Blogs

It is just me, or is manager John Russell a bit feistier these days?

Indy’s clubhouse has gotta be buzzing this morning after seeing these comments by Buffalo manager Ken Oberkfell, who accused Kratz of throwing an elbow at Thole as Kratz beat the throw to the plate to score the go-ahead run.

Principal owner Bob Nutting on Friday said the Pirates’ performance and record this season are “totally unacceptable and incredibly frustrating,” but did not sound ready to make wholesale changes with either the coaches or in the front office.

A few days ago, Andrew McCutchen asked John Russell for advice about where to settle in Pittsburgh. At least Russell knows it won’t be his own house that’s on the market when McCutchen goes looking. Thursday, the Pirates revealed they’d picked up the option on Russell’s contract for 2011. GM Neal Huntington also was extended [...]

Team prez Frank Coonelly just issued this statement via e-mail: “As you know, we have respectfully declined to discuss publicly the contract status of our non-player personnel.  While I continue to believe that internal understandings regarding goals, expectations, standards, performance and progress towards meeting those goals are far more productive than public votes of confidence [...]

Veteran baseball writer Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com today writes that the Pirates have picked up GM Neal Huntington’s option for 2011 and might already have done the same for manager John Russell. Tuesday, Rosenthal reported via anonymous sources that Pirates upper management had begun discussing the possibility of firing Russell. That report was denied by [...]

What could have been a feel-good story — something the Pirates sorely need right now — turned ugly in the final three innings tonight. The Pirates lost 7-2 against the White Sox, stretching their losing skid to 10 games. What made it all the more brutal were six errors in the final three innings, including [...]

Pedro Alvarez will make his long-awaited Pirates debut Wednesday. “He is on his way here,” general manager Neal Huntington said Tuesday night after the Pirates lost 6-4 against the Chicago White Sox. “Assuming there are not travel issues, we’ll make it official (Wednesday) and have a whole lot more to say about it then.” Alvarez, [...]

No, he’s not here yet. Pedro Alvarez is in the lineup tonight for Triple-A Indianapolis, which is wrapping up its series in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Indy is off tomorrow, then on Thursday begins a series in Buffalo. There’s a chance Alvarez will not board the team bus tonight when his Indy mates shuffle off to Buffalo. Management [...]

WASHINGTON — Starter Zach Duke was replaced by Evan Meek in the sixth inning tonight, when the Nationals loaded the bases with none out. Meek did the job, getting pinch-hitter Willie Harris to line into a 4-6 double play and Cristian Guzman to ground out. “He did an amazing job there,” Duke said. “Come in [...]