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Jose Cisnero out-pitches Pirates bullpen in 11-inning Bucs loss

2013-05-19T04:32:51Z

The Astros beat the Pirates 4-2 in 11 innings Saturday night thanks to a heroic relief outing by Jose Cisnero.

Despite walking four, A.J. Burnett pitched seven strong innings and left with a 2-1 lead, even though third baseman Matt Dominguez cut the Pirates' best opportunity short when he gunned down Jose Tabata at home in the sixth. Burnett struck out seven.

But in the eighth, Mark Melancon allowed ground ball singles to Trevor Crowe and Jose Altuve, and Chris Carter singled to left to tie the game.

"I saw a guy that gave up a run on two three-hop ground balls and a broken-bat single to left," Clint Hurdle said. "Sometimes you make pitches and you don't get right results."

Meanwhile, Cisnero entered and was terrific, striking out five batters over 3.2 scoreless innings.

"Anytime you get that push from one guy out of your bullpen, he probably should have got the win and the save," Hurdle said.

Cisnero's effort bought the Astros time, and after scoreless innings by Jason Grilli in the ninth and Bryan Morris in the 10th, they got to Morris in the 11th. Jason Castro led off with a double, and after Chris Carter popped out, Morris intentionally walked Carlos Pena. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Matt Dominguez then grounded to second, and Neil Walker threw home. It was a close play, but it looked like Castro did get his foot across before Russell Martin's tag, and Castro was called safe. Hurdle argued on the play and was ejected.

"The ump made the right call. He made a good call," Hurdle said after watching video of the play.

The Astros added an insurance run later in the inning on J.D. Martinez's RBI single.

David Manel contributed to this post.

Karstens rehabs and Sands finally goes deep

2013-05-19T02:09:39Z

Everybody was in action Saturday, including a doubleheader for West Virginia.

-- Indianapolis ran its record to 31-13 with a 6-3 win over Pawtucket. Josh Harrison led the offense, going 2-5 with a double and a three-run HR, his first. He also stole two bases. Jerry Sands added his first HR and Brett Carroll hit his eighth. Tony Sanchez added his daily double in four ABs and Ivan De Jesus, Jr., went 2-3 with a walk. Starter Kris Johnson allowed three runs over six innings and Ryan Reid threw three scoreless innings for the save. He fanned four.

-- Altoona lost to Richmond, 5-3. Jeff Karstens made a rehab start, allowing two unearned runs on two hits and two walks in four innings. He fanned four and threw 40 of 62 pitches for strikes. All the hits, walks and runs came in the 1st inning. Ethan Hollingsworth gave up the other three runs and took the loss. Andrew Lambo hit his eighth HR and Gift Ngoepe his second. Alex Dickerson went 3-4 with a double and Carlos Paulino 2-3.

-- Bradenton got stomped by St. Lucie, 10-0. Adrian Sampson struggled again, allowing seven runs and eleven hits over four innings. The Marauders had only three hits. Gregory Polanco went 1-4 with a double and Alen Hanson 1-3 with a walk.

-- West Virginia split a doubleheader with Lexington. The Power took game one, 3-2. Tyler Glasnow started and allowed only one hit over four innings. It was a HR, though, following a walk to the game's first hitter. Glasnow allowed just one other walk and fanned eight, giving him 50 punchouts in 34 innings. Pat Ludwig pitched hitless ball over the last three innings to pick up the win. Stetson Allie (pictured) went 1-3 with his ninth HR and two strikeouts. Dilson Herrera and Josh Bell each went 0-3.

The Power dropped game two, 6-4. John Kuchno started and allowed six runs in five innings. Allie went 1-4 with a double and two more strikeouts. Herrera went 0-4 and Bell 0-3 with a walk.

Pregame: Hurdle talks about relationship between character and performance

2013-05-18T22:05:48Z

One of the things I have begun to appreciate more from having access to Pirates’ players, coaches and front office personnel is the degree to which Major League front offices operate at whole different level than those of us on the outside in terms of the analytics they employ. This is a point that others who have crossed over the line and been exposed to inner workings of front offices have long observed (Kevin Goldstein first drew my attention to this point on his podcasts). We saw one example of this on Thursday (May 16) when Pirates manager Clint Hurdle explained the sophisticated pitcher / hitter matchup data that the team compiles.

In an interview with David Todd Friday evening, Baseball Prospectus' Ben Lindbergh said that one of the black holes in modern baseball research is the effect that clubhouse character has on player performance. However, he observed that if you look around the league it is hard to ignore the fact that teams are making some roster decisions based on this seemingly unquantifiable quality. The situation amounts to this: major league front offices value something that baseball researchers who work from the outside are unable, as of yet, to get a handle on. Indeed, what is likely going on is that teams are ahead of the rest of us and have developed analytics that factor in things like player character, and are already examining its relationship to on-field performance.

During this afternoon’s pregame meeting with the media, Clint Hurdle talked about the issue of character and how it factors into player performance and front office decision-making. Of particular interest, the Pirates manager gave some very interesting insights into how during his time with the Colorado Rockies' "character" was turned into a quantitative measure. Moreover, he suggested that it is somewhat of an open question within front offices just how much weight to place on character. In other words, how exactly should it be added to the other quantitative data?

One of the things that those of us who study baseball from the outside are trying to get a handle on is how much clubhouse character matters when it comes to player performance. It seems clear that teams are making roster moves based on this quality. Without giving anything away in terms of what the Pirates do, I was curious based on your personal experience how much a clubhouse can affect player performance?

It plays in. Character counts. Counts in your home; counts in your workplace. … Integrity counts. I’ve actually been in some clubhouses where I’m not sure we had much of either one and were a pretty good team. We’ve actually gone different ways and I’ve played with different systems to just try to quantify character. In Colorado we started that process, we broke down character into fourteen categories and they were small ones, like "makes teammates better," "serve" and "attitude" and then we’d rank them and grade them. And we’d do it periodically throughout the season because numbers will change, and we found out from a coach's perspective that those numbers might change based on performance. Hard to believe isn’t it? [Laughter.]

But what that does is settle the room. Also gives you a better idea on your quantifier, "Now can we do this, how is our character going to come into play?" Can we really do this? Or are we still going to be performance-based?

We do spend time on getting to know the guys out there. It is important to me who is in that uniform, more than just the name on the back it. … because at the end of the day you want men who rally around one another and they’re going to be selfless. Play for something bigger than themselves.

Can you carry a couple guys that might not have that similar mindset? Yes. But over the long haul, you model behavior properly, the people around you end up modeling the same behavior. I mean, I see it in my household. I start acting like a you-know-what, I got two little kids following me right up the flag pole. And when I talk to their mother and I talk to her respectfully and politely, they do the same thing.

I’ve got the perfect laboratory in my home. And it works out here with these guys. You treat them like men, let them know you care about them, then they’ll find out and care about how much you know and where you can end up taking them. Before you know it, they’re coming in here about topics that have nothing to about baseball. And one of the challenges I give all my coaches is, "Are they coming to you for things other than ball?" Because the day they aren’t, and the day this office is empty, is the day I’m not leading properly.

We do, we’re very mindful.

Notes:

Over the last 30 games the Pirates are tied for the second-best record in Major League Baseball: (1) St. Louis Cardinals / Cincinnati Reds, 20-10 (2) Pittsburgh Pirates, 19-11.

The Pirates' bullpen has been nothing short of spectacular over the course of the first 42 games:

Name

MLB Rank

Stat

Inning Pitched

2^nd

151

Left on Base Percentage

1^st

83.3%

Ground Ball Percentage

1^st

53.4%

Earned Run Average

1^st

2.74

Shutdowns

2^nd

WHIP

1^st

1.13

Former Pirate Erik Bedard starts for the Astros tonight.

Follow me nn Twitter @DavidManel and Bucs Dugout @Bucsdugout

Gamethread: Erik Bedard returns to PNC

2013-05-18T17:35:34Z

The game doesn't start for quite a while, but I'm going to be on at MLBTR through the afternoon and evening, so I'll post this now. Erik Bedard returns to PNC as a member of the Astros, and he'll face A.J. Burnett. Since it's Bedard, I'm sure the game will still be going on when I finish working at midnight.

Polanco and Herrera get four hits apiece, Holmes bounces back

2013-05-18T03:34:19Z

Friday's action:

-- Indianapolis won for the 30th time in 43 games, beating Buffalo, 2-1. Jared Goedert hit his third HR for one of the runs. The other scored when Tony Sanchez doubled and Jerry Sands tripled. Felix Pie, Brett Carroll and Sands each had two hits. Brandon Cumpton allowed just an unearned run in six innings on two hits and four walks. He struck out seven. Vic Black got the last five outs for his 11th save. He gave up one hit and struck out two.

-- Altoona edged Richmond, 2-1. Casey Sadler threw seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks, with three strikeouts. The Curve had only five hits. Jarek Cunningham accounted for one run with his sixth HR. The other scored when Andrew Lambo walked, stole second, went to third when the throw was wild, and scored on a grounder.

-- Bradenton beat St. Lucie, 5-4, on a walkoff single by Willy Garcia. Chase d'Arnaud started at short in his second rehab game, going 2-3 with a triple, a walk and two steals. Gregory Polanco went 4-5 with two doubles. Garcia went 2-5 with his third HR. Alen Hanson replaced d'Arnaud late in the game and struck out in his only AB. He also committed his first error in 20 games. Zack Dodson made his third start since joining the Marauders and went six and two-thirds, allowing one run on three hits and two walks. He fanned five.

-- Dilson Herrera went 4-4 to lead West Virginia to a 3-1 win over Lexington. Herrera's hits included a double and his fourth HR. He's had two or more hits in five straight games. Clay Holmes bounced back from a string of bad starts, allowing one run on one hit and three walks in five innings. He struck out five. It bears mentioning, though, that Lexington is a terrible hitting team. Bryton Trepagnier and Ryan Hafner each contributed two scoreless innings, striking out five between them. Stetson Allie had an RBI single in four ABs. Josh Bell went 0-3 with a walk.

Pirates walk off in comeback victory over Astros who, incidentally, are terrible

2013-05-18T03:07:30Z

The Pirates used a two-run bomb by Pedro Alvarez to tie the game against the Astros in the late innings, then walked off in the ninth after the Astros committed two errors that were oh-so-very Astros.

Both teams scored in the first. Robbie Grossman led off with a double off Jeanmar Gomez, then came home on a sacrifice fly by Jason Castro. In the bottom of the inning, Andrew McCutchen tied the game with a solo homer.

The wheels came off for Gomez in the fifth. Matt Dominguez hit a solo homer, and then Gomez allowed two more batters to reach on a single and a walk. Jake Elmore brought in a run with a single to right, and then Grossman scored on an error by Clint Barmes, making it 4-1. After Castro walked, the Bucs replaced Gomez with Vin Mazzaro.

McCutchen reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the sixth, then came around on Garrett Jones' double. Unfortunately, Neil Walker then bunted for some reason -- with no outs, a man on second and the Pirates down two runs -- and Jones got thrown out at third. The Pirates didn't score any more that inning even though two more batters reached base.

In the eighth, Walker led off with a single, then came home on Alvarez's mammoth, game-tying shot into the river.

Now, at this point, I need to point out yet again that the Astros are bad. We, as Pirates fans, are uniquely suited to appreciate their incompetence, and we need to embrace it, and acknowledge it, and not worry so much about the pot calling the kettle black, as if these Pirates are incompetent (they're not) or we are the Pirates (we're not). The Astros stink. That is reality, and the sooner we accept it, the more we can enjoy it.

So, on to the ninth! The Astros are using a pitcher named Edgar Gonzalez, whose last 12 months ... I'm not going to look it up, but I think it's involved playing in, let's say, Oklahoma City, Buffalo, Quad Cities, Bozeman, Tijuana, Mozambique and Pyongyang. He's allowed 11 runs in 12.2 innings in the majors this season. There is no reason whatsoever to think he's any good at all. The Astros have him pitching the ninth in a tie game.

Starling Marte leads off with an excuse-me single to right. Travis Snider grounds into a force out. And then Andrew McCutchen singles to right. Whee! First and third, one out. Brandon Inge then hits a double play ball that should send the game to extra innings, but Gonzalez can't make the play. Snider doesn't advance, but everyone's safe on Gonzalez's error. Neil Walker then gets called out on strikes in a terrible at bat. And then ... Russell Martin reaches as Jimmy Paredes comes flying in from right field on a fly ball and runs into Elmore, who's camped under it. Paredes has had that happen before. And it's a walk-off, 5-4 win for the Pirates. As a Pirates fan, I thank you, Astros, and I hope my favorite team actually earns a victory tomorrow.

Gamethread: Pirates take on Sixten Ahlberg, Stylor Topspin, and other players you've never heard of

2013-05-17T22:45:40Z

The Pirates begin a series against the woeful Astros tonight. A few notes:

-P- Jose Contreras has been placed on the bereavement list, and the Pirates have promoted Jared Hughes to take his place.

-P- The A's have designated Chris Resop for assignment.

-P- David Todd talks with Ben Lindbergh about Russell Martin's pitch-framing.

Here's the Pirates' lineup.

Starling Marte LF
Travis Snider RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Neil Walker 2B
Russell Martin C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Clint Barmes SS
Jeanmar Gomez P

The Astros will also be starting some players. It doesn't really matter who they are, so I will use a random name generator.

Kostandin Baris CF
Isi Wildgrube 3B
Isaiah Error LF
Stylor Topspin RF
Oved Sheinfeld 1B
Su Cheung C
Vilhjálmur Kermit SS
Bran 2B
Sixten Ahlberg P

Isaiah Error is part Biblical and part Goth, in case you're wondering.

Pirates' offseason looks spectacular so far

2013-05-17T19:12:51Z

Is there anyone -- anyone anywhere, including employees of the Pirates -- who predicted the Pirates' offseason would work out as well as it has so far? Let's roll the tape:

November 28: Pirates trade Luis Rico and Luis Santos to Royals for Vin Mazzaro and Clint Robinson. The Pirates later lost Robinson to the Blue Jays on a waiver claim, but Mazzaro has been helpful in the 14.1 innings he's pitched so far.

November 30: Pirates trade Chris Resop to Athletics for Zach Thornton. Thornton isn't significant -- the Pirates were just dumping salary. Resop has struggled so far with the A's, striking out 13 batters and walking 10 in his first 18 innings.

November 30: Pirates sign Russell Martin. Martin's currently hitting .274/.369/.538, and he's 1.8 wins above replacement so far. Also, Martin is supposed to be extremely good at pitch-framing, and tons of Pirates pitchers have suspiciously low ERAs. Hmmm. Finally, the differences between Martin and backup catcher Michael McKenry have been stark, demonstrating Martin's importance in controlling the running game.

December 12: Pirates re-sign Jason Grilli. Grilli is currently striking out a ridiculous 14.77 batters per nine innings, and is excelling as the Pirates' new closer.

December 26: Pirates trade Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt to Red Sox for Mark Melancon, Jerry Sands, Stolmy Pimentel and Ivan De Jesus Jr. Hanrahan, of course, is already out for the season. No one should be happy about that, obviously, and it might have turned out differently. But earlier this week, Buster Olney said that the Red Sox and other teams already considered Hanrahan a health risk at the time of the trade. And Brock Holt has been terrible at Pawtucket. Meanwhile, Melancon has been ... I'm not sure if the word "spectacular" even really does him justice. He's striking out a batter an inning and getting grounders on a full two-thirds of his balls in play. Pimentel is re-emerging as a prospect with a strong early-season performance at Altoona. And De Jesus has quietly had a very strong season at Indianapolis. On the Pirates' side, only Sands has been a disappointment.

January 9: Pirates trade Quincy Latimore to Indians for Jeanmar Gomez. Gomez currently has a 2.28 ERA. There's pixie dust sprinkled all over it, and I'd probably bet against Gomez even being with the team at the end of the season, since he's essentially just a replacement-level guy. But the results so far have been tremendous.

January 17: Pirates sign Jeff Karstens, who hasn't pitched yet.

February 6: Pirates sign Jonathan Sanchez. Well, they can't all be winners.

February 8: Pirates officially sign Francisco Liriano. The Bucs had to restructure Liriano's contract after he broke his arm at home, and he hasn't pitched much yet, but he's been terrific in the two starts he's made so far.

February 13: Pirates sign Brandon Inge.

February 23: Pirates sign Jose Contreras. Contreras and Inge have neither helped nor hurt the team so far.

March 20: Pirates acquire John McDonald from Diamondbacks. Mostly pointless, but not particularly harmful.

We don't want to be too results-oriented about this, of course -- things might have turned out differently. The Pirates' new acquisitions likely won't be able to keep this up, and we've only played six weeks so far. But wow, does this look like a tremendous offseason for Neal Huntington so far. All the Pirates' major acquisitions have played well or downright amazingly. And unless I'm missing someone, their only significant free-agent loss so far has been Kevin Correia, who has pitched well for the Twins.