Blogs

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — One of the best things about my job is, you sometimes never know what will happen from one minute to the next.
I began today by greeting Pirates owner Bob Nutting and prez Frank Coonelly over scrambled eggs on the top floor of an ocean-side hotel in the capital city of [...]

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — John Grupp has been handing beat duties the past couple of days while I’m here, working on stories about the Pirates’ new Latin American headquarters.
The $5 million complex will be christened tomorrow during a ceremony attended by owner Bob Nutting, team president Frank Coonelly and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez Reyna. [...]

MILWAUKEE – Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo tossed eight scoreless innings and provided the game’s only run with a seventh-inning homer as the Pirates lost their 18th game in a row at Miller Park, 1-0, on Wednesday afternoon.
The Pirates have lost 15 in a row to the Brewers dating to last May.
Gallardo’s homer off Ian [...]

MILWAUKEE — Nate McLouth will miss his sixth game in a row with a strained right oblique muscle in this afternoon’s 1:05 p.m. game with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates, as well noted, have lost 14 in a row to the Brewers and 17 in a row at Miller Park.
PIRATES — 1. Nyjer Morgan [...]

Here are some notes from the Pirates’ post-game locker room following the 6-5 loss to the Brewers:
· It took only one batter Tuesday night to realize Paul Maholm wasn’t at his best.
Rickie Weeks ripped a line-drive to left that happened to find Brandon Moss’s glove. Maholm has been virtually unhittable in the first inning this [...]

MILWAUKEE – The Pirates have lost to many teams in many ballparks during their 16-year losing skid.
But there is nothing like Miller Park.
The Pirates frittered away a four-run lead – with ace Paul Maholm on the mound – and saw their miseries against the Milwaukee Brewers continued with a 6-5 loss on Tuesday [...]

· Center fielder Nate McLouth, who will miss his fifth consecutive game, threw for about 10 minutes in the outfield at Miller Park on Tuesday afternoon. Manager John Russell said McLouth could possibly hit off a tee Wednesday, if he continues to progress.
· Brewers reserve outfielder Chris Duffy, who spent seven years in the [...]

Brandon Moss, who has one RBI in 51 at-bats, will bat third for the second time this season and Nate McLouth will miss his fifth straight game with a sore right oblique, as the Pirates try to snap their 16-game losing streak at Miller Park.
Ace Paul Maholm takes the mound at 8:05 [...]

· Manager John Russell said Jeff Karstens was just trying to protect the inside of the plate when he hit Ryan Braun between the shoulders in the all-star leftfielder’s first at-bat after homering off the Pirates right-hander in the first inning. Braun glared at Karstens for a moment before heading to first.
“He’s trying to [...]

MILWAUKEE – The Pirates are off to their best start in seven years, but beating the Brewers will have to wait.
The Pirates fell to their nemesis again, this time, 10-5, on Monday night to extend their losing streak to the Brewers to 13 in a row dating to last May.
It was also the Pirates’ 16th [...]