Results tagged ‘ ryan howard ’
Morton sharp Alvarez homers, Pirates beat Phillies 4-1
With the help of Charlie Morton’s solid start and Pedro Alvarez’s two-run homer, the Pirates defeated the Phillies 4-1 at Citizen Bank Park for the final game of the spring.
Morton allowed just one run (none earned) on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts over five innings on Wednesday. Morton’s spring ERA was just 2.62. Although, his great spring stats will be washed away by Friday for opening day, Morton’s confidence will follow him into the regular season.
Manager Clint Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “He’s pitched well all spring. He’s done a good job all spring. Today he was just efficient. The sinker’s there, the breaking ball was there, the change-up was there at times. But he’s kept the ball down as well as anybody. Pitched to contact as well as anybody. The thing I’m probably most impressed with Charlie is the fact that even though it’s spring, you add the walks and you add the hits and it’s still less than the innings that he’s pitched this spring, which gets your attention.”
Over 24 innings this spring, Morton allowed just 15 hits with six walks.
The Phillies threatened in the 1st inning, with two on and just one out but Morton successfully got out of trouble with a strikeout to Ryan Howard and a fly out to Raul Ibanez.
First baseman Lyle Overbay hit his fourth double of the spring in the 2nd inning. Pedro Alvarez crushed a 89 mph fastball from Cole Hamels to take a 2-0 lead.
Ben Francisco reached second on a two base throwing error by third baseman Alvarez. He then scored on a ground out by Wilson Valdez to cut the lead to 2-1.
Steve Pearce doubled and scored the third run for the Pirates as he was knocked in by minor leaguer Jordy Mercer in the 6th.
The Pirates tacked the fourth and final run in the 9th after outfielder John Bowker hit a sac fly to score Josh Rodriguez.
Notes:
- The Pirates out hit the Phillies 12-2.
- Steve Pearce hit his sixth double of the spring in the 6th inning.
- The Pirates will kick off the 2011 season by facing the Chicago Cubs for a three game series at Wrigley field, starting on Friday, April 1st at 2:20 ET.
Kevin Correia will start for the Bucs against Ryan Dempster.
Ohlendorf struggles, Bucs lose 8-5 to Phillies
Ross Ohlendorf’s struggles this spring continued as he threw 94 pitches over four innings as the Pirates lost to the Phillies 8-5 at Citizen Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Ohlendorf has only thrown five innings in a start this spring once. He allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits with one walk and a strikeout over four innings.
Ohlendorf has now allowed 24 runs (20 earned) on 34 hits over 18.1 innings this spring.
Ohlendorf told Mike Radano of MLB.com, “I wish Spring Training had gone better, but I feel as if I’m ready. I feel like tonight, that even though the results were similar to my other starts, I feel like I threw the ball much better.”
“Where I didn’t do well is I threw too many pitches. I felt that with the exception of a couple of at-bats, I wasn’t getting hit as hard as I was in the last game, and the ball was coming out much better, and [catcher Ryan] Doumit did, too. I’m definitely heading in the right direction.”
Manager Clint Hurdle is not concered with Ohlendorf’s spring struggles. Hurdle told Mike Radano of MLB.com, “I have no concerns or misgivings. He’s in our starting rotation. I’ve seen guys have springs in which they didn’t get anybody out, and when the season started they rolled right through it.”
Lyle Overbay came through with a two-RBI double in the 1st inning off of Roy Oswalt to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead. Both Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez walked in the inning.
Jimmy Rollins successfully stole second base in the bottom of the 1st inning. Catcher Ryan Doumit’s throw to second went into center field allowing Luis Castillo to score and put the Phillies on the board.
Right Fielder Ben Francisco homered off Ohlendorf in the 2nd inning to tie the game at two. Ohlendorf continued struggled in the 2nd. Shane Victorino was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Luis Castillo hit a grounder to short, an easy double play to end the inning, but Ronny Cedeno bobbled the ball allowing a run to score. Jimmy Rollins hit a sac fly to score Ruis and give the Phillies a 4-2 lead.
Two more runs scored in the 4th inning off of Ohlendorf, who hit Rollins, his third batter of the night. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins both hit RBI singles in the inning.
Josh Rodriguez and Jose Tabata drew back-to-back walks in the 5th. Neil Walker hit a single, but advanced to third base on an error by the Francisco. Both Rodriguez and Tabata scored. Andrew McCutchen followed with a RBI single to cut the lead to 6-5.
Chris Leroux’s leadoff walk to Victorino scored on a ground out by Rollins in the 6th. Leroux was pulled after just 1/3 of an inning.
Former Bucco Erik Kratz scored off of Evan Meek in the 8th. The Phillies went on to win 8-5.
Notes:
- Jose Tabata went 0-for-2 with three walks and two runs.
- Neil Walker reached base four times tonight. He went 3-for-4 with a RBI, a walk and two runs scored.
- Right-hander Kevin Correia, who will be the Pirates opening day starter in Chicago, is eager to get the season started right. He will be facing the Cub’s Ryan Dempster on April 1st.
Correia told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “I’d trade in an Opening Day start for a good start. If we’re going to turn this thing around, it would be nice to win that first game. It’s exciting, but you can’t get caught up too much in it. You’ve got to approach it like any other start.”
- Although it hasn’t been officially announced, Mike Crotta has made the Pirates 25-man roster according to reports. Crotta, who has never pitched above AAA, has had himself a great spring. He’s allowed just two earned runs over 12.1 innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
Crotta told Mike Radano of MLB.com, “I feel like [Spring Training] couldn’t have gone better for me. I [went to Florida] in the beginning of December because I had some elbow issue to work through. From the first day, I’ve just worked with [Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage] on getting the right mentality to be a reliever, and working on getting the ball down in the zone.”
“I’ve learned a lot this spring, and it’s something I can take with me into my career. It’s awesome to be here, and the whole experience is awesome. From the plane ride to playing in a game, it’s all just awesome. I’m ready to go.”
- Corey Giger of the Altoona Mirror reports that Pirates pitching prospects Jeff Locke and Bryan Morris will start the season with Double-A Altoona. Left-hander Justin Wilson is still undetermined whether he will go back to Altoona, or start the year with Triple-A.
Catcher Tony Sanchez and Starling Marte, ranked as the Pirates No. 2 and No. 4 prospects by Baseball America, will start in Double-A.
Another interesting move will be with shortstop Chase D’Arnaud. If the Pirates decide that Pedro Ciriaco will be the everyday shortstop in Indianapolis, then D’ARnaud will start the season at Double-A again.
- The Pirates will face the Phillies again tomorrow for the final exhibition game before opening day kicks off on Friday. Charlie Morton will start for the Bucs against Cole Hamels.
Hanrahan’s number retired, wants to bring a winning season to Pittsburgh
Bucco closer Joel Hanrahan’s high school jersey was retired on Friday at his former school–Norwalk High, in Iowa.
Hanrahan chatting with kids in first and second grade.
Kids lining up to ask Hanrahan questions.
Hanrahan talking to the Norwalk high school baseball team.
Pictures curiosity of Mark Harahan.
Hanrahan also chatted with 1460 KXNO in Des Moines where he discussed Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies, on the Nationals future, his arbitration process and why he enjoys chatting with fans on twitter. You can listen to the entire interview here.
On if 2010 was his best year: “For a full year, yeah. I feel like my half year in Pittsburgh was really good, after I left Washington. Obviously, I would have loved to have my ERA a little bit lower. I had one game where I gave up six runs in one inning. But the accomplishments I’ve had likegetting the 100 strike outs, was awesome for me. I don’t know if that’s a big deal for anybody else. I felt like that was pretty neat. I felt that pitching in 72 games was also good. Especially after missing the first week and really missing all of spring training. “
On his mentality as a reliever compared to when he was a starter: “Everyday is different. You never know. And that’s the beauty of being a reliever. You go to the park and you know you have a chance to play. Where as a starter, you pitch once every fifth day. As a bullpen guy, you never know what your job is going to be that day. You may have to come in and pitch six outs, finish up a one-hitter. That’s kind of the beauty, you never know what is going to happen. It brings some excitement and you got to be ready everyday.”
On National League pitching, and how he studies the players he faces: “We do a scouting report the first game of every series. They can tell you what Ryan Howard is hitting on a 0-1 breaking ball, when it’s 72 degrees and partly cloudy (laughs). They have stats for everything. Being around for a couple years, facing a lot of the same guys, you start to know what the hitters want to do and are looking for.
On how he gets Albert Pujols out: “You just really got to mix it up with him. He’s one of the best hitters in the game –if not the best. You gotta be aggressive and challenge him. Show that you’re not scared.”
On Pittsburgh: “Pittsburgh has been through a lot. I feel bad for what the fans have gone through. That’s part of the motivation though. You want to be a part of that team that brings a winning season back to them. I went to a Steelers game and a Penguins game this year, and it was ridiculous. People were fighting before the game even started, that’s how passionate they are. I feel like once we starting winning in Pittsburgh, it’s gonna be like that for baseball games.”
Hanrahan on how the Pirates will decide who will close next year: “I really have no idea what they are going to make that evaluation on. I know they want to make a decision before spring training. The main thing they are going to look for; who’s the most consistent. I think it’s going to have a lot to do with the past. And who they feel more comfortable with. I talk to Evan [Meek] once every two weeks and we don’t really look at it as a competition. We wanna win. We want to do what’s best for the team. We feel like we can be the top 8-9 combo, whichever way it goes.”
On the rumors that Ryan Doumit will be traded: “I hope it’s not [true}. I'm a fan of Ryan Doumit. We get along pretty well, on and off the field. I hope Doumit's still around. He's looking for a bounce back year, that's for sure."
On Pirates new skipper: "Clint Hurde is going to be great. I met him at the Steelers game. He did a great job [with the Rockies], same with Texas. Led those guys to the World Series as the hitting coach. He’s very motivational, very passionate about what he’s doing and he really wants to win, wants to turn this thing around. He’s been sending me a motivational text message everyday with a different quote. He’s in this for the long haul. I think he’s going to be great with our young guys and getting them motivated and keeping them going for 162 games.”
On offseason conditioning: “I took off October. I was in DC for a little bit. Then, moved back down to Texas and starting working out November 1st. I’m up at 7:30 every morning, I workout at eight for about two hours. I started throwing December 1st. Once I get back from the holidays, I’ll get back in the throwing program a little bit. After New Years, I’ll starting throwing off the mound every once in a while. I have a Pirates mini-camp going on in January. Then going to Pittsburgh for the Pirates caravan, going to my teammate Pedro Alvarez’s wedding. Then, time to go to spring training.”
On what he wants to improve on for 2011: “I need to get left-handed hitters out better. I felt like I was pretty good against righties. I gotta find a way to start pitching inside a little better and getting lefties out.”
Kristy Robinson
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