The game didn’t end last night until after midnight (thanks to the rain delay)  I headed back to the ballpark this morning for the final game of the Reds series. I didn’t get a chance to recap the games so I’m just going to highlight parts of them along with news and notes.  

The Pirates lost this afternoon to the Reds, 9-4.

McCutchen lead off the game with a Solo-Home Run off Queto. (The only run he allowed, just three hits in six innings pitched with six strikeouts.)

Clement came in to pinch hit in the seventh and hit a two-run homerun. Since being recalled from Triple-A Indy he is 3-for-5 with two Home Runs.

Pedro Alvarez hit his eighth homerun of the season in the ninth inning and it was smoked. When Pedro connects, it is hit so hard. If you have seen one in person you know exactly what I mean.

Ledezma and Jackson were horrific in the game today. Combined they pitched just one inning but gave up four hits, and five runs and a walk.

“[It was a] relatively close game, and next thing you know, it gets out of hand,” manager John Russell said. “We’re going to have to find a way to stop that. We’ve got to find guys that fit in to those roles later. The seventh can be a tough inning because you can be in the meat of the lineup. We’re going to have to find a way to get through that.”  

Karstens picked up his seventh loss of the season. His ERA is now at 4.47 

Other News & Notes:

• Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen has been named a preliminary winner of the Heart and Hustle Award, which is handed out by Major League Baseball’s Players Alumni Association. Since 2005, the award is annually presented to an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.

McCutchen was recognized as his team’s recipient prior to Tuesday’s game against the Reds.

There are 30 preliminary winners, one from each club, for the award. An overall winner will be determined through votes from active players and alumni and will be announced at the Legends for Youth Dinner on Nov. 5 in New York.

The 2009 Heart and Hustle Award was given to St. Louis’ Albert Pujols. David Eckstein (2005), Craig Biggio (2006 and 2007) and Grady Sizemore (2008) round out the list of past winners.

Pirates.com

• Steve Pearce underwent surgery on his left knee today. Yesterday Pearce talked about his season cut short and the surgery:

“I’m not actually worried about the effects,” Pearce said over the phone. “Actually, I think this can be a great thing for my career. I can’t be the player I want to be with this bum knee. I think I can really benefit by getting this taken care of.”

“When I come back after this, I’m going to be a whole new player, a better player,” Pearce said. “Especially with this new approach that I’ve had this year to be more patient, now I’ll also be able to explode on balls like I have in the past.

“I will be 100 percent in Spring Training and ready to fight for a job.”

•  The Pirates claimed claimed right-hander Chris Resop and Chan Ho Park off waivers on Wed.

Resop, With Triple-A Gwinnett, went 6-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 15 starts.

“Adding Resop should help us,” manager John Russell said. “He’s been doing very well. He has shown some good numbers and hopefully he’ll be a guy who can come in and help us out.” 

The Pirates will be the seventh different team that Park has played for. This season he appeared in 29 games for the Yankees allowing 22 earned runs on 40 hits and 12 walks in 35 1/3 innings. 

Both Park and Resop will go into the pen. Resop is expected to be in Pittsburgh Thursday; Park will arrive on Friday.

• Steven Jackson was Designated for Assignment.
• Steve Pearce was moved to the 60-day Disabled List.
• Andy LaRoche and James McDonald spent years playing together in the Dodgers minor league system. Andy had a lot of good things to say about McDonald, who will make his Pirates debut starting on Thursday.

“I think to come to a park like this with the stuff that he’s got, let’s wait and see the results, but I think he’s got a good chance here,” LaRoche said, offering his own personal scouting report. “He’s got good stuff. He’s throws firm. He’s got a great curveball. He locates well. I always knew that he had good stuff and would be a big league player.”

“I’m happy that they want me here,” McDonald said. “There trying to do things here by building with youth. They have a lot of good young players. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Manager John Russell said a lot of nice things about McDonald as well.

“I’ve been talking about this guy for a year and a half,” Russell said. “I saw this guy pitch last year and he was dominant against us. Live arm. Velocity. Good breaking ball, changeup. He’s got the arm to be a very good starting pitcher. I’m very excited about it.

“He’s a very talented pitcher. I was surprised when [general manager] Neal [Hunginton] called and told us we got him. It’s a guy that I kind of myself targeted. I’m glad we finally got him.”   

• Mike Leake lost control of his fastball during Tuesday’s game in the second inning and hit Andrew McCutchen on the back of his neck. McCutchen fell to the ground and was eventually helped up by the medical staff and taken off the field. He was later diagnosed with a neck contusion.

“You never want to see a ball up around the head,” Bucs manager John Russell said. It’s a scary thing. I was concerned about Andrew.” 

The Bucs continued to rally in that second inning, scoring six runs.

“You could tell he was shook up after he hit McCutchen,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “And it led to a big inning.”

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Leake, “but I was trying not to.”   

In the third inning when Leake came up to bat, Maholm hit him with a 1-0 fastball on the side of his knee. Home plate umpire then warned both benches.

Maholm declined comment on that pitch afterward, saying only: “Getting hit is one thing. Getting hit up there is a scary deal. It’s no fun to watch and you just hope and pray he’s OK.”

•  Evan Meek picked up his first career base hit in just his second career at bat this season.

Meek also threw 50 pitches in the 1 2/3 innings he pitched. Evan faced seven batters and gave up two runs.

“Definitely throwing 50 pitches is a struggle,” Meek said. “You’re going to have outings like that. You’re not going to be as sharp as you can be every time. Thank God we had a little cushion there.” 

• Joel Hanrahan picked up his first career save as a Bucco. (His last save was on May 24, 2009 while with the Nationals)

“[I was] a little nervous. I’m not going to lie,” Hanrahan said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in that save situation, and for some reason, that ninth inning’s just a little bit different. I’ve never known why, but anytime you go out there for your first save of the year it’s a little bit different.”

“I put a lot of pressure on myself when I was in Washington,” he said. “A couple bad games here or there and I was trying to lower my ERA every time I went out there. Now, I just go out there with confidence in the role that I’m in now and believe in myself. It’s kind of the same thing you’ve got to do if you go into that role.” 

• @Maholm28: Back to the park looking for a series win. Thanks for everyones support congrats to @hanrahan4457 for his 1st bucco save.

@Maholm28: Also hoping cutch isn’t too sore today we need him back out to set the tempo.

• I noticed this young kid at PNC Park on Tuesday wearing a ballcap with his ears tucked under, like Pedro Alvarez does. I thought it was strange because I’ve never seen anyone else wear their hat that way. I asked the boy why he tucks his ears in his cap and he said “I want to be just like Pedro when I grow up.” How adorable it that?
• Daniel McCutchen was moved to the bullpen a few days ago. (via @LangoschMLB) 

On being asked to move to the ‘pen: “I’m good with it. I think I can maybe work some things out. I feel really close and maybe it will be an opportunity for me to get over the hump and pitch the way I want to pitch.”

On what areas of his game he is wanting to target first: “Probably consistency with my off-speed stuff and working ahead in the count. There have been a lot of things. Last year, the first half of the year was kind of up-and-down and then I really got on a roll. This year, I haven’t really gotten on a roll. I’m going to keep pressing through it and try to get on that roll.”

On the challenges of adapting to a new role: “I pitched out of the ‘pen in college. How relevant that is – that was my sophomore year – I don’t know. But I’ve been asking a lot of guys about their routine and what they do. They are going to help me with that. Hopefully it will be an easy transition.”

Ross Ohlendorf took the mound last night for the first time since getting hit on the side of his head from a combacker just five days earlier. Unfortunately, it was not a good night for Ross.

Ohlendorf lasted just five innings, gave up five hits, three runs, struck out four, walked four, plus a hit by pitch. He threw 104 pitches, 60 for strikes.

To be honest, Ohly is lucky the Reds only scored three runs off him. The first inning lasted just over 15 minutes and he walked the first two batters he faced. By the time the second inning came Ross had already threw 56 pitches.

In the third inning, Johnny Gomes hit the ball off the top of the Clemente wall, so close to being a homerun. Fortunately for Ohlendorf, Gomes thought the ball was gone and stood at the plate and admired it for a few seconds and jogged twoards first base. Once the ball hit off the wall, Jonny could only make it to second base.

The fifth inning was the only good inning from Ross, he only needed  nine pitches to end the inning.

“I felt like I was going to pitch much better and then got out there and didn’t have very good command,” Ohlendorf said. “My arm felt great, but I was just throwing a lot of balls and throwing up in the zone.” 

“I really want to finish strong, get on a roll like I did last year,” he said. “I feel like I’m definitely capable of it. There’s still a lot to play for to show that I deserve to be a part of the rotation next year.” 

The Pen’ did a good job on the night. Ledezma pitched two scoreless, hitless innings, striking out one. Justin Thomas pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Pirates. The only mistake came in the eight inning with Hanrahan on the mound. He gave up a hit to Heisey which went over McCutchen’s head when he tried to slide and make the catch. It trickled into the North Side Notch. No Error on Cutch, it was rulled an inside-the-park Home Run, the first by an opponent in PNC Park History.

The Reds Rookie, Travis Wood allowed just two hits through seven innings and struck out four. (The two hits were, Walker in the first; Milledge in the fifth)

The biggest thing about him was he kept the ball down,” Russell said of Wood, who took a perfect game into the ninth against the Phillies last month. “He elevated some to get some guys to chase. He was very effective.”  

I try to work quick with the fastball and let pitches work off that,” Wood said. “I was able to throw strikes to both sides of the plate and get them off balance and make some good pitches” 

Chris Synder made his Pirates debut against the Reds. He went 0-for-3. I did manage to take some pictures of him.

Ohlendorf, Synder and Pitching Coach Kerrigan after the bullpen warm-up.

Synder’s first at bat as a Bucco.

I just happened to be walking by the ballpark when Chris Synder was dropped off. Apparently, he had just flown into Pittsburgh. I kind of felt like a paparazzi snapping his photo. I couldn’t get my camera out in time to snap a good one.

Tomorrow, Steve Pearce will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Not only will he be out the rest of this season, but it also might affect his ability to compete for a Roster spot in Spring Training in 2011.

Pearce had a plasma rich platelet injection in July in hopes that he would not require the knee surgery. Since then he still has felt pain in his knee and elected to have the surgery this week.

Pearce will be out of Minor League options next season. He played in 15 games for the Pirates this year before going on the disabled list with a sprained ankle. While he was rehabbing his right ankle, he was shut down with knee pain. Pearce was 8-for-29, .276 AVG, two doubles, one triple, and five RBI this season.

Other News & Notes:

• The Pirates have traded OF Brandon Jones to the Tigers for a player to be named later. Jones has been assigned to Detroit’s Double-A Erie.
• Cole White named New York Penn League Hitter of the Week. A Spikes player has now earned player of the week honors four straight weeks. 
• Pitchers have fared best when Kratz is behind the plate (4.37) and worst with Jaramillo back there (5.70). The ERA is 4.91 with Doumit. (Via @LangoschMLB)
• The Pirates have scored just two runs in the last four games.
• Pirates have now been shutout 11 times this season.
• Pedro Alvarez has just 2 hits in his last 28 at-bats. (0.71 AVG)

Some Batting Pratice photos of the Reds:

Today’s Pitching Matchup: (CIN @ PIT 9/3)

Mike Leake (7-2, 3.57 ERA)

VS

Paul Maholm (6-9, 4.52 ERA)

Leake is pitching on eight days’ rest after the Reds skipped his turn in an effort to limit his innings total in his rookie season. In his last three starts he is 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA and nine strikeouts in 19.2 IP.

Maholm allowed a season-worst eight earned runs and 11 hits in the most recent outing of an up-and-down stretch. The lefty threw a season-high 120 pitches in just 5 1/3 innings and has now not finished six innings in three of his last seven starts.