Despite splitting a series over the weekend against the first place Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates are not playing their best baseball.  While the pitching has been tremendous lately, the offense has been non-existent.  Unfortunately, that trend continued for Pittsburgh tonight, as they lost yet another 1-0 game, this time to the Atlanta Braves.

Chris Archer started for Pittsburgh tonight, giving up one run on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts in four innings of work.  He would have lasted longer, but he was pulled after pitching the top of the fourth with left leg discomfort.  He appeared to injure his leg while at bat in the bottom of the third.  After pitching the top of the fourth, he was relieved by Steven Brault, who pitched two scoreless innings.

The Pirates offe...

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If you are a fan of offense, this four-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs was one you could have passed on.  Over the four games the teams combined to score a total of nine runs.  The largest margin of victory came in the Pittsburgh win Saturday night when they outscored Chicago by two runs.  The series finale today would take eleven innings to finish and in the end the Pirates would come away with a 2-1 victory and earn a series split with their division rival.

Pitching was the story once again today and both starters looked very good on the mound.  Jameson Taillon worked six innings and allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.  That lone run came in the second when Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run over the Clemente Wall.

The Cubs...

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For the third straight night, the starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates held the Chicago Cubs in offense in check.  The difference tonight was that the Bucs’ offense actually scored some runs.  The result was a 3-1 victory for Joe Musgrove and the Pirates.

Musgrove was solid tonight, giving up one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.  He won his fifth game of the season, lowering his ERA to 3.31.

The Pirates scored three runs in the second inning, which turned out to be all they would need.  Adam Frazier’s double scored Josh Bell for the game’s first run.  The next two runs scored were manufactured, including Colin Moran’s groundout and Adeiny Hechavarria’s sacrifice fly.  The Bucs led 3-0 after two innings.

The Cubs scored their lone run o...

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After a disappointing end to their road trip, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned home to PNC Park for the beginning of a crucial home stand against the Chicago Cubs.  Two games in against the N.L. Central division leaders, and the Pirates haven’t even scored a run.  On Friday night, it was Cole Hamels who they Bucs couldn’t solve, as they fell 1-0 for the second consecutive night.

The Pirates managed seven hits on Friday, but also had three errors and they couldn’t get a that one key hit at a critical time to get on the board.  Hamels gave up five hits and walked two in seven innings of work.  The Cubs used four relievers to finish off the Bucs in the final two innings of the game.

Trevor Williams pitched another solid game on Friday, giving up one run on four hits in seven innings...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates entered tonight on a three-game losing streak and welcomed the Chicago Cubs to town for a four-game series.  Pittsburgh had played well against Chicago earlier in the season, but the Cubs have been getting the best of the Pirates as of late and that trend continued tonight when they defeated the Buccos 1-0.

Pitching is what dominated this game.  Pittsburgh sent Ivan Nova to the mound and he would work 6.2 innings.  He would allow one run on seven hits to go with three strikeouts.  That lone run was a solo home run from Ian Happ in the fourth inning.  Richard Rodriguez lasted 1.1 innings and would strikeout all four batters that he faced.  Felipe Vazquez worked the ninth and walked one batter, without allowing a run.

Chicago had Jon Lester start for them and he ...

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.500?  Would we all be happy with a .500 record at the conclusion of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates?  I know I would be, considering I thought this was a 65-win ball club coming into the season.  It appears that is the only question left to answer with a month and a half left to go in the season.  Pittsburgh gave us all a little bit of hope with an 11-game win streak and two trades that appeared to improve the roster, but that all seems to have come crashing down in August.

The Pirates record for the month dropped to 5-8 after being swept by the Minnesota Twins today by the final of 6-4.  The Buccos needed a win today to complete a winning road trip, instead they are left to wonder what might have been.

Chris Archer was on the bump today and once again showed that while he may ...

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After splitting a four game series against the San Francisco Giants, the Pittsburgh Pirates are wrapping up their road trip with a quick two game series against the Minnesota Twins.  Despite building an early lead tonight, the Bucs gave up three runs in the fourth inning, which would prove to be the difference in a 5-2 loss at Target Field.

Jameson Taillon started for Pittsburgh tonight, battling his way through six innings while giving up three runs on seven hits.  His mound opponent, Jake Odorizzi, gave up two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings of work.

The Pirates took the lead with a pair of runs in the second inning.  A double by Francisco Cervelli scored David Freese for the game’s first run.  Later in the inning, Colin Moran grounded out, allowing Josh Bell to score to make it a...

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The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up a four-game series with the San Francisco Giants today and fell short in their bid for a series win.  Pittsburgh would get down in a hole, make a comeback, but fall short in a 4-3 loss to finish off this series with a split.  The Pirates needed this one today as they try to maintain pace in the NL Wild Card race.

The Buccos had the lead early when Elias Diaz hit an RBI double to left that scored Josh Bell.  San Francisco tied the game up in the third inning and took the lead for good when they scored two runs in the fourth.  An insurance run for the Giants in the sixth proved to be much needed after Starling Marte would drive in two runs on a double to right in the eighth inning.  Unfortunately for Pittsburgh that is as far as the rally would go.

Joe ...

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After a disappointing 13-10 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates desperately needed a strong pitching performance on Saturday.  Trevor Williams delivered for the Bucs in the third game of the weekend series, tossing seven shutout innings as the Pirates beat the Giants by a 4-0 score.

Williams was dominant tonight, earning his tenth victory of the season after giving up just five hits and one walk in seven innings of work.  Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez each pitched a scoreless inning of relief on the night.

The Pirates didn’t need a lot of offense tonight, but they got more than enough in the third and fourth innings.  A sacrifice fly by Corey Dickerson in the third scored Josh Harrison to put the Bucs on the board at 1-0...

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There was some controversy prior to the start of tonight’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants.  Clint Hurdle decided to call up starting pitcher Clay Holmes from AAA to take the mound tonight.  The move was to give the starting rotation an extra day off, but in the middle of trying to lock up a playoff spot the better move would be to send out one of your top five pitchers every day.  The move would back fire for sure in a 13-10 Pittsburgh loss.

Holmes looked bad from the start of this game.  Andrew McCutchen would lead the game off with a solo home run to right field.  San Francisco would score two more runs in the inning and then four more in the third before Holmes night was officially over.  He would only pitch 2...

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