OnlyBucs

He kind of grimaced after he swung and missed in a pitch to and the fourth.

Not good at all. But I wonder, where are the bats tonight?

HUGE win.



Can't believe they're 3-1 on THIS trip.



Incredible pitching tonight, of all things, and I can't remember Vasquez getting a 6-out save before. And he was straight dealing ...



And Newman. Wow. Just wow ...

What a nice win tonight for the Pirates to keep this nice streak of wins going. The Pirates have now won 7 of their last 8 games and 9 of their last 12 and are now within 4 games of the 1st place Cubs and 3 games of a wildcard spot. Why can’t Clint do what he did tonight more often pitch Vazquez two innings occasionally and win the game. He threw a little over 20 pitches but so what he was lights out especially in the 8th inning striking out Grandal Yelich and Moustakas. Again though great win for the Pirates lets keep it going. Things are starting to get very interesting here as we close out June and head into July next week.

Archer left with hip discomfort.  I feel like we have some depth with Agrazal so I'm not too worried if he has to miss a couple starts.

51766763667B44706766667B020 wrote: What a nice win tonight for the Pirates to keep this nice streak of wins going. The Pirates have now won 7 of their last 8 games and 9 of their last 12 and are now within 4 games  of the 1st place Cubs and 3 games of a wildcard spot. Why can’t Clint do what he did tonight more often pitch Vazquez two innings occasionally and win the game. He threw a little over 20 pitches but so what he was lights out especially in the 8th inning striking out Grandal Yelich and Moustakas. Again though great win for the Pirates lets keep it going. Things are starting to get very interesting here as we close out June and head into July next week.


He just needs to pull Archer after 4 more often.

6461666068627B666F7C7A770E0 wrote: Archer left with hip discomfort.  I feel like we have some depth with Agrazal so I'm not too worried if he has to miss a couple starts.
The way the rotation is lining up Archer’s turn should be Wednesday vs the Cubs. They could IL him and have Agrazal or Keller spot start, and then if he is ready activate him after the All Star Break. He would only miss one start, and he would have a couple weeks to recover from the injury.

At the considerable risk of jinxing him, Rodriguez has not given up a run in June (12 games, 12.1 IP).



Bucs looked like a very good team yesterday. No team is going to score big every game but they came back from 2-1 to tie in the 8th and took advantage of a mistake in the 9th when Jeffress made a bad decision to go for a DP instead of cutting down the go ahead run at the plate to take the lead. Hurdle did the right thing in going with his best reliever to shut the door in the 8th and 9th. Saves don't matter. Wins matter. Too often Hurdle risks losing the game before the 9th to keep alive the possibility of a save for Vazquez. But he made the right decision last night.



Seems like everyone is contributing now. The lineup has no weak spot (with Polanco out). Newman & Reynolds are setting the table for Marte, Bell, Moran and Dickerson. What a luxury to have Dickerson hitting lower in the order without sacrificing what he can bring to a higher spot, as others are capable of providing that. Diaz is a reliable hitter as is Frazier and Stallings is becoming a valuable asset as he can give Diaz a breather without skipping a beat. Greg Brown mentioned last night that Cervelli has been taking grounders at 2B and 3B before starting a rehab. That bodes well for Stallings.

The Bucs were fine with Chris Stewart as back up catcher. He only hit one homer with the team in 4 seasons and batted 250, I think Stallings has a good chance of bettering Stewart.