This weekend’s Keystone State series pitted two of the more surprising teams in Major League Baseball so far this season.  Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies had overachieved to that point, so it would be interesting to see how this weekend played out on the field.  Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the Phillies looked like the better team in every facet of the game, as they capped off a four game series sweep with a 3-2 victory in 11 innings this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Trevor Williams and Nick Pivetta both pitched well for their respective teams.  Williams gave up two runs on one hit with five walks and seven strikeouts.  The free passes continue to be an issue for Williams, who has been struggling to go deep into games due to pitch count...

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During this past offseason we all heard about how the Pittsburgh Pirates did nothing to make their team any better from 2017.  A losing record during spring training did nothing to ease that news, but the team would get off to a hot start during the first two weeks of the current campaign.  However, for the past week it looks like the team that was predicted to be in the 2018 Pittsburgh uniforms has finally shown up.

Bad nights from either the starting pitching, offense, defense, the bullpen, or a combo of the four, has seen this team post a 3-6 record in the last nine games.  This was after starting the season 9-3.  Today’s offenders for the 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies came down to the offense and the bullpen.

The Pirates would strike first when Sean Rodriguez hit a solo h...

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Through the first couple weeks of the 2018 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were at or near the top of every offensive category.  But so far in this weekend’s four game series, they are struggling to score runs.  Tonight, it was more of the same, as they lost 2-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Pirates couldn’t solve Ben Lively tonight, as he gave up just one run on five hits through six innings.  The Philadelphia bullpen pitched three innings of scoreless baseball.  Ivan Nova started for Pittsburgh, and was equally as effective as his mound opponent, giving up one run on five hits in six innings.  Michael Feliz pitched a scoreless inning, and George Kontos took the loss (1-2) by giving up a run on two hits in the eighth inning.

After five innings of scoreless baseball, the Pirate...

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One day after the Pittsburgh Pirates offense showed signs of life, they quickly plummeted back to earth tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies.  An awful night from the usually reliable Jameson Taillon made this night even tougher.  In the end Philadelphia would come away with a 7-0 victory to open up this four-game series between the Keystone State rivals.

After a scoreless first inning, the Phillies jumped all over Taillon in the second.  It all started with a Rhys Hoskins solo home run.  Later in the inning Cesar Hernandez would clear the bases on a RBI single to center.  There seemed to be some confusion by Jordy Mercer and Adam Frazier as to who the cutoff man was on this play, since both stood around second base.  Odubel Herrera would finish off the inning with a RBI single ...

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After struggling to score the past couple nights at PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates entered this afternoon’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies looking to avoid their first three-game sweep of the season.  Today, despite some of their best hitters having the day off, the Pirates offense erupted and they got a strong performance from Chad Kuhl on the mound as they avoided the series sweep with a 10-2 victory over the Rockies.

Kuhl started for Pittsburgh today and faced a tough task against the red-hot Rockies offense.  But after a slow start to the season, Kuhl pitched well today, giving up one run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings of work.

Chris Iannetta’s solo homerun in the top of the third made it a 1-0 game early, but the Rockies’ lead woul...

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It was another cold blistery night at PNC Park tonight and the Pittsburgh Pirates offense looked to be just as cold.  After the team got off to a hot start they have cooled off these past few games, with tonight being the first time they would be shutout.  After the 27^th out the Colorado Rockies would come away with a 2-0 victory.

Trevor Williams pitched well tonight over the course of his six innings.  He would allow two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.  The first of those runs came on a Carlos Gonzalez fielder’s choice.  Run number two came on a Ryan McMahon RBI single to shallow leftfield.  Both runs that crossed the plate reached base via the walk.

Pittsburgh would only muster five hits tonight with Jordy Mercer leading the way with two...

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After a successful 4-2 road trip against the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned home for a brief three game series against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park.  Unfortunately, for the second consecutive series, the Pirates didn’t play their first baseball in the first game, losing tonight to the Rockies by a 6-2 score.

Steven Brault started for Pittsburgh tonight and had to work hard to get through his six innings.  He gave up five runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout.  Tyler Glasnow gave up a run on one hit, one walk and one strikeout in two innings.  German Marquez was solid for Colorado tonight, giving up two runs on two hits in six innings of work.

The Rockies jumped all over Brault immediately to start the game.  After DJ LeMahieu drew a le...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates offense had cooled off in the hot south Florida weather these past two nights, but their final day in the sunshine state would see the bats heat up again.  That, along with a solid outing from Ivan Nova, would lead Pittsburgh to a 7-3 victory over the Miami Marlins and give them their fourth series win of the young season.

Nova pitched 6.2 innings today and allowed three runs on six hits to go with nine strikeouts and zero walks.  That kind of stat line is what we saw out of him when he first came over to the Pirates.  The first run would come on a Brian Anderson ground out that plated JB Shuck.  A two-run homer from Justin Bour in the seventh would end the day for Nova.

The Buccos would have a bit of a scare in the third when Josh Harrison was plunked by a pitch...

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One of the keys to the early success of this year’s Pittsburgh Pirates team has been the red-hot offense.  The team has been hitting from top to bottom, making it a nightmare for opposing pitching staffs.  But after a strong showing this past week in Chicago, the Bucs have struggled to score runs against the Miami Marlins.  And while that trend continued in tonight’s game, Jameson Taillon and the Pirates did JUST enough to come away with a narrow 1-0 victory.

Pittsburgh managed just five hits tonight, with three of them coming in the final inning of the game.  With one out in the ninth, Starling Marte reached first on a bunt single.  Josh Bell singled next with a sharp ground ball just past Starlin Castro, putting runners on first and third.  Corey Dickerson then stepped to the p...

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The average temperature for the first 12 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates this year has been below 40 degrees.  That all changed tonight when they headed to South Florida to take on the Miami Marlins for a three-game series.  Maybe it was the nice weather, or it could have been the fact that it was Friday the 13^th, but Pittsburgh was very sloppy in the field and not very productive at the plate tonight.  They would drop game one by the final of 7-2.

Chad Kuhl took the mound for the Pirates tonight and was not very efficient from the start.  He would allow five runs, four earned, over the course of the five innings he pitched.  To go along with that line, he gave up eleven hits with two strikeouts and one walk...

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