Subscribe or log in to read the rest of this column and all that's offered on DK on Pittsburgh Sports. It's available for as little as $1.50/month.
On location in Atlanta: Pirates 10, Braves 1 152
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS ATLANTA — Getting ready for the first pitch … Game: Pirates (86-72) vs. Atlanta Braves (77-81), 7:10 p.m., Turner Field Pitchers: RHP Edinson Volquez (12-7, 3.15) vs. RHP David Hale (4-4, 3.27) TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan Online: Live box score / Multimedia / Official media notes
I have great news. The Brewers wondrous collapse has reached its epic conclusion. Let’s all take a moment to revel in their inept misfortune.
159 days in first and now eliminated from the playoffs
Truly a magical moment. Let’s see if the Bengals/Ravens and the Flyers/Rangers can do the same for Pittsburghs other sports franchises…
I gotta say it doesn’t suck tonight to be a Pirates fan in Wisconsin.
The dogs are being unleashed against Melvin and his managr. It will be interesting to see which heads roll and what players get moved.
As Nature Boy Buddy Rogers would say, “couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” The Brewers sure got what they deserve.
Russell martin back in line-up.
.
That’s a very unexpected but pleasant surprise!
.
Take the Braves out fast, Buccos!!
Here’s something I think we can agree on, let’s win the next 3 & then see where we stand going into Sunday.
AMEN!!!!!
Then win Sunday just for the Heck of it! Although, the Bucs seems to not like to win 5 in a row.
I expected hed be back. He was pulled last night when the game was taking giant steps toward out of reach. Completely precautionary. Im willing to bet that tight hammy has been on going.
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. Edinson Volquez (R) P
. Emilio Bonifacio (S) CF
2. Phil Gosselin (R) 3B
3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
4. Justin Upton (R) LF
5. Jason Heyward (L) RF
6. Evan Gattis (R) C
7. Andrelton Simmons (R) SS
8. Ramiro Pena (S) 2B
9. David Hale (R) P
Gametime Forecast: 73°F • Partly Cloudy • 0% PoP
Nice touch with the weather forecast, JAL!!
.
I LOVE Simmons as a field.
I HATE Simmons as a batter. Too many K’s. Swings like BJ Upton or Baez of the Cubs.
Too many K’s?
.
Are we talking about ANDRELTON Simmons?
My error. I actually had been listening to a Brave broadcast recently where they talked that his too hard swing was his biggest enemy.
.
I mistakenly thought his K’s were in 170 range. His enemy is really his On Base %, which is in .290s. 60 strikeouts, 30 walks.
Now we’re talking. Doesn’t walk enough, and pops up too much.
.
He has the bat to ball skills, but they result in poor contact all too often.
I believe he has about 25 GIDP’s
Back on track tonight. Volquez will be auditioning for his spot in the post season rotation. I expect the bats to wake up as well.
Auditioning for the post season? He os a solid third. Locke and Vanimal are fighting for 4th. And Vanimal took a big lead last night.
Great to see Martin back. Also Walker, but not so sure about the #4 slot. Why not work him back into it – at least for a game?
Sheesh, you mean something other than Derek Jeter’s final Yankee home game is going on in the world of sports tonight ?
I’m not sure MLBN or ESPN would even send a reporter to cover the Second Coming if it was occurring tonight.
Poor Paulie Konerko.
What does Derek Jeter do?
Is he the father of that Beaver Falls basketball player?
Never heard of him?! Derek Who? Jeter? Doesn’t ring a bell.
He’s now a Pitt Panther, Groatie.
Oshie, I couldn’t have put how I feel (how almost ALL of us feel) better myself.
I see by DK’s Twitter feed that Seth Meyers has joined the Asylum. I’m sure it won’t be long before he makes quip here under an anonymous handle, and one of us tells him not to give up his day job.
Hey Seth! I’m available to be a writer, if there are any openings!
Hey Seth! Sweet suite seats you had at PNC recently. I’m available to go to the Bucco games for you, using your tickets.
Maybe Sethie has been hiding in plain sight here all along. Just sayin’.
Hi frank
Derek Jeter hate annoys me beyond words.
Even though I answered Osh and Groat with a sarcastic and what could be read as a derogatory comment. I respect the fact he played for 20 years for the same team, accomplished what he accomplished but most importantly played the game the right way!
Me too. Hate the game, not the playa. Shake it off!
You sound like a rapper. MC Oshie…The OG!
The only reason to hate jeter is if you hate yankees indiscriminately. He has played the game the right way forever.
Good Evening Buccos and Buccettes! Time to watch Thomas Alva Edinson do his thing! Playing the world’s tiniest violin regarding the Brewers collapse.
This guy Hale does not have great stuff or control. Feast on him early and often, I say!
Quick enough Jim?
A good start, for sure.
Those of you a certain age might remember a rubber toy named OGGI — squeeze it, its eyes bulged out. Every time I see Ryan Braun, I think of the OGGI my young daughters would squeeze and then insanely chortle.
Why the hell is Walker batting fourth?? Sometimes Clint’s decisions make no sense.
The Buccos are winning 1-0.
I wonder what kind of a deal Volquez gets this off-season.
Probably in the 7-10 million range.
Will be interesting to see – he has pitched so well – but his xFIP is high – suggesting this is not sustainable. WAR would suggest he is a $5M pitcher – which might give the Bucs a shot at signing him if they can sell the idea of him being great in the system.
Good points, LL. He has stranded a large % of runners. But, he seems to have embraced the Bucs ground ball philosophy. And, he takes that ball every 5th day. It will be interesting. Hughes got 3/$24 last yr.
Take into account the state of the league. One if not multiple teams will give him an inflated offer.
I think he’s getting more than 1 yr this time. I’m thinking something like 2/$16 or 3/$23. But, I really have no idea.
Somebody asked Dejan this same question on his Edinson interview thread.
.
He told them he was too involved in the present (pennant race) to think about the future!
.
Wisdom!!
If almost everyone can opine often (including DK) about Russell Martin’s next contract, I think I can wonder what kind of a free agent deal Edinson might get and still keep track of the current season. I think it’s fun to speculate.
I actually called dejan out on that.
Eddie wants and will get a 2-3 year deal. To me he’s worth 3yrs $22.5m. But I think NH will save his pennies here and sign the ‘next EV’.
wRC+ Second Half
Marte 187
J-Hay 154
Martin 150
Cutch 147
Lunchie 140
The middle 3 get well deserved praise but the guys at the top & bottom of list have been awesome & very important contributors.
Any team could have had Snider for a box or 2 of balls in May
Class move by the Twins today. Even classier move by Phil Hughes – he of the best K/BB ratio in MLB history this yr.
Yes – not sure who was classier – Hughes was someone I was glad the Pirates did not chase – but given the number of walks I endure every game I am pretty sure he would have been a great add to the staff – and I think he would have cost less than a QO to AJ-which I was for.
I think getting away from the short porch in RF/RC at Yankee Stadium must have helped. And, the Twins really hate walks. They’ve always been among the biggest pitch to contact proponents. Whatever it is, his control has been amazing.
Wonder what it would take to pry Gatis away from the Braves? He has a nice OPS and 20+ HRs. Not a great defensive catcher-but not horrid either.
Dang Lunch box! He will make off season decisions become interesting. Then Harrison scores. Much better night tonight!
JHay’s score was sort of like the BB player who takes the really long shot to the dismay of his coaches: “noooo. YES!”
Totally caught Heyward napping.
Man, this is some serious dealing from the dude on the hill
Volquez making his case that if we have to throw cole and liriano this weekend he can handle the wild card. The question becomes if you tie the cards do you pitch locke and save volquez if needed in wc in a do or die or do you pitch volquez on short rest to go all in for division and have to go vanimal on short rest on wc…no way i throw locke in do or die.
Locke has been solid, but, I agree, AJS, he can’t be there in a situation like that.
Volquez would be pitching on 3 days rest if he pitched on Monday.
Sorry, AJS. I missed that you had raised the short rest issue.
Ya. I think if it comes down to a one game playoff for the division they have to go with Locke and take their chances. Way more important to have a reliable arm available in the do or die wc game. You throw volquez on short rest and lose…then you are in a real tight spot pitching your 4th starter on short rest in wc. Live in the now or take in future considerations. Tough choice.
Wish the Giants game was going on right now too.
Can’t believe Bucs could not hit that young pitcher.
Hes pitched a few good games this year. He has a lot of promise.
Russell Martin flies out.
I still have a Ryan Doumit jersey
I thought he would do pretty well in the other league.
That explains a lot.
The video & audio are not sync’d up on that 1st Baierl commercial. Susan looks good, but she is not getting her money’s worth from her ad agency.
Man, those are major league breaking balls
Especially the one to whiff Doumit.
Need an at ‘em ball here. Feels like Edinson is not particularly sharp all of the sudden.
Still seems pretty sharp.
I didn’t think he was real sharp for much of the inning, AW. He got it back nicely.
I was talking about the 5th. I paused the game for a bit & fell an inning behind.
Gaby’s been scuffling pretty much all yr. But, he deserves credit for going the opposite way there. The fact that it snuck through was a nice bonus.
Great at bat by J-Hay
If JHay were to lose the batting title to Cutch by a slim margin, JHay’s heads up base running to score on the short fly to RF might cost him the title. He turned it into a Sac Fly for Cutch.
There goes DK’s boy Snider getting another big hit
0 for 17 and we still love him
Bases loaded nobody out, clean up hitter at bat. We will see . . .
Tough stretch for Neil
I’ll say it again, Neal Walker has no business batting fourth until he gets his confidence back or, if he is injured, sit him until he feels better. He is killing this teams production.
Good call. If someone else was batting 4th we’d be leading 12-0. Walker in 4th is KILLING us!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist).
Cleanup guy just hit a 2 run homer. Keep on him.
2 for 27 and that is fact – Mr.Arriba
So’s the score tonight and his 2 run homer, Mr. FS. Or did I misunderstand that you were saying he shouldn’t be batting 4th tonight? ICIT
Better steal home, JHay.
Close enough!
Good call!!!
Well, whatever works. Big run
And, even a bigger 2 runs
Got all three. How about that!
Why is Marte not batting 4th?
Clint’s dumb lineup is up 10-0.
Cutch, Russ, JHay, Marte. I’ll put the overall (off/def) seasons those guys have had as a group up against any 4 players on any team in MLB.
Let me say this: I’d hate for the Pirates to finish in a flat-footed tie with the Cards. A loss in that one-game playoff for the division would then mean having to play the play-in game a day later. And if they win that, having to fly to L.A.
They will be going to Washington
Maybe I should have been clearer. If they WIN that divisional playoff game, they have to go to LA. I was basically saying, it’s a lose-lose to have to play that divisional playoff.
It is NEVER a “lose” to avoid playing a 1-game playoff to end your season!!!
Shouldn’t we start taking guys out of the game? 6-0 I would have Volquez, Cutch and Martin out.
Great start for Volquez! But it certainly needs to be over after this inning. Keep him under 100 please
If the Pirate pitching continues to be this hot you will see them squaring up a American league tean in the very near future.
Look at The Inventor pitching the shut out…D backing him up!
Then he gets a hit!
I dont understand that. He should be sitting next to Martin on the bench
Then he gets gassed walking the bases on the Harrison Double! Like a little kid!
Even the umpires like JHay. Nice chat out there on second base.
Saw that.
What a wonderful season Volquez has had. Superb. Very solid #3 major league starter. Out of the dumpster.
10-0 Bucs over the Braves. Walker with a 2 run bomb. Can’t wait for the weekend series with the Reds.
With this nice,crisp satisfying W tonight, Bucs force SF to sweep Pads with one W in Cincy. Get your black ready PNC.
Walker with the bomb! I think the confidence is back!
He was robbed earlier tonight also, Brandie. He’s a really good hitting 2b. Everyone goes through slumps.
Bucs taking out their recent hitting frustrations on the Bravos tonight.
Couldn’t happen in a better place, right Al Oliver?
Exactly.
I’ve always said I think Walker takes more undeserved criticism from people because he’s from Pgh than he gets undeserved credit for being from Pgh. I’d like someone to recite the long list of MLB 2b having more productive offensive seasons this yr.
I honestly find it bizarre. It’s not as though he isn’t a quality MLB player and a very solid citizen. I don’t think he’d take any heat from some of the same fans for performing identically as a Buc if he were from any other place. I don’t get it.
Agreed, Jim. And we’ll miss him if he leaves.
.
Will take 22 HRs from my 2B any day.
Me too.
Sadly, I have had to work tonight.
Just rushed to radio to see if Pirates upholding their end of the bargain toward winning the Division.
.
First words I heard out of radio: “and the Pirates now lead 10 – 0!”
.
That made me even appreciate (for a short time) Tim Neverett!!!
Who knew hockey players could pitch? Go Bobby From Boise!
Hey Brandie I see that you are on your game tonight.
Hear that noise Bodacious? That is the sound of the Brewers and Braves sucking mightily.
jeter will come to the plate at home for the last time. in mere minutes. with a chance for a walk off even
Regarding the rotation… I think you have to seriously consider skipping Cole on Sunday if you’re even or down a game. Throw Cumpton instead, leaving Cole available to start either the divisional or the WC game.
Just a tough spot here… Don’t trust Locke getting the call.
If anyone is interested. Evan Meek is pitching the 9th for the O’s at Yankee Stadium. Game is tied 5. Jeter is now on deck.
And jeter with a walk off
Whatva way to go!
Gotta hand it to him.
Magical, just Magical………..
DK promising an exciting video tonight.
.
I’m predicting Starbucks barista does a frothy Jolly Roger.
Hubba Hubba!
The baseball gods smiled on Jeter just like they did for 66. What a finish. Bless you, Milo, for your comment above. Hate on the media for the excessive Jeter love, but this guy played the game beautifully. Didn’t self-promote either. He’ll be missed. Love the memories.
If Sadler has had a decent outing this year I missed it.
Anybody remember the last time EV gave up a run? What an amazing story. I know I ripped NH for signing him & it made me look silly by May. Obviously, they knew something. Some will always act as though our Mgt team are dunces. But, the evidence doesn’t agree any more.
They just said that since July 27 he has the best ERA in the NL, tied with Kershaw.
Raise the Jolly Hippo (for you Plan)!
Raise the Jolly Planetoid.
So, much for the “loss column” stuff. Tonight was the night the lead either jumped to two or fell to one. This team has not given up on the division.
A couple months or so ago, we were thinkin 86 wins might get us into the playoffs. Now at 87, we’re still in the hunt for the division and a home WC birth is in our grasp. That’s baseball.
Travis Ishikawa is playing LF for the Giants tonight. I can’t believe a genius GM like Brian Sabean couldn’t get anyone better than him to replace injured players. He’s a Pirates castoff.
Giants not looking to fall another game back of the bucs and looking to avoid another sweep at the hands of tje padres. Up 4 nil.
….fear the Bones…
Son turned on MLB Network, so Jeter game was on afterall. What makes Bob Costas annoying in that treacly way of his was on full display. Kaat too. This has nothing to do with ‘Jeter hate,’ Milo. Not sure what you were referring to, but detected none of the kind here on the Blog.
Ya I get it is a big deal end of an era kind of thing but lets not act like there arent other games being played that have real implications to the outcome of the season. The coverage has been ludicrous. What do you think it will be like on sunday? Live cut ins of every at bat on every station? I like jets but this is nuts.