DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Getting ready for the first pitch …
Game: Pirates (57-49) vs. San Francisco Giants (57-50), 3:45 p.m., AT&T Park, San Francisco
Pitchers: RHP Charlie Morton (5-10, 3.40) vs. RHP Tim Lincecum (9-7, 3.96)
TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan
Live box score: MLB.com
Pedro is on the bench again today
Not surprised at all – Clint has to go with the hot hand, Biz.
The days of “Day”dro seem so long ago…
Pirates play a day game so it won’t interfere with me watching Sharknado 2. Looking for another tour de force from former train wreck, Tara Reid. Go Bucs!
Nice
Kinda surprised that Pedro not getting a shot – afternoon games seem to agree with him – and he has been ok against Lincecum 3 for 10
He can always pinch hit, right?
Sorry about repost from mirning thread, but you have to think Pedro is on trading block now. They don’t want him getting hurt.
There are some rumors to that effect…but there are rumors to all kinds of effects today.
I think that would be trading a valuable asset at its absolute lowest point. I just don’t see it. I think it is just about his recent production – offense and defense – along with JHay/Snider getting it done in a big way.
Steelers are holding a 2 pm news conference, Both Rooneys will be there
Whats that about, Biz?
Is this a joke or real?
No one knows, speculation on news of a tribute to Coach Noll?
Maybe the Steelers got Jon Lester.
I didn’t know how much I missed you,Milo, when the Trib blog went nuts, until very recently :*
They are retiring Joe Green’s number this year.
I think Pedro is still nursing that bad knee. But what do I know?
Typically if a player is on the bench due to an injury, Hurdle is quick to tell you he’s hurt. I think right now Pedro is knee deep in a big pile of SUCK, and until he figures it out PT may be lean.
Hurdle said the knee is fine, Lucky. The head? Maybe not so much.
Not going to sit a hot Harrison and Snider
What JAL said!
Joe Green’s No 75 is being retired by the Steelers
Well deserved. The Foundation.
The Steelers have retired Joe Greene’s #75. Only the 2nd in club history – Ernie Stautner’s #70.
Just two, huh? I would’ve lost a bundle in a bar bet on that figure! Classy organization.
Steelers retire no# 75. Much due and pretty cool
I thought it was already symbolically retired. Joe Greene was the last Steeler to wear it. But maybe the announcement will distract DK from the Roethlisberger contract
It was “taken out of circulation” but not officially retired. I have a feeling that this could become an annual thing for the Steelers.
This is only the second number they have retired.
And it’s well deserved. I don’t see this becoming an annual event.
Lineups
1. Josh Harrison (R) 3B
2. Gregory Polanco (L) RF
3. Andrew McCutchen (R) CF
4. Neil Walker (S) 2B
5. Ike Davis (L) 1B
6. Travis Snider (L) LF
7. Jordy Mercer (R) SS
8. Chris Stewart (R) C
9. Charlie Morton (R) P
Giants
1. Hunter Pence (R) RF
2. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
3. Buster Posey (R) 1B
4. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
5. Michael Morse (R) LF
6. Joe Panik (L) 2B
7. Gregor Blanco (L) CF
8. Andrew Susac (R) C
9. Tim Lincecum (L) P
Indians have supposedly traded Justin Masterson to Cardinals
Assuming that is true you can probably cross the Cards off the Lester list. In my mind that brings it down to the Bucs and Dodgers.
Might also bring down the “ask” a bit. They have to trade the guy at this point. No turning back.
I wonder who they gave up. They’ve been trying to peddle Miller and Martinez. I think those guys are both overrated, and I bet the Cards agree. Materson has a great arm, but is struggling this year.
James Ramsey. 24 year old outfielder hitting .300 at AA.
Answering my own question – mlbtraderumors says top OF prospect James Ramsey is expected to be part of the deal. Masterson is on DL w knee issues and has seen his FB velo drop from 91+ to 89 this year. Will he even be healthy?
That is shocking to me. Masterson has been hurt and was hammered in rehab starts. He is a right handed starter with a fastball in the high 80′s.
From MLBTradeRumors – The Indians and Cardinals have agreed to a deal that will send Justin Masterson to St. Louis, Peter Gammons reports (on Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that top outfield prospect James Ramsey is headed to Cleveland
A “top outfield prospect” for Masterson? What do the Cards know that we don’t?
How top a prospect can you be when you’re in AA at age 24 ?
Exactly. But, since the Cards declared him a top hitting prospect, it must be true … said every MLB reporter.
What it says to me is that Lester, and Price, along with Lackey are so over priced that only the Dodgers can compensate
The Cards 2012 first round choice, 23rd overall
Better question is what does Cleveland know that SL does not. Offing a starter when you are 5 back of the wild card and 6.5 back of the division?
I believe Masterson has been in AAA for a few weeks at least.
He’s been and is still on the DL
Rehabbing an injury. He was scheduled to pitch for the Indians on Friday, looks like he’ll start Saturday for St. Louis.
Masterson walks 5.1 per 9. The Cards are taking one from the Neil Huntington playbook
I would be worried if they still had Dave Duncan – the master of re-treads before our guy.
Also out of St. Louis, Michael Wacha moved from 15 day DL to 60 day DL
From MLBTradeRumors – The Cardinals‘ acquisition of Justin Masterson doesn’t necessarily take them out of the running for Lester, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The Cards could still acquire Lester, though it may cost them Shelby Miller, Morosi adds in
They have starting pitching issues, with Miller, Martinez, Kelly all struggling, and Wacha shelved for an extended period still.
They may make a run at the decaying carcass of Cliff Lee next month.
Bunch of very happy Pirate hitters – especially re Wacha!
The Phils may finally have the Cliff Lee contract outstanding balance below $50 Million after this year. Time to unload him.
Pedro is sitting again today, but I’m told he still has a role from the bench. He is charged with making sure all flavors of Powerade are represented in the dugout cooler and that there are plenty of sunflower seeds to toss at interviewees on ROOT.
Hurdle said, the reason is simple, right now he is simply being outplayed by JHay and Lunchbox.
They are also reporting the Dodgers are out of the Lester hunt, too expensive for their taste
If Lester is too expensive for the Dodgers (!) then he must be too expensive for everyone but the Yankees. Which means that he stays in Boston.
I get that the Red Sox are pretty much out of the playoff hunt, but why trade Lester? Do they really think that they can trade him and then re-sign him in the offseason? I get wanting to dump Lackey, but the Lester thing confuses me.
It’s like if you’re laid up from surgery or something for 6 months so you tell your wife it’s OK to go out & fool around until you get better.
Well, Johnny, maybe they realize they are not going anywhere and he told them he would still consider resigning with them. So, why not get a nice return? Or, maybe he told them he’ll never return. So, why not get a nice return?
Finally found user preferences and was able to change my displayed name. Woohoo!
Anyway go Bucs. Go for the sweep!
Looking like Lester may be heading to Baltimore. Mystery team strikes again.
Latest is Lester to the O’s.
Milo and Jim S are tuned in!
We tried.
I read some delusional tweet that Hamel to the Bucs is being discussed. Umm .. ok.
Meant Cole Hamels, btw. Not the mediocre pitcher the A’s got from the Cubs.
Honestly, did anyone really think the Pirates were going to get Lester?
we can hope, can’t we?
:/
Rosenthal says Lester to Baltimore is not close. I wait for him on these things.
Bowden and Rosenthal both say Lester deal is far from done.
Someone please wake me when the trade deadline is over…
Will Boston really trade Lester to another AL East team? Stranger things have happened, but still….
It’s only for 2 months. Then, he can sign with anyone. And, if they get a good return, why not?
So I’ll retract my “we tried” & save it until Lester is officially traded somewhere other than Pittsburgh.
We need a “click & drag” comments function for just situations.
Jeez, Jim S, first you’re changing your trousers in this room, now you’re in drag…YIKES!
At least he has clothes on!!
That was Lucky talking about changing trousers, Jandy!
OOPs! My bad…then yinz two certainly liven up the room ;X
Haha Tooch!
Eric Chavez has retired. Funny, I thought that … nevermind.
I seem to recall people wanting the Bucs to sign him this winter. Then, Ishikawa came along and was just too good to pass up.
Reds lose. Brewers win. I was thinking it might be the other way around.
Not exactly the best pitching matchup for a getaway day, now is it.
Posey gets a hit every time up vs. the Bucs now.
So this lady is taking in her 1st game today to celebrate her 104th birthday & she gets to see Charlie Morton. Trust me, she’ll never see 105.
We need Charlie to get out of this inning, then he will be fine
Crrap
Not the start we wanted.
Feels like Monday, in reverse.
MLB App. seems to think Charlie is getting squeezed pretty badly.
WOW – meltdown mode Charlie. DISAPPOINTING!!
So much for that sweep…
I have no faith in Charlie period.
I’m not watching, but my daughter texted me that there are 2 infield hits and a bloop over Jordy’s head. Is it all Charlie’s fault if that is the case? Or, is my daughter mistaken?
TWO WALKS…
Yeah, I saw that Karen. Definitely put himself in a position where a few cheap hits could hurt him. He’s not immune to that, as we know.
Well, no margin for error for Charlie now. But, Lincecum has been known to be touched up by the Bucs. Still have 8 innings to get back in it.
Yep – need to bring out the bats today….& a Cutch contribution would be nice.
Actually one of the more overlooked trends lately has been the Bucs have done OK with a quiet stretch from the MVP…
Need to get Marte back so he can have a day off…
Hello from section 112. Ump is very choosy on his stroke calls. Giants didn’t hit Anythjng hard. Tough luck cholly tho the walk hurt. Hope the Bucs can “spark” a rally vs Timmy
Hate autocorrect. Meant strike obviously not stroke.
When did umps get into med – saw that 104 year old woman – did she look “stroke ready”
Enjoy the game Cmat. Hopefully, the noon game at AT&T is warmer than the 5 pm game I saw at Candlestick.
MLBN is using the Giants feed. Willie McCovey made his MLB debut this date in 1959. Played in 52 games that season and won the ROY.
The Giants really have a rich history. Eternally overshadowed by the team in Dodger Blue down the coast.
They are very near the top of MLB in all-time wins, I believe.
Does anyone know the physics on why baseballs float ? Very weird.
Cork center I think. But no idea
Yep – #2 will surprise most
http://sportslistoftheday.com/2011/11/03/baseball-teams-with-the-most-wins-of-all-time/
The Yankees are 8th ?! I would think the decade of the 50′s alone would have pushed them into the top 5!
Well, considering everyone ahead of them on that list had at least a 17 year head start …
True, Milo. Gotta look deeper into the numbers. Like television ratings. (Trying to start the first ratings argument on the new blog).
The Angels have the most wins I believe since they came on board – a bit of a surprise, but seems consistent with a history of never really sucking for a long stretch
We know Ike is flawed. But, one thing he does is work pitchers. Russ has been great at having long at bats this year also. It has contributed to the Bucs getting into bullpens early, I think. It can be a valuable trait for a team.
That foul ball he hit was scorched. He is starting to swing like he means it.
Piece of crap AB by Mercer.
Yep. Way too anxious on the curve ball. Timmy can barely hit 89 no need to lunge at the crap.
Yeah – needed to put the ball in play there.
Timmy can make better hitters than Mercer look bad. Just saying….
He sucks.
At least they got 1. We will need cutch to step up this game and cholly to settle in.
Jeff Sullivan makes the case for Lester…
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-pirates-meet-the-jon-lester-checklist/
Now that’s more like it JHay.
Josh Harrison = Dale Long ?
WOW!!
What a ballplayer!
Got to make him pay for walking the pitcher
Not “incredible” — the guy can flat out HIT.
Wow.
And Jay Hay does
Brand new ball game. Timmy has no stuff. If he can’t keep ball at the knees look out Oakland.
And just like that, Lincecum gives up the lead. Maybe this will be like the 11-10 game we lost to the Giants earlier this year. Just keep swinging the bats.
Four games in a row now for jayhay. Suddenly hes a power hitter to boot.
J-H(D)aydro!! Going yard!
I think it’s one of those “unwritten rules of baseball” that states that walking the other team’s pitcher will always come back to haunt you.
Especially that stiff (at the plate I mean).
Just UNREAL!! Whoda thunk all of this power from Joshie?! Pure joy watching him!
You know, people call the Pirates cheap while they’re paying their backup 3rd baseman $4.25 million.
212hitter takes him to deep center. Not getting the ground bealls, today.
Or ground balls, for that matter.
Thought that was gone. He really did hammer that ball. Warming track Alex Presley power I guess.
CRAP
GET STOLMY UP. Cholly has nothing.
Glad I had the over.
One more run & you can light the cigar.
Timmy says light it. And pass it.
Say all you want about bad luck, but it ain’t easy to be 5-10 on a team that’s 8 games over .500.
To borrow Clint’s favorite phrase he needs to throw like he means it. Too much nibbling and crap.
I was having this discussion with my boss yesterday. Cholly actually had the lowest era of the starting pitchers excluding only Vanimal. He is also 5-10. Thats nuts.
I think we need a starting pitcher by deadline time. Just sayin’…
I made a comment the other day about the Pirates needing to have a sports psychologist on the bench for Pedro. I think Morton needs one, too.
Been saying that about Chuck for 4 years now
Oh yeah…thought he’d figured it all out last year, but he’s back to being an enigma.
Pedro started psychotherapy recently and is now on anti-depressants. They usually take a few weeks to have a positive effect. He’ll be back…
Where did you see/hear this?
Love this deadline “reporting”. Yesterday the Bucs were on a position supposedly to ask a deal get done by 7pm today. Today the Orioles are closing in. Bosox have leverage but nobody really knows.
Amy G looking all summery.
I heart Amy G.
Is Pedro pitching now for the Giants?
Wow is Lincecum wild. Goodness. We need to capitalize on it. And as I type this Mercer Mercer Me hits one out. Yes.
Wild one! Atta boy, Jordy!
Mercy mercy. Bucs have the lead. Timmy can’t afford to pitch above the thighs. He has no velocity
Mercer makes a big splash in left field!
Way to go Jordy. We need to take advantage of Lincecum’s wildness.
Beer shots are more fun than “reaching the 2nd row.”
My newest hero – http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/orlando-bloom-confronts-justin-bieber-club-shoving-match-report-article-1.1884882
Kuiper and Krukow are national treasures.
Wow I thought Cholly would be the one to have a short day. Who would have thunk it would be Lincecum.
Wow I thought Cholly would be the one to have a short day not Lincecum.
Oh it can still be short.
True!
I hope not but my eyes tell me so.
Wow is Timmy beloved here. Ovation as he leaves after 31/3 trailing 5-4 and giving up a 3run lead for a team that has lost 6 in a row. Kind.
He’s one of my favorites.
Is it odd that we havent been asking for an upgrade at any fielding position outside of 1b with only 3 guys in the line up hitting north of .265? Couple that with not a single starter below 3.40 outside of worley and I am baffled as to how this team is currently in the playoffs.
Sorry about the sort of double post. WordPress is driving me nuts.
Can ANY pitcher bunt on this team???
Nope. All the pitchers need a tutorial.
I wouldn’t let Morton throw another pitch.
And he DID and look what happened…get him out of there NOW!
Bullpen has thrown a total of 2 innings the last 2 nights.
Agree. STOLmy is rested. I see no reason to think cholly can shut em down.
I think we’re going to need about 15 runs to win this one.
Told of rumors that a deal could be close, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said that would be “news to him,” as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets
Sources close to me say a deal could still happen but is or isn’t close at this time. Or not.
There. I am now a deadline reporter.
Thats all it takes
Chris Stewart ain’t no Russell Martin. Good grief.
Finally. Bucs gonna send someone to warm up near the foul line
Appears to be Gomez.
Hurry jeanmar. Hurdle looked pissed as he ordered Gomez to get ready. As he should be.
Not that this is taking forever or anything, but that lady just turned 105.
Does Clint want to win this one?? This is ridiculous!
Come on Clint get him outta there.
NOW!!
Gomez up now in the pen
32 balls 40 strikes. Good grief.
OK, nice break, get him now.
Somebody wake Hurdle up.
Bad Charlie is here and here to stay.
Get him outta there.
If Charlie gets out of this, Clint is still an idiot!
And those last two lineouts do NOT absolve him from his idiocy!
Phew. Cholly did battle well there to get panda and morse. But let’s not tempt fate. I’d let him start the 5th with the crap part of the order but very short leash.
BAD KARMA Charlie today – no way should he start the 5th.
OK – I’m drinking now. Tell me when it’s over.
jW would get tarred & feathered up here for dissing kale like he is.
Sorry to report. Cholly takes the hill.
He’s nibbling with his warmup tosses. And taking his time between each one.
No one in the pen at the moment.
Lurch up in the pen.
Ok. That’s now it for cholly. Phew.
River Boat Clint & Cosmic Charlie are giving me high blood-pressure…
Bob Nightengale, preach it brother.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/07/30/mlb-trade-deadline-prospects-cliff-lee-jon-lester/13374271/
Bad bunt ( surprise ). Worse play by mullet man.
No one in the
Pen? Hope lurch is already warm.
pEdro in the on deck circle. He looks focused. Lol.
Darn, we didn’t get Felix Doubront.
I’m crushed Milo. He would have made a fine single A starter.
Seems like Clint likes to take the bat out of hot hitters! Bad enough he bunts, give an out and follow with Stewart and a deep slump ph???
Never mind, as the Bad News Pirates make a return.
What the heck just happened? They need to send this players back to Little League. Good Lord.
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!? WHAT THE HELL?!
Karen did your access get fixed? Mine was, but I can’t get my avatar back yet.
YES, Laddie…with the help of numerous DK emails and my computer guru husband.
Speechless.
What the hell was that???
We’re the only team that can walk into a doubleplay.
The Pirates just walked into a double play??? Seriously?.. SMH
Well, It keeps Charlie in the game (ducks).
Bench them now for that horrendous baserunning. Bases loaded with one out and you just give them the two out without anyone else coming to the plate!
I’m officially embarrassed.
What the hell just happened?
That is incredible.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all!!
The official scoring is caught stealing. Should be caught napping. I guess snider thought he was walked up a base but Geeze. And Gaby is no JHay.
Don’t watch Sportscenter for a while…..
I think a fan behind third base held up a cheeseburger and lured Lunchbox over. He couldn’t stop himself.
It wasn’t me.
Ok here’s what really happened. Lunchie, ever the good teammate, walked into a dp to save Pedro the anguish of hitting into DP with the bases loaded. Good for clubhouse cachet.
I will suggest none of this happens w/o the sac bunt.
Snider is an idiot but please tell me how Gaby could go ahead and make it worse?
As AJS noted above, sometimes it is hard to believe this team is competing for a playoff spot.
I just said that to my hubby. I’ve never seen such baserunning gaffes, even when my son played Little League! Unconscionable for a MLB team! We’ve pretty much gifted this sweep game to the Giants. INSANE!
People like the 2 guys being tagged out at 3rd base by Molina a few years back. My favorite is Al Martin, starting at 3rd base, being thrown out at home on a single to left. But that my friends may have just ended the discussion once and for all.
Let’s have a pirates not top 10 sometime.
That Martin play is like a trump card in these conversations.
I was there, Milo, I was there SMH
Wilson will pitch the 7th.
I understand they call it a TOOTBLAN. Thrown Out On The Bases Like A Nincompoop. We have to lead the universe in that.
Well I have just been sitting here listening to the Pirate broadcast [why are these guys employed they are awful! - Whener is an idiot]. Not ONCE did anyone mention all Gaby has to do is stay put and we still have runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 out. Or did I miss something?
No, you didn’t miss anything.
We do, according to one of the blogs DK has linked to on this site.
Justin Wilson has pretty much been a pile of crap this year.
I think he needs another pitch.
Yeah, one that gets guys out.
No, Justin Wikson has pretty much been 50% a pile of crap and 50% unhittable lightning. Plus he’s a lefty. Which equals an eventual nine-figure deal.
*Wilson
Counting what’s after the decimal point, sure.
YES! And how many outings has he had where he hasn’t walked someone?! HUGE problem there.
His new pitch needs to be a strike. Works really well ……
Walker looks to be running in quicksand all day for several hits to that side. The rest did not do the pen well at this point.
He’s a corner infielder masquerading as a 2nd baseman.
Sometimes we play defense like we run the bases….
Doh!
Stewart’s been eating Pedro’s food supply. Chalk up the loss now.
Good throw by Stewart there is an out. Unless pitchers can be called for blocking the plate.
And the following strikeout is the last out of the inning in that case too. Walks kill.
Chris Stewart absolutely stinks. First of all, if he just catches that pitch it’s probably called strike three. Then the throw speaks for itself.
Which is why we MUST MUST MUST (did I say “must?”) sign Martin. And I thought Stewart was signed for his defense! Atrocious!
Keystone Cops
Looks to me like we will need 2 new catchers next year.
Time for cutch to step ip
Can Cutch please come up and tie up this putrid (sp?) game! PLEASE!
The All-Star Game has not helped Cutch at all. Not the same player since the break.
Invisible since the break. And his BA’s dropped 20 pts. We’re going nowhere if he doesn’t snap out of this soon.
Very true.
I believe he has hit slumps in each of the past three seasons coming out of the break. In 2013 he broke out of it.
Clint pinch hitting for guys in the 6th inning coming back to bite him here. Would like Ike up against Romo.
Pinch hitting too early and bunting too often are Hurdle trademarks – I am a fan of neither.
Make up for your gaff, Lunchbox!
Well struck. But out.
In keeping with the theme of this series, the Bucs don’t have many hits and most of them have come in the first couple innings. Bottom of the order up in the top of the ninth. If we can just get to JHay!
Pedro will have to rescue us. In the 9th.
Mercer-Martin-Pedro.
As I said – the last two weeks have not been kind to the MVP…
.175/.313/.225
Killing my fantasy team. As is Gregory.
Neil needs a day off. He has been verrry slow today. Noticeably.
Wehner really is clueless – Walker is one of the WORST 2nd basemen in the Majors – that was an OK I knocked the ball down – now pick it up and step on second for one out play.
You’re way to hard on him in the field LL. He’s very solid, doesn’t hurt them at all. He’s only git 3 errors for goodness sakes. And please, don’t bore me with the fangraphs stuff. I see pretty much every game.
You beat me to it Milo. Walker’s defense is not an issue, and his bat is a big plus. Be happy to have him while you do…
Sorry Milo – that is a play most ML second basemen get an out on-he has had several like that this year-not really an error-just a makable play that he botches. He does rank 14th of 14th among all NL 2nd basemen with over 400 innings in both UZR & Defensive runs saved.
Lonely – you couldn’t be more wrong…I don’t remember the last E by Walker. Gotta sign him, too.
That was an error in my book – hard to make errors when you don’t get to balls that other 2nd baseman get to easily. I like Walker – he is my second fave on the Bucs [guess who is first?]. I wanted to move him to 1st over the winter-think they should move him to 3rd next yr.
GIFT game! How many of these “sweep” games should we have won if not for turning into circus games like this? Mindboggling.
Vance Worley threw 100 pitches in his shutout Monday. It took Pirates pitchers 163 pitches to get through 8 innings today.
Bad pitching and bad base running kills every time.
Man – that was dreadful. I’m still at a loss at what I witnessed from a Major League team. This loss STINKS.
Macha is acting like this is new – I can recall at least a half a dozen of these games this year-they do not happen as often lately – but this is NOT a good fielding team overall. Bet you would never have thought a yr ago we would be pointing to Mercer as an above avg defender
This was a hatchet job today.
Just 1 of 162. Go get em’ in AZ…