The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals wrapped up their three-game series this afternoon at Busch Stadium.  St. Louis took game one, while Pittsburgh rebounded last night to even up this series.  A win for either team today would be big in the tight N.L. Central Division race.  In the end it would come down to one swing of the bat by Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh inning.

The Pirates struck first today when Starling Marte hit a solo home run in the top of the first.  The Cardinals would quickly answer in the bottom half of the inning when Tyler O’Neill hit an RBI single to right.  Jose Martinez gave St. Louis a one run lead in the second with a sac fly to right.  The Buccos plated three runs in the fourth and it started with Chris Archer...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates earned their first victory since the All Star Break with a hard fought 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night.

Dario Agrazal started for Pittsburgh, giving up one run on five hits with three walks in six innings of work.  Richard Rodriguez and Francisco Liriano pitched an inning of scoreless baseball each, setting the table for Felipe Vazquez to earn his 21st save of the season by shutting things down in the ninth.

The Pirates struggled against starter Jack Flaherty, who gave up one run on three hits in seven innings, but they were able to rally against Carlos Martinez, who took the loss after giving up a pair of runs on a two hits and a walk in the ninth inning.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when Kevin...

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After being swept by the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates entered the day 5.5 games out of first place in the Central Division and 3.5 games out of the Wild Card.  Though they aren’t out of the race for a playoff spot, every game prior to the July 31^st trade deadline would hold a little more weight in determining their 2019 fate.  The first of those sixteen games prior to the deadline would be against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Their current trend of losing to divisional foes would continue tonight.  Pittsburgh made a slew of costly mental errors on defense and the base paths, the offense never strung together any meaningful hits, and the pitching was sub-par to say the least.  In the end it would be St...

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This was certainly not the start to the second half of the season we were envisioning as Pittsburgh Pirates fans.  Finishing up strong before the All Star break had some optimism floating around the Steel City; Unfortunately, though, the Pirates lost their third straight game to the Chicago Cubs this weekend with an 8-3 loss at Wrigley Field this afternoon.

Trevor Williams struggled today, and the Cubs offense stayed hot as they have been all weekend.  The Pirates’ right hander gave up 8 runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings of work, ballooning his ERA to 5.17 on the season.

Chicago took the early lead with a RBI double by Robel Garcia, making it 1-0 in the second inning.  The Pirates responded, though, with three runs in the top of the third.  A single by Bryan Reynolds, a sacrifice fly by...

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The second half of the season could not have gotten off too much worse of a start for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  One day after wasting a great pitching performance by Chris Archer, Jordan Lyles would get blasted for seven runs in only .2 innings on the mound today against the Chicago Cubs, in his first start since Chicago rocked him back on July 4^th.

Lyles final stat line was seven runs allowed on four hits to go with two strikeouts and four walks.  He started the season off well, but ever since mid-May Lyles has been a liability when on the bump.  Anthony Rizzo got things started for the Cubs when he laced an RBI single to left center field.  The first of five home runs hit today came off the bat of Wilson Contreras, a three-run homer.  Chicago starter Jon Lester helped his cause by pl...

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After a four day break, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned to action this afternoon against their division rival Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.  Strong starting pitching from both sides dominated early with a flurry of runs in the late innings resulted in a 4-3 victory for the Cubs.

Yu Darvish got the better of Chris Archer this afternoon, giving up two hits while striking out eight in six innings of work.  Archer gave up three runs on three hits while striking out ten batters in six innings.

The game was scoreless through 6.5 innings, until Kris Bryant stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and hit a solo homerun, his 18^th of the season, to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.  A sacrifice fly by Robel Garcia and bases loaded walk to David Bote, and the Cubs led 3-0 after seven.

As has be...

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Today marked the unofficial end of the first half of the baseball season.  In the National League Central Division nothing has been claimed up to this point.  All five teams are in the mix, with the last place Cincinnati Reds only 4.5 games behind the division leading Chicago Cubs.  The Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers closed out a three-game series today, with the winner taking two of the three games.  Division games always hold a little bit more importance and today was just the same.

Joe Musgrove made the start for Pittsburgh today and worked a solid six innings on the mound.  He would allow three runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.  All three of those runs came off the bat of Jesus Aguilar, as he connected on a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run home r...

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Despite losing to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates showed just how potent and explosive their offense could be, scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.  On Saturday, that trend continued, as the Bucs destroyed Milwaukee pitching on their way to a 12-2 victory at PNC Park.

The Pirates tallied 17 total hits, led by Colin Moran and Kevin Newman with four hits each.  Dario Agrazal earned his second victory of the season (2-0), giving up two runs on five hits in six innings of work.

After giving up a run in the top of the first inning, the Pirates took the lead right back and held on to that lead for the rest of the game.  Moran’s single tied the game, and a ground rule double by Corey Dickerson gave the Bucs a 2-1 lead...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates began their final series before the All-Star tonight when they hosted the Milwaukee Brewers for the first of three games.  Milwaukee has owned Pittsburgh this season, but the games have been tight for the most part.  That would be the same tonight, as this game looked like it would be a Brewers blow out before the Pirates rallied and then fell short 7-6 in ten innings.

Steven Brault made the start tonight, but would leave after four innings of work with shoulder discomfort.  The Buccos looked like the finally had a solid five-man rotation going after getting Jordan Lyles back a week ago, but depending on the seriousness of this injury, Pittsburgh could be scrambling for a fifth man in the rotation...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates played very well this series against the Chicago Cubs.  It’s difficult to sweep a team, though, especially in a four game series, and especially against a good team.  The Cubs’ offense took over this afternoon at PNC Park, beating the Pirates by an 11-3 score.

Jordan Lyles started for Pittsburgh today, giving up seven runs on ten hits in four innings of work.  Jose Quintana earned his sixth win of the year, giving up three runs on six hits in seven innings.

Homeruns by Kris Bryant and Albert Almora made it 2-0 early, but the Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the second inning on a double by Jung Ho Kang and a sacrifice fly by Elias Diaz.

After falling behind again in the third, the Pirates tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Josh Bell.  Unfortunately, thi...

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