Results tagged ‘ randy wolf ’
Bucs drop four straight, lose 4-1 to Brewers
The Pirates as a team to combined for just four hits and struck out 14 times against the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff in the 4-1 loss at PNC Park on Thursday evening.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Karen Price of the Tribune Review, The number of strikeouts continues to be alarming, the inability to get leadoff hitters on. … We need to get everybody involved to some degree. We haven’t been able to connect the dots from the top to the bottom of the lineup.”
Andrew McCtuchen told Karen Price of the Tribune Review, We’re not hitting, that’s about it. There’s really no explanation for it, we’re just not getting it done.”
The Bucs did not score a run for 23 consecutive innings (going back to Sunday’s game against the Rockies) until McCutchen scored on a wild pitch by the Brewers closer, John Axford, in the bottom of the 9th.
Left-hander Paul Maholm threw a 28-pitch first inning. After allowing a lead off single to Rickie Weeks and a walk to Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder stepped to the plate with one out. Fielder, who prior to the game had a 0.71 average against Paul Maholm, hit a RBI single to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
Maholm walked a second batter in the inning before allowing a SAC fly by Yuniesky Betancourt.
The next six innings, however, Maholm was solid. He held the Brewers scoreless after the first and allowed just two more hits.
Brewers Manager Ron Roenicke told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “Maholm settled down and pitched really well and changed speeds. He has pitched well for them, and really has had some bad luck.”
Maholm pitched allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over seven innings (97 pitches). He picked up the loss –his second of the year– despite pitching a good outing.
Paul Maholm told Jenifer Langosh of MLB.com, “I think everybody is looking forward to going to Cincy to get back on the track we need to be on. The] first homestand, everybody is trying to do too much, probably.
“We expect to come in and compete every day. Is it fun this homestand? No. But I can guarantee you that [Friday] we’ll get to Cincy and we expect to win it. And that’s all you can do. Turn the page.”
The Buccos faced lefty Randy Wolf who struck out 10 over 6.2 innings. He held the Pirates to just two hits and walked two.
The Brewers tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the 9th inning off of Joel Hanrahan. Casey McGhee lead off the inning with a double to right field. Bentancourt singled and McGhee scored on a throwing error by Neil Walker. Former Bucco Nyjer Morgan hit a RBI double to give the Brewers a 4-0 lead, but was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple.
The Pirates started a rally in the bottom of the 9th. McCutchen drew a walk and Steve Pearce singled in the inning. Ryan Doumit, who pinch hit for Chris Snyder, walked to load the bases. Josh Rodriguez, who has yet to have his first major league hit came to the plate with two outs. McCutchen scored on a wild pitch thrown by John Axford but Rodriguez struck out to end the game.
A total of 24 runs have been score by the Pirates in the last nine games, just an average of 2.66 runs per game.
The Pirates have lost four in a row. They finish the homestand 1-5 after going 4-2 on the road to start the season.
Pre-game News and Notes 4/15: Brewers @ Pirates
The Pirates (5-6) will face the Milwaukee Brewers (6-5) on Thursday at 7:05 PM/ET for the final game of the home stand.
Following the game, the Bucs will fly to Cincinnati for a three-game series starting Friday against the Reds.
Lefty-hander Paul Maholm will face lefty Randy Wolf.
Maholm is 0-1 this season, despite only allowing three earned runs over 12.1 innings.
Notes:
- Jose Tabata’s 10-game hitting streak came to an end on Wednesday, after going 0-for-2 with two walks against the Brewers.
Manager Clint Hurdle was very impressed with Jose Tabata’s plate discipline during his final at-bat in the 8th inning yesterday. Tabata, with the 10-game hitting streak on the line, drew a six pitch walk.
Hurdle told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “I’m not saying it’s normal, but you’ll find players at times that will put individual accomplishments in front of the game from time to time. A young man going up there, knowing what he needed to do and got down early in the count… took a walk. He’ll have other 10-game hitting streaks. He’ll have longer ones than that. But it was very encouraging to see that that’s his mindset. His mindset is not that he can have an 11-game hitting streak.”
- Evan Meek pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning on Wednesday. It was his first appearance since April 6th (right shoulder tightness).
News:
- Catcher Chris Snyder is back in Pittsburgh tonight and will be the lineup tonight. Snyder was activated from the disabled list on Wednesday.
- Left-hander Joe Beimel should be joining the club on Friday in Cincinnati. He completed his rehab assignment with the Triple-A Indians. The Pirates will need to add him to both the 40-man and 25-man roster.
- Third Baseman Pedro Alvarez will get the night off, giving Steve Pearce the start at third.
Alvarez, who is notorious for having a slow start to the season, is batting just .200. Manager Clint Hurdle and Alvarez were out early taking batting practice.
Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, What I’d like him to do is go up there and be reactionary. He hasn’t gotten off to the start that he would like or we would like but it’s still early and I’m just trying to get him to focus on a couple absolutes at the plate. See the ball, number one, get a good pitch to hit, number two, know that he can attack the ball anywhere in the strike zone, it doesn’t need to be in a teacup. And just hit it hard where it’s pitched. I can tell you that.”
Brewers:
Rickie Weeks 2B, Carlos Gomez CF, Ryan Braun LF, Prince Fielder 1B, Casey McGehee 3B, Yuniesky Betancourt SS, Erick Almonte RF, Jonthan Lucroy C, Randy Wolf LHP
Pirates:
Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Matt Diaz RF, Steve Pearce RF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Chris Snyder C, Ronny Cedeno SS, Paul Maholm LHP
Brewers @ Pirates 4/12: Postponed by rain
Tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed due to rain. The Pirates have not yet announced when it will be made up.
- The pitching match up for the next two games versus the Brewers are as follows:
Wednesday, April 13th: Right-hand pitcher Shaun Marcum vs. Righty Kevin Correia
Thursday, April 14th: Left-hand pitcher Randy Wolf vs. Lefty Paul Maholm
- The Pirates announced that right-hander Jeff Karstens will take Ross Ohlendorf’s (15-day disabled list) spot in the rotation on Friday in Cincinnati –at least for one turn, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune.
- Evan Meek threw on the side on Monday and told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com that he expects to be ready to go on Wednesday.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com also reports that both Chris Snyder and Joe Beimel are just a few days away from being with the big league club.
Snyder (lower back) has caught five straight games with the Bradenton Marauders and has not had any back soreness that sidelined him this spring.
Beimel (left elbow) threw again today, marking the first time he has thrown on back-to-back days this year. In the two appearances, Beimel faced the minimum (six) with three strike outs.
Manager Clint Hurdle said the club wants to see how Beimel feels tomorrow before the decide his next step.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that:
Fans with tickets to Tuesday’s game are free to exchange those tickets to any Sunday through Thursday home game this season, expect the June 5 game against the Phillies and the June 26 one against the Red Sox.
Kristy Robinson
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