Bucs v. Astros --Live Coverage

Here we go...the first live blog of the season. I'll try this out a couple of times during Spring Training and then possibly during season road games. Home game recaps should be full of pictures...with a view from where else, but Section 138. With just a few minutes to go until opening pitch...I'll be back.

1:06pm: Tim Neverett reading the line-ups. Astros take to the field. My first time hearing Bob Walk doing some color comentating.

1:08pm: Nyjer leading off. First pitch strike. After a 1-2 count, looks at strike 3. One away. Andrew McCutchen next up. First pitch ball, second one a strike. Cutch takes strike two. Hit to SS, ball in the dirt and Cutch is safe. One on, one out. Scored as an error.

1:12pm: Ramon Vasquez up to bat. Vazquez pops up to behind the pitchers mound. Caught by Berkman. 2 gone.

1:14pm: Adam LaRoche batting clean-up. Looks at strike one. Looks at strike two. Cutch runs on 2-2 count and gets a stolen base. Low throw. 3-2 runner on second.

1:17pm: LaRoche strikes out. Moehler pitches good inning. Staff ace Paul Maholm coming to the mound.

1:20pm: Matsui leads off. First pitch is a ball high and outside. Bixler makes a play without an error! One down.

1:22pm: Hunter Pence. 2-2 count. Strike three on Pence. Lance Berkman up next.

1:24pm: Berkman has a 2-2 count. No one on. Count worked full on a close ball three. Pop up to shallow right, Moss makes the catch. 0-0 after one inning.

1:28pm: Craig Monroe batting DH leads off the second inning. Walk hates that a DH is used when National League teams play each other. I would have to agree with him on this. Why not make Spring Training as similar to the regular season as possible? Monroe grounds out to the third baseman 5-3 ground out.

1:30pm: Brandon Moss up to bat. Crushed a pitch that was over the plate just over the wall. 1-0 Buccos. LaRoche Jr, pops out to CF. Two gone.

1:31pm: Bixler to bat. some little kid yelling for his mommy. Gotta love ST ball. Bixler hits it deep into the CF gap. Two out double. Robinson Diaz up to bat.

1:32pm: Diaz grounder to third base. Thrown out. Pirates lead 1-0 off Moss' homer.

1:35pm: Carlos Lee up to bat against Maholm in his final inning of work. Bounces first pitch to Bixler for a 6-3 ground out.

1:36pm: Tejada up next. Two hopper to short. Two gone.

1:37pm: Blum up now. 0-2 count following a hard hit foul ball along third base. Swing and a miss for the final out. Maholm pitches well and sits down all 6 batters he faces. Jeff Karstens coming to the mound next for the Pirates.

1:40pm: Back to the top of the order. Morgan puts down a bunt that rolls foul. Morgan grounds out to second.

1:42pm: Cutch up to bat. Draws the walk thanks to an odd call on the pitcher.

1:43pm: Vasquez hits to second. 4-6-3 double play. Inning over. I'll be cutting down on how much I'm writing now as I try to make myself something to eat for lunch.

1:45pm: Jeff Karstens on the mound. One hit on a slight miscommunication between Bixler and LaRoche, Jr. All is forgiven as Quintero hits into a double play, to who else, but Bixler.

1:55pm: Craig Monroe hits what should have been a 2-run homer. Thanks to LaRoche barely running down the line on a hit back to the mound, it's only a solo shot. More on that coming up at the break.

2:00pm: LaRoche, Jr drills a ball up the middle for a two out base hit. Bixler flies out to right field for the final out. Buccos lead 2-0 after Monroe's homer.

A lot has been said about Doug Mientkiewicz and his attitude in the clubhouse. Check out any of the major Pirates blogs or messageboards and you can see that this guy had a huge fan following in Pittsburgh. He had passion. Part of that passion was making sure you run out every ground ball and put forth your best effort. Adam LaRoche did not do this in his last at bat. Adam is in the hotseat this year and he needs to put forth some effort to make sure he is ready to be traded to a contender come the end of July.

2:07pm: Bottom of the 4th. Matsui on. A hit past Bixler at short results in an error and two men on. Matsui tags and scores on a sac fly for Berkman. 2-1 Pirates. Lee flies out to Moss two down. Tejada is out. Karstens wraps up his pitching duties. Sounds like Evan Meek will be coming in to pitch the next inning.

2:13pm: Robinson Diaz hits a deep shot to left center off of Jose Valverde. Third homer for the Pirates. 3-1. Lots of muscle being flexed today.

2:16pm: Nyjer hits a ball to the outfield. Base hit and is on first. One on, none out and one run has already crossed the plate. Morgan gets a stolen base. Momentum is all on the Pirates side now it seems.

2:18pm: McCutchen strikes out. First guy down. Vasquez up to bat. Vasquez hits a shot up the middle. Morgan scores from second beating the throw from the outfield. 4-1 Pirates.

2:20pm: Adam LaRoche back up to bat. Meek has sat down in the bullpen, Capps up and pitching. LaRoche works the count to 3-0. Now 3-1. Strike out, throw up double play.

2:27pm: Capps in to pitch. First batter flies out to left fielder Jeff Salazar. Capps strikes out the second batter. Two gone. Seems to be pitching a much better game compared to his first outing. Bixler unable to come up with the next batter's hit. One on, two outs.

2:29pm: Hit back to Bixler. Flips to second baseman Shelby Ford. Third and final out of this inning. Pirates still lead 4-1.

2:34pm: Top of the 6th. First two Pirate batters have sat down. Frank Coonelly in the booth with John Wehner and Tim Neverett. Not too much action on the field. Coonelly, Neverett, and Wehner talking about the starting pitching and how they have gone through 4 ST games without giving up an earned run (Snell gave up two runs the other day, both were unearned thanks to a Bixler error). We go to the bottom of the 6th with the Pirates ahead 4-1. Frank Coonelly will be joining the broadcasters again.

2:41pm: Jesse Chavez strikes out Matsui. Coonelly, Neverett, and Wehner talking about renovations made to Pirate City. Neil Walker unable to get Bourn out after a bunt. One on, one out. Coonelly now marks out for Walker. Former Pirate Jason Michaels up to bat.

2:48pm: Gall RBI double. Former Pirate Matt Kata hits a RBI triple. Kata ripped the ball deep to center field. 4-3 Pirates. Two out.

2:50pm: Phillips flipps a grounder behind first to Chavez covering the bag. End of the 6th. Pirates lead 4-3.

2:54pm: Bixler up first and gets out. Wehner says Bixler seems more comfortable at the plate this year compared to last year. Diaz up now and walks. Jeff Salazar up to bat.

2:57pm: Jeff Salazr hits a two run shot. 4th homer for the Pirates today. They double their lead to 6-3. McCutchen up to bat.

2:59pm: McCutchen gets his second strike out. Shelby Ford up next to bat. Shelby grounds out to third. Heading into the stretch, it's Pittsburgh 6 Houston 3.

3:09pm: Craig Hansen comes in to pitch the 7th inning. Hits the first batter he faces. Neverett and Wehner talking about control issues from last year and Hensen having an advantage for the bullpen as he is out of options for this year. Hensen proceeded to get the next three batters out. We go to the 8th inning. Pirates doubling the Astros, 6-3.

3:14pm: Not too much going on in the top of the 8th. Wehner and Neverett talking about Pedro Alvarez being on the "fast track" to the majors. Garrett Jones gets a basehit. He'll be replacing Moss in right field. Neil Walker hits to Matt Kata for the final out of this half of the 8th.

3:22pm: Denny Bautista gives up a hit and then a RBI triple to Bourn. 6-4 Pirates. Jason Michaels back up to bat. Salazar makes a great catch. Bourn scored from third. 6-5. Game is getting interesting once again. Bautista not having such a great outing right now. Evan Meek is once again warming up in the bullpen.

3:36pm: Joe Kerrigan comes to the mound. Bautista walks the go ahead run. Garrett Jones saves Bautista as he catches a shallow pop-up. Going to the 9th, Pirates lead 6-5. Rough outing for Bautista.

3:46pm: No runs for the Pirates in the top of the 9th. 6-5 as they attempt to get their third win of the Spring Training season.

3:47pm: Evan Meek looking to pick up a save today. Reggie Abercrombie leads off. The bunt from Reggie catches Neil Walker off-guard. He reaches base to represent the tying run for the Astros. Abercrombine steals second. No one out and the tying run on second.

3:49pm: Juan Mateo warming up in the pen. Meek strikes out Towles. Smith grounds out as Ford throws it to Phillips. Abercrombine to third. Two down.

3:53pm: Meek throws a strike to Bourn, 0-1. Bourn fouls off the second pitch, 0-2. High pitch, 1-2. Bourn lines the ball foul. A ball nearly hits a kid on the concourse. Broken bat looper to Lopez. Third out. Pirates win Pirates win! 6-5.

Pirates pick up their 3rd win of the Spring Training season as they beat the Astros 6-5. 4 home runs, 3 of them solo shots, by the Pirates helped them win this game. The starters continue to post a 0.00 ERA through 4 games this season as Maholm and Karstens combine for 4 innings and 1 unearned run. Paul Maholm gets the win. Moehler gets the loss. Evan Meek picks up the save. Another radio only broadcast tomorrow at 1:05pm.

Lets Go Bucs.

Pirates Drop First Game...Possible Live Coverage Today

So the Pirates lost to the Braves yesterday afternoon 5-2. The headline of yesterday's game seems to be that Tom Gorzelanny pitched two decent innings without yielding a run. He had two walks in his outing, however, everyone seems to be more impressed with the no runs allowed. Without hearing or seeing Gorzo's performance, it's hard for me to get excited about what he did (unless he went out and threw an 18-pitch 6 strikeout outing).

Today, the Pirates will square off against the Houston Astros. Paul Maholm will lead the Buccos against their NL Central Division rivals at 1:05pm. The game will be broadcast on 104.7 FM in Pittsburgh. I will make an attempt to listen to the game and provide live updates as the game goes on.

Check back in to see whats what.

Lets Go Bucs

Pirates Improve to 2-0

What do the Pittsburgh Pirates have in common with the Twins, Yankees, and Mets? They are all tied atop the Grapefruit League with a 2-0 record. That comes after the Buccos pulled off a nineth inning come from behind 2008-style victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Ian Snell gave up two unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Boston pitching looked solid until the top of the nineth as prospects Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, and Pedro Alvarez all came across the plate to place the Pirates in the lead 3-2.

Former Red Sox minor leauger Daniel Haigwood came in for the save. It took only 9 pitches for this kid to get out 3 Red Sox players. Not too bad of an outing by the Pirates pitching staff. Clutch hitting in the 9th by some prospects should put them in a more positive light with fans...especially that Pedro guy.

Lets Go Bucs

Spring Training Game 1: Phillies @ Pirates

The Pirates hosted the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon in Bradenton. Buccos topped the Phils 8-2 in a rather impressive pitching and offensive showing. I know, it was a lot of minor league players and relief pitchers...no superstars batting 3-4 times a game, so on and so on.

Mind you, I only listened to the game from the 8th inning on, so most of my opinions will be based off of what I read on the box score.

Chris Bootcheck seemed to pitch well. That's about it.

Matt Capps had some difficulties and was the only pitcher of the 9 Pirates that went out on the mound to walk batters. It was like a flashback to Opening Day last year in Atlanta. He'll get his control issues figured out though.

Romulo allowed the first run of the day for the Pirates. Still no real harm as the Pirates would come back to score in the bottom of the 3rd.

Shelby Ford. Remember that name, because one day, I think he's going to be a GREAT baseball player. He cracked a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th, the first and only of the game. Plus, doesn't Shelby Ford sound like such a great baseball name?

Evan Meek sounded solid today. Jesse Chavez...not so much.

I know this is a very small sample size, however, I do feel pretty encouraged by what I have seen and heard today.

Tim Neverett sounds like a stereotypical baseball/sports broadcaster. I think he fills Lanny's shoes rather nicely...except for he doesn't quite have the passion that Lanny had.

It'll be interesting to see how the extended ST plays out.

Pirates improve to 1-0 on the season.

Let's Go Bucs!
Vote for Romulo

Countdown to Opening Day...Sort Of

We are just 2 days away from the first game of the 2009 campaign. Well, sort of. The Pirates open up Spring Training play this Wednesday against the world champion Philadelphia Phillies. This is when I start to get excited about the upcoming season. It'll be exciting to see so many different options playing for the Pirates this spring. It'll be interesting to see who the real surprises are this year.


Phil Dumatrait is still being looked at as a starter, instead of a bullpen pitcher. I liked Dumatrait a lot last year. Until his injury, I feel like he was one of the most solid pitchers in the rotation. I will be excited to see him come back this year. At least management hasn't ruled this guy out yet.

I was looking at pictures of Gorzelanny this week on the PG website. He looks a lot thinner than last year and looks to be in great shape. I'm hoping that he is going to pitch the same way he did two years ago. If we can get Snell, Gorzo, and Maholm pitching well, I feel like there are good odds of the Pirates improving on their 67-95 record of last year.

Let's Go Bucs!

Oh Man!

I'm not trying to read too much into this, but it seems like the Pirates may be adding some security and depth to their bullpen this year when a certain super Jew may no longer be on the team.

It was reported on ESPN.com that the Pirates are in talks with Will Ohman, formally of the Atlanta Braves. According to the report, Ohman is also in talks with the Marlins and Padres. Add on to that list some possible contention teams (which aren't all teams in contention at this time of the year?) and it seems like there really isn't a good chance of Ohman coming to the Pirates so I'm pretty much done wasting my time writing on him.

Bring in Joe Beimel. At least last year Beimel had a drunken fan that sat in the bleachers and was quite amusing. He also had sideburns that reminded me of John Popper from Blues Traveler.

On a side note...I have two goals for this season:

1. Have Romulo Sanchez voted as the Fan Voted Bobblehead
2. Have John Grabow sign something "Top Jewish Pitcher of 2008"

That would make 2009 the best season yet for me.

Let's Go Bucs!
Vote for Romulo!

The Great Nate Contract

Well well well....

It came down to the eleventh hour today, but Nate McLouth and the Pittsburgh Pirates reached a very nice three-year deal, with a club option for a fourth year. Knowing that McLouth was going to be a necessary center-piece to the future of this team...maybe keystone would have been a better term...or corner stone.

Anyhow, McLouth will be vital to this team's success in the upcoming years, as long as he can put up similar or better numbers to those of last year. I think most fans would be pleased with a .276/25+ HR/90+ RBI season which included a Gold Glove and All-Star appearance. And for a guaranteed $15.75 million over three years, it could be a worthwhile expense. With bonuses, there is the potential for $27 million over three years. As with some of the other players recently signed to long-term deals, I hope McLouth doesn't crap the bed and go on the DL for three months.

I'm not going to pass judgment on whether or not this was a great signing until I see some results from McLouth. I know that I am personally hoping that he puts up some great numbers so the baseball and bat that I have signed by him will be worth something some day.

I would also like to add that, from a PR standpoint, this was a great move by the front office.

In other news...

There was a package on some ABC News show tonight featuring Rinku and Dinesh being the first ever India baseball players signed to a contract by a major league team. It was a good piece even though its all stuff we already know. I don't know if I'm just buying into the hype, but I feel like at least one of these guys will make it big.

I honestly don't find too much exciting about the start of Spring Training, so for the next 7-8 days, my posts may be limited. Once we get into more game action, then I'll be excited.

Lets Go Bucs!
Vote for Romulo!