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Final: Pirates 4, Phillies 1 129
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS Getting ready for the first pitch … Game: Pirates (77-69) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (67-78), 7:05 p.m., Citizens Bank Park Pitchers: LHP Francisco Liriano (4-10, 3.74) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (8-15, 4.29) TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan Online: Live box score / Multimedia / Official media notes
Pirates Lineup:
1. Josh Harrison (R) 3B
2. Travis Snider (L) RF
3. Andrew McCutchen (R) CF
4. Neil Walker (S) 2B
5. Russell Martin (R) C
6. Starling Marte (R) LF
7. Ike Davis (L) 1B
8. Jordy Mercer (R) SS
9. Francisco Liriano (L) P
Phillies Lineup:
1. Ben Revere (L) CF
2. Maikel Franco (R) 3B
3. Marlon Byrd (R) RF
4. Ryan Howard (L) 1B
5. Darin Ruf (R) LF
6. Carlos Ruiz (R) C
7. Cesar Hernandez (S) 2B
8. Freddy Galvis (S) SS
9. A.J. Burnett (R)
’bout time Hurdle drops Ike to 7th.
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Let Starling bat as many times with guys on base as possible.
If Frankie throws strikes, I think he shuts this lineup down cold. Big if some nights.
AJ may have the juices flowing tonight!!
Even more important, Phils swing at slider out of the zone.
The Cardinals already lost today 1 – 0 to Johnny Cueto.
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The Pirates are right now 2 games back in the loss column for 1st Place. TWO!!!!!
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The Pirates have 17 games left, including tonight against AJ Burnett, and the Cardinals have 15 left. Bucs 12 – 5 ties for division!
Not baseball related..but I thought yall might wanna know..
“The ‘Spin-O-Rama’ move, as described in Section 24.2 of the 2013-14 NHL Rule Book, will no longer be permitted either in Penalty Shot situations or in the Shootout.”
I am sad, very sad.
Seriously? That makes zero sense at all.
Goalie union strikes again.
LOL
LOL Monster!
LETS GO BUCS!!
Josh Yohe, hockey writer of the Trib, said today on the radio that he does not expect Mike Johnston’s “system” to be too much different from Dan Bylsma’s.
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Pause here for screams from all those thinking that Johnston was bringing a dynamic new offense.
It will be significantly different. Dramatically different. The only similarity will be in terms of offensive cycling. That’s it.
Now, who are we supposed to believe: the consistent hockey writer of the Tribune-Review or some football writer now in Baltimore?
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Trib loses every time!!!!
To clarify, i believe system will be similar to what we saw in last half of season. Disco stretch started to get phased out by end of november. For most part we’ll see what we saw in last half of season. And DK, every team n coach wants to cycle, even disco. Especially with lead.
As noted above, the Pirates have 17 games left. Their magic number to win the division is 20 (vs. Cardinals), to host the wild card game is 22 (vs. SF), to play in the wild card game is 16 (vs. MIL and ATL.) The magic number to eliminate MIA is 14.
Frankie,
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Keep pitching Ben Revere tough and you can help insure the batting title comes down to Andrew McCutchen or Josh Harrison.
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National Mart of Records has already assured us that Justin Morneau will choke like always.
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I’m still picking McCutch.
Revere is 1 for his last 17. He’s good for two hits tonight.
Cursed be you if that is true!
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Next you’re going to tell me Pirates cannot go 12 – 5.
Given what the rest of the Phillies lineup looks like, Revere could go 4-4 and I wouldn’t sweat the Pirates losing.
Interesting article on ESPN.com about the Pirates, conditioning and this year’s relative lack of injuries.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/pittsburgh-pirates-healthy-season-playoff-chances-future-impact/
This article quotes Travis Sawchuk. Travis can’t write a paragraph without mentioned that the Pirates are a “small-market team.” His quote here does it.
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It’s his mantra.
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Man, has he sipped on the kool-aid!
Ridiculous and juvenile comment, Groat.
Ridiculous, juvenile, and totally true.
I enjoy Travis’ writing quite a bit.
Relative lack? Nearly everyone on the team has been hurt.
True, Kentuck Knob, but that messes up the premise.
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Don’t let facts get in the way of a good fable.
Right, Groaty. I lost myself for a moment there.
Could the Pirates arrange to have a big lead before 8:30 tonight? I hate multitasking…
Good one, Bill.
AJ will have thrown 95 pitches by then. I expect him to be extra surly tonight. (I know, how could you tell.) Realizing what he’s missing out on will surely get to him. Oh who am I kidding, I can think of about 15 million things that’ll make him behave.
Love multi tasking. Bucs on the iPad, Steelers on the big screen, Steelers radio on the computer.
Cueto Cueto’d the Cards, so Let’s Go Bucs!
Even since last year’s “Cueyyy-to!” Game, Cueto has been pitched like a man on a mission. His team has crumbled around him, but he’s been positively awesome. On any other planet except for this one that has Clayton Kershaw, Cueto would be the Cy Young winner for 2014.
“EveR since”
I agree, Ghost. He is one terrific pitcher.
Wow, quite a few NHL rules changes.
Ike looks awful for 2 pitches in the dirt, then, curiously, AJ hangs one. I love it!
Chalk one up for Alibi Ike!
The app I use to follow the game still has aj in a pirate hat. The other night it still and worley ina phils cap. Totally disorienting when the battwr and pitcher appear to be from same team.
You must be using the ESPN app. They are historically bad at updating the player info on their system.
Yahoo sports. Might be worse!
Darin Ruf has a hockey name, if you ask me. Same with Bobby LaFramboise. Channeling my inner Larry King.
Cal Ripken is tall for a shortstop.
I have a great Cal Ripken plane story, btw. Saw Cal on a flight. Little old guy sat next to him. Cal got up to put something in overhead. Old guy commented he was tall, like an athlete. Cal said he played baseball. Old guy asked if he would know him because he’s a big fan. (cont)
Cal said, “Well, I’m Cal Ripken.” Little old guy deadpanned, “Nope, never heard of you. We’re you any good?” Cal said, “I guess not as good as I thought.” Everyone had a great laugh. Cal was very gracious. Very funny.
Good story.
Thanks, Patrick. Cal is a good guy.
“Hi, I’m Freddy Galvis. Normally, I stink.”
Hi, I’m Ike Davis. I always stink
What happened to Marte? Was it something on th hbp?
That would be my guess. Let’s hope it’s precautionary.
looked like the ball hit him on the elbow, didnt appear to be too severe, so hopefully its just a funny bone type of thing and he’s back tomorrow.
come on gregory..have a game given the opportunity…. lets go GP!
If Marte is out,
Well, I am most dicouraged
I think it hit him above the elbow
It was elbow adjacent lol
How does Cutch not score on that?
Tagged up. Dumb play.
Russ (with a great at bat) bails him out
I actually got a hair cut today. They actually had the SI rag with Cutch’s article.
Some day I hope 22 is retired for the PBC
AJ is about to STFD.
Russ Martin is a helluva professional hitter.
AJ’s meltdown is only moments away
Can’t spell Ike without a “K”
AJ’s had 2 cracks at the Bucs this yr. He’s been touched up pretty hard each time.
What a bad start for the Steelers. Ugh!
Yes not pretty. TOs kill. This still will come down to field goal alwYs does
2013 Frankie.
Good to see.
Thimmons puking on the sidelines. Hey, at least there’s not a conditioning issue.
Sorry, I did it again.
Ruf better not dig in!
Again with cutch getting head hunted by scrub pitchers. Frankie had to hit the first guy.
And the ump better not throw him out
So Liriano is drilling the next guy up right?
He better be!!
I guess not
The Dunkin Donuts smoked sausage sandwich commercial is great.
Ok, that could have ended Cutch’s career. This is getting ridiculous.
And I guess they’re just going to let it keep happening ?
That one was Chapman-esque.
The fist bumps in the philly dugout for the pitcher after the inning were suspicious looking.
They should just throw one at sand bergs head in the dugout.
Interesting that they waited until late in game 4 to all of the sudden throw at Cutch. Did he break some code about hitting the ball too hard over and over?
Jim. Greg and rock were pointing to a gesture (beyond just the z) that cutch did on 2d after the double. Howard noticed it and said something.
Yeah, he might have done something very quickly, cmat. His back was to the camera. Looked pretty harmless, actually.
As seen on the MLB-TV replay, Cutch made the Z sign and then held his crotch with one hand and swung his other arm back and forth in front of his body twice as if to signal: “Big swinging dick…” It was brief and inoffensive. Cutch likes to make up gestures to his teammates.
Frankie masterful tonight.
Ryan Howard better be hitting the dirt or wincing in pain next at bat then.
My guess is Revere
I think they get the win and wait until next year.
Not worth hitting this guy.
You really wonder, though, when or if the league steps in when stars like Cutch repeatedly dodge pitches to the head. That crap was never part of the game.
Give Marlon credit. A lot of guys just play that off the wall at the end if a meaningless (for Philly) loss.
Stanton gets hit in the head by Fiers? Crazy.
Flush in the side of the face.
Here comes Jared Hughes on a mission, I hope.
Is Brandon Philips up this inning?!
This is not the good Jared Hughes so far.
God help us–here comes our great bullpen led by none other than Jared Hughes.
Good call to immediately go to Mark.
Raise it. IOU for Phils on the headhunting. Hope Giancarlo is ok.
Helluva player. Hope he’s OK.
Yea that looked ugly
Raise the Jolly Roger! Pirates take 3 of 4 from the Phillies, finish a 6-4 road trip, and are 2.5 behind the Cardinals for the division lead.
This team does not quit.
Bring on the Red Sox!
In due time, War. Gotta whip the Cubbies over the weekend first.
Yes, of course. The Cubs come first, and they will be tough. But feasting on the carcass of the World Champion Red Sox will be a more filling feast.
In the Giancarlo Stanton case, he was hit flush in the jaw with a pitch & the umpires said he swung. They actually called it a strike.
Mercy.
They also said Reed Johnson swung when he got hit. Just bizarre. Meanwhile, the Brewers could still screw this up.
After the debacle by the Steelers tonight, there is only one thing to be done. The Bucs must get to the World Series & defeat the Orioles yet again.
Let’s throw in a comeback from 3-1 deficit just for the hell of it
Hope we marked 2015 schedule for first Phillies series in Pgh.
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Someone must pay.
Then again, there may be no one left from current roster.
I’ll post this tomorrow too
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The MLB has the Catcher Blocking Rule because of the NFL Concussion Issue.
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The MLB is concerned with a player dying in his 50s or 60s from a concussion that occurred years before because a play at the plate.
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Every league will be aware of CTE.
MLB is different. THEY need immediate change to the rules. We’ve seen Chapman and others throw 100 mph up and in. That CAN and WILL eventually kill a player.
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NFL will deal with old players dying in hospitals. MLB will eventually have a player killed on live television.
Ron Roenicke, after the game, actually agreed with the umpires that the HBP on Stanton & Reed Johnson were swinging strikes. To get hit like that, then have umpires call them strikes … that helped start the fight. And the Fiers excited fist pump earlier also played a part.
Did the bat come around or not? I understand the issue but the rule is the rule. It sucks and maybe it needs changed but where do you draw the line. I wish there was a BB thread somewhere this morning.
I didn’t see the bat come around on either of the HBPs, and there definitely was no intent to swing. JMO.
Looks like Liriano may have righted the ship. Man he has been rolling lately. Is it enuff 4 them to make a real attempt to bring back?
Did we ever hear exactly what brought about that pitch over Cutch’s head? I have a hard time believing it was an accident. I don’t know what the gesture was that Cutch made at 2nd after his double, but it looked harmless from the angle I saw. This headhunting of him has to stop.
Honestly I think a lot of it is retaliation for the number of guys bucs pitchers plunk. Every team seems to be in on the act. Bucs pitchers lead the league in plunks by far.
I read a comment above from War Horse that was speculation about the gesture Cutch made. If he did make that particular gesture, I can see how it would anger the other team. Not enough to throw at his head, but he’s better than that. I still don’t know for sure if that was it.
All replays that I saw were from behind Cutch. Maybe War Horse saw something that I didn’t. I did see Cutch flash the “Z” and then make a swinging motion with his arms. Cannot say whether he crabbed his crotch or not.