Pirates/MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates
TIOPS MORNING BUZZ
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Gerrit Cole threw seven shutout innings and Aramis Ramirez, Starling Marte, Sean Rodriguez all homered, leading the Pirates to a 7-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday night.
The Pirates in taking two out of three from St. Louis, trail the NL leading Cardinals by 5.5 games.
Pittsburgh combined to score 16 runs and had 30 hits in their two victories vs the Cardinals. The teams are 8-8 vs each other this season.
The biggest development of the night for the Pirates was Cole who allowed two hits and no runs in seven shutout innings. Cole fanned seven and walked three.
From a mental standpoint Cole needed this night more than anything.
Cole’s mental toughness showed up in the first inning. After two quick outs, Cole walked Jhonny Peralta and Jayson Heyward with two outs and started to look a bit rattled, falling behind 3-1 to Yadier Molina. Cole, though, would get Molina to flyout and settled in from there, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters.
Cole would later impact the game with his bat, driving in his first run of the season with a two-out single over second baseman Kolten Wong in the seventh.
MORE BUZZ
— Cole came into the game with a 4.11 ERA when Francisco Cervelli caught Cole this season. Cervelli caught Cole Sunday night and added two hits.
— The Pirates best utility player of late…..Sean Rodriguez not Josh Harrison. Rodriguez went 6-7 in the series with 3 RBIs and is hitting .320 since the All-Star break.
— Aramis Ramirez was 2-3, hitting his 16th home run of the season. Ramirez has 4 home runs and 9 RBIs over his last six starts at third base.
— A.J. Burnett (elbow), who hasn’t pitched since July 30, is expected to return to the rotation as on Wednesday…..1B Travis Ishikawa (back) is expected to come off the disabled list today.
— Jeff Locke (7-9, 4.66 ERA) starts today vs Cincinnati. Locke is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in his first three starts against the Reds
TIOPS PROSPECTS TRACKER
— Top prospect Tyler Glasnow was dominant vs Louisville, allowing six hits and one run over 7 1/3 innings. Glasnow struck out eight and walked none. It was the first time Glasnow worked into the eighth inning in his Triple-A career.
— Josh Bell upped his average to .359 with a 2-run triple in the ninth inning.
— Austin Meadows was 2-3 with a triple, double, and is hitting .368 in Double-AA
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Last 30 games:
Kang .255, 6HR, 17RBI, .786OPS, (.964F% @SS for yr)
Mercer .307, 0HR, 9RBI, .731OPS, (.983F% @SS for yr)
If he stays healthy, Kang should hit 25 dingers next year as he gets more comfortable with MLB pitchers.
Say good things for the health of pitchers Taillon, Kingham, Glasnow, Tarpley, Roth, Eppley, and Brault. They are the future of this club in a division where pitching is King.
Dk’s article on Hurdle being smarter than stupid Pittsburgh fans was a classic.
Not so sure about that… Kang has the bigger bat…. For sure. However the Pirates love Mercer’s defense and he is hitting over .300 since returning. Kang, on the other hand looks like he COULD (not is) be slowing and tiring a bit. Keep in mind Kang has never played this many games.
Locke pitching today just took any excitement I had for this game, and stepped all over it!
This is one of the absolute biggest series of the season. For 2 reasons….. It’s a bad team that the Pirates should beat. And it occurs while Chicago and St Louis are playing. Win and we either gain more ground on St Louis, making the middle-end of September REAL fun!! Or win and separate ourselves further from the Cubs making the new unofficial home of the Wild Card….. Pittsburgh. I much prefer we and Chicago sweep the series respectfully!
The A squad, In my opinion, should consist of
Polonco
Marte
McCutchen
Ramirez
Walker
Alverez
Cervelli
Mercer
Harrison, Kang, Rodriquez, Stewart, Morse, Snider, should be the bench when lineups retract again. That leaves room for, I guess 11 pitchers?…. Does that sound right? I think playoff rosters are 25 man…. Correct?
Kang>Mercer
Mercer hitting over .300 since return and offers much better defense. Both are very good options.
Very pleased with Rodriguez! He looked like a busted trade deal in first half but has really turned it on of late….. Right when he needs to, when it matters…. Good for you Sean! There should be little doubt right now, that A-Ram needs to start at third down the stretch. He has looked great at the plate and is turning in some beautiful defense. He is that seasoned professional hitter that makes the middle of the order much more potent. No disrespect to Kang, he has looked quite nice most of the season as well. However he is in… Read more »
Anyone wanna do a live auction nhl draft
This is what happens when stewart doesn’t catch. Stewart needs to catch.