Blogs

HOUSTON – The Pirates’ up-and-down offense took another dip Wednesday. The Pirates mustered only five hits – all singles — off of starter Wandy Rodriguez in a 5-0 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Rodriguez (8-6) threw the second complete game of his career. He matched his career-high with 11 strikeouts and walked [...]

Adam LaRoche, who is a .417 career hitter against Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez (5 for 12), will bat sixth for the first time this year, and second baseman Freddy Sanchez (back spasms) will miss his sixth consecutive game as the Pirates try to win a road series for the first time in more than six [...]

HOUSTON – Jack Wilson homered, drove in three runs and made a couple big defensive plays to lead the Pirates past the Astros, 6-3, on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. The victory is the Pirates’ third in their past eight games and ends a low-scoring skid of one run in their past two games. Wilson [...]

Freddy Sanchez will miss his fifth game in a row with a lower back strain. Ramon Vasquez, who is batting .327 in his past 49 at bats, will start at second. Lineups PIRATES – 1. Andrew McCutchen cf, 2. Jack Wilson ss, 3. Brandon Moss lf, 4. Adam LaRoche 1b, 5. Garrett Jones rf, 6. [...]

HOUSTON – If it seems like a millennium since the Pirates beat Mike Hampton, that would be just about right. Hampton, the Pirates’ biggest pitching nemesis, once again made them his personal play-toy in a 4-1 Astros victory on Monday night at Minute Maid Park. Hampton (5-5) allowed one run on three hits over seven [...]

· The Pirates, who have scored one run or fewer in more than one-fourth of their games this season, took early batting practice this afternoon at Minute Maid Park. It’s something manager John Russell does at least once on each road trip. The Pirates have scored one or fewer runs in 21 of their 82 [...]

All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez will miss his fourth-straight game with lower back pain when the Pirates continue their nine-game road trip with the start of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The roof is closed, mercifully, as temperatures are in the mid-to-high 90s, and it feels even hotter. STARTING LINEUP: PIRATES [...]

MIAMI — Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez today was named as a reserve for the National League squad for the All-Star Game. Sanchez is hitting .316 with six home runs and 33 RBI. He has made just one error this season, dropping a pop-up May 2. He has missed three straight games, including today against [...]

MIAMI — Garrett Jones might not fully realize it yet, but he’s in line to get regular playing time for the foreseeable future. “It’s still early. I didn’t know I was going to be in there today,” Jones said last night after the Pirates 5-3 loss against the Marlins. “It feels good, getting in there [...]

MIAMI — My hotel is about 20 minutes down the highway from Land Shark Stadium. As I was making the short walk to my rental car, the skies opened and I was drenched in about 30 seconds. By the time I was halfway down the road to the stadium, it was clear and sunny. Not [...]