"Just Win, Baby!"

The famed Oakland Raiders‘ owner Al Davis was once quoted saying, “Just win, baby!”

Well, the Pittsburgh Pirates keep finding ways and unheralded pitchers to do it with.

This time is was Vin Mazzaro.

After a two-hour and 20-minute rain delay, starter Charlie Morton took a seat on the bench and Mazzaro took his place on the mound. All the 26-year-old right-hander did was retire all 15 batters he faced in order during his five-inning relief stint as the Pirates rallied to tie the game at one in the bottom of the eighth, before finally going on to win it 2-1 some 6.5 hours later after the first pitch of the day on Russell Martin‘s RBI single up the middle in the 14th, sending the streaking Pirates to their ninth straight victory. The win increased the team’s Central division lead to two games over the St.Louis Cardinals, who earlier in the day lost their second of three games to the Oakland Athletic’s, 7-2.

Acquiring Mazzaro in a trade with the Kansas City Royals last November for a pair of minor leaguers, the transaction at the time didn’t make much of a blip on the radar, as the Hackensack, NJ native had a near 7.00 ERA in his two-years work with the Royals. Give GM Neil Huntington credit though for finding another diamond in the rough, as Mazzaro has been nothing short of excellent in his 39 innings with the Pirates this year. At 4-2 with a 2.52 ERA, the 6-foot-2, 220 pounder has not given up an earned run in his last eight innings of relief work and was a major factor in the comeback win, as well as keeping the starting rotation intact. Without Mazzaro’s extended outing, the Pirates more than likely would have had to go to starter Jeff Locke, who was warming up in the bullpen in the top half of the 14th; a move manager Clint Hurdle obviously would not have wanted to make.

The Pirates’ bullpen continued to prove why they’re the best in either league, as five relievers piled on an additional seven shutout innings on top of Mazzaro’s perfect five. In a battle of bullpens, the Pirates usually win and today’s game proved no different as the Buccos relievers notched their 18th win of the season. Winning pitcher Tony Watson‘s three scoreless innings closed out another stellar day for the relief corp — 12 innings of relief work, allowing just two hits and no runs. It doesn’t get any better than that.

At the halfway mark of the season now, the first place Pittsburgh Pirates, at 51-30, have the best record in MLB.

“Just win, baby!”

Yep, that’s all the Pirates are doing lately.

Pirates Continue To Roll

A.J. who? Wandy who?

Not many teams can lose their number one and number two starting pitchers and not miss a beat. But that’s exactly what’s happened with the Pittsburgh Pirates this year, losing both A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodriguez to injuries, the team has continued to roll.

Since the pair of ace pitchers went of the disabled list back in the early-June, the Pirates have gone 12-5, including their current eight-game tear of “undefeatedness”, and have now overtaken the Atlanta Braves with an MLB-leading team ERA of 3.17.

It seems whoever the Pirates march out there to take the hill ends up pitching like an ace. Whether it’s prior unknowns like Jeff Locke or Jeanmar Gomez, or rookies like Gerrit Cole or Brandon Cumpton, or revival projects like Charlie Morton or tonight’ starter Francisco Liriano, it doesn’t matter — it’s five, six or seven innings of two, one or no-run baseball. And once in the eighth inning with the lead, it’s been lights-out game-over with the one-two punch of Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli, hands-down the best set-up/closer combination in baseball today.

Pitching before a sell-out crowd of 38,438, Liriano once again followed the script in pitching six strong innings of one-run baseball before handing it over to the league’s best bullpen to close it out. Lowering his ERA to an impressive 2.23, The Invisible Man has been more than the Pirates could have ever hoped for when they signed the free agent last winter, as the left-hander is pitching some of the best baseball of his checkered eight-year career.

A pair of solo homers by Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones was all the home team needed to nip the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 for their eighth win in a row and win their MLB-best 50th game of the season; the first time that’s been done in franchise history before July 1st. That’s right, franchise history! Not bad for a team that many “experts” were picking to finish last once again this season.

Jason Grilli pitched the 9th for his MLB-leading 27th save of the season.

The Pirates will try for a ninth straight win tomorrow as they go for a sweep of their three-game series with the slumping Brewers. Charlie Morton takes the hill.

Not that it matters who starts these days. The Pirates will continue to roll.

Pirates Muscle Up On Brewers

The Pittsburgh Pirates have bulked up this season. They’ve finally had enough. No longer the 98 lb. weakling on beach, the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t kicking sand in their face anymore.

The Brewers, bullies on the block as far as the Pirates have been concerned for the last five seasons, came out and smacked the Bucs in the chin with three first-inning runs off of rookie starter Gerrit Cole. But the Pirates just shrugged it off, responding with a fast and furious seven-run 2nd inning barrage of their own. Cole and another rookie Ryan Reid, who earned his first save ever with three innings of shutout work, closed the door from then on in as the Pirates clubbed the Brewers 10-3 in achieving their MLB-leading 49th win of the season. Discounting their 1-5 start out of the gate, the team is now 23 games over .500 since the 8th of April.

In winning their seventh game in a row, the Pirates are now officially hot.

Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen led the 12-hit attack with three hits each in knocking in half of the Pirates’ 10 runs. McCutchen’s 8th inning solo blast, his ninth homer of the year, gave the Brewers one last shot for good measure in sending the 2011 Central Division champs down to their third straight loss and a last place record of 32-46.

It’s well known among serious Pirate fans that the Brewers have had the Pirates’ number for far too long, but this year, the tide is turning. With the convincing win last night at PNC Park before a near-sellout crowd of 36,875, the Pirates have now taken six of the last eight meetings between the two clubs, including winning two of three in their last trip to Miller Park, where they had been an unbelievably bad 9-47 since 2007.

So when the Brew Crew came out and scored an early three in the first and the Pirates responded with their biggest single inning of the season, it was as if they were saying, “No, this is not the way it’s going to be. Homey don’t play that game no more.”

The Pirates are the new bully on the block, at least as far as the cellar dwelling Brewers are concerned, and if there’s any sand to be kicking, they’ll be the ones kicking it.

The Return of the Jeanmar

The Force was certainly with Jeanmar Gomez and the Pittsburgh Pirates as they closed out a perfect 5-0 west coast stay, winning a season-high sixth game in a row, in dropping the Seattle Mariners 4-2. Finishing up their overall road trip at 7-2, the Pirates pulled to within 1/2 game of the division leading St. Louis Cardinals as they head home to face theMilwaukee Brewers on Friday.

Neil “Sky” Walker rocketed a two-run shot into the right field seats in the 4th inning off Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to give the Pirates an early 2-0 lead, but it was Jordy “Jar Jar” Mercer‘s lightsaber of a line drive up the middle in the 9th that scored Pedro Alavrez from second base with the eventual game winner to win the day for the rebel forces atSafeco Field. A Starling Marte strikeout/run-scoring wild pitch scoring Travis Snider from third for their fourth and final run proved the Force was indeed with the Bucs in this one.

In his first start back from a two-week stint on the disabled list with tightness in his right forearm, the former Cleveland Indian castoff looked sharp in limiting Seattle to one unearned run on just three hits hits in his limited five innings of work. If not for a 6th inning home run by the red hot Raul Ibanez, his 18th, off the normally stingy Pirate reliever Justin Wilson, Gomez would have notched his third win of the season. Since entering the starting rotation back in the beginning of May, the Pirates have not lost a game in any of his eight starts.

Call it the Force, grit, determination or whatever else you like, but this Pirate team does not like to lose. Surviving 11 strikeouts by the starter Hernandez, the scrappy Bucs kept it close till the All-Star Mariner was finally out of the game in the 8th and it became a battle of the bullpens, where more times than not, the Pirates are going to win. It proved to be the case once again, as Mark Melancon did his Jason Grilli imitation and closed out the 9th to send the team soaring 18 games over .500, a mark that has not been reached this early in the season by any Pirate club since the days of Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell back in 1972.

After 20 years of futility, the Force is indeed with the Pittsburgh Pirates these days.

Sleepful In Seattle

Manager Clint Hurdle and the Pittsburgh Pirates are sleeping well out on the west coast. Hitting on all four cylinders of their latest road trip, the Pirates are now officially on a roll, winning a season-high five games in a row out on the left coast as they advanced their overall record to 17 games above .500 for the first time this year.

It was bombs away in Seattle as the Pirates played long ball, blasting out a single-game high of five home runs in their 9-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Starling Marte led the way with his seventh and eighth homers of the season and Brandon Inge added his first with a three-run shot as the Pirates scored five runs early in the 2nd inning and never looked back.

Newly-anointed Pirate ace Jeff Locke continued his season-long dominance of hitters in limiting the Mariners to two runs on just four hits, as he worked seven innings to raise his record to 7-1. Locke has now pitched 96 innings while allowing just 66 hits. His 2.06 ERA is second in the NL only to the New York Mets‘ Matt Harvey‘s 2.05.

The team has one more game in Seattle today and they’d like nothing more than to complete a five-game west-coast sweep of the Mariners and Angles before heading back east for a six-game homestand against the underachieving Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.

In going 15-10 last month in arguably one of their toughest stretches of schedule, the Pirates are moving full speed ahead as they look to overtake the equally-impressive St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the Central Division. With 12 of their next 15 games at home, the Bucs look poised to sail into the All-Star break, at the very least, atop the wild card standings.

It’s hard to point out any one single player responsible for the Pirates current year so far. It’s truly been a team effort, as various members have stepped up at different times to lead the team with players like Marte, Russell Martin and now Pedro Alvarez all having hot periods with the bat over the course of the season.

Andrew McCutchen has yet to catch fire though, and the prognosis for the Pirates can only improve when he does. For now, the Pirates and Clint Hurdle have to be sleeping well. Winning has that effect.

Pittsburgh Pirate Fans Are Happy!

Off-days on the schedule are always a good time to reflect back on what’s happened so far with the team you’re following. A little break in the six-month grind lets you sit back with a few of your favorite beverages and contemplate the universe and your favorite team’s current standing in it.

Pittsburgh Pirate fans have to be happy.

Only the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals at 47-29 have a better record in all of baseball than the Pirates, who besides the Cards are the only team in either league with 30 or fewer losses. A 46-30 tally has the Bucs playing .605 baseball. Not too shabby for a team that, once again, many had picked to finish last. With almost half a season in the books, the Pirates are looking very good right now.

How are they doing it? Suffice to say, with a .241 team BA ranked 25th overall, it’s been pitching, pitching and more pitching that has propelled them to their best start since the Barry Bonds-era. In a virtual tie with the Atlanta Braves and the Cardinals for first in team ERA at 3.21, opposing batters are hitting a league-wide low of only .227 against Pirate pitching.

The hitting is coming on though, with Pirate 3B Pedro Alvarez leading the way. Homering in his last four games, his 19 dingers rank him an NL second only to the 21 of Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies. Their best player, Andrew McCutchen has yet to find his groove; yet for many his .289 BA/8HR/38RBI would be more than acceptable. Not mention his 15 stolen bases; McCutchen is poised to lead the Pirates to a second half of the season they’ve been hoping for the last two summers.

Yes, we’ve seen this Pirates’ act before the past two years; a great first half followed by unbelievably bad second one that leaves you wondering who kidnapped the players and gave these bums their uniforms. But there’s a little something different this year than any of the previously recent ones.

Depth and experience.

The Pirates are knee-deep in pitching, with players from the minor leagues pushing the current big leaguers to perform well or get out of the way. Leading the way is Gerrit Cole, but others now up with the team, like Brandon Compton, Ryan Reid, Duke Welker all show promise of taking the next step and becoming capable big league pitchers. And their Indianapolis Indians Triple-A team’s 3.30 ERA leads the International League in team ERA also.

Current starters AJ Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, Jeff Locke, Francisco Lirano, Jeanmar Gomez, Charlie Morton, not mention Cole and Compton, have all been better than just good for the Pirates this year. Throw in James McDonald and Jeff Karstens eventually coming back from injury and you have more than enough starting pitching to carry you through the rest of the summer.

And with Justin Wilson, Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli closing out the last three innings of any contest the team has the lead in, many games become six-inning affairs for the Pirates. Add the excellent pitching of Tony Watson, Vin Mazzaro and Bryan Morris, all capable of picking up the slack for any of the super three mentioned above, and you have a very tough team to beat.

The Pirates themselves are well aware of the collapses the past two summers and if anything, the experience should fortify them against repeating such mistakes once again this year. Like Sisyphus in Greek mythology, continually rolling that stone up the hill only to have it roll back down on him again, eventually the Pirates are going to figure out a way to push it to the top and over the other side.

Pirates fans cannot be anything but happy.

Beanballs Schmeanballs

There’s been a lot of talk of beanballs lately — and of throwing them also.

Perspective, people. Perspective.

Remember, this is a kid’s game being played by really big kids. Fast, strong, and sometimes not-so-bright big kids.

A game that involves nothing more than swinging a long stick at a round rock and running around a large field in counter-clockwise circles should never involve someone getting killed. Especially at the hands of another. This is NOT PlayStation. Anyone who’s ever been hit by a baseball, whether it’s been thrown, batted or dropped from a helicopter, knows that it damn well hurts when you get hit by it. And if it hits you in the head? Well, all bets are off. We don’t even want to go there with what can happen. I’ll leave it by saying God rest Mike Coolbaugh‘s soul.

MLB players are real people. Real sons. Real brothers. Cousins, uncles, aunts (okay, no aunts yet, but who knows, one day maybe) and friends. And none of the people who make them so want to see them seriously injured, just as you or I would not want to see any of our loved ones seriously injured or even killed playing a game. And it IS just a game, no matter how hard we try and make it something more; it still is just a game. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked here.

Oh yeah, getting killed playing a game. Not supposed to happen.

Ever.

Has it? Yes.

Will it again? I sure hope not.

But it’s not for me to control the entire universe, just the part I’m in charge of. I’m a realist, and I don’t think you can take all the risk out of anything worth doing without pretty much not being able to do it the way it was meant to be done. But there is no place in the game for headhunting. It just shouldn’t be in the mind of the pitcher.

Ever. No excuses.

Lest anyone thinks I’m a pacifist, which come to think of it I probably am, there IS a difference between “pitching inside” and trying to intentional hit someone in the head. The former has a place in the game; the latter has none. Pitches intentionally thrown at a batter’s head should be outlawed. Plain and simple. You try and hit a guy in the head on purpose you’re outta there and suspended and fined for however long and however much MLB decides.

Now pitching inside, even beaning someone in the arm, back, shoulder, leg, foot or any other part of the body other than a guy’s noggin? That’s just baseball.

That brings us to the question of revenge (doesn’t it always?).

The thinking is, you hit my guy, I’m gonna hit yours. Seems fair enough. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Of course, when you associate that idea with drilling someone in the head with a 95 mile-an-hour fastball and potentially killing or maiming them, well, things can get pretty messy really quick. So there is a flaw in this idea of revenge or “payback” or whatever else you wanna call it when someone pisses you off so much you could just “kill ‘em”. That’s why the “baseball-to-the-head” idea needs to be outlawed. We limit the revenge factor to bruises and broken bones. Or at least try to. In the worst case scenario a guy gets hurt but not anything that’s going to change his life or his family’s. Injuries from beanballs to anything but the head are not normally going to be life threatening or even career ending.

If war has rules of conduct and there are such things as “war crimes”, there’s no reason MLB can’t take a more proactive stance and educate their players with an occasional meeting to remind them of just how damn lucky they are to be getting paid to be play baseball. And while they’re at it, they can mention the difference between “pitching inside” and trying to end someone’s career, or even their life. It’s entertainment for Pete’s sake; no one needs to get killed for me to enjoy it. This isn’t ancient Rome. It’s baseball.

And if someone says, “Your mother wears army boots!” out there on the field? Sure, go ahead and drill him right square in the middle of the back; that’ll smart for sure. But for god’s sake, don’t try and intentionally hit them in the head.

Beanballs schmeanballs. It’s just a game.

Over-Hyped Inge

It pains me to write an article like this. The Pittsburgh Pirates are generally not an organization that over-hypes their players, as least not compared to some of the other larger market teams. Actually, to be fair, it’s probably more of a media issue than the doing of anyone in the organization.

Still, every front office has to sell its players to the fans and in some regards, to the team itself.

If the Pirates are guilty of anything over the years, it’s over-emphasizing the value of bringing in the classic “veteran” to be a clubhouse “presence” and show the younger guys how things are done the “right way”.

There have been too many of these marketing campaigns over the last 20 years to mention that have been really nothing more than acquiring an older, past-his-prime player who won’t embarrass himself or the team when he’s out there, who was available on the cheap. From Pat Meares to Jeromy Burnitz to Lyle Overbay, their value, for the most part, has always been over-rated.

Brandon Inge unfortunately may fall into that category.

Other than the “veteran presence” angle (which cannot be completely discounted to be honest), what did the Pirates see in signing the career .233 right-handed hitter last winter? Yes, they got him at a 75 percent salary cut, but after hitting just .218 last season combined for the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics, Inge’s offensive production could only be seen as further waning.

It wasn’t like he was a great hitter ever to begin with. In six of his 12 seasons with Detroit, he hit for a mere .205 BA or less. No doubt he fit well with the Tigers team in his many years there, taking walks and being a decent on-base guy along with being a solid catcher, but that’s not his role now.

Like much of the National League, the Pirates are not disciples of the Billy Beane school of baseball. They need a right-hand power bat off the bench that can drive in some runs here and there. Inge’s current .193 BA with just 4 RBIs just doesn’t cut it; and with just two walks this season, he’s not even getting on base these days.

No doubt Inge is athletic and can play a bunch of different positions without embarrassing himself out there, but so can a lot of younger guys who can cover a lot more ground than a 36-year-old former catcher whose knees have to have some debilitating mileage one them.

Inge is the proverbial “good guy” in the club house, but his overall value to the team has to be in question. There’s another spot on the team for character-type players who help the team more with their know-how than playing ability — it’s called coach.

Inge would probably make a great one, but his days on the playing field are coming to an end, and the Pirate’s need to upgrade their bench production if they want to make a serious playoff run this summer.

Pops II

Pedro Alvarez is a little too young to be called “Pops”, but the 26 year-old Pittsburgh Pirate third baseman could very well be the next Willie Stargell.

I know that’s a bold claim, but I’m not the only one making it. Ex-Pirate catcher and now barbeque chef-extraordinaire Manny Sanguillen, who played with Pops himself, once compared the way the ball jumps off Alvarez’s bat to his legendary teammate’s famous swing.

And with 65 HRs in the books so far, El Toro, as some like to call him, is on a pace, albeit an early one, to break the late great Hall of Famer’s Pirate record of 475 home runs sometime around his 38th birthday. Yes, it may be way too early in his career for any serious kind of extrapolations like that, but with a 14.1 at-bats per home run rate this season, time and talent make the claim seem less outrageous than it might sound.

Since becoming a regular the last two seasons, Alvarez has averaged 16.4 at-bats per home run. Stargell had a 16.7 average for his career. Doing the math, Alvarez needs some 6740 ABs to add 411 home runs to his current total, and with an average of 562 at-bats per year, he’ll need about 12 years to reach 476. He’d only be 38 by then, too. Pops was 42 when he hung up his spikes for the last time.

Gifted with natural power and a smooth home run swing that’s allowed the 6-foot-3, 235 pounder to hit some of the longest dingers to date at PNC Park, including two over 450 feet, Alvarez is poised to break out this season and become the player that many in the organization projected him to be when they drafted him first back in 2008. His inaugural 30-homer season last year foreshadows a long career as a home run hitter.

While Alvarez’s defense at third has been fantastic of late, he still has yet to achieve the consistency needed there to be a career player at the hot corner. Some in the front office envision him moving over to first some day, a position Stargell is best known for and played much of his career.

Alvarez has repeatedly expressed his objection to the idea though, and looks to remain at third for the foreseeable future. If his defense keeps improving, there’ll be no debate and one less similarity to the Pirate Hall-of-Famer.

Stargell played and hit about half his games and homers at Forbes Field, with a distant right field wall some 376 feet away, before moving on to a hitter-friendlier Three Rivers Stadium in 1972, where he played until retiring in 1982. Alvarez doesn’t have that handicap. Right field at PNC Park was made for left-handed hitters. A 21-foot high fence, named in honor of no. 21 Roberto Clemente, is only 320 feet from home plate.

With Pedro’s penchant for hitting the long high ones, the height of the monumental wall is not really an issue. Alvarez could probably reach it swinging with one hand.

It may takes some time, but the only thing keeping Pedro Alvarez from becoming Pops II might just be time. How old does someone have to be before you can call them “Pops”? 

Locke's A Lock!

A couple weeks ago, I posed the question, who is Pittsburgh Pirate left-hander Jeff Locke? I ended the piece with, “Only time will tell”; a fairly obvious, though truthful answer.

Well, time has told.

Right now, time says Jeff Locke is simply the Pirates’ best starting pitcher. The ace of the staff. If tomorrow was April 1, Jeff Locke would be a lock to be the Pirates’ opening day starter. With the NL’s second best ERA at just 2.01 (only Clayton Kershaw’s 1.84 is better), it’s a practically a lock he’ll be the Pirates’ All-Star representative come this July 16 at Citi Field in New York if he keeps it up for few more weeks.

He did nothing to diminish that prediction in another stellar performance against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 3 of 4 in the battle for NL Wild Card supremacy, and was all set to win his seventh straight game of the season when Jason Grilli blew his first save opportunity of the year. The Reds tied the game in the ninth off Grilli on Jay Bruce‘s 14th homer of the season, erasing a win that looked to be a lock for Locke. Grilli had been a perfect 25 for 25 in save opportunities and was all set to break Joel Hanrahans’ Pirate record for consecutive saves when Bruce’s blast rewrote the script. Tossing 7 scoreless innings of four-hit baseball, Locke’s A-plus effort was all for not as the Pirates wound end up losing the game 2-1 in 13 innings on Brandon Phillips’ bases-loader high-hopper up the middle. Relief pitcher Vin Mazzaro took the loss for the Bucs.

It’s still a bit early, but Jeff Locke is arguably putting up numbers that would put him in consideration for a Cy Young award. Only the aforementioned Kershaw and Boston Red Sox Clay Buchholz (1.84) have better ERA’s in all of baseball. Add that to the fact that Locke has started half of the Pirates’ 12 MLB-leading team shutouts this year and you have a candidate for just about any pitching awards that may come up this season.

Of course, winning a Cy Young is no lock even if Locke keeps pitching like he has for the remainder of the year. But then again, neither is it a long-shot.

All Hands On Deck!

After All-Star Andrew McCutchen got hit in the fourth inning of the first game of their series with the Cincinnati Reds, and Neil Walker almost had his head removed from his shoulders by an errant up and in Aroldis Chapman 99-mph fastball later in the ninth, the Pittsburgh Pirates had simply had enough.

So Pirate starter Charlie Morton simply did what needed to be done: he beaned Shin in the shin.

Morton hit Reds’ leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo in the leg with his very first pitch of the ballgame, sending the message to the Reds that the Pirates were not going to be intimidated by their division rivals. They backed up that swashbuckling attitude with a solid 4-0 shutout in Game 2 of the pivotal four-game series, led by Morton’s masterful 5.1 innings of three-hit scoreless pitching and Pedro Alvarez‘s two-run first-inning single.

It was all hands on deck for the Bucs as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back.

With Morton due up first in the top half of the next inning though, it remained to be seen if Reds’ starting pitcher Mat Latos, who could be seen yelling at Morton from the dugout after the message pitch, would take further revenge or considered the scored settled. The at-bat went without further incident and Morton went on to do the rest of the talking with his arm.

Stay tuned to the rest of the series though, as bad blood no doubt remains between the two hard-nosed opponents.

The game was a good barometer of the team’s current mindset toward all their opponents so far this impressive season: respect all, fear no one. The Pirates demonstrated again that they weren’t going to back down regardless of who or where they were playing. This particular game said a lot about the make-up of the 2013 Pirates, and their fans should be well pleased with their team’s consistent effort and no-nonsense attitude.

All hands are on deck so far for the Pirates this season — and they are taking no prisoners.

The Return of the Invisible Man

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how well one Francisco Liriano of the Pittsburgh Pirates was pitching while going relatively unnoticed by the people who notice such things.

Well, tonight Liriano gave another petty darn good unnoticeable performance and the ones who notice such things, and even the ones who don’t, will probably not notice him even a little bit more now.

A disappointing 4-1 loss by his team to the Cincinnati Reds will certainly help keep him under the radar, but once again, The Invisble Man (I’m dubbing him), pitched pretty darn well, working 6 innings of five-hit baseball, giving up just 2 runs on the very first two home runs he’s allowed all season. While not out-this-world numbers, any MLB team would take this kind of outing from their starter night in and night out.

The free-agent signing in the offseason by the Bucs is looking like a savvy acquisition and Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington has got to be patting himself on the back for this one. Add that to the signings of Russell Martin and Mark Melancon and somebody could be up for GM of the Year.

Sooner or later though, Liriano’s bound to shed his cloak of invisibility and get some recognition for bouncing back from two consecutive less-than-acceptable seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. Posting a 5.23 ERA in nearly 300 inning over the past two summers before coming to Pittsburgh, not too many teams had Liriano high on their priority list of pitchers, but the Pirates took a chance the 28 year-old left-hander could find some of the magic he had back in 2010 when he won 14 games, not to mention 2011 when he tossed a no-hitter. So far the gamble has paid off.

The Reds bopped two additional solo shots off in the eighth off reliever Bryan Morris for good measure in their ho-hum win in Game 1 of the important four-game series. The Pirates will have to step it up a notch in Game 2 against Reds’ starter Mat Latos if they want to avoid falling 2.5 games behind Cincinnati. Charlie Morton, in just his second start since coming back from Tommy John surgery, will try and turn the tide for the Pirates.

Happy Father's Day!

Today being Father’s Day, it’s only natural that I give out some fatherly advice.

The one hour and 27 minute rain delay before the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers afforded me such an opportunity. There’s nothing too complicated — just a few pointers inspired by a few glasses of my favorite beverage while waiting for the skies to clear.

You can thank me later, fellas. Some of it’s even baseball related.

Here we go:

Starling Marte… try not to look so tense out there. It makes me nervous.

Travis Snider… audition for future Spiderman parts.

Andrew McCutchen… always remember where you came from. Then forget it come game-time and just play like the god-like superstar you are.

Garret Jones… lay off the high one, son.

Russell Martin… try not to have so much fun out there, you’re making us all jealous.

Pedro Alvarez… my mom says smile more. And keep hitting the moon-shot dingers.

Neil Walker... vacation out of town.

Clint Barmes… consider a ballet career after baseball.

Gabby Sanchez… enjoy being a new daddy. Time flies.

Jordy Mercer… hire a new publicist.

Michael McKenry... petition to have Fort McHenry’s name changed.

Alex Presley… change your first name to Elvis, of course.

Jose Tabata… go easy on the carbs, and keep hitting the frozen-rope gappers.

Brandon Inge… start your own brand of Swedish meatballs. If Paul Newman can do it with spaghetti sauce, so can you.

AJ Burnett… never retire.

Gerrit Cole… never grow old.

Jeff Locke… grow a long full beard, a la Brian Wilson.

Tony Watson… stop being mistaken for Justin Wilson.

Justin Wilson… stop being mistaken for Tony Watson.

Marc Melancon… never go swimming in the shark tank.

Jason Grilli… forge your birth certificate to read 1988.

Charlie Morton, Wendy Rodriguez, James McDonald and Jeff Karstens… get well soon!

Pirates Look To Keep Momentum Going

Fresh off a 4-2 home stand, Pittsburgh Pirates will travel to Great American Ballpark on Monday to take on the division-rival Cincinnati Reds in what is shaping up to one of the most crucial series so far this season.

The Pirates want to keep the momentum going as they battle not just for second place in the Central division, but for first place in the wild card race. Tied for the top wild card spot with almost identical records (the Reds have one more win at 42-28), neither team wants to lose ground to the front-running St. Louis Cardinals.

More important to Pirates, they’ll be looking to establish their legitimacy as a serious playoff contender and proving that they’re not just another crash-and-burn version of the previous two summers’ teams. While it’s still a bit early for that scenario, the Pirates need to send a message to the Reds as well as the rest of the league that this year is going to be different.

Taking at least two games on the road in Cincinnati would go a long way to accomplishing that, if not just for their own psyche. The Pirates have proven capable road warriors so far, going 16-15 away from PNC Park, where their 25 home wins are most in both leagues.

Sweeping the Reds at home back in April, the Pirates recently lost two of three to the Redbirds in a heated series that once again involved Reds second basemen Brandon Phillips being hit by a pitch. Phillips was hit twice in that series, once after Andrew McCutchen was plunked, taking exception to what some thought was retaliation for the Pirates’ star being hit.

Last season, Phillips had a run-in with Pirates’ reliever Jared Hughes after being hit, tossing the baseball back to mound and having a few choice words with the fiery reliever that were allegedly racial in nature. Nothing came of it and the two have since seemingly patched up their differences, but there’s no doubt that a touch of bad blood still remains between the teams.

With another 13 games remaining to be played between the two teams, every game is big. The Pirates need to take care of business against their divisional opponents if they want to be serious playoff contenders this summer. This important four-game series gives them the opportunity. 

Cumpton Makes Good First Impression

It's said you only get one chance to make a first impression and Brandon Cumpton made good on his.

Cumpton sat on the bench by himself in the bottom half of the first inning, probably wondering how he just struck out the very first three big league hitters he ever faced in his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Not far removed from pitching in Double-A Altoona, the 24-year-old rookie right-hander from that little-known hotbed for college baseball the Georgia Institute of Technology, got a surprise spot-start for the recently-injured A.J. Burnett against the Los Angeles Dodgers and did not waste the opportunity to make a good first impression.

Cumpton could become a pleasant surprise this summer, as recent injuries have begun to nick up the Pirates’ starting pitchers, as James McDonald, Jeanmar Gomez, Wandy Rodriguez and now Burnett have all missed time.

While none of them appear to be too serious, the regular rhythm of the pitching rotation is definitely being upset and there is now talk of trading for another front-line established starter, in particular, Bud Norris of the Houston Astros. Cumpton could make that discussion irrelevant should the Pirates decide to give him another look or two. Why risk a trade if you have the a capable starter ready to step up?

Cumpton joins no less than 186 other major league baseball players that have attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, including the likes of Nomar Garciaparra and Mark Teixeira. And while Burnett doesn’t have to worry about becoming a latter-day version of Wally Pip, the Pirates have to be happy with what they saw.

Adding one more for good measure, Cumpton struck out the first four batters of his big league career and went on to toss five solid innings before faltering in the sixth and giving up the final two runs of the three he would allow.

Despite rallying to tie the game in the ninth on a solo blast by Travis Snider, the Pirates would eventually lose this one in 11 innings at the hands of a Jose Uribe‘s RBI single and a pinch-hit RBI double by Nick Punto. Leaving 13 runners on base and going just 1-13 with runners in scoring position, the Bucs couldn’t expect to win this one. It was an uphill battle all game though for the home team, and the Pirates just couldn’t climb it.

Pirates rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole is set to start the rubber match of the three-game series as the team hopes to finish their current homestand with a record of 4-2. Zach Grienke will take the mound for the Dodgers in the Sunday afternoon contest.

Pirates' Game Not Snack-Worthy

To semi-quote a line from the fictional Elaine Benes, “This game was not snack worthy.”

As I patiently waited for just the right inning to enjoy the Chex Party Mix I’d purchased earlier in the day, specifically for the evening’s Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants‘ contest, the Giants erupted for five runs in the seventh to add to their already seemingly insurmountable four-run lead. What made the initial lead seem insurmountable was the way Giants’ ace pitcher Matt Cain was setting them up and mowing them down. Allowing just a scratch single by Garrett Jones in the fifth, Cain was on his game and all of the sudden the previous eight and 12 run totals the Pirates had posted respectively in Games 1 and 2 of the series seemed like a distant memory. Needless to say, the unopened snack bag went back into the cupboard, to remain there until the next game, where hopefully it could be fully enjoyed.

This game was not snack worthy.

To put it simply, this was not the Pirates’ night. Even the PNC Park crowds’ rendition of the National Anthem was bad. The poster boy for the team’s dismal performance was pitcher Mike Zagurski, who came into the game with an ERA of 9.00. It did not go down. The newly appointed mop-up man pitched to nine batters, giving up five earned-runs on six hits to pretty much seal the Pirates’ fate. The Pirates’ bats were just as ineffective, managing just three hits total. The best thing that happened was the weather, as earlier rain and cloudy skies gave way to a beautiful sixty-degree night for baseball.

Pirates’ pitcher Charlie Morton, in just his first game back from Tommy John surgery, battled and scuffled for five innings, allowing four runs, of which only two were earned, on seven hits, while walking one. A questionable fielder’s interference call in the fifth on third baseman Pedro Alvarez during a rundown play between third and home cost Morton the two extra unearned runs in his last frame of work and set the tone for the evening. Replays showed Giants’ baserunner Brandon Crawford was out of the base path as he made slight contact with Alvarez in trying to juke his way around him back to the third base bag. Alvarez could only watch as 3B umpire Marvin Hudson sent Crawford home on a fielder’s interference with which would have been the second out of the inning and would have prevented the next batter’s fly ball from turning into a sacrifice fly to plate the Giants fourth run. Morton was rusty, hitting three batters and allowing at least one base runner every inning, but seemed to get more comfortable as the game went on.

Still, despite the 10-0 whipping by the Giants, the Pirates did end up winning the series from last year’s World Series’ champs; and as the old Meatloaf song goes, two outta three ain’t bad.

The Invisible Man

When was the last time a starting pitching with an ERA of 1.75 and a 4-2 record has been virtually ignored by the fans, sports media and baseball world in general?

Franciso Liriano is the invisible man.

After signing the former Minnesota Twin as a free agent this past winter, the Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping the former 2010 AL Comeback Player of the Year, who would also toss a no-hitter one year later, would regain his former prowess and become a competent starter in the Pirates’ rotation this year. Despite a freak non-throwing arm injury just before the winter signing that cost him more than a month’s pitching time to start the season, not to mention a better contract deal, Liriano has done much more than that, arguably pitching some of the best baseball of his spotted seven-year pitching career. But who’s noticing?

With the emergence of the Pirates’ pitching staff as one of the best in the game, culminating with first-round pick Gerrit Cole‘s recent much-anticipated MLB pitching debut, Liriano has almost been an afterthought. Despite having one of his least-effective outings and allowing four earned-runs in six innings work in game two of a hitter’s parade against the San Francisco Giants won by the Pirates 12-8 Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, Liriano has been pitching lights out. Until the aforementioned sub-par, yet still-winning performance, only once had Liriano allowed more than one run in game he’d started. Yet, hardly a peep gets peeped when the team’s pitching gets mentioned, despite his now notching his fifth win in just seven starts. Also, the 29-year-old left-hander from the Dominican Republic has not allowed a homerun this season; a problem that more-often-than-not plagued him during his Twins’ pitching days.

Perhaps the anonymity has helped Liriano’s performance. For much of his time with Minnesota, he was expected to be “the man”, the stopper, the ace of the staff. With the pitchers the Pirates have now, he’s just “one the guys”, there’s no pressure to carry the team, he’s free to be himself.

Francisco Liriano is the invisible man.

I’m sure he and the Pirates are just fine with that. I mean, who can hit an invisible man’s pitches?

Gerrit Cole Delivers

The sign in the stands read “Gerrit Cole For President!”

After pitching six-plus solid innings in his 2013 major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates that included retiring 13 batters in a row and knocking in two runs with a single in his very first major league at-bat, Gerrit Cole can do whatever he wants in Pittsburgh.

The 22-year-old immediately became a fan favorite before even taking the field as the normal meager Tuesday night crowd swelled to 30 thousand-plus to watch the rookie pitcher lead the Pirates to an 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Manager Clint Hurdle set the tone just before the game when he said, “He’s (Cole) going to make a difference here.”

That he did. The energy level in the stadium was off the charts as Cole took the mound for his warm-up pitches. It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare him to Roger Clemons in size, as well as demeanor. The Pirate faithful hope the similarities don’t end there and translate into the same level of performance. That remains to be seen, but the bar has been set.

Striking out the first big league batter he ever faced on three consecutive mid to high-90 mph fastballs, Cole turned on the mound and grimaced after lead-off hitter Gregor Blanco waved at the last heater, as if to say, “see, I told you I belong here!” Displeased after being sent to AAA to start the year for more seasoning, the same determined expression crossed his face after he singled in the bottom of the second inning to give his team an early 2-0. ”See, I told you I belong here!”

So he does. Cole won’t be going anywhere except to his new Pittsburgh living arrangements as he awaits his next start this Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pitching before a group of 20 or so family and friends in the stands that included his mother, Cole pounded the bottom of the strike zone consistently with fastball after fastball, keeping the Giants’ hitters uncomfortable and on the defensive for most of the game. While giving up seven hits, as well as getting nicked for two runs in the seventh, Cole energized the crowd as well as his teammates, who played stellar defense while banging out 12 hits, including two homers.

All and all, it was a more than successful debut for a projected number-one pitcher and a city hungry for a winner.

The Barmes Question

One thing is for sure, Clint Barmes can play shortstop. There’s no doubt about that.

The question is, like many players at his position, is his glove worth his bat?

With the exception of catcher, shortstop at the major league level may be the most demanding everyday position on the field. Pitchers are in a category all by themselves, and they don’t play everyday. It takes more than just a strong arm and a solid glove to excel at short. In addition to those prerequisites, athleticism, instincts, experience and leadership all play a role in making a good defensive shortstop, and it’s obvious from watching Barmes apply his trade day in and day out that he has everything he needs to elevate his fielding game above the average everyday Joes.

But damn, the guy just can’t hit. With a .220 average as a two-year Pirate so far, it seems much of the time, Barmes battles just to stay above the proverbial Mendoza Line. A hot streak here and there is the only thing that seems to keep his batting average above the .200 mark.

No doubt hitting a baseball at the major league level is like trying to catch a fart in a wind tunnel for the rest of us, but there has to be a certain level of performance, a line of acceptance for a big league hitter. Before modern expansion, anything below the .200 mark would most likely get you sent back down to the minors, let alone allow you to be in the starting lineup. Times change though, and the bar for acceptable plate performance changes with it. Barmes certainly tests that bar in any era. So for all his great play out there in the field, the question remains; does it translate into more wins for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Backup shortstop Jordy Mercer‘s stellar play of late, especially at the plate, has raised some eyebrows and spurred many Pirate fans to push for his insertion in the everyday starting lineup. Mercer’s a better hitter, but it’s doubtful he could pull off the same percentage of difficult plays Barmes seems to make look so easy night after night out there.

Were the Pirates presenting a more formidable offensive lineup  (and it still may turn out they will), Barmes is your man. The 1927 Yankees (110-44!) could afford to have Mario Mendoza himself out there at shortstop and still win. Though they had Mark Koenig, a pretty good hitter himself in his day. But hey, that’s why they were the ’27 Yankees! The current typical Pirates’ offensive output over the last two seasons calls into question how long they can afford a great-field no-hit shortstop and expect to advance to the next level of postseason play.

Sabermetrics, as wonderful of a tool as it is, can’t really solve the debate. How do you measure a two-out diving, impossible backhand stop in the bottom of the 12th in Game 7 of a pressure-cooked World Series that keeps the tying run from scoring after you just went 0-5 at the plate? You can’t measure (or predict) intangibles like that.

The only way to find out is to make the move and see what happens. Give Mercer a shot as the everyday shortstop. There are no guarantees out there, and hindsight is always 20/20. But the Pirates need more offense, and that is obvious to anyone watching them struggle nightly to put more than a few runs on the board. Perhaps moving Mercer into the starting role at short is the right move now. Barmes can still come in as a defensive replacement in the late innings.

One thing is for sure, Clint Barmes can play shortstop. There’s no doubt about that.