When the Pittsburgh Pirates made the decision to trade former closer Joel Hanrahan to the Boston Red Sox and hand the job to set-up man Jason Grilli, it was often questioned how the veteran would handle to transition from the eighth inning to the pressures of pitching in the ninth inning. With close to two months of the 2013 season now in the books, Grilli hasn't just made the transition to closer, he’s made it look easy. Grilli not only currently leads all of baseball with 21 saves at the ... Read More
Archives for May 2013
Are the Steelers Facing “Mike Wallace 2.0″ in Emmanuel Sanders?
Last off-season there was a lot of talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Wallace working on a contract extension, but it never happened. Wallace held out of training camp and the entire pre-season and struggled during the regular season. His stats all dropped and his dropped passes increased. Wallace is now with the Miami Dolphins, though he hasn’t forgotten about Pittsburgh, and now the Steelers face a similar situation with Emmanuel Sanders. The Steelers matched an offer sheet given ... Read More
Pirates Pick Up Extra Inning Victory Over Tigers On Walker Home Run
After a 6-5 loss yesterday, the Pirates wrapped up their two-game road series against the Tigers with a hard fought extra inning victory against the Tigers. The story of the game was pitching, and Rick Porcello and Jeanmar Gomez each looked brilliant on the mound tonight. Porcello, who came into the game with an ERA over six, pitched one of the best games of his career. The 24-year old pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out eleven batters. His strikeout ... Read More
Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington Trades: Win, Lose, Or Draw?
Neal Huntington is the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and has always been criticized for his management of the team. Huntington gets the blame anytime the team is not succeeding, and as is the case recently, gets lauded with praise when the team plays well. Huntington arrived to the Pirates in late 2007, and has done his best to rebuild an organization. Unlike his free agent pickups, I’ve been a fan of Huntington’s trades over the past five to six seasons. Smitty has stated that ... Read More
Polarizing Penguins
The NBA has the Lakers, MLB has the Yankees, the NCAA has the Fighting Irish, and the NHL has the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins aren't placed on this list because of how hated they are throughout North America, alone. Rather, they are placed on this list because of their polarizing nature. All Pittsburgh fans believe the Penguins are the most hated team in the NHL and they could be right. After all, the internet is full of comments from people saying Sidney (or Cindy) Crosby is a baby, ... Read More
Pirates drop opener to Tigers
DETROIT -- Justin Verlander struck out 13 batters and sent the Pirates to a 6-5 loss against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on a rainy Monday afternoon. Jhonny Peralta had four hits and drove in three runs. Neil Walker doubled and tripled, scoring a run and driving in another for the Pirates. Verlander (6-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings. After the Pirates scored one off Verlander in the first, he shut them out until the seventh. The Pirates fought back ... Read More
Pirates take series from Brewers; have best start since 1990
MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun came to the plate three times Sunday afternoon with multiple Milwaukee Brewers on base and two outs. Twice, in the third and the seventh innings, the Pirates sent Braun and the Brewers back to the dugout. The Pirates defeated the Brewers, 5-4, at Miller Park to win the three-game series and their 13th of the past 16 games. The Pirates taxed Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo and knocked him from the game after four innings. Gallardo struck out seven and walked two, ... Read More
Pittsburgh Power Come From Behind To Defeat Cleveland 55-44
A long time coming. That sentence sums up the wait for Pittsburgh Power fans who had not seen the Power (3-6) win a game at home in over a year. It all changed tonight after a kickoff return by Chris LeFlore helped lead to 27 unanswered points in the 4th quarter as the Power won 55-44 win over the Cleveland Gladiators (2-7). It was the spark the team needed although they’ve gotten sparks in a few other places and no I am not referring to the smoking hot dance team. This team has gotten a ... Read More
Storylines reign supreme in Bruins-Pens series
As many expected, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. To me, it's the series I was looking forward to as a hockey fan, but as a Penguins fan, I couldn't have been pulling harder for the Rangers. I think that the Bruins defensive scheme and the way they take advantage of turnovers (are you listening Geno and Tanger?), could haunt the Penguins. On paper, the Penguins are better and I hope my prediction of Bruins in seven games is off. While this ... Read More
Locke, homers carry Pirates to victory
MILWAUKEE -- The Locke Ness Monster was at it again. As with his mythical lake-dwelling namesake, people don't know whether Jeff Locke is for real or just a fascinating apparition. What they do know is that the left-hander's legend continued to grow on Saturday, when he threw six innings of three-hit shutout ball against the dreaded Brewers in the Pirates' 5-2 win. The Pirates had a splashing-good time in Miller Park. When the Locke Ness Monster was back in dry dock, the Shark Tank took ... Read More