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Final: Pirates 2, Padres 1 195
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS Getting ready for the first pitch … Game: Pirates (61-53) vs. San Diego Padres (52-61), 7:05 p.m., PNC Park Pitchers: RHP Vance Worley (4-1, 2.43) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (8-9, 3.59) TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan Online: Box score / Multimedia / Official media game notes Related
Pirates Lineup:
1. Josh Harrison (R) 3B
2. Gregory Polanco (L) RF
3. Russell Martin (R) C
4. Ike Davis (L) 1B
5. Starling Marte (R) CF
6. Travis Snider (L) LF
7. Jordy Mercer (R) SS
8. Jayson Nix (R) 2B
9. Vance Worley (R) P
Padres Lineup:
1. Everth Cabrera (S) SS
2. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B
3. Seth Smith (L) RF
4. Jedd Gyorko (R) 2B
5. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B
6. Will Venable (L) CF
7. Rene Rivera (R) C
8. Alexi Amarista (L) LF
9. Ian Kennedy (R) P
CH says plan to put Alvarez back on roster today, roster move between now and game time.
I think the roster move should be a reliever. Frieri perhaps ?
My guess Martinez
AGREE, UNLESS they’ve determined it’s time to DL Cutch. Walker isn’t going to DL it sounds like and until they do something there, we can’t send any position players down IMHO. So go ahead and cut loose Frieri or Gomez and start bullpen reconstruction project now.
Frieri is a reliever?
I guess Neil Walker is taking BP; I s’pose they could send Martinez down IF they think Neil is close to ready to full time return and can be a bench piece. But again, why delay the inevitable? let’s get bullpen movement going.
Every time this back thing or some other freak injury pops up, Walker is costing himself money – from the Bucs or as a free agent.
FREE (or fry) Frieri!!
The roster move SHOULD be in the bullpen. But, I don’t think like the BMTIB.
Very difficult for Hurdle to keep managing games with essentially a 20-21 man roster.
Mazzaro should be up, Frieri to the Food Network. Or maybe the fire department’s arson squad.
Maybe we keep Frieri on the roster until the Brewers series and then turn him loose on Gomez, Braun? just kidding, I want him gone, to a diner drive in or dive of his choice.
I see what you did there…
Frieri === dive.
Pedro taking grounders at 1st base (gasp) ! Tomorrow – brain surgery.
They must have waited because they didn’t want it to be OUR idea. Seriously, I don’t see where else he can play right now, and I still have hope his bat can be big down the stretch. Sorry, Ike. You may have a couple more days to get scorching hot.
so how long until improving the bullpen is THEIR idea and not OURs? waiting, waiting, waiting
What a novel idea. Kudos to Neal for coming up with it.
Pedro will do fine @ 1B. Hell, if Dick Stuart could play (?) the position during his 10 year career, so can Pedro.
I follow baseball and everything, but I seriously do not recognize one name on the Padres lineup
Seth Smith backed up Eli Manning at Ole Miss.
He’s their Todd Helton … sort of.
Padres have SOME really good pitching. This Kennedy guy who was deemed untouchable and Tyson Ross is a beast.
Cabrera and Amarasti stacked on top of each other can look Polanco in the eye, I think. Solarte is their haul in the Headley trade. Gyorko they had high hopes for but he has fallen back. That said they are better than the Rockes and Dbacks IMHO. Dangerous. Bucs need to play.
This weekend needs to produce a sweep. That would put us in a good spot. I’m expecting 2/3, though. That finish last Sunday in AZ still ticks me off. We’d be 1/2 out of 1st right now.
If they were completely healthy they wouldn’t sweep Kennedy, any lefty and Ross. Two would be just fine.
exactly. #keepitrealistic
Ross is a beast. But, this SD lineup is historically awful. They are on a bit of a roll, though, offensively. We always seem to catch SD at a bad time.
Great tweet from Eric Hagman – “If Bob Robertson could make the move from 3rd to 1st, I’m confident Pedro can do it.”
By all accounts, Pedro’s FIELDING at third base has been good. And 3B fielding wise is 5 times harder than 1B (less reaction time, etc.). So yes, he has to learn how to take throws, dig out low throws, throw to 2b in DP, different angles. Hardly insurmountable? If Ike can play..
I’m reading this and nodding my head until I get to “throw to second”
G8r pedro has mafe the throw to second on the 5 4 3 routinely. 90 feet not an issue. 120 not good. Dont think it would be an issue on that part. I think stretching and picking will be the harder skills to learn.
I never knew Bob Roberston was a 3rd baseman. Thanks Milo.
He & Hebner came up at the same time so they moved Robertson to 1st. Of course that crowded 1st base with Al Oliver already there. So they moved Oliver to center. They had 2 of everything back in those days.
Pitching staff was only 7 guys or so. Maybe 8, right?
9 or 10. The Pirates went with 10 because Murtaugh was one of the 1st managers to go with a 5 man rotation. 5 man bullpens were the norm. When the AL adopted the DH they went with 9 man staffs, usually 5 starters & 4 relievers.
Travis tweeted an aerial shot of Pedro taking grounders at 1b. If you zoom in real tight, I swear you can see Ike standing off to the side eating a banana. Keep an eye on the peel, Pedro.
Eating a banana is exactly what we need Ike to be doing. Don’t need Pedro learning how NOT to dig out any throws, how NOT to catch balls right in the glove, etc. Gaby, for what it’s worth, is a cut above Ike on defense. But if Jay Bruce can play 1b, then so can Pedro. Tonight.
Only trouble I ever had when move to 1B from 3B was how far I should/shouldn’t go on ball hit in the “hole” between me an 2nd baseman.
Yep and Ike still hasn’t figured that out. It’s simple. Throws needed from 1B-2B, average about, what, 0.5 per game? Throws needed from 3b, maybe 4-5 per game? I think we play the odds and if he throws one away to 2B then so be it.
Tiger’s back getting worse with every bogey. And with every Phil birdie.
I’m surprised his back didn’t go into full spasm yesterday!!
Tiger is worse than Neil at this point. Did he and Lindsey stay in the Super 8 in L’ville? Or is the bed in the IHOP storage room lumpy?
And yes, love that his back is just fine when he’s striping it, but when he falls apart, the back is just killing him. #boredwithTiger
We used to call it loser’s limp. Limas Sweed was an expert. And it wasn’t IHOP (that we know of), it was Perkins.
oh ok perkins is much better than IHOP, IMHO.
Funny. My brother texted me almost the exact same thing. Almost word for word.
thoughts:
1) your brother is witty and handsome
2) have you truly ever seen your brother and me in the same place at the same time?
#hmmmmmmm
I’ll pass that on to him, cmat. But, actually I meant his text was almost identical to Milo’s post.
D’oh, I got that now. D’oh. Is it game time yet?? 24/7 had a fun tweet just now… “Pedro did not stop for a conversation on his way off the field”.. no word if he typed that with a straight face or not.
Is he still on the PGA tour?
Tiger needs Garea to get out of jail to “help” his back.
How is Elin doing nowadays?
Swimming in money.
Oh, just like you, Reverend??
Poor girl, she had to hire someone to stack her money.
Pirates DFA Frieri. I believe I had that.
Finally!!!
I mean seriously, do you think anyone’s going to claim him ? He’ll be drilling guys in Indy by Monday.
Amen to both your above tweets, Milo.
IN all seriousness, if I were a GM of a team out of it, I would definitely claim him. He’s got an arm and we have all seen bullpen success ebb and flow. How much worse can he be than some of the scrubs in bullpens out there? See Rockies, Colorado or Dbacks, Arizona.
I hear the Dbags are interested!
And the AAA version of Tony LaRussa will be exasparated when that happens.
WOW! WOW, they actually DID IT!!!
1) Fully expect Mazarro (or someone) UP tomorrow or Sunday, Martinez down (once NW can actually play).
2) I’m bummed. Frieri has an arm but seems to have lost it, was hoping this was another dumpster dive success, esp since it got Grilli out .
If he accepts his assignment (after nobody claims him) he can go work with Benedict in Indianapolis.
yes you had it
BOUT TIME!!!
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Sorry…I’m happy now.
24/7 (he’s working hard, eh) had a convo with NH after BP – net is:
Pirates open to Pedro at 1B THIS year (if it goes well).
Sounds like the plan in offseason is Pedro to 1b (though NH hedging for obvious reasons)
NO question at all about bullpen from what I can tell. D’oh.
Frieri DFA’d to clear room for Pedro. According to Travis in a tweet.
Sorry Milo. Didn’t see yours
It’s OK tooch. It’s worth mentioning at least twice.
Ha, the ushers on the 1b line are the ones who have to clear room for Pedro… am I right? Is this thing on? Too soon?
Cmat, have you tried the veal?!
Many times. Always good. Always good.
Now, will Mazzaro be brought up since they DFA’d the Arsonist?
they WILL have to add an arm soon, would expect this weekend after Neil comes back. Odds are high that it’s Mazarro UNLESS Neil takes our advice and trades for someone.
So you will post a picture of you turning blue from holding your breath?
I’m already on oxygen due to previous efforts to hold my breath. So I’m trying to kick the habit.
Sooo….question for those more in the know:
Phils put Byrd on waivers, he was claimed. After the 48 hours are up (which I think has past), do they have to announce that they’ve taken him back or ? guess I’m wondering who claimed him, etc. Was clear on Cubs-Hamels…..
I think there is another day to go on the Byrd claim.
Hamels was pulled back today after not being able to reach an agreement with the Cubs.
Instead of working with Benedict, I’d send Frieri out to Arizona with some binoculars and a bag of baseballs. Then go let off steam.
This is the most impressive DFA since Wandy Rodriguez.
Keith, just like Wandy, it came much much much too late.
Food for thought. The NL playoff chase will be fun to watch. If we separate the league into the contenders (Atl/Was/STL/MIL/PIT/CIN/LA/SF) and everyone else, here’s the # of games remaining vs. Contenders of the contending teams. Got it?…..(next post)
BUCS 28
Reds 26
Mil 24
ATL 24
Stl 23
WAS 18
LA 16
SF 12
If I were a betting man, and I’m not, here is what I’d put my money on:
LA wins West; SF gets one Wild Card
WAS wins East, Braves get nada.
PIT/STL/MIL/CINCY playing for 2 spots.
Of course they actually have to PLAY the games, but LA /SF benefit from mucho games vs. SD, CO, AZ
How many more times does LA play SF?
LA-SF play each other 6 times, home and away.
One last food for thought: Fangraphs has the following season-end projections in the NL:
LA 92-70
WA 90-72
STL 87-75
PIT 86-76
MIL 86-76
SF 86-76
ATL 83-79
CIN 82-80
Multiple play-in games, anyone?
Pirates paying Wandy, Tabata & Frieri $14 million not to play for them. Poor decisions can be expensive.
It’d be good to know what other teams are paying folks not to play, because they all are.
Great point, Milo.
$14m could build a pretty impressive bullpen.
Nice early comeback!
Best thing is, Palonco couldn’t be asked to bunt.
Technically… you could ask him to bunt. Just not wise too
“Couldn’t” was the wrong word.
I knew what you meant, couldn’t pass it up!
Jerry Meals !
Thanks for the info in the 70′s bullpens, Milo. I guess I was thinking 4 man rotations & 4 bullpen guys still at that time.
At least I don’t feel old enough to remember that stuff.
I don’t feel as old as you either!!
You’re just a “historian.”
I dug out a 1972 scorebook. Box seat – $4.15. Night games started at 8:05. I kept score – made it through 6 innings.
Going to look tonight and see what my earliest scorebook/ticket is that I saved. I know I have one that advertises gas at 60 cents a gallon. Some early 70′s tickets as well
I remember the upper deck GA seats for under $1.00, I think. I used to go to at least 30 games a year as a kid. So affordable – even on a Post Gazette carrier’s salary.
1972 – 8 scheduled doubleheaders.
Were they mostly on Sundays? That’s what I remember for some reason.
Yes, mostly Sundays. Memorial Day & Labor Day DH’s started at 10:35 am.
We would always try to catch a Sunday DH in Pittsburgh or Cleveland (Brother was an Indian fan). Maximize our baseball experience vs distance traveled from Erie.
Played a lot of holiday double headers vs Phils in the mid-late 70′s when both teams were good, as I recall. Some of my best memories were going to family BBQs & listening to the games.
Nice early answer.
Nutrified their run! – Bob Walk
Good start!
Bucs have been forcing opposing pitchers to throw a lot of pitches early in these recent games.
Was just thinking that same thing. Especially during the Marte AB
Tiger missed cut. Carry on
For all the complaints about Bucs pitchers throwing inside so much, it sure seems like a lot of our HBP are in the foot. Charlie specializes in that. Volquez and Worley get their share also.
AJ was good at that as well. 2 strike curveballs at Left handers back foot
Baltimore leads St. Louis 4-0 in top of the 3rd. Let’s pick up a game on the Cardinals.
Nice, Tom.
It’s gone largely unnoticed, by me anyway, but the Orioles are 16 games over .500.
Orioles u 5 0 on cards.
Masterson 2 IP 6H 5R
That’s Masterson getting crushed.
Ah, nothing like a bunt less Friday!
So much for that.
Horrible base running by Palonco. Nice catch, but you have to make sure that drops.
I misspelled Polanco, but you get the idea.
Gregory reminds us he’s still young with that base running mistake. No reason to take off there from 2nd.
Who was it that said “you don’t get off the island by being a good bunter”? Probably works for “good baserunner”. Obviously a skill that isn’t learned until you get into the majors, because that was soooo bonehead
How can Ike look so lost on the breaking stuff he knows is coming?
Mark that one down. Should score 100% of the time.
Let’s hope that doesn’t come back to bite them later!
Loaded, no outs clean-up guy at bat? You ask too much.
Why is this guy trying to bunt with 2 outs & nobody on ? To show us how stupid he is ?
Mission Accomplished then!!
Pedro looked pretty comfy taking grounders there at 1st. Maybe the Bucs will be able to kiss Ike Davis goodbye.
nice effort there vance…no bat necessary
When it rains it pours.
Harrison coming out for the 6th?
That’s good news!
Boy will they ice him down later on.
Justin Masterson’s ERA is now 5.94. Sounds like a new area code.
I’ve said it a couple times now,so I will apologize in advance….but Harrison is an MVP on this team. Kid is Bucco Tough.
That 3rd inning is going to kill us.
Yup.
WOW!! That helps!
Well, the Padres might be saying the same thing about the top of the 6th.
How about some insurance runs now!!
Your garden variety 5-2-3 double play.
Followed by a lazy fly to left
No weeds in this garden!
Didn’t think Russell was going to throw it
Houdini has nothing on Vanimal tonight!
I usually don’t mind Blass but talking about JHay being everywhere on a one hopper throw home is even too much for me. That was as routine as a 5-2-3 could be.
Can’t believe NH missed the boat on Masterson.
Now that is not exactly fair.
Neal was waiting on his ship ……. unfortunately at the mall.
I don’t know exactly what this means but Brandon Cumpton was told to stop warming up before his scheduled start tonight in Indy. Adam Wilk got the start instead.
.
Some guy named Hamburger is no hitting Indy through 5.
Is Mayor McCheese in the bullpen?
I was thinking the same thing about Cumpton. Either he’s replacing Frieri or he’s been traded.
Mixed news elsewhere. Giants losing, Cardinals getting pounded, no help from Dodgers early crew winning.
Wow! Bal 12 Cards 0
Save some runs, Balt!
Just another solid 7 innings of work out of Vanimal. Ho hum! I’m guessing Watson & Melancon to close it out?
That’s the way it’s looking right now. Maybe Hughes?
Score some runs and make it irrelevant!
I think Worley should get the Wild Card nod right now.
J Hay climbing the batting title chart above .312. Not sure how far behind he is, but nice to see.
Does he have enough AB’s to qualify?
He needs 502 PA’s and he now has 351. I think he’ll get enough.
I don’t think so. It appears he would be 5th or 6th on list with Cutch, but he wasn’t on the list. so, he must not have enough plate appearances yet. Tulowitzki leads NL at .340.
Last week, the notion that Harrison team’s MVP was (fairly) shot down. But even if Cutch returns soon, such talk is not unreasonable any more. Don’t know how long Harrison can keep this up, but we’ve been watching him play this way all year. If anything, he’s only getting better.
Well, I think he’s been baseball’s best hitter since the AS Break. He’s just amazing.
Cutch has a bat?!
Josh Harrison has 352 plate appearances, he needs 357 to qualify. The formula is simple – 3.1 plate appearances per game.
Well, that’s how you lock down an 8th & 9th inning. Raise it!
Great work by Watson and Melancon.
Pirates have won 17 of their last 21 at home.
….fear the Bones….
Absobucnlutely. They certainly are making a statement.
Raise the Jolly Josh!
DK’s top three should have “Who Else?” at number one.
IF and it is a big IF…this team keeps playing like this with the pitching and bandaid lineup…when the others come back and they could keep this up with brutal schedule on the horizon…..September could be really interesting.
I only see Cutch and PRNW coming back. Don’t think we Cole the rest of the way. This staff is what it is.
I think the same thing. This lineup has missed Marte, Walker, Russ for long stretches. And now they’ve been without Cutch & Pedro. Get them all healthy and straightened out, & they can score with any NL teams. Cole hurts, though.
And the lack of bullpen depth is a huge concern.
I like the potential of Stolmy but his spot his hurting them in the pen. Can’t afford to have a guy that doesn’t pitch. If they used him they could at least put him on the DL and get a guy they want to use other than blowouts.
Jim and John- totally agree w/u guys. Just kind of dreaming.
I’m not really disagreeing with you, TJ. This team battles every game & that’s worth a lot. This division is wide open, and all 4 teams have weaknesses.
Good performance against Tigers would be a validation. Who knows, a sweep of the Padres and two or three against the tigers might put us in first.
Anibal Sanchez apparently has a pectoral issue. He’ll be reevaluated tomorrow. Not sure how he was lining up next week, but it wouldn’t ruin my week if we missed him.
AGon with an RBI single to tie it at 2 in the 7th. Still threatening. Ineffective Duke taken out.
Infield hit by Ethier & LA takes a 3-2 lead. Still only one out in the 7th.
You looked lonely, Jim. Thought I’d stop by.
KC back on top of SF 4-2 in the 7th. All help is welcome.
Pirates sure do put up a fight. Walker and McCutchen out. Pedro a non-factor for six weeks. Cole out. Might be tied in the loss column when we wake up.
Ex-Buc Rajai Davis saves the game for Detroit with a long run and sliding catch to put away the Jays in bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded. Tigers win 5-4.