Thursday, July 06, 2017

Cole's pitching, hitting lead Pirates past Phillies, 5-2

The Associated Press
July 5, 2017
Image result for pirates phillies july 5 2017
Pittsburgh Pirates' Gerrit Cole follows through on a a two-run single off Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ben Lively during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Philadelphia. At right is catcher Andrew Knapp. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA -- Pirates manager Clint Hurdle felt like he was watching Little League, not major league.
Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings and drove in his first runs of the season with a tiebreaking two-run single to lead Pittsburgh to a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.
"He basically Little Leagued the guys tonight," Hurdle said. "He drives in two and pitches six strong."
Cole (7-7) rebounded from a poor outing last Friday against San Francisco and a shaky first inning against the Phillies, allowing two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander struck out the side in his final inning.
"Just guts, maybe a little luck, some nice (defensive) plays," Cole said of bouncing back. "You just have to grind when you're in those situations."
Felipe Rivero, pitching on his 26th birthday, recorded his fifth save by striking out the side in a scoreless ninth.
Cole's big hit came in the Pirates' four-run fourth inning, when Pittsburgh also got some help from Ben Lively (1-4).
Josh Bell's triple off the wall in right scored Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates tied the game at 2 on David Freese's sacrifice fly. Lively looked poised to get out of the inning when he fielded Jordy Mercer's grounder to the left of the mound, but his throw pulled Tommy Joseph off first base and loaded the bases for Cole.
"I thought he was further down the line than he was and I just rushed it," Lively said.
Cole followed by lining a single up the middle to score a pair of runs, giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead. He had been 3 for 28 this season entering the at-bat.
"It was a long inning for him," Cole said. "I wasn't trying to do much. Obviously, a single works there. I was trying to work the count and not be too aggressive because his pitch count was high. I just hit it up the middle."
Mercer had two hits and also tripled for the Pirates, who have won three of four.
Maikel Franco homered and Daniel Nava doubled and had three hits for the Phillies.
Franco's 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot to left field, gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first.
Philadelphia threatened in the seventh against Daniel Hudson, putting runners on first and third with one out, but outfielder Gregory Polanco ended the inning with a superb throw to the plate from medium right field to nail Nava trying to score from third and complete a 9-2 double play.
"That was a great throw, man; he let it eat," Cole said. "Big out. It definitely locked down the momentum on our side."
GETTING TESTY
The Pirates got testy in the second when plate umpire Larry Vanover came to the mound to break up a conference between Cole, catcher Francisco Cervelli and pitching coach Ray Searage. Pittsburgh likely was upset with some borderline low pitches that Vanover called balls and also the fact the umpire quickly came to the mound to halt the talk.
Several Pirates infielders came to the mound to restrain the heated Cervelli. The catcher appeared to make amends with Vanover in between innings, as both player and umpire patted each other on the back after a conversation that appeared to be friendly.
Cole preferred not to elaborate, saying he wanted to keep what was said on the field.
OFF NIGHT
A day after hitting a pair of homers in Pittsburgh's 3-0 win, McCutchen went 0 for 5. He entered batting .377 with seven home runs and 12 RBI in his last 14 games in Philadelphia.
MORE TIME
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said Nava would be in the lineup more. He is batting .304 in 27 starts this season and has reached safely in 25 of those contests.
"He gives us the best at-bats on the team, quality at-bats," Mackanin said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: RF Nick Williams remained in the game after crashing hard into the wall while trying to catch Bell's fourth-inning RBI triple.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Chad Kuhl (2-6, 5.26) takes the mound for the Pirates for the conclusion of the four-game series on Thursday night. Kuhl is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two career starts against Philadelphia.
Phillies: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.48) starts for the Phillies. He allowed one earned run on two hits in six innings in a start against the Pirates earlier this season.
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Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Taillon fans 9, McCutchen homers twice, Pirates blank Phils

The Associated Press
July 4, 2017
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Andrew McCutchen (,288, 16 HRs, 49 RBI) homered twice in yesterday's 3-0 win in Philadelphia (Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA -- Jameson Taillon would trade some of those Ks for a few more innings.
Taillon struck out a career-best nine in five innings, Andrew McCutchen hit a pair of solo homers and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 Tuesday.
Taillon (5-2) allowed four hits and four relievers finished off the six-hitter. The right-hander is 3-1 in five starts since returning from surgery for testicular cancer.
"I'd rather go seven innings with four strikeouts," Taillon said. "A lot of those strikeouts were deep counts. I'm not a super high strikeout guy. Nine is a cool number."
Taillon needed 102 pitches to get through five innings.
"Very gritty," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He didn't have his best stuff. He battled."
McCutchen ripped his 15th homer to left in the sixth, one pitch after a high-and-tight fastball from Mark Leiter Jr. (1-1) knocked him down. He connected off Ricardo Pinto in the eighth, sending a drive off the facing of the upper deck in left.
"He hit the first one good and the second one more good," Hurdle said. "Elite players when they get to that level and stay in rare air, it's fun to watch."
Leiter gave up two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
"I was just trying to keep the team in the game," Leiter said. "I made a few mistakes, but overall I think I did OK. I was trying to force contact as much as I could."
The Pirates jumped in front on John Jaso's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the third. Jaso hit a shallow fly, but center fielder Odubel Herrera's throw to the plate was weak and offline. Josh Harrison was caught trying to advance to third on the play, ending the inning.
The Phillies had a runner on third with less than two outs three times, but couldn't score. After Freddy Galvis doubled and stole third in the first, Taillon struck out Aaron Altherr and retired Maikel Franco on a grounder.
Taillon fanned Andrew Knapp and Leiter with runners on first and third to end the fourth.
Juan Nicasio relieved Tony Watson with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh and got Altherr to ground into a double play .
A 22-minute rain delay held things up in the bottom of the eighth. Felipe Rivero pitched out of trouble in the ninth for his fourth save in four tries.
"The inconsistency in the middle of our lineup is one of our biggest issues," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
FUN IN PHILLY
McCutchen is 20 for 53 (.377) with seven homers and 12 RBI in his last 14 games in Philadelphia. He has 14 career multihomer games.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: OF Starling Marte went 1 for 6 in two rehab games at Single-A Bradenton and will continue preparing for his reinstatement at Triple-A Indianapolis. Marte is eligible to return July 18 after serving an 80-game suspension for a PED violation.
Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff was slated to make a rehab start at Double-A Reading. He has been sidelined by an upper back strain since June 20.
UP NEXT
RHP Gerrit Cole (6-7, 4.51 ERA) starts for the Pirates while RHP Ben Lively (1-3, 3.72) goes for the Phillies on Wednesday night. Cole is 3-3 vs. Philadelphia in six career starts. Lively has never faced Pittsburgh.
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Tuesday, July 04, 2017

Andrew McCutchen tabbed as June's NL Player of the Month

"Cutch" hit .411 during the month of June while hitting six home runs and knocking in 23 RBI.


July 3, 2017

Andrew McCutchen did not receive an All-Star bid on Sunday, but he did receive the NL Player of the Month award on Monday following his sensational June that saw him hit .411 to go with six home runs and 23 RBI. He also tallied a .509 OBP, a .689 slugging percentage and a 1.198 OPS. 
McCutchen's torrid June elevated his season batting average to .282 to go with 14 home runs and a team high 47 RBI. The five time All-Star is coming off a season that saw him hit a career-low .256. This is McCutchen's fifth Player of the Month award, the most in franchise history. 
“Last year, pitchers didn't have to adjust their approach,” McCutchen told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review late last month. “They had a game plan for me because of what the stats said. They'd go out and do it and say, ‘OK, cool. I can stay there.' It was about me adjusting to them.
“Now, it's about them adjusting to me. That's the biggest difference, I think. I'm sticking with my approach, and they have to figure out the next move. It's a game of chess. All that stuff is coming up now because I'm in a better spot.”
McCutchen said that he's seeing the same amount of fastballs that he saw in '16 with a little more curveballs and changeups. 
“He's gone up looking for certain pitches at times, gotten them, and drilled them,” Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle said of McCutchen. “Before, it might have been a foul ball. The path to the ball is just so crisp right now. There haven't been nearly as many swings and misses or flat-out mishits as before.”
Despite his struggles last season and earlier this season, McCutchen said that he still feels like he has the respect of opposing pitchers. 
“I honestly still feel like I put the fear in guys, regardless of whether I'm hitting .200 or .300,” McCutchen said. “There's still a sense of, ‘I know who that guy is (at the plate).' It's not like they think they can challenge me now or throw a fastball by me. It's not like they're more comfortable.”
After making his MLB debut in 2009, McCutchen became a regular starter in 2010, earning his first All-Star selection the following season while helping the Pirates begin their ascension from NL Central cellar to a perennial playoff team from 2013-15. Now, the 30-year-old former NL Player of the Year is trying looking to end the first half of the season on a high note while keeping the Pirates in striking distance of the division-leading Brewers. 
“I feel like I’m back to my old self,” he said. “I’ve just really tried to simplify things, not to think too much when I get in the (batter’s box). I’ve always felt I’m most successful as a hitter when I have a clear mind and basically just concentrate on seeing the ball and hitting the ball. I know that sounds like an oversimplification but it works for me.
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Josh Harrison chosen to represent Pirates at All-Star Game

By Rob Biertempfel
http://triblive.com/sports/
July 2, 2017
Image result for josh harrison pirates july 2017
Pittsburgh Pirates' Josh Harrison (5) drives in a run with a double off Atlanta Braves starting pitcher R.A. Dickey in the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, April 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

After being named a reserve for the National League squad Sunday, Josh Harrison said he will bring his usual assortment of gloves to the All-Star Game.
"I'll take what I normally take: an infield (mitt), an outfield (mitt)," Harrison said with a grin. "Whatever they need me to do."
Harrison will be the lone Pirate in the game, which will be held July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami.
A utilityman for most of his career, Harrison was scheduled this season to be the everyday second baseman. However, Jung Ho Kang's visa problems and Starling Marte's suspension forced Harrison back into a multi-position role.
"I have belief in myself," said Harrison, who also was an All-Star in 2014. "This is not surprising to me. Just staying the course and knowing it's a tough game but you have to enjoy it. I play with a lot of passion and have fun."
Harrison earned his second All-Star berth by leading the Pirates in batting average (.288), stolen bases (10) and hits (85). He ranks second with an .815 OPS and 132 total bases.
Harrison tops the majors with 18 hit by pitches — a skill he doens't have to display in Miami.
"Maybe we can let the American League know, 'Hey, as long as you don't hit him, you're good,' " Harrison said. "Maybe we can send out that memo."
There's still a chance another Pirate or two could join Harrison in Miami. Right-hander Ivan Nova and closer Felipe Rivero are candidates to be late additions if pitchers back out of the game because of injury or availability.
"Hopefully, a few things shake out over the next week or so to where a couple of guys who are deserving catch a break," Harrison said.
Nova (8-5, 3.08 ERA) will make his 17th start Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-hander has won seven of his past 10 decisions.
Nova has allowed more than three earned runs in just three of his 16 outings this year. He worked at least six innings in each of his first 15 starts, but that streak was broken Wednesday when he went five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"If they ask, of course I'd want to go," Nova said. "It all depends on what day I would pitch after the All-Star break. I don't know yet when I'm pitching next."
Rivero has yielded two earned runs over his past 21 outings (231⁄3 innings). In that span, he has held batters to a .090 average and racked up 27 strikeouts.
Rivero's 0.82 ERA is second best among big league relievers behind the Los Angeles Dodgers' Kenley Jansen (0.79).
Since being acquired July 30, 2016, as part of the Mark Melancon trade, Rivero has put up a 1.77 ERA in 69 outings. That's the third-lowest ERA in the majors in that stretch.
Rob Biertempfel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BiertempfelTrib.
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Monday, July 03, 2017

Penguins have been quiet in free agency, and that's OK for now


By Mark Madden
July 3, 2017

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Jim Rutherford at the 2017 NHL Draft

Some are twitchy because the Penguins haven’t yet traded for a third-line center, or signed one in free agency.
But it’s no bother, because the Penguins don’t play tomorrow. Or the next day.
Other NHL teams have real issues to deal with, and many aren’t distinguishing themselves. Toronto, for example, augmented its youth movement with three old men, giving a three-year deal to a 37-year-old that’s never won a Stanley Cup. What can Patrick Marleau possibly teach Auston Matthews?
The Penguins, meantime, will return every key player from a team that just won a second straight Stanley Cup.
If the Penguins fail to collect a third consecutive championship, it won’t be because they lost Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley, Ron Hainsey or Chris Kunitz in free agency. Those are good players, but eminently disposable.
Depth talent is interchangeable in a league that uses a salary cap. Emotion and loyalty (ha!) can’t enter into it. Bottom-six forwards and bottom-pair defensemen come and go.
As long as your better players are retained for the long term and keep producing, you’ve got a chance.
The Penguins will return Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Matt Murray. So, they’ve got a chance. (BTW, it remains mind-boggling that the Penguins won this year’s championship with Letang injured. Incredible.)
Fatigue is the Penguins’ biggest enemy in 2017-18. Not losing Bonino, etc.
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford has handled the off-season just fine so far.
Unless he really thinks new backup goalie Antti Niemi (a bargain at $700K) might play 40 games. If Rutherford believes that, he’s nuts.
The third-line center situation remains in play. Rutherford appears likeliest to deal from his surplus at wing, those numbers swelled by the expectations accorded Daniel Sprong (second-round pick in 2015) and Zach Aston-Reese (free-agent signing after leading NCAA hockey in scoring this past season).
But signing free-agent defenseman Matt Hunwick away from Toronto was a thought-provoking move.
Hunwick, 32, is solid. Good mobility. A workhorse, if need be: Hunwick averaged over 25 minutes per game in the playoffs. He’s an easy fit.
But he’s left-handed. While Hunwick has experience on the right side, he’s usually played on the left.
Hunwick joins Ian Cole, Brian Dumoulin and Olli Maatta as primarily left-sided defensemen on the Penguins roster.
That’s four. You dress three.
Will Hunwick play the right side, hopefully performing as well as Hainsey did when put in the same situation by the Penguins?
Or will a defenseman – perhaps Maatta – be part of Rutherford’s deal for a third-line center?
BTW, I’m against swapping Maatta. He’s a 22-year-old with sound fundamentals and two Stanley Cup rings. As for his $4.083-million cap hit through 2022, it becomes a bargain as the cap continues to rise.
Some are obsessed with the Penguins acquiring Colorado center Matt Duchene, who is reportedly on the block. Acquiring Duchene would require massive return: Some combination of Maatta, Sprong and a high draft pick.
I don’t want to pay that price, and I see no point to getting Duchene.
Duchene carries a cap hit of $6 million: Almost $2 million higher than Bonino’s cap hit with Nashville. It’s too much to pay a third-line center. Anyway, Duchene’s high-octane style doesn’t lend itself to the third line.
Duchene’s speed would certainly be a good fit, especially at wing with Crosby or Malkin. But the Penguins have enough top-six wingers.
You’re not collecting hockey cards, or building a fantasy-league roster. Duchene to Pittsburgh doesn’t make sense.
The fourth-line center spot is also vacant, unless Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan feel that Carter Rowney can do that job full-time. I don’t.
Matt Cullen said he would either retire or play for Pittsburgh. Then he spoke with Minnesota the next day. The same thing happened after last season. It’s like a rite of summer.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
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NICK BONINO SIGNING A RARE MISSTEP FOR PREDATORS GM DAVID POILE


July 1, 2017
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Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

It appears the NHL’s reigning GM of the year suffers from some recency bias. David Poile’s Nashville Predators lost in the Stanley Cup final to the Pittsburgh Penguins less than a month ago, and Poile got a good look at third-line center Nick ‘Bones’ Bonino. He scored two goals in Pittsburgh’s Game 1 victory over the Preds and gutted out Game 2 after a blocked shot gave him what was later revealed to be a broken tibia, ending his season.
He’s an easy player to like – scrappy and clutch, with three career playoff overtime winners to his name. He’s a nice middle-six forward. In the 2016 playoffs, he dominated on the ‘HBK’ line with Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin. Bonino’s 29, so he’s not washed up.
But the four-year, $16.4-million deal Nashville handed him Saturday was exorbitant. Bonino has topped 18 goals and 39 points once in his career, and his 5-on-5 possession marks relative to his teammates have graded out on the negative end in all but one of his seasons. He’s a solid player, but the term and cap hit feel like a misstep for Poile.
Given Ryan Johansen centers the first line and Colton Sissons emerged as potential scoring-line option going forward, a Bonino signing hints at the end of Mike Fisher’s time in Nashville. Perhaps he’s retiring. Bonino qualifies as insurance there.
But Bonino doesn’t score enough to be a true No. 2 center despite now being paid like one. That should draw the ire of Preds fans, who clamor for more scoring. Inking Bonino all but ensures Nashville won’t pursue a higher-end option like Colorado’s Matt Duchene, who would’ve been a perfect fit. Trading Colin Wilson to Colorado Saturday did free up more money, but a lot of it must go to restricted free agents Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson, Frederik Gaudreau, Austin Watson and Pontus Aberg. Johansen and Arvidsson alone might earn more than $12 million annually going forward. And if Fisher does indeed call it quits, the Predators didn’t get any better with the Bonino signing. They only filled a hole – at a heftier price and term than Bonino likely deserved. The back to back Stanley Cup rings appear to have inflated his value.
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Penguins sign defenseman Matt Hunwick, goalie Antti Niemi


By Jonathan Bombulie
http://triblive.com/sports/
July 1, 2017
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Matt Hunwick
When it came to the first day of NHL free agency, a spot on the league calendar that sometimes can turn into a frenzy, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford took the emotion out of the equation Saturday.
He watched as players who put two Stanley Cup rings on his fingers parlayed their championship experience into fortune elsewhere. Chris Kunitz, Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley and Ron Hainsey are gone.
He saw rival teams pushing rich contracts in front of big-name free agents and largely stayed out of the fray. He lined up specific targets — 32-year-old defenseman Matt Hunwick and 33-year-old goalie Antti Niemi — and otherwise kept quiet.
He knows he needs to add a third-line center with Bonino gone, and he has discussed trade possibilities with multiple teams in the last week, but he pulled no triggers, electing to wait until the right deal comes his way.
Time will tell if the dispassionate approach was the right one, of course, but there's no doubt that was the plan Rutherford was sticking to.
“We're making a lot of changes,” Rutherford said. “We have some good players that have gone off our team, not only from a playing point of view but from a character and leadership point of view. Some of those changes were dictated by expansion draft, by where guys are in their career, (by) free agency. But we feel as long as we can fill the third-line center role, which we are comfortable that we will, we feel good about the guys that we still have.”
Rutherford declined to put a deadline on himself to make the deal for a Bonino replacement.
“I think it's important now that we don't panic and go after somebody just to say we got a center,” Rutherford said. “I've talked to the coach about this. He says, ‘As long as I've got my two big guys healthy, I can work around anything early in the season.'
“We'll move on one when we're comfortable with somebody that we like. It could be in the next day. It could take us a couple of months. It could take us early in the season before it happens.”
Rutherford found the free-agent offerings more attractive on defense and in goal, so he addressed a couple of vacancies that way.
Hunwick agreed to a three-year deal with an average annual salary of $2.25 million. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Michigan native is the kind of defensive defenseman the Penguins prefer. He can kill penalties, but he's no crease-clearer, relying instead on his mobility.
“They want guys that are able to move their feet and move the puck,” Hunwick said. “When you have the ability to give it to a (Sidney) Crosby or (Evgeni) Malkin, it's paramount that your defensemen get back there, get moving and get the puck to those guys.”
Some family history also led Hunwick to the Penguins. His grandparents grew up in the Uniontown area, and he has an aunt who lives in McClellandtown in Fayette County.
“A three-year deal, you have an opportunity to do some special things with this group,” Hunwick said. “I want to be a part of this going forward. It's four-and-a-half hours from my house. It's a great town. All those things made it an easy decision.”
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Antti Niemi (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Niemi, meanwhile, is the choice to replace franchise cornerstone Marc-Andre Fleury.
Niemi's resume is exemplary, including a Stanley Cup championship as Chicago's starter in 2010 and five superb seasons with San Jose after that, but it's clear why he was available to the Penguins on a one-year deal for $700,000.
He is coming off a brutal year with Dallas, going 12-12-4 with an .892 save percentage. The Stars bought out the last year of his three-year, $13.5 million contract last month.
“I think I just had a really tough last three months,” Niemi said. “I feel like I was able to play quite well until mid-January, but not getting ice time (stinks). It kind of ruined the season.”
Niemi shouldn't have that problem next season. Rutherford said he'd like to see the Finnish veteran play between 30 and 40 games to help keep Matt Murray fresh for the playoffs.
Niemi said he's looking forward to working with new Penguins goalie coach Mike Buckley, whom he's heard good things about, and to forming a tandem in net with the 23-year-old Murray.
“He's of course a great young goaltender, and maybe I can even learn something from him,” Niemi said. “I think it's going to be a great fit.”
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him atjbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
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