Pirates 1, Braves 0

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Atlanta Braves on Monday night by a score of 1-0. The game was scoreless until the top of the 6th when Andrew McCutchen took Aaron Harang deep with a solo shot. That run would prove to be enough as Jared Hughes, John Holdzkom and Mark Melancon shut down the Bravos for the next 3 innings. Francisco Liarino pitch 6 scoreless for the win to improve to 7-10. Franky is on fire as he has allowed a total of 3 runs over his past 6 starts, and Aaron Harang took the loss despite allowing 1 run over 7 innings Mark Melancon picked up his 32nd save. The magic number for the Pirates to make the playoffs is now at 2, and they can clinch tonight with a win and a Brewers loss. They are tied with the Giants for the 1st wildcard spot and remain 2.5 GB of St. Louis for the division. It is the first time since 1917 that the Pirates have played in 3 straight 1-0 games.

Pirates 3, Red Sox 2

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night by a score of 3-2. The Pirates drew first blood in the Bottom of the 1st when Russell Martin drew a bases loaded walk, scoring Travis Snider. The Red Sox would tie the game in the Top of the 3rd when a single by Mookie Betts scored Cesar Vasquez. The Pirates would regain the lead in the 4th when a single by Chris Stewart scored Ike Davis. They would add 1 more in the 5th on a solo shot by Starling Marte. The game would remain that way until the Top of the 8th when Xander Bogarts hit a Sac Fly, scoring Vasquez. Things interesting in the 9th when Mark Melancon hit Allen Craig, then gave up a single to Daniel Nava, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Then the Pirates got a huge break when Will Middlebrooks hit a ball to 3rd, which hit pinch runner Jemile Weeks, so therefore Weeks was out. Jackie Bradley Jr proceeded to strike out, then Vasquez grounded out to end the game. Gerritt Cole pitched 7 innings for the win to improve to 10-5, while Bob Workman took the loss, dropping to 1-10. Mark Melancon picked up save #30. The Pirates are now 82-70, 2 GB of The Giants for the 1st Wildcard spot and 2.5 GB of St. Louis in the NL Central.

Pirates 7, Cubs 3: First Triple Play in PNC History

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Chicago Cubs on Sunday by a score of 7-3. The Cubs drew first blood in the Top of the 2nd when Matt Szczur reached on an infield single, scoring Luis Valbuena. They would add 1 more that inning when John Baker hit a sac fly, scoring Mike Olt. The Cubs would add 1 more in the Top of the 3rd when a sac fly by Chirs Coghlan scored Javier Baez. In the Top of the 4th, with men on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, Szczur would become a part of one of the rarest plays in baseball when he hit into a 5-4-3 Triple Play, the first in PNC Park history. The Pirates would get on the board in the bottom half of the inning on a solo shot by Neil Walker. The Bucs would erupt for 6 runs in the Bottom of the 5th. Josh Harrison hit a double, scoring Jordy Mercer and Gregory Polanco to tie the game. They would take the lead 1 batter later on a double by Travis Snider. After a single by Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker doubled, scoring Snider. After Russell Martin was intentionaly walker, Gaby Sanchez, batting for Andrew Lambo, reached on an infield single, scoring McCutchen. Gregory Polanco would finish the scoring with an infield single of his own, scoring Walker. That would be it for the scoring, as the Bucs took care of business the rest of the way. Edinson Volquez picked up the win, improving to 12-7 on the year, while Jacob Turner took the loss, falling to 5-10. The Pirates are now 79-70, 3.5 GB of 1st place St. Louis and 1 1/2 games up on Milliwake for the 2nd wildcard spot.

Phillies 4, Pirates 3

The Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night by a score of 4-3. The Phillies drew first blood in the Bottom of the 1st when after Neil Walker and Gregory Polanco lost a pop up in the lights, Chase Utley singled home Maikel Franco for the games 1st run. The Pirates would tie the game in the next half inning when a 2 out double by Jordy Mercer scored Russell Martin. The Phillies would get that run back in the Bottom half of the inning when a single by pitcher David Buchanan scored Freddy Galvis. The Pirates would take the lead in the Top of the 3rd when a double by Martin scored Walker and Starling Marte. The Phillies would tie the game in the Bottom of the 5th on a homerun by Freddy Galvis. They would proceed to take the lead in the Bottom of the 7th when a single by Franco scored Galvis. Jonathon Papalbon would nail down the save after striking out Josh Harrison with Polanco on 3rd. Justin Wilson took the loss for the Pirates to fall to 3-4 while Justin De Fratus picked up the win for the Phillies to improve to 3-1. The Pirates are now 75-69, 5 GB of First Place St. Louis, and they maintain a 1.5 game lead on Atlanta for the 2nd wildcard spot.

Pirates take first 2 from Cubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates took the first 2 of a 3 game series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field by score of 5-3 and 5-0. The first game started on Friday, and The Pirates drew first blood when Russell Martin reached on an error in the 1st, scoring Josh Harrison. The Cubs would tie the game in the Bottom of the 3rd on a Sac Fly by Jorge Soler, scoring Arismendy Alcantara. They would take the lead later that inning when Chris Valaika reached on a throwing error by Josh Harrison, scoring Luis Valbuena.The Pirates would score 2 in the 4th to regain the lead. They would tie the game on a double by Jose Tabata, scoring Neil Walker. Tabata would later score on a double by Harrison to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead. The Cubs would tie the game in the Bottom of the 5th on a single by Valaika, scoring Valbuena. The Game would be suspended in the 7th inning due to rain and continued the following day. When the Game resumed, the Pirates would score 2 runs in the 11th inning for the win. They took the lead when a single by Harrison scored Neil Walker. They would add insurance when a Sac Fly by Tony Sanchez scored Gregory Polanco. Mark Melancon got the win to improve to 3-4 on the year and Wesley Wright took the loss to drop to 0-3. Palm Ball throwing John Holdzkom picked up his first Major League save. After the game, Harrison was diagnosed with discomfort in his foot, which would be a big blow to the Pirates if serious. In the next game, the Pirates scored first in the 1st inning on a Jordy Mercer RBI Single, scoring Starling Marte. They would increase their lead in the 3rd when a groundout by Gaby Sanchez scored Andrew McCutchen. It would remain that way until the 7th when a single by McCutchen scored Chase d'Arnaud. The Pirates would make it 4-0 in the 8th when a single by Brent Morel scored Gregory Polanco. The games final run was scored in the 9th on a solo shot by Mercer. Franscio Liariano pitched 6 shutout innings for the win to improve to 4-10 and Felix Doubront took the loss to fall to 1-1.

Pirates 3, Cards 1

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday by a score of 3-1. The Pirates drew first blood in the Bottom of the 1st on a 2 run shot by Ike Davis that hit the speaker in Center field. The Cards cut the lead in half in the Top of the 3rd on a solo shot by Matt Holiday. The Pirates would get that run back in the Bottom half on a Sac Fly by Andrew McCutchen. That would be it for the scoring as both Jeff Locke and Adam Wainwright were solid from there on out. Locke pitched 7.1 innings of 1 run ball to improve to 6-3, while Wainwright fell to 15-9 despite allowing a respectable 3 runs over 6 innings. Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless 9th for his 24th save. The Pirates are now 69-64 on the season, 4 games back of 1st place Brewers and 2 games back of a wildcard spot.

Alvarez's 2 Homeruns Propel Pirates to 10-2 romp over Brewers

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Milwaukie Brewers on Saturday night by a score of 10-2. Milwaukie drew first blood in the 2nd with a solo dinger by Scoter Gennett. They would increase their lead in the 3rd when Khirs Davis hit a double, scoring Aramis Ramirez. That would be it for Milwaukie offensively. The Pirates took the lead in the next half inning with a 3 run blast by Pedro Alvarez. They would add on in the 4th when a double by Neil Walker scored Travis Snider. Later that inning, Russell Martin would bust the game open with a 3 run dinger, followed by another Alvarez bomb 1 batter later. The Pirates would add on 2 more runs on 2 singles by Walker. The 10 run outburst was more then enough for Edinson Volquez, as he allowed just the 2 runs over 5.2 innings despite allowing 11 hits. The win moved the Pirates to within 4 games of Milwaukie in the division and 1.5 games back of a wildcard spot. With a lot of baseball left to be played, a lot can happen between now and the end of the season. That's all for tonight, thanks for reading.