The Pirates Finally Made It

What a night.  What a night for the Pirates, what a night for the fans, what a night for Pittsburgh.  If there had been any doubt surrounding whether Pittsburgh was embracing its baseball team, last night cleared it up.  Sure the Pirates have had plenty of cool moments at PNC Park over the past few years. All of those paled in comparison to what occurred last night on the North Shore.  Michael McKenry had his iconic homer in 2011 (accompanied by an even more iconic call from Greg Brown).  That, however, preceded a monumental collapse which all but erased the shine from that memory.  Drew Sutton had a memorable walkoff homer in 2012, only to suffer the same fate as McKenry's blast.  Nothing compares to winning.  Nothing compares to the scene that unfolded last night.

It started hours before the first pitch.  fans flooded Federal Street and the Clemente Bridge starting around 5:00.  There were long lines at the stadium gates, which opened at 6:00.  Fans quickly filled up the standing room sections, and the entire stadium filled out shortly thereafter.  A record 40,547 showed up.  The blackout was pulled off incredibly well. In addition to that, the Pirates handed each fan a black "Raise The Jolly Roger" rally towel.  The place was ready to explode during the announcement of the starting lineups.  Chants of "Let's Go Bucs" drowned out most of the Cincinnati names, save for Brandon Phillips who drew a Baltimore Ravens level of booing.  All that was left was for Andrew McCutchen's mother to nail the National Anthem, and the game was off and running.

It started appropriately enough, with Francisco Liriano striking out Shin Soo Choo in impressive fashion.  The night continued smoothly for "Frank The Tank", who pitched seven innings giving up just one earned run.  The crowd roared with every strike, and exploded with every out made by the Reds.

When the Pirates came to bat in the second inning, you knew times had changed in Pittsburgh. Pirate killer Johnny Cueto took the mound.  Time after time, he had dominated the Bucs in Pittsburgh. This time was destined to be different.  He gave up a solo shot to Marlon Byrd to start things off in the second.  As I said before the game, "if the Pirates score first, the crowd can essentially take it from there". That they did.  They mercilessly chanted "CUEEE-TTOOO, CUEEE-TTOOO" before every pitch.  It obviously got into the Reds' ace's head, because he literally dropped the ball as he was getting ready to pitch to Russell Martin. Just dropped it. He had to walk about five steps off the mound to retrieve it.  It was an embarrassment; he had just let the 40,000+ on hand affect the game. On the very next pitch, Martin launched a towering home run into the left field bleachers.  The Buccos would chase Cueto after just 3 and 1/3 innings.

The Pirates took a 6-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning. Closer Jason Grilli enters from the bullpen. He promptly struck out the first man he faced, induced a shallow flyout on the second, and the third grounded out to the Pittsburgh Kid, Neil Walker.  The dugout, the stadium, and the city erupted after that last out.  It took a while, but the Pirates finally have a memory worth showing off.  Let's be honest, you were sick of seeing the highlight of that McKenry home run.

Note: Am I the only one who was extremely annoyed by TBS showing the clip of Sid Bream's slide in '92 before the 9th inning? Horrible timing.

It's Time

It's here. It's actually here. The Pittsburgh Pirates will play a playoff game at PNC Park tomorrow. It's a very surreal thought. Twenty years of playoff absence is about to be erased. 162 games of joy, depression, thrills, and heartbreak all comes down to this.  On Tuesday, October 1st, 2013, the Pirates will host the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Wild Card game at PNC Park.  It's all or nothing, winner take all, must-see baseball.  No players will be resting to prepare for future games. It's all hands on deck.

Pirate ace Francisco Liriano starts for the home team.  Liriano sports an amazing 1.47 earned run average when playing in Pittsburgh.  He works well against lefties, too, which is a large asset considering Cincinnati's Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Shin Soo Choo are all left handed.  Liriano started a game against the Reds nine days ago at PNC Park, and he turned in a fantastic performance with two earned runs, nine strikeouts, and eight innings pitched.

The Reds are sending Johnny Cueto to the mound to try to spoil the Pirates' fun.  This is a daunting development, considering Cueto's history of being very, very good pitching at PNC Park.  However, there is reason for optimism.  Cueto has spent much of this season on the DL, and is only two starts removed from his last injury.  Those two starts came against the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. In other words, he has yet to be tested by a winning lineup.  Andrew McCutchen has three home runs off of Cueto, however only bats .189 against him.  That shouldn't be too much of a concern, because, well, it's Andrew McCutchen.  One important note is that Marlon Byrd, acquired by the Pirates at the end of August, has terrific career numbers against Cueto (Cueto has not faced the Bucs since Byrd's arrival).  Cueto's health concerns, combined with a bolstered lineup for the Pirates makes me sweat a bit less over the pitching matchup.

It can not be understated how important home field advantage is in this game.  Let's remember, it's the first playoff game in nearly twenty-one years, and the first ever at PNC Park.  Tickets for the game sold out in minutes, and stubhub.com has standing room only tickets listed at over $150.  The players, led by Andrew McCutchen and Michael McKenry, launched a Twitter campaign calling for fans to wear black to the game, to create a unified atmosphere.  You can expect an excitable, Jolly Roger waving, unprecedentedly loud 40,000+ on hand tomorrow night.  You can bet the team will feed off of that.

Let's Go Bucs.

Pitching For The Playoffs

It's September 19th, and we're still watching Pirates games intently, and checking out of town scores almost as intently. That's new. The Pirates currently sit one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central Division, and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates and Reds will face off in a crucial three game series that kicks off Friday night at PNC Park.  How did we get to be in this position? The same way we've achieved anything in the past three years: quality pitching.

Before we dive into playoff pitching scenarios, I should mention that the Pirates can clinch a playoff berth as soon as Saturday.  In order to miss the playoffs, the Washington Nationals would need to make up a six game deficit over a nine game span. It simply won't happen. Your Pirates are going to play playoff ball.

There has been much debate about what the starting rotation should be going into the playoffs.  People have been swayed by recent performances, overall track records, and veteran experience. Here's what I think the rotation should be.

Game 1 (or Wild Card Game) -- Francisco Liriano RHP
Liriano has been the Pirates' obvious staff ace this season.  After missing the first month of the season, Frankie has posted sixteen wins and a solid 2.92 earned run average. That ERA would be a lot lower if it weren't for a couple bad outings. Ignore those two poor starts, and we're looking at an ERA under 2. Liriano has two complete games under his belt this season, and has seemed to always be able to dominate division rival St. Louis.  Above all, Liriano has served as a stopper.  A stopper is a pitcher who steps in in the midst of a slump and, as manager Clint Hurdle would say, "puts his foot down". This season, Frankie has done this countless times. He's your obvious game one starter.

Game 2 -- Gerrit Cole  RHP
This would've seemed a bit unrealistic about six weeks ago.  Since the end of August and throughout September, Cole has been dominating opponents.  This run of success started on August 28th against the Milwaukee Brewers, and has continued through today.  That stretch has seen Cole evolve from a rookie with a blistering fastball into a true, jam-getting-out-of, can't-be-rattled, strikeout pitcher.  Last week Cole went up against Texas' Yu Darvish, and showed him up by pitching eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts (the Pirates would get the 1-0 win).  And today, in a game vs. the San Diego Padres, he turned in his best start yet.  Over six innings, he struck out a whopping twelve batters (out of 18 outs he created, 66% were K's).  He got out in front of batters, and looked completely in control.  I give the ball to him in game two.

Game 3-- Charlie Morton RHP
After returning from Tommy John's surgery in June, Morton has looked better than ever before.  He has posted a 7-4 record, and 3.35 ERA.  Those numbers aren't eye popping, but his pitching of late certainly has been.  He has continued his heavy use of the sinker to induce ground balls, and it has been working outstandingly.  He has also greatly inproved his curveball, which has increased his strikeout totals.  When healthy, Charlie is nasty.  Hard not to go to him for game #3

Game 4-- AJ Burnett RHP
After being the staff ace last year, you may have expected AJ to be higher on this list.  This season hasn't been a poor one by any means for him.  He has been playing far better than his 8-11 record suggests, and his 3.43 ERA proves it.  He is a veteran capable of getting out of the toughest jams, and there are few games I wouldn't trust him with.  I admit, it feels odd having him at #4.  However, given what the other three have been doing lately, I had no choice.

Over the next nine days the Pirates will battle.  They have their eyes set on the division title, avoiding the dreaded one game wild card playoff. Whatever happens, we have the pitching to win games. Should be a fun ride.

Why The Pirates Are So Good This Year

The Blog is officially back from Summer break.  We left off at the beginning of June. The Steelers were distant memories, the Penguins were still in shock from their playoff loss to Boston, and the Pirates were holding their own in the NL Central.

Since then, the Pirates have gone from "holding their own" to being one of the best teams in baseball. As I write this, at 6:30 on August 22nd, they sit in 1st place in the NL Central, one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.  The Buccos sport a record of 74-52. They need just eight more wins to ensure their first winning season since 1992.

The past twenty seasons have been filled with disappointment.  At the end of each year, naturally, the fans look for places to assign blame. At the end of each of the past four seasons, fans and media have consistently ripped on Neal Huntington, the Pirates' general manager.  People complained that he didn't do enough at the trade deadline to set the team up for success, and they ridiculed his offseason moves.  There's no telling how this season will end for the Bucs, but one thing is for sure: Neal Huntington has done all that he could.  Here's a look at how he set these 2013 Pirates up for success.

Lets start with his offseason moves.  There were two gaping holes in the roster: catcher and starting pitcher.  First, they went out and signed free agent pitcher Francisco Liriano.  Liriano was once a highly successful pitcher, although he hadn't performed well over the past couple years.  Huntington and the Pirates' staff saw potential in him, and they signed him.  This story took a weird turn, when, on Christmas Day, Liriano broke his (non-pitching) arm while playing with his kids.  They reworked the contract, and eventually settled on a new one.  The injury ended up costing Liriano the first month of the season.  He made his Pittsburgh debut on the mound in early May, and impressed early on.  Since then, he has established himself as the staff ace, and forced himself into National League Cy Young discussions, with his 14-5 record and 2.53 ERA.

Another major offseason acquisition was catcher Russell Martin.  The catcher position was one of the biggest weak spots for the Pirates in 2012, with Rod Barajas as their No. 1 catcher.  He struggled mightily offensively and defensively, recording outs on only 6% of attempted steals against him.  Martin was coming off of an off year with the New York Yankees, and expectations weren't very high.  Martin was one of the biggest surprises this year for the Bucs, posting a .248 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, and 11 home runs.  He has been no stranger to clutch hitting, racking up four walkoff hits so far this season.  Defensively, he has been one of the best catchers in the NL, throwing out 27 batters so far, causing base runners to think twice before stealing.

There was one big trade in the offseason.  When the trade was announced, many were unenthusiastic.  It looked like we would break even, if we were lucky.  Over the past 5 months, the trade proved to be one of the most important moves to ensure success in 2013. The Pirates traded their elite closer, Joel Hanrahan, and infielder Brock Holt to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon, and prospects Ivan de Jesus, Jerry Sands, and Stolmy Pimentel.  First of all, trading Hanrahan meant dropping his salary, which allowed the team to re-sign Jason Grilli, who would become the closer in place of Hanrahan. Grilli became the agreed-upon best closer in the NL, posting 30 saves through the end of July.  Mark Melancon moved into the setup role (pitching the 8th inning, to set up for Grilli), and quickly became one of the best relievers in all of baseball, posting a .93 ERA over 58 appearances.  Stolmy Pimentel and Jerry Sands have been progressing with AAA Indianapolis.  This trade was so instrumental to the Pirates' success this season.

You can credit the farm system, for bringing up great prospects like Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, Gerrit Cole, and others.  You can credit manager Clint Hurdle for working his confidence magic yet again with this team.  But GM Neal Huntington deserves one heap of credit.  After last season's failure, he went out and made several moves to boost this team to an elite level.  Now buckle up, and lets watch this team finally fight for a playoff spot.