Black and Gold

Friday, June 19, 2015

Gerrit Cole wins MLB-best 11th as Pirates top White Sox 3-2

By John Jackson
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/pit/
June 19, 2015

Gerrit Cole wins MLB-best 11th as Pirates top White Sox 3-2

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (11-2, 1.78 ERA) delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, on Thursday, June 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Haynes)

CHICAGO (AP) -- Gerrit Cole downplayed becoming the majors' first 11-game winner by crediting his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates for his terrific start.

Pitching Details

Win

Gerrit Cole

11-2
Loss

Jake Petricka

1-2
Save

Mark Melancon

SV: 23

Cole allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings and the Pirates beat the struggling Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to a season-high eight games.

''It's a testament to how well we've played when I take the mound,'' Cole said. ''It's more of a team stat than an individual stat.''

Win No. 11 was certainly a team effort.

Cole (11-2) has won each of his last six starts, but it looked as if he would receive a no-decision after the White Sox rallied to tie the score at two in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Pirates, though, answered with a run in the top of the eighth - Jung Ho Kang scored on an infield groundout by Gregory Polanco - to put Cole on the plus-side again.

''That's huge,'' Cole said. ''It shows we're grinding out at-bats and we're staying ready every pitch.''

Kang went 2-for-5 with an RBI and the run scored, and Josh Harrison and Polanco each drove in a run for Pittsburgh. The Pirates, who also won 3-2 Wednesday, have won seven times in their last 11 games while scoring three runs or less. Manager Clint Hurdle said that statistic shows how well they've pitched during that stretch.

''The length has been so good from the starters and the run totals have been small,'' Hurdle said. ''The bullpen has come in and closed things down. There's no question the pitching has been the strength of everything we're doing.''

Geovany Soto hit a solo home run for Chicago, which has dropped a season-high seven games.

Jake Petricka (1-2) took the loss in relief of starter Jeff Samardzija, who allowed two runs and 10 hits in seven innings and remained winless in his last five starts.

''I wanted to come out there and have a good strong outing and give our team a chance to win,'' Samardzija said. ''Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way, but we fought out there, played tough and we were going against a pretty darn good pitcher in Cole.''

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on an infield single by Kang that scored Starling Marte from third base. But the White Sox tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Jose Abreu led off with a little flare down the right-field line for a double, advanced to third on a fly ball to deep center by Adam LaRoche and scored on a sacrifice fly by Melky Cabrera.

Pittsburgh reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning. With one out, Jordy Mercer hit a hard grounder up the middle. Samardzija knocked it down at his feet, but couldn't find it right away and that was long enough for Mercer to leg out the infield hit.

Mercer then went to third on a single to right by Corey Hart and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Harrison to make it 2-1.

That's where it stayed until the bottom of the seventh when Soto tied the game with a long homer to left-center on a 3-2 pitch. With two outs and none on, Soto connected on a 98 mph fastball from Cole. It was Soto's fourth homer of the season and came on Cole's 103rd pitch.

''For him to be that close to getting out of the inning and giving up the homer, that's baseball,'' Hurdle said. ''Our guys had the wherewithal to pick him up and scratch one back in the eighth inning to go ahead.''

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: 2B Neil Walker wasn't in the lineup because of a stomach ailment. ... RHP Jameson Taillon, the team's No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, had a five-inning, 74-pitch outing Thursday in extended spring training.

UP NEXT

Pirates: Open a three-game series at Washington on Friday. Veteran RHP A.J. Burnett (6-2, 1.89 ERA), who had a no-decision in his last start despite tossing nine scoreless innings, will be matched against RHP Joe Ross (1-3, 3.46).

White Sox: The homestand continues as Chicago hosts the Texas Rangers for a three-game series over the weekend. LHP Chris Sale (6-3, 3.01 ERA) pitches the opener for the White Sox on Friday night against RHP Colby Lewis (6-3, 4.37 ERA) of the Rangers.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Locke, Kang lead Pirates to 3-2 win over White Sox

By John Jackson
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/pit/
June 18, 2015

Locke, Kang lead Pirates to 3-2 win over White Sox

The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrate their 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)

CHICAGO (AP) -- Less heralded than the other starters in the Pittsburgh Pirates' rotation, Jeff Lockeis happy to do his part along with his more famous and accomplished teammates.

Pitching Details

Win

Jeff Locke

4-3
Loss

John Danks

3-7
Save

Mark Melancon

SV: 22

Locke allowed just two runs in six innings, Jung Ho Kang hit a two-run home run and the Pirates beat the struggling Chicago White Sox 3-2 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.

''It just makes you proud and fortunate to be a part of it,'' Locke said. ''I think you just try to pick up where these guys leave off and try to find anyway to come up with a win.''

The Pirates, who had thrown three straight shutouts - and five in the previous six - saw their streak of scoreless innings end at 35.

Locke (4-3) gave up three hits and had a season-high eight strikeouts. He was followed by Arquimedes Caminero, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon, who combined for scoreless relief over the final three innings with Melancon getting his 22nd save.

''It's always strange to me when our pitchers give up a run,'' Pittsburgh infielder Josh Harrison said. ''It had to come at some point. I'm glad it came in a win.''

The White Sox, who snapped a string of 30 consecutive scoreless innings with two runs in the sixth, lost their season-high sixth straight.

White Sox starter John Danks (3-7) settled down after a shaky first inning to allow three runs on five hits in seven innings.

''Besides the first inning, Johnny pitched great,'' Chicago manager Robin Ventura said of Danks. ''Somehow we have to get over the first inning.''

The Pirates scored their three runs in the first inning. Harrison led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice and scored on a single by Andrew McCutchen. Kang then homered to make it 3-0.

The White Sox have been outscored 56-19 in the first inning this season. The 56 runs are the most allowed and the 19 runs the fewest scored in the majors.

Danks got in a groove after the homer and retire 19 of the final 20 batters he faced.

''Got a couple of balls up in the first and then I was able to keep the ball down,'' Danks said.

Chicago didn't get its first hit until the fourth inning, and that came with two outs and nobody on - after a double play in which Melky Cabrera struck out swinging and was called for interfering with catcherFrancisco Cervelli throwing to second base. By rule, the runner, Adam Eaton, was out as well.

Ventura argued the call and was ejected by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez.

Locke cruised into the sixth inning with a one-hitter and retired the first two batters. But just when it appeared Pittsburgh's scoreless streak would reach 36 innings, Eaton drew a two-out walk and Cabrera followed with a double down the left-field line on a hit-and-run play. Eaton easily scored to make it 3-1. After a walk to Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia singled to score Cabrera and make it 3-2.

''He had five masterful innings,'' Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. ''He's working better, he's looking better. The last two outings he's been clean.''

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: LHP Starling Marte left the game in the ninth inning with left ankle discomfort. ''He tweaked his ankle when he hit the bag (in the top of the eighth) and then he probably re-tweaked it on that ball in the outfield (in the bottom of the eighth),'' Hurdle said.

UP NEXT: Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole (10-2, 1.71 ERA) leads the major leagues in wins and has won each of his last five starts with a 0.76 ERA over the stretch. Chicago counters with RHP Jeff Samardzija(4-4, 4.84), who has struggled of late.

STRANDED RUNNERS

Besides the scoreless innings streak, the Pirates entered Wednesday with a streak of 28 innings without allowing a runner to reach third base. That string also ended in the sixth at 33.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Shutout-slinging Pirates overpowering opponents with depth

By Christina Kahrl

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/

June 17, 2015

Gerrit Cole (10-2, 1.71 ERA) is one of three Pirates starters with an ERA under 2.00

The Pittsburgh Pirates, taking down the Chicago White Sox again? That might not seem all that remarkable by itself.

But Tuesday’s 3-0 victory marked the fifth time in six games that the Pirates pitched a shutout, and that, my friends, is nothing short of amazing. Not only because it's rare, but because it reflects that Pirates pitching could be a developing advantage that could carry them past any opponent. The depth and talent it takes to do that, especially in today's game, can make any series winnable, making the Pirates scary-fun this season in a way they haven’t been since ... well, let's get into that.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this marked the first time a team had thrown five shutouts in six games since 1995, when the Orioles did it. It has now been done only five times: by the ’95 and ’74 Orioles, the ’86 Astros (yes, Mike Scott and his splitter really were all that, but any rotation that had Nolan Ryan as its No. 3 had something going for it) and the first time around by the 1903 Pirates. This was also the first time a team had done it before Sept. 1 in a season since those 1903 Buccos. Heck, stretch it back three games and the Pirates have thrown six shutouts in their past nine games; the last time that was done was by those same ’86 Astros.

So before we get into the Pirates and what's awesome about them this season, keep in mind what this also means. No team managed to do this during the low-scoring, high-mound '60s. And it never happened in 1968, the season famously known as the "Year of the Pitcher." So Bob Gibson and friends never did that, nor did Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. You have to have top-shelf talent and depth.

And that's what this year's Pirates have in the rotation. Consider the most amusing factoid from this run of team-wide mound dominance: The one Pirates starter who let anyone score during the last week's action was breakout ace Gerrit Cole, giving up two runs (one earned) in six innings in his 10th win of the season on Saturday. What a slacker, because that and a meaningless run later scored in that same game is all the scoring Pirates' opponents managed for the week.

Sure, it helps that the Pirates have faced the Brewers, Phillies and White Sox during this stretch -- those three teams are 27th, 30th and 28th, respectively, in the majors in scoring. Since the equally awful Mariners aren't going to be on Pittsburgh's schedule this season, that's as good as it gets as far as matchups go.

It seems appropriate that Charlie Morton kept this cycle of dominance rolling, because he’s the guy who got it started last Wednesday when he beat the Brewers 2-0. Morton is on the comeback trail from a second surgery on his left hip, having undergone procedures in 2011 and 2014 to bracket his 2012-13 interruption of having to endure and come back from Tommy John surgery. Through all of this he’s been working with pitching coach Ray Searage and others to fine-tune his mechanics and get back to what works for him, having seemingly gotten carried away trying to imitate Roy Halladay at one point.

The results have been unusual and effective: Not only has he won all five of his starts since coming back from the DL, his walk and strikeout rates have both dropped dramatically. He's generating more than twice as many grounders and fly balls with an especially nasty sinker that he throws more than 70 percent of the time, mixing in a knuckle-curve and the rare four-seam fastball to keep batters honest and his infielders busy. Perhaps even more extraordinary is that he hasn't hit a batter yet this season after having led the NL in HBPs in both of the past two campaigns despite not pitching a full season either year. He’s allowing fewer than 2.2 runs per nine, with an ERA that is now down to 1.62.

And he's also clearly the Pirates fourth-best starting pitcher, because he isn’t better than Cole or A.J. Burnett or Francisco Liriano. It’s an embarrassment of riches that lets them pick between former All-Star Jeff Locke and Vance Worley(2.85 ERA last year) for their fifth starter. And that's without anticipating a potential return to action from Jameson Taillon in a role to be determined at the tail end of the season when the former top prospect comes back from his own TJ surgery.

That's scary-good depth, the sort of thing that lets them let it ride with Morton to see if he can hold up over the coming months, and creates matchup fits: Burnett and Morton pounding people with a steady diet of sinkers; Liriano with a three-pitch spread generating a team-leading 30.5-percent strikeout rate; and Cole dealing the best pure stuff of any of them, starting with a 97 mph fastball and an 87 mph slider. All those sinkers -- all that stuff -- is murder on bats, and it's part of the reason why the Pirates have allowed an MLB-low 38 homers and an MLB-best ratio of more than 1.6 ground ball outs to caught flies.

The other fun thing to think about? The last time the Pirates did this, back in 1903, was the year of the first World Series. The Pirates were in that series ... and lost. That predicts nothing for the present, reflecting only that some combinations of events, some echoes of the past, are particularly sweet to pick up on. Others, not so much.

Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.

Morton stays perfect, Pirates shut out White Sox again 3-0

By Will Graves
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/pit/
June 16, 2015

Morton stays perfect, Pirates shut out White Sox again 3-0

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Charlie Morton (5-0. 1.62 ERA) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- To a man, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation insists there is no sense of gamesmanship among them, no underlying need to try and outdo one another.

Pitching Details

Win

Charlie Morton

5-0
Loss

José Quintana

3-7
Save

Mark Melancon

SV: 21

It just looks like it.

A week ago Charlie Morton ended a two-game skid by blanking the Milwaukee Brewers. When his spot in the rotation came up again Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox, the spark Morton started has turned into a wave that shows no signs of slowing down.

If Morton felt any pressure, it didn't show. He worked seven efficient innings to remain unbeaten in his return from the disabled list as the Pirates rolled to a 3-0 victory. His sinker forcing the White Sox to pound the ball into the dirt, Morton (5-0) struck out three and walked just one to lower his ERA to 1.62.

On most teams, that number would be eye-popping. Not on Pittsburgh, where three starters have sub-2.00 ERAs.

''I just go out there and try to keep my team in the game,'' Morton said with a shrug.

That's hardly a problem at the moment for the streaking Pirates, who have won six straight, five by shutout, including the last three. It's the first time the Pirates have put up zeroes in three consecutive games since the final three games of the 1976 season against St. Louis.

''I haven't seen anything like this in all my years managing, a run like this of starting pitching,'' manager Clint Hurdle said.

Pittsburgh's starters have surrendered one earned run in the last 43 1-3 innings, including 14 1-3 scoreless innings by Morton.

''Nobody is going to get cut if they don't throw a shutout,'' Hurdle said with a smile. ''They're just going out there trying to keep this thing moving.''

Francisco Cervelli and Sean Rodriguez hit solo home runs for the Pirates. Starling Marte, who had two hits, is batting .600 (15 for 25) over his last five games. Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth for his 21st save.

Jose Quintana (3-7) gave up three runs in six innings and again received little support in his 100th career start. The White Sox have dropped five straight.

''We've got to be able to swing the bats better,'' Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. ''You tip your hat somewhat but some of it's just a funk we're in that we have to be able to find a way out of it.''

The White Sox managed all of two hits while getting blanked by Francisco Liriano on Monday night. They weren't any more effective 24 hours later against Morton, who is enjoying the best stretch of his uneven career following a lengthy layoff from hip surgery and some extra time in the minors refining his mechanics.

Morton's new delivery isn't second nature yet, and he admits he spends the first couple of innings trying to refine his motion before settling in.

Chicago's best chance came in the first inning, when Adam Eaton led off with a walk and stole second. Eaton slid past third base on a fielder's choice and was tagged out by Jung Ho Kang. Three batters later Morton was out of the inning and cruising. He retired 11 straight at one point, giving Pittsburgh's offense enough time to solve Quintana.

Quintana's rough start had smoothed out recently. He came in having won his last two starts after being given four runs to work with, a stark contrast to April and May when the White Sox scored one run or less six times when Quintana's spot in the rotation came up.

The Pirates moved in front in the third when Andrew McCutchen drove home Marte with a sharp single to left. Rodriguez added a homer deep into the bleachers in left field with one out in the fourth and Cervelli continued his torrid hitting with a rare show of power, taking a Quintana offering 412 feet for his second home run of the season.

Cervelli is hitting .356 since May 1. Just as importantly, opponents haven't scored a run with Cervelli behind the plate for 51 innings and counting.

''He's just playing some backyard ball,'' Hurdle said. ''It's fun to watch him.''

SIGNING SPREE

The Pirates signed supplemental first-round draft pick Ke'Bryan Hayes and second-round pick Kevin Kramer on Tuesday.

Hayes, the son of former major league infielder Charlie Hayes, hit .436 with 27 RBIs for Concordia Lutheran (Texas) High this spring. The 18-year-old will begin his career with the Gulf Coast League Pirates. Kramer, taken with the 62nd overall pick, hit .323 for ULCA in 2015 and led the Bruins with seven homers while starting 61 games at shortstop.

UP NEXT

The series shifts to Chicago for two games at U.S. Cellular Field. Jeff Locke (3-3, 4.90) starts for the Pirates. Locke pitched six scoreless innings while earning a no-decision against Philadelphia in his last start. The 27-year-old is 4-1 with a 2.82 ERA in seven interleague starts. John Danks (3-6, 5.16 ERA) will try to end a two-game losing streak. The left-hander is 10-7 with 3.01 ERA against the National League in his nine-year career.

Black and Gold

Friday, June 19, 2015

Gerrit Cole wins MLB-best 11th as Pirates top White Sox 3-2

Pitching Details

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Locke, Kang lead Pirates to 3-2 win over White Sox

Pitching Details

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Shutout-slinging Pirates overpowering opponents with depth

Morton stays perfect, Pirates shut out White Sox again 3-0

Pitching Details

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Friday, June 19, 2015

Gerrit Cole wins MLB-best 11th as Pirates top White Sox 3-2

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Locke, Kang lead Pirates to 3-2 win over White Sox

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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Shutout-slinging Pirates overpowering opponents with depth

Morton stays perfect, Pirates shut out White Sox again 3-0

Pitching Details

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