Pirates get a W on the Road, Beat the Rockies 4-2

The Pirates beat the Rockies, 4-2, and get a win on the road!

They are 11-38 on the road this season, losing 24 of the past 26 games on the road.

The Buccos took advantage of a struggling Rockies team. On their recent 11 game roadtrip:

• Record 2-9
• Record in one-run games 1-5
• Runs per game 3.18
• Batting Avg .209
• Batting Avg with RISP .192
• Opp Avg .252
• ERA 4.76

Zach Duke pitched six solid innings giving up three hits, two runs, while striking out four and walking two. It was Duke’s second win in a row, his third quality start since coming off the DL. The only two runs Zach gave up came in the fifth inning when he gave up back-to-back Home Runs to Hawpe and Barmes.

“The sinker was down, the changeup was down,” Duke said. “That was the main thing.”.

“Each start, he’s getting a little sharper,” Russell said. “You can see that when he’s down in the zone like he was tonight.”

“I wouldn’t say I feel stronger or better. I would say I feel like myself again,” Duke said. “It just means that I’m not trying to do too much. I just think about executing pitches rather than thinking about how to make the pitch better.”

In the seventh, Meek gave up a leadoff double to Miguel Olivo but escaped with three groundouts.

“I just had to get my command back,” Meek said.

Joel Hanrahan came in and pitched a scoreless inning, Hanny has only been scored upon three times since June 1st (22 appearences) and had his sixth straight scoreless inning since the All-Star Break.

Octavio Dotel put up a zero as well and picked up his 21 save of the season. (quite possibly for the last time as a Pirate) Tick..Tick..Tick..Here’s a video of his entrance music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klcFJ-knID0&feature=youtu.be

“When you play on the road, that’s what you need to do,” manager John Russell said. “Zach did a good job, our bullpen did what they usually do for us, we caught the ball, Neil had a really big hit … it was a very solid win for us.”

“It’s great to do this, especially at the beginning of the trip,” Walker said. “We’ve been looking for something to get us started on the road and, hopefully, this is it.”

“The best part is that it was a clean game,” reliever Evan Meek said. “That’s what it takes to win on the road, and we had that from Zach on out.”

The Pirates set the tone in the first. McCutchen led off with a double and Tabata brought him home with an RBI Single. Jose then scored on a WP by De La Rosa. The Pirates got two runs in the first.

In the sixth inning, Jones hit a RBI double, his 21st 2B of the season, which scored Tabata and gave the Bucs a 3-2 lead. GFJ leads the team with 57 RBI. 

Neil Walker  hit a Solo-HR in the eight inning, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead. Neil snapped his 0-for-11 streak and went 3-for-4 on the night.

“I was able to get extended a little bit,” Walker said. “It was a good night for all of us, not just for me.”

Jim Tracy, a former Pirates Manager, was asked what he thought about the the new Bucs.

“What do I see? It’s very interesting young talent, no doubt about that,” he replied. “There are some real dynamics to the top of their order. There’s a very, very good-looking third baseman who just showed up with them.”

“What would be interesting, as far as I’m concerned, is the collectiveness moving forward and the capability of holding it together for an extended period,” Tracy continued. “So, then, they can become very familiar with one another. That will be the key to seeing if it has a chance to come to complete fruition. That’s what I see.”

It was Troy Tulowitzki’s first game back since being placed on the DL on June 18th. (He missed 32 games with a broken wrist) Tulu is a big part of the Rockies offense batting .306 with nine HR and a .502 SLG. It was not a good night for him as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and an error.

“My error didn’t help at all,” said Tulowitzki, who came off the disabled list prior to the game. “We’re just doing enough to lose.”

The Pirates recalled Steven Jackson from Triple-A Indy, and purchased the contract of Wil Ledezma.

Ledezma has spent his career with six different teams. (DET, ATL, SD, ARI, WSH, PIT)

He has been up and down a lot over the years, he has a ML Career record of 15-22 with a 5.17 ERA , 1.58 WHIP, 255/183 K per BB, and has allowed 42 HR in 370.2 IP.

This season in AAA though he has been Meek-like. 0-1, 0.94 ERA, 9 SV in 38 IP. He limited the hitters to a .156 AVG (20-for-128) and is coming off 20 consecutive scoreless innings.

“I think I’ve got better command,” Ledezma said. “I’m mixing all my pitches right now better than before. Everything is good. In Indy, I [had] a role. I think that helped me, too, when they told me I had a role.”

Steven Jackson’s stay is expected to be a short one, more than likely until Friday. Unless the Pirates aquire a starter before the trade deadline at 4PM on Saturday, they will need someone to take Brad Lincoln’s spot in the rotation. Daniel McCutchen has made three starts since being sent down to Triple-A allowing three earned runs in eight innings.

The Rockies have now lost seven straight games. De La Rosa gets the loss falling to 3-3 on the season. His line: 7IP, 6H, 2ER, 8K, 2BB.

Other Pirates News:

• Righty Jose Acosta of the Pirates’ VSL team will miss the remainder of the season after receiving a 50-game suspension. Acosta tested positive for Stanozolol, which is a banned performance-enhancing substance.
• The Pirates signed Independent Leaguer, Travis Chick from the Camden Riversharks. He has reported to Triple-A Indy. Chick has been used primarily as a starter, but he’ll begin in the bullpen for now. He went 5-4 with a 4.40 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 14 games this season.
• Pirates Notebook: McLouth’s fall precipitous -Post-Gazette
• Pirates put OF prospect Gorkys Hernandez on DL at Double-A Altoona with broken right ring finger. Gorkys was injured Sunday when he was hit by a pitch.
• The Pirates sent second baseman Shelby Ford down to High-A Bradenton. He was batting just .242 this season for Altoona.
•  After getting lit up lately & skipped over his last start, Bryan Morris is back: 5 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 Ks, 6 GB outs, 0 flyouts.
•  (Via Hot Stove) Before getting Alberto Callaspo from the Royals, the Angels checked on the Pirates’ Garrett Jones, but talks died when Pittsburgh asked for infielder Maicer Izturis.
• @Dejan_Kovacevic from Pittsburgh Post Gazette said: Mentioned this yesterday in chat: Pirates say Angels never contacted them about Garrett Jones.

I wanted to save these stats for further down in my post. To say the Pirates have been horrible on the road is an understatement. I didn’t want to take away from the positive, the great job they did today with these depressing stats. So here they are now, read over them quickly and lets move on.

The Road Woes for the Buccos -Away from Home this season (Stats entering Tues)

                                                            NL RANK

• Record 11-38                                    LAST
• Batting AVG .235                              13TH
• Total Runs 148                                  LAST
• Home Runs 37                                  14TH
• OBP .292                                          LAST
• SLG .359                                          15TH
• ERA 5.68                                          LAST

Today’s Pitching Matchup:

Ross Ohlendorf 1-8, 4.39 ERA

I just couldn’t help myself. He’s dressed up here for rookie hazing.

VS

Aaron Cook 4-6, 4.78 ERA

Ohlendorf tossed his fourth quality start in his past five outings, fanning six Brewers over six frames Thursday. His only mistake was a Prince Fielder solo homer, and it was the difference in a 3-2 loss.

Cook was hit hard by the Phillies his last start, giving up five runs on nine hits while walking three in 4 1/3 innings. He has a 5.67 ERA in eight career games (five starts) against the Pirates.

Around the Ballparks:

“The X-rays didn’t show anything. They looked pretty clear so it’s just a matter of getting the soreness and swelling out of there,” Haren said Tuesday before the Angels’ lost to the Red Sox 4-2.

“I got out there and threw from about 150-200 feet today and felt pretty good … so as of now I’d like to think I’ll be good to go on Saturday.”                          -ESPN

• (Via @jcrasnick) One scout said he won’t be surprised if Nationals trade Adam Dunn, then try to re-sign him this winter if the price drops
• Lackey victorious in return to Anahiem -MLB
• (Via @BaseballGuys) Jason Bay diagnosed with mild concussion from wall-smash in LA. Will be observed over next 48 to 72 hours. Felt symptoms manifest on Sunday
• Stephen Strasburg was scratched from yesterday’s start against the Braves after experiencing shoulder stiffness during his warmups in the bullpen. He is listed as day-to-day.