Pedro Alvarez to make debut at first base tonight

Pedro Alvarez will make his first career appearance at first base tonight vs the Atlanta Braves. Alvarez who leads the Major Leagues with 25 errors, had another costly throwing error Sunday vs the Washington Nationals. Alvarez has over 4,700 innings defensively and has never played a position other than third base. Alvarez making the start at first puts Ike Davis on the bench tonight. Pirates Lineup vs Braves 1. Gregory Polanco, RF 2. Josh Harrison, SS 3. Neil Walker, 2B 4. Russell Martin, C 5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 6. Starling Marte, CF 7. Travis Snider, LF 8. Brent Morel, 3B 9. Vance Worley, P

Alvarez flashes his power, under-rated ability on the bases in 12-2 win over Cardinals

PIRATES 12 – CARDINALS 2 Win: Gerrit Cole (1-0) Loss: Shelby  Miller (0-1) Around the Bases  The Pirates (3-1) bats were awaken Friday night in a 12-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. (2-2) Pittsburgh managed 16 hits and Pedro Alvarez was the catalyst. Alvarez homered twice, an opposite field solo homer in the 2nd and homered to center in the 4th for his 8th career multi home run game. It wasn’t Alvarez’s ability at the plate that stood out the most. It was his athletic ability as he truly doesn’t get enough credit for how good of an athlete he is. It all started in the 6th inning with the Pirates leading just 3-2. Alvarez beat out a double

Alvarez knocks in RBIs 84 and 85 on the season

Pedro Alvarez (.235 – 31 HR – 85 RBI) had his bat going Thursday night vs the Giants. Alvarez went 2-5 with 2 RBIs and 2 doubles. Alvarez hit a ground rule double off Matt Cain in the 3rd then hit a 2-run double in the 5th off lefty Guillermo Moscoso scoring Jose Tabata and Neil Walker. The 2-run double was RBIs No. 84 and 85 on the season for Alvarez. Alvarez 4th in the NL and tied for 1st in home runs, is on pace for a 40 home run, 108 RBI season.

Morning Pirates Buzz: Alvarez shows game changing ability vs Cards & some trade chatter

MORNING PIRATES BUZZ Francisco Liriano (11-4, 2.16 ERA) pitched seven dominant innings and Pedro Alvarez belted his NL-leading 27th home run of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates (62-42) beat the St. Louis Cardinals (62-41) 9-2 on Monday night to pull within a half game of the Cardinals for the NL Central lead. It was a big night for the Pirates as they also moved 4.5 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds (59-48) for the top wildcard spot. Liriano allowed 1 run over seven innings, striking out 8 and walking 2 to improve to 11-4 on the season. Liriano has now won six of his last seven starts and is 6-1 at home with a 1.61 ERA on the season.

Pedro Alvarez has 10 home runs in last 29 games for surging Pirates

Pedro Alvarez (.199 – 10 HR – 25 RBI) homered twice and drove in 3 runs, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates (30-19) to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers (19-28) on Saturday afternoon. The victory was the Pirates ninth win in 11 games and the Pirates improved to 11 games above .500 at 30-19. Alvarez went homer-less in his first 14 games but now has 10 home runs and 23 RBIs in his last  29 games. Alvarez leads all National League third basemen in home runs.

Alvarez a game changer for second straight game as Pirates move 1 game behind Cardinals

Pedro Alvarez (.249 – 26 HR – 70 RBI) was a game changer for the second straight game, powering the Pirates to a 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, taking two of three from the Cards and moving just one game back of St. Louis for the second wildcard spot. After powering the Pirates to a 9-0 rout Tuesday night with a two homer, four RBI game, Alvarez was the Pirates spark once again breaking the game wide open, belting a three run homer with two outs in the bottom of the third for his 26th home run of the season and giving the Pirates a commanding 4-0 lead and the team never looked back as starter Wandy Rodriguez

Morning Pirates Buzz: Pirates in market for pitching, Alvarez on brink of demotion?

MORNING PIRATES BUZZ The Pirates (32-29) dropped their second straight last night as the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 7-1 victory. Jake Arrieta (3-8) was dominant in ending a personal six-game losing streak. Arrieta gave up one run and seven hits, matching a career high with 9 strikeouts. While the Pirates couldn’t hit in key situations, going 1-13 with RISP (Clint Barmes 0-2, Neil Walker 0-3, Jose Tabata 0-1, Andrew McCutchen 0-2, Mike McKenry 0-1, Ales Presley 1-2, Pedro Alvarez 0-2) they also couldn’t pitch as Kevin Correia (2-6, 4.43 ERA) allowed 10 hits and 5 runs in six innings pitched. Some rumblings coming out this week include talk of despite a pressing need to add hitters, some members in

Hurdle to sit Alvarez for at least a couple days

Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle has benched third baseman Pedro Alvarez for today’s game against Milwaukee and Alvarez is likely to sit out a couple more games after that. Hurdle told reporters in Milwaukee this morning that Alvarez is being shut down for at least a couple days to “clear his deck.” Alvarez who has had an up and down season, is hitting .194 with 8 home runs and 24 RBI on the season. He’s 0-16 in his last four games and is batting .130 over his last 23 at-bats. James McDonald (4-2, 2.20) takes the mound for the 26-26 Pirates who look to move a game above .500. McDonald has a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts and comes

Latest Pirates Buzz: Huntington on Alvarez, pitching depth & Matt Hague’s promising spring

The Latest Pirates Buzz Starting third baseman Pedro Alvarez has picked up right where he left off the 2011 season, struggling mightily at the plate. Alvarez batting a woeful .133 (4-for-30) in spring training with 2 home runs and 3 RBI’s, has been overmatched all spring at the plate, showing little signs of being able to contribute at the Major League level. Enter spring training in the best shape of his career has been a plus for Alvarez but it hasn’t help him one bit at the plate. “The small sample size of spring training gives us some indication for concern but does not tell the whole story, ” Pirates GM Neal Huntington told Inside Pittsburgh Sports.com on Monday morning.