TIOPS ROUNDUP
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Brewers Sweep Pirates
“We got out-hit, we got out-pitched, [we got] out-defended,” Manager Clint Hurdle said of the Pirates being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Francisco Liriano struggled with his command, allowing 7 hits, 4 earned runs and 5 walks over five innings. The Pirates had won Liriano’s previous 11 starts.
The Pirates fell behind 4-1 in the sixth but battled back with a two-run seventh on RBIs from Jordy Mercer and Jung Ho Kang. Domingo Santana’s solo home run in the eighth sunk the Pirates.
Pittsburgh played without Andrew McCutchen who is dealing with Achilles tightness.
St. Louis leads the Pirates by 6.5 games going into Friday’s three game series.
Panthers 23 – Steelers 6
The Carolina Panthers racked up 451 yards to the Steelers 191, en route to a 23-6 win on Thursday night.
“We didn’t win the line of scrimmage tonight,” Mike Tomlin said.
Three young offensive linemen were injured in the loss.
Kelvin Palmer (knee), Mitchell Van Dyk (ankle) and B.J. Finney (ankle). All three are being evaluated. Palmer is believed to have torn his ACL.
The Steelers lack of talent outside the top 15-18 players has showed in a big way in camp and that continued tonight.
The Steelers will be actively monitoring the waiver wire as they transition tomorrow to preparing for the Patriots.
“Excited to quickly transition tomorrow,” Tomlin said.
The most interesting battle as the Steelers get down to the final 53 is the punting battle.
Jordan Berry has made a late charge and punted five times tonight, averaging 50.6 yards per punt, including a long of 57.
“Been really impressed with the punting battle. Going to be a tough decision for us,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin praised fullback Roosevelt Nix for a splash play on special teams.
The Steelers finished the preseason with one interception. Kevin Fogg dropped one tonight.
Michael Vick started and was sacked three times as he was under pressure for the most of the night during the action he saw in the first half.
Landry Jones replaced Vick late in the second quarter. Jones was 9/11 for 147 yards, leading the Steelers on two scoring drives.
Jones biggest throws of the night was a 42 yard pass to Sammie Coates and connecting with Jarrod West on a 46 yard gain.
Josh Scobee was 2-for-2 on field goals, both from 27 yards.
TIOPS TOP-35 DAILY PROSPECTS TRACKER….Bell has 2 RBI night, Heredia throws 5.2 shutout innings, Eppler struggles in AA debut
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