in K's and comes into the game with a 37 inning scoreless streak. After a slow start, the five-time All-Star is 7-3 in his last 12 outings with a 1.10 ERA, 112 strikeouts in 89-2/3 innings and just 12 walks. Yikes! He hasn't faced the Bucs since 2013, but in eight lifetime starts, he's 2-1/2.39.

National TV v Kershaw...(photo Associated Press)

Gerrit has an opportunity to run with a big dog today, and it should be fun to watch; lots of buzz about this one. The game starts at 7:05 and will be on ESPN, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Today's Lineup - Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, A-Ram 3B, Jung-Ho Kang SS, Michael Morse 1B, Sean Rodriguez 2B, Chris Stewart C, Cole P.

Well, get on TV and sit Fran, The Kid and Pedro. We can see the argument for all three - Stew is Cole's caddy, The Kid gets a break against a tough lefty, and Pedro gets a seat against, well, any lefty.  As Clint sez: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble...

• Elias Stats: the Clayton Kershaw/Gerrit Cole battle will be first August-or-later matchup of the MLB strikeouts leader vs. wins leader since September 11th, 1973, when Nolan Ryan faced Wilbur Wood.
• ESPN Note: Cole will try to become the first Pirates pitcher to be the first in the majors to 15 wins in a season since Vern Law in 1960. Law won the Cy Young Award and the Pirates won the World Series that season.
• Counting today, Stew has caught the last 16 starts of the Cole Train. It doesn't hurt tonight that Chris traditionally hits Kershaw well (6-for-12, HR: go figure).
• LA is on a roll; they've won six of their last seven games. But PNC Park has been a little spooky for them - Los Angeles is 2-5 in their last seven games in Pittsburgh. 
• Got the right stuff? We'll find out soon enough. Beginning tonight, the Pirates are scheduled to play the three division leaders in consecutive series: at home with the Dodgers, then the Cardinals and Mets on the road next week. 
• Riflemen: the Dodgers lead the NL with 25 outfield assists; the Bucs are next with 23.
• OF/1B Alex Dickerson was called up by the Padres yesterday. He was traded by the Bucs to SD for OF Jaff Decker & RHP Miles Mikolas (now pitching in Japan) during the 2013 off season.

8/7: HBD Reddy & Deacon Bill; Under the Lights; #9 Retired; Pedro Walk Off

• 1862 - IF Jim “Reddy” Gray was born in Pittsburgh. Gray was a local kid that “who helped in an emergency” whenever a Pittsburgh club was short handed, per Frederick Lieb in his book The Pittsburgh Pirates. Playing in six games - not many emergencies back in the day, we guess - he got 23 at-bats and hit for a .304 average (His fielding was unfortunately kinda brutal at .719; the infielder made nine errors in 32 chances). He played for the Alleghenys in 1884 & 1890, the Player’s League Burghers, also in ‘90, and finally for the Pirates in 1893. And yes, Reddy's brother was author Zane Grey, who also played minor league baseball.
• 1886 - Bill McKechnie was born in Wilkinsburg. A backup infielder for Pittsburgh (1907, 1910-12, 1918, 1920), he began 1922 as a Pirate coach. McKechnie replaced George Gibson as manager in midseason, and the team improved from fifth place to a tie for third. The club got better in each of the next few seasons before capturing the NL pennant and the World Series crown in 1925. But after the Pirates fell to third place in 1926, McKechnie was fired. He resurfaced and became the only skipper to win pennants with three different NL clubs - Pittsburgh (1925), St. Louis (1928), and Cincinnati (1939-40). A popular and quiet man, Bill McKechnie earned the nickname Deacon because he sang in his church choir and lived a quiet lifestyle. He’s the namesake for Bradenton’s McKechnie Field and entered the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Bill McKechnie 1925 (photo - TSN Mears Collection)

• 1904 - The Pirates sent IF Jimmy Sebring to the Reds, Cincy sent Mike Donlin to New York, and the Giants then sent OF Moose McCormack to the Bucs. The reason this is a big deal is because the Pirates flipped Moose for IF/OF Del Howard, who become part of the 1905 deal with Boston that landed Hall of Fame RHP Vic Willis, who won 89 games for Pittsburgh in four seasons.
• 1920 - The Pirates made local front page news by beating the Brooklyn Superbas 7-0 for their fifth win in a row, moving into third place. Babe Adams got the win at Ebbets Field, tossing a six hitter. A two-run throwing error on a pickoff play gave the Pirates a five run cushion in the sixth and Max Carey’s two-run triple in the seventh was the icing. Alas, the pennant fever was premature. The Bucs faded and finished fourth at the end, 14 games off the pace.
• 1922 - Ten different Pirates had two hits apiece, a club record, as the Bucs whipped the Phillies 17-10 at the Baker Bowl. The only Buc batter without two knocks was cleanup hitter Clyde Barnhart; even the pitchers combined to go 5-for-5 with a homer. Whitey Glazner picked up the win in relief after Wilbur Cooper and Hal Carlson were bombed early.

Whitey Glazner 1922 E-120 American Caramel series

• 1925 - The Pirates and Brooklyn Robins had a wild final three innings at Forbes Field. The Robins scored twice in the seventh to go ahead 7-4; Pittsburgh scored three times in their half to tie. Brooklyn then plated twice in the eighth to go up 9-7; the Pirates answered in the ninth with three runs to take home a 10-9 win. Max Carey, Pie Traynor and Kiki Cuyler each had three hits in the victory, which went to Johnny Morrison.
• 1930 - Playing under Kansas City's portable lighting system, a baseball first, the Homestead Grays' 44-year-old Smokey Joe Williams spun a one-hitter with 27 K to defeat the Monarchs' Chet Brewer, who fired 19 strikeouts of his own (10 in a row starting in the seventh) while surrendering just four hits by a 1-0 score in a famous 12-inning duel. Oscar Charleston scored the only run on a Chaney White double.
• 1966 - Roberto Clemente put on a one man show at Forbes Field with four hits, two homers and five RBI, but it wasn’t enough in a 9-7 loss to the Reds. Clemente had a chance to win the game in the ninth with two on and two out, but his flare to center was run down.
• 1987 - Billy Mazeroski’s number 9 was retired during a 9-3 victory over the Expos at TRS in front of 24,093 fans. C Spanky Lavalliere and SS Al Pedrique helped the party along by collecting three hits, two runs and a pair of RBI each. Bob Walk went six innings for the win, saved by Bob Gideon, who worked the last three frames.

Maz's retirement program.

• 1994 - SS Jay Bell went 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles to lead the Pirates to a 6-5 win over the Cardinals at TRS. His bases-loaded single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth plated Tim Foli with the winning run. Carlos Garcia homered in the Paul Wagner victory.
• 2010 - Colorado scored three runs in the ninth to tie the game and two more in the tenth to take the lead, but the Bucs prevailed at PNC Park to claim an 8-7 victory. With runners at first and second and two down in the 10th, Pedro Alvarez took Huston Street deep for the walk off win, giving Sean Gallagher the W even though he gave up two runs in his inning of work.
• 2013 - Petrina McCutchen, Andrew’s mom, sang the National Anthem before the Miami Marlins’ game at PNC Park. Her son responded with a 2-for-3 night with a walk and a homer, and so did the team, as they won 4-2 behind Charlie Morton, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon.

8/6: Roberto Enters HoF; HBD Steve & Stan; PNC Is Named; Duke, Karstens, Bedard;

• 1902 - The Pirates shut out the Giants 2-0 to sweep a four game set against New York at Exposition Park‚ as Jack Chesbro beat Dummy Taylor in five innings of a rain-shortened affair. Ginger Beaumont and Tommy Leach scored first inning runs on a hit by Kitty Bransfield and a Giant error. Tempers did flare, although not between players. The Giants’ Jimmy Jones knocked the mask off umpire Bob Emslie while arguing a strike call and was suspended for the season. The Pirates beat a lot of teams that year; they won the NL pennant by 27-1/2 games with a record of 103-36.
• 1955 - C Steve Nicosia was born in Paterson, NJ. A platoon and reserve catcher, he was with Pittsburgh for six years (1978-83). He wasn’t much of a stick, hitting .248 as a Buc and getting just one knock in the 1979 World Series, but he did catch the seventh game victory.

Steve Nicosia 1981 Donruss series

• 1966 - RHP Stan Belinda was born in Huntingdon, PA. The sidewinder started his career as a Buc (1989-93) after being a 10th round draft pick in 1986. His line was 19-15-61/3.52 in Pittsburgh. Stan went on to have a 12 year MLB stay, mainly pitching in a set-up role. He’ll be remembered locally as the guy who gave up Francisco Cabrera’s single to score Sid Bream with the winning run in the 1992 NLCS. He was traded at the 2003 deadline to KC.
• 1966 - Woodie Fryman was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Pride of the Pirates.” It was Fryman’s rookie campaign, and he put up a 12-9/3.83 slash during a year the Bucs won 92 games, finishing third behind the Dodgers by three games.
• 1977 - Roberto Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame after the mandatory five-year waiting period was waived, with the induction showed live on Pittsburgh TV. The Great One finished his career 3000 hits wuth a career average of .317 and won the NL batting title 4 times. He was presented with the Gold Glove Award 12 times and made the All-Star team 15 times. Bobby played in 14 World Series games and had at least one hit in each of those games.

• 1985 - The players staged a two-day work stoppage. The MLB agreed to increase its pension contribution and minimum wage, and the games were made up later in the season.
• 1988 - The Bucs blundered their way through the eighth and ninth frames to hand the Mets a 5-3 victory in front of 48,272 at TRS. Jim Gott had an eighth inning to forget, giving up three runs on one hit, three walks (two on 3-2 pitches) and three balks, which directly led to a pair of scores. The Pirates rallied in the ninth when Sid Bream and RJ Reynolds opened with singles, but Tom Prince bunted back to the box and into a DP.
• 1989 - Jeff King smoked an 18th inning leadoff HR on a 3-1 pitch off the Cubs' Scott Sanderson, who had tossed eight innings of shutout relief, to give Pittsburgh a walk off 5-4 win. The game took five hours and 49 minutes to play, tying it for the longest game played in Pittsburgh and TRS. Doug Drabek worked the last two frames to earn the win in his only relief outing of the season.
• 1998 - The Pirates and PNC Bank announced a 20-year marketing deal under which the new home of the Pirates was named PNC Park when it opened in 2001. Under the naming-rights agreement, PNC pays approximately $1.5M a year through the 2020 season.
• 2005 - Zach Duke became the second rookie in Pirate history to win his first five decisions as a starter when the Pirates topped the LA Dodgers 9-4 at PNC Park. The 22-year-old was the first Bucco rookie since Whitey Glazner in 1921 to start 5-0, and none has gone 6-0. Duke’s 0.87 ERA in July was the lowest among all MLB pitchers. Freddy Sanchez and Chris Duffy combined for seven hits and five runs at the top of the order, with Jason Bay knocking in three scores behind them.

Zach Duke 2011 Topps Jumbo series

• 2008 - Jeff Karstens tossed a gem against the Snakes, a two hit complete game 2-0 win at Chase Field. He got all the runs he needed on a Freddy Sanchez homer and RBI double from Doug Mientkiewicz. In his second start for the Pirates, he retired the first 23 Arizona batters he faced before Chris Young doubled in the eighth, running his scoreless streak to 15 innings since being acquired from the Yankees. For the sugar on top, JK banged out his first two career hits, both off The Big Unit, Randy Johnson.
• 2012 - Eric Bedard, Jason Grilli and Chad Qualls combined for a two hit, 4-0 win over Arizona at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen had a pair of hits and scored twice for the Pirates. Freddy Sanchez added a pair of knocks. It was a tough win; the Bucs needed three eighth inning runs to put the game away, keyed by four consecutive ground ball singles and a sac fly.
• 2013 - Josh Harrison led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk off homer to right center off Mike Dunn to give the Pirates and Bryan Morris a 4-3 win a PNC Park. Neil Walker had three hits and Andrew McCutchen added a pair to carry the Bucco attack.

Bucs Outslug Cubs 7-5; Cutch, El Coffee Go Long

Jeff Locke was off to a good start; ten pitches and he was through the first frame. The good news continued; Gregory Polanco led off with a homer against Dan Haren. An out later, a walk, single and boot loaded the bases. The Kid popped out to left, but Pedro came through with a knock, scoring one run but losing another as A-Ram was thrown out at home on a bad read by Rick Sofield, especially with hot hitting Fran on deck. Still, 2-0 is a good start.

It was 1-2-3 for Jeff again in the second, and the Bucs went down in order. Chris Denorfia opened the third with a single and was bunted to second, where he died. Cutch joined El Coffee on the HR trail, banging one 431' into the center field shrubs to make it 3-0.

Kyle Schwarber was served a two-strike change that hung at the belt and started the fourth with a double. A wild pitch moved him to third and a sac fly brought him in to make it 3-1. The kid opened with a walk, and he went to second on a wild pitch by Haren. Pedro K'ed on a pitch he couldn't have reached with a selfie stick. Walker was picked off trying to get to third on Fran's bouncer, and Jeff's flyout ended it.

Jeff tossed a clean fifth. Starling legged out an infield hit with one gone and stole second an out later. A-Ram rolled over on a cutter down and away, but caught enough to roll a seeing eye ball into left to plate Marte. JHK followed with another knock but the two out magic ended with a Walker line out; he and Cutch both squared it up, but ended up with at 'em balls.

Dexter Fowler walked with an out in the sixth, and it hurt an out later when Schwarber drilled a hung curve over the middle of the dish out of the yard (and barely over a leaping Cutch at the wall) to make it a 4-3 game. Rizzo followed with another long fly on the next pitch and just like it, it was a tied game.

Antonio Bastardo - one pitch, one win (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

That was it for Locke; Jared Hughes got another early call. Jorge Soler singled off him and stole second, then Starling Castro walked. Denorfia took some borderline pitches and got the call on all of them, walking to jam the bases. Lefty Chris Coghlan came up to pinch hit, and Antonio Bastardo got the call, retiring Coghlan on the first pitch, a grounder to Pedro.

Travis Wood toed the rubber. Fran singled with an out, and Michael Morse came in to pinch hit. He singled to left on a 3-2 heater. Gregory made it a trifecta with a knock to right, scoring Cervelli. Pedro Strop answered the phone after that. He lost Starling to juice the sacks, with S-Rod coming in to run for Morse. Cutch sent a liner to right; it was run down but went as a sac fly to make it 6-4 before A-Ram whiffed to end the fun.

Joakim Soria climbed the hill in the seventh. It took 11 pitches, but he finally punched out the pesky Addison Russell. A grounder and another K finished up the frame. Jason Motte tossed for the Cubbies and got three flies to left, right and center to work a clean frame.

Tony Watson answered the phone for the eighth. Kris Bryant greeted him with a single, but a whiff of Rizzo and a DP quieted those seas. Fran got a 3-2 fastball down the middle and ripped it into right center for a triple. S-Rod battled Motte for 10 pitches and won, rolling a single into left to make it 7-4. That brought a call for James Russell. Rodriguez got happy feet; he was caught taking off by Russell and tagged out on his way to second. Russell got the next two routinely, and it's Shark time.

Starlin Castro started with a single. An out later, pinch hitter Matt Szczur doubled on the first pitch, a cutter down the pipe, to put Cubbies at second and third. A grounder brought in a run and a whiff ended the game for Melancon's 34th save.

The Bucs came back for the sweep in a homer-filled contest (the wind was blowing out at 10 MPH) and get a day off. Friday the Dodgers come to PNC Park with Gerrit Cole on the hill.

• Gregory's homer was his first leading off a game. He and Cutch combined for four RBI and three runs scored; Fran plated twice from the eight hole.
• Mark the Shark surrendered his first run since June 5th, ending a 22-1/3 IP scoreless streak.
• Both homers off Jeff Locke were by lefties.
• The Bucs drew a nice Wednesday night crowd of 35,759. 
• Quick Healers: Josh Harrison will begin his rehab assignment at Indy on Tuesday, and Jordy Mercer is expected to join him on Friday.
• Clint Hurdle is using the Thursday break to reshuffle his rotation: Gerrit Cole will go on Friday, followed by Frankie and Charlie.
• RHP Deolis Guerra was claimed by the Cleveland Indians. He was DFA'ed when Joakim Soria joined the club.
• Clayton Richard is becoming a human yo-yo. He was called up by the Cubs for the third time today as Rafael Soriano went on the DL; Calyton's made it through waivers twice.

Jeff Locke v Dan Haren; Notes & Lineup

Today's Game - Jeff Locke (6-6, 4.21) faces new Cubby Dan Haren (7-7, 3.42). Jeff has posted a 3-3/2.81 slash in his last nine starting assignments. he hasn't faced the Cubs since May, when he got a no decision in an 11-10 loss at Wrigley, and has a loss and another no-decision against them so far this year. Locke is 1-2 with a 5.75 ERA in eight career starts v Chicago.

Haren was picked up at the deadline to fill the back end of the Cubs rotation. He's got a nice record and a pedigree, but his peripherals - FIP, xFIP and SIERA - all suggest a guy that's been way outperforming his stats, so we'll see if he's having one of those do-no-wrong years or if regression is lurking. It will be his first outing against Pittsburgh this year, though he was whipped twice in 2014 as a Dodger and is 3-3/5.28 in ten career appearances v the Bucs. The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Varsity lineup while the A-Ram at cleanup experiment continues.

• The Cubs have been rolling; they're on a six game winning streak. The Pirates have gone 4-7 overall against Chicago this season, which includes a 2-3 record at PNC Park. Gotta win those division games; the Pirates are 19-27 v their Central rivals.
• Arquimedes Caminero pitched 2-1/3 innings and struck out six batters, both career highs, last night. He leads all NL rookie pitchers in appearances with 49, and has 54 K in 49IP.
• Advance at your own risk: Starling Marte has a league-leading 10 outfield assists. 
• Garrett Jones signed a FA contract with the Yankees.

8/5: Arlin & Bucs Debut on KDKA; Buc-Reds Brawl; Cobra, Pops Bombs; Maz Sets Mark; HBD Nellie

• 1902 - The first-place Pirates defeated the New York Giants 3-0 behind Jesse Tannehill's two hitter. Tanny retired the first 19 Giants to face him before John McGraw managed a knock. Christy Mathewson made it a fight and struck out 11 Bucs, but had no answer for Honus Wagner, who doubled and scored twice.
• 1905 - In front of a record crowd of 18,383 fans at Exposition Park, the NY Giants forfeited to the Pirates over a call at third. In a 5-5 game, Claude Ritchey opened the ninth with a double, his third hit of the day, and beat the throw to third on a bunt. At least that’s what ump George Bausewine called. The Giants disagreed and tried to get the first base ump to overrule the call; lotsa luck with that. The ensuing hubbub by the New York nine continued, and when they wouldn’t return to their positions after several warnings, Bausewine called the game. It was front page news in Pittsburgh, and manager Fred Clarke was incensed, telling Ralph Davis of the Pittsburg Press that “the New York players realized that only a miracle could prevent us from winning a clean and creditable victory, and rather than give us that satisfaction they allowed the game to break up...If we had disgraced ourselves in front of a record breaking crowd as the Giants did, we would have been mobbed.” The Giants protested the forfeiture; the league upheld it.

Fred Clarke Sweet Caporal series 1911

• 1915 - The Pirates beat the Phillies and ace Grover Cleveland Alexander 1-0 at Forbes Field when Quaker catcher Bill Killefer threw wildly past third base in the ninth. Babe Adams claimed the win over Old Pete.
• 1921 - KDKA aired the first broadcast of a Major League game as Harold Arlin described the action during the Pirates' 8-5 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field. Jimmy Zinn worked six innings of one run relief for the win and added two hits. That broadcast started a list of firsts for Arlin and KD: he followed with another first when he took his equipment to the Allegheny Country Club for a live broadcast of the Davis Cup tennis match between Australia and Great Britain the next day. In October, he and KDKA became part of a three-station Westinghouse network that broadcast the Yankee-Giants World Series for the first time. Then, later in October, Arlin returned to Forbes Field for another first, a college football game between Pitt and West Virginia.
• 1926 - OF Max Carey stole his last base as a Bucco against the Boston Braves during a 4-3 win at Braves Field. Carey is the all-time team leader in swipes with 688. He also had two of the Pirates six hits, as the Bucs gave Ray Kremer just enough support for the win.
• 1943 - RHP Nellie Briles was born in Dorris, California. He only tossed three years for the Bucs, from 1971-73 with a line of 36-28/2.98, but will be remembered for the two-hit shutout he spun in Game Five of the 1971 series. What isn’t as well known is that he called his own pitches for the last three innings, according to SABR Biography Project. After disagreeing on whether to go hard or soft (the original game plan), Manny Sanguillen refused to give him signs from that point on, and just played toss-and-catch with Briles for the remainder of the game. After he retired, he went into broadcasting briefly, then joined the Pirate executive team, founding the Alumni Association.

Nellie Briles 1974 Topps series

• 1960 - As posted by BR Bullpen: In a game described by Dick Groat as "the greatest I ever played in," the World Series-bound Bucs buttressed their first place margin over Milwaukee by pulling out a 1-0 win over the Giants. The game's only run came in the eighth inning, when Bill Virdon scored from first on an errant throw by pitcher Sam Jones on Groat’s bunt. But it's the fielding plays that were most spectacular: for the Giants, Willie Mays nipped a seventh inning Bucs uprising in the bud with a brilliant throw to cut down Don Hoak going first to third. But the Pirates' Vinegar Bend Mizell was the chief beneficiary of this game's defensive prowess: the "Say Hey Kid" was robbed of a sure extra-base hit by Roberto Clemente in a terrifying catch and crash that knocked the right fielder out of the lineup for a week as he smashed face first into the concrete base of the right-centerfield stands at the 395-foot mark, and collapsed on the dirt warning track. Five stitches were required to close the cut on his chin, and his left knee was banged up. An inning before that, Virdon made a tremendous running grab of Felipe Alou's bomb to the left center light tower, and, in the eighth, Virdon made what Pittsburgh Press writer Les Biederman described as "the play of the season," just missing a leaping grab of Andre Rodgers' drive to the 406’ mark in left center, then recovering almost instantly to make a strong, accurate throw to third. Out by a mile was Rodgers, who made an ill-advised, two-out try for a triple. The classic was witnessed by 33,301 fans.
• 1964 - The Pirates scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to rally past Don Drysdale and the Dodgers 4-3 at Forbes Field. In the eighth, Bill Virdon scored after a Roberto Clemente double and a wild pitch by reliever Ron Perranoski to cut the lead to 3-2. Jim Pagliaroni led off the last frame with a homer, and with two out, Clemente lined a 2-2 pitch into center, his third hit of the game, to bring home Gene Alley with the game winner. Al McBean pitched the last two innings to get the win.
• 1969 - Willie Stargell launched a bomb off LA’s Alan Foster that measured 507’, the longest home run ever hit at Dodger Stadium (other estimates ranged from 512’-480’). The Bucs won 11-3, with Manny Sanguillen and Bill Mazeroski also going yard. Steve Blass cruised to the win over Don Drysdale.

Willie Stargell 1975 Topps series

• 1970 - 2B Bill Mazeroski set a modern-era NL record for putouts at his position with the 4,781st of his career in the Pirates 4-0 win over the Phillies at TRS. Maz ended his career with 4,974 putouts, eventually surpassed on the leaderboard by Joe Morgan. Luke Walker spun a two-hitter and Al Oliver provided the muscle with a homer and three RBI.
• 1971 - The Pirates rolled over Montreal 7-2 at Parc Jarry behind homers by Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and Jose Pagan plus a pair of Gene Alley triples. The Bucs lost Pagan when his arm was broken by a pitch, but he returned in time to become a World Series hero. Bruce Kison, who would also shine in the WS, went the distance for the win.
• 1971 - Willie Stargell was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Pittsburgh Overpowers the East.” The team not only overpowered the East, but also the Giants in the West and the Orioles in the World Series.
• 1977 - Cincinnati native Dave Parker became the first player to reach the red seats in right field at Riverfront Stadium when he homered off Fred Norman in a 12-1 win in the opener of a twin bill. Parker added another long ball and had five RBI to back Jerry Reuss’ four hitter. The match featured a one-sided ninth inning fight between Frank Taveras and Joe Hoerner after a beanball; Reds’ catcher Bill Plummer held Taveras while Hoerner slugged him. Both benches emptied, with Dave Parker and Bill Robinson trying to get to Hoerner, but order was restored. Reuss didn’t even brush anyone back in the Reds’ ninth because Sparky Anderson had taken out all his regulars. The fired-up Pirates also took the nitecap, winning 10-6. Taveras banged an inside-the-park grand slam (the first of two homers that he’d hit in the MLB), and Bill Robinson smacked a three-run shot in the win. The sweep moved the Bucs to just a game behind first place Philadelphia.

Frank Taveras 1978 Topps series

• 1979 - Chuck Tanner tore a few pages out of the book when he sent up lefty John Milner to bat against Phils’ southpaw Tug McGraw. He hit for C Steve Nicosia, who was 4-for-4 on the day and RH. Against the book, maybe, but it worked as Milner banged a walk off grand slam on the first pitch to win it 12-8 for the Pirates. Nicosia later said “I'm a .220 career hitter. What were my odds of going 5 for 5?" Another sidebar: Hall of Famer Steve “Lefty” Carlton had an 8-3 lead in that game and couldn’t hang on to it. In the second game of a double dip at TRS, the Bucs prevailed 5-2, scoring four times in the fourth inning. Omar Moreno and Phil Garner each drove in a pair of runs off Dickie Noles in the frame.
• 1980 - The Bucs traded minor league OF Rick Lancellotti and IF Luis Salazar to the San Diego Padres for IF Kurt Bevacqua and RHP Mark Lee. Salazar, who had yet to play a MLB game, was the one keeper of the deal, playing for five teams over the next 13 years, retiring with a .261 BA.
• 2005 - Ty Wiggington was featured on the cover of The Sporting News in a collision at the plate for the story (and issue theme) “How’s That Feel?”
• 2010 - James McDonald only lasted six innings, but he surrendered just four hits and whiffed eight Rockies as the Bucs defeated Colorado 5-1 at PNC Park. He was backed with homers from Garrett Jones and Ronny Cedeno.

Arrieta Shuts Down Pirates 5-0

JA whiffed his batter as a Bucco, then gave up a ground ball single and had another runner reach on an A-Ram misfire. Anthony Rizzo's single loaded the bases. Jorge Soler walked on five pitches to make it 1-0. Starling Castro bounced into a 5-2 force at home, with A-Ram passing on the chance for an around the horn DP. No diff; another force ended the frame. Everything was hit on the ground, and maybe with JHK or Josh at third, it's a zippo inning, As it is, JA tossed 30 pitches. Cutch walked with two down against Jake Arrieta, but an A-Ram bouncer closed the frame.

After a second inning whiff to open, Addison Russell grounded a single to left. A punch out later, Chris Denofia drilled a double, but 8-6-2 cut down Russell at home as Cutch made a sliding stop to cut off the gapper, JHK a strong relay, and Joe Maddon came out to argue Fran blocked the plate, to no avail. Pittsburgh went down without a peep.

Happ again started with a K, then Rizzo followed with a double. Soler went down swinging, tho a wild pitch moved Rizzo to third. JA fell behind Castro 3-1, gave him a center cut heater, and the resulting double to right center made it 2-0. David Ross bounced a single up the middle, and the wheels are officially off the wagon even as he retired Arrieta, who tossed a 1-2-3 inning when he got back on the mound.

Not a Happ-y Day for JA (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Hey, a clean inning in the fourth. with one gone, Cutch got the Bucs' first knock, a lined single to left and was quickly eliminated as part of a 6-4-3 A-Ram DP. After an out in the fifth, Rizzo banged another double, and Soler walked on Happ's 100th pitch. That brought on - are you ready - Jared Hughes (Blanton was burned in last night's rain-out). Castro greeted him with an RBI double down the line, and Ross was walked to load the bases for Arrieta. He tried to squeeze and the force was made at home. Russell whiffed, but it's 4-0, a big cushion for Arrieta. The Kid drew a long one-out walk, and it was Pedro's turn to bounce into a DP, 1-4-3.

Again, the Cubs got a one-out hit, this time a Denorfia single, an infield knock to third, and Kris Bryant was plunked with a 1-2 pitch in the hip and went down, eventually moving on to first. Rizzo blooped a ball into left; Denorfia wasn't sure about Starling's range and was forced at third after it hit the grass. Soler took the glow off the play by singling in Bryant. That brought on Arquimedes Caminero, with Ishy moving to first on the double switch. Arqie got the last out. The Buccos again went down in order.

Surprise - a one out single by Arrieta in the seventh, followed an out later by a four pitch walk to Dexter Fowler. A wild pitch moved them up a station, but Denorfia K'ed; Caminero struck out the side in between the shenanigans. Starling opened with a single to left and Cutch walked. Jake got A-Ram to line out to left, JHK to whiff at an under-the-letters heater and The Kid rolled out to first; at 109 pitches, Arrieta's most excellent night has come to an end.

Bryant opened the eighth with a knock, and Rizzo added another single, a soft roller into left. Then Arqie returned to his old tricks and whiffed the next trio of Cubbies. Tommy Hunter took the ball for Chicago and struck out Michael Morse on three pitches. Fran singled, but Ishy hit into the almost obligatory DP to end the frame. It was bang bang at first; the Bucs challenged; the Bucs lost.

Antonio Bastardo toed the rubber and worked a calm inning with a walk and whiff. Justin Grimm came on to close out. Starling doubled with an out, but no blood was drawn.

Arrieta was sharp; his four seamer, slider/cutter, sinker combo kept the righties at bay and his backdoor curve and change tamed the lefties as the Bucs squared up on very few balls he tossed. Happ showed with his six K's that there is something there, but his control, despite the whiffs, is a mess (he doesn't nibble at the corners; when he misses, it's by a ton) and can't work behind in the count when a batter can be patient.

• Cutch was aboard three times with two walks and a knock while Starling had a pair of hits. The rest of the lineup had one hit and one walk combined.
• Per Elias Sports: August 18th,1977 was the last time a Pirates-Cubs game had both teams 10+ games over .500. Pittsburgh was 70-51, Chicago 67-52. The Buccos won 7-6 as Phil Garner, Dave Parker, Bill Robinson & Al Oliver homered.
• JA is wearing #32, made famous by Vernon Law and last worn by Vince Mazzaro.
• The Bucs may want a redo on their scouting report of Anthony Rizzo. He's hitting .452 with an OBP of .538 against them this year. He's .293/.401 overall.
• Kinda an oddity; in eight of nine innings, the second hitter for the Cubs reached safely.
• Jordy and Josh have been taking infield this week; today they've added BP to their baseball activities, so both are progressing just fine. Josh went on the DL on July 6th and Jordy on July 20th. Both were estimated to take six weeks minimum to return.
• Rob Scahill is slated to begin his rehab in the GCL this week, with the goal of getting to Altoona for some work the following week.
• Wandy Rodriguez was released by the Rangers today.

JA v Jake Arrieta; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - JA Happ (4-6, 4.29) gets his first start as a Bucco, and it's a tough match up against Jake Arrieta (11-6, 2.62 ). Happ got off to a strong start, but was batted around in his recent outings, losing five of his last six decisions. The consensus is that he's a competent back ender, and a change of scenery can't hurt. This will be the first time he's met the Cubbies since 2012.

JA Happ gets his first start in a Bucco uniform tonight (photo Associated Press)

Jake has become an elite pitcher over the past two seasons. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in his last eight starts (and gave up three just once over that span) and all his peripheral performance stats - FIP, xFIP, SIERA - are nearly identical, so he's not using any smoke and mirrors to pad his numbers. Arrieta has 94 MPH heat to go with a cutter and curve and collects 9+ K per nine innings.

He's split with the Bucs this year, winning 5-2 & losing to AJ 3-0, and is 4-1/2.43 in six lifetime starts against the Pirates. It's not a great matchup for Happ in his Pittsburgh debut. The game starts at 7:05 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Today's Lineup - Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, A-Ram 3B, Jung-Ho Kang SS, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Happ P.

Usual recent lineup card with A-Ram at cleanup and Pedro in the seven hole.

• Yesterday's rainout was the first at PNC Park since the 2013 season.
• It'll be interesting to see if and how Clint restructures the rotation after Frankie's two inning stint yesterday.
• While AJ got good news re: his elbow, we'd curb our enthusiasm. Guys like Jason Grilli and Jason Vargas took six weeks to return from similar injuries (Vargas blew out his UCL when he did come back), and both had rehab stints to ease back into action. The minor league schedules end a week into September, so AJ may not have anywhere but Pirate City to prep even if four weeks proves a good estimate.
• MLB.com has an updated Top 30 Pirate prospect list; you might be surprised to see eight of the top ten young guns are position players.

Recap of the Game That Wasn't...

A little thunder grumbled in the background as Frankie K'ed two of the first three Cubbies. Jon Lester was equal to the task; he whiffed the first two Buccos before Cutch bled a seeing eye single up the middle. Andrew lasted one pitch before being easily thrown out at second trying to steal.

Frankie's control left him in the second; Anthony Rizzo singled on a 3-1 pitch; Jorge Soler flew out on a green-lighted 3-0 pitch, and an out later, David Ross walked. Liriano took care of Lester to end it. A-Ram singled to open; JHK struck out looking, and Fran watched Ramirez get picked off first by vet David Ross; it'd be nice if we could keep a runner on base.

After eight pitches and the count 3-2; the ump called for the tarps as the rain came down, and heavily. When it restarted at 9:55 ( two hour, nine minute delay), both starters were done for the night. Rafael Soriano and Joe Blanton took over; nothing like burning up the pen in the first game of the series. Fran whiffed, and it's on to the third frame.

Joe gave up a run on a two-out single by Rizzo to score Addison Russell, who was aboard thanks to a dying flare to open the frame. The Bucs answered with Gregory's double in their half. Pittsburgh was working on a big frame - Miike Morse doubled and S-Rod walked, but Blanton, who's been in the AL the last two years, couldn't get a bunt down. Polanco's two-bagger (off LHP Travis Wood) only brought in one run, and S-Rod was thrown out at home on Starling Marte's bouncer during the next at bat, less a TOOTBLAN than a nice fielding play by Wood.

The ground crew provided most of the action last night (photo via Pgh Pirates)

The fourth went quietly enough, til the rains returned after Fran whiffed again (he's no doubt glad it was a rain-out!) and after a 1-1/2 hour delay, the game was called around midnight. None of the stats count, and other than scrubbing what should have been a grand duel between Frankie and Jon Lester and burning up a couple of relievers, it was just a wasted rainy night. It will be rescheduled for later in the year; the Cubs are due back in the middle of September.

• The NL Rookie of the Month is Jung-Ho Kang. His July line: .379, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 18 R, 13 XBH, .443 OBP. Gerrit Cole was the last Bucco to get the nod in September, 2013.
  
• AJ Burnett was diagnosed with a flexor strain in his right elbow today. He received a PRP injection and his estimated time of return is approximately four weeks. That's about as good of news as AJ could receive. We think the recovery date is optimistic, but AJ has soldiered on before, so we'll see...
• BTW, Clayton Richard was DFA'ed again today by the Cubs.