Reds Wrap Up

Scores:
Friday: 3-0 Loss at Cincinnati. Wandy not bad, no support. Box score.
Saturday: 5-4 Loss at Cincinnati. Bucs battle back twice, lose late. Box score.
Sunday: 6-2 Win at Cincinnati. A.J. is the stopper. Box score.

Season Record: 61-46, 2nd place in NL Central, 4.5 games back

Notes: Losing two out of three is not the outcome the Bucs were looking for, but not a disaster either. Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald and A.J. Burnett each turned in quality starts, with A.J.’s being the best by far. Gaby Sanchez had his first two hits as a Pirate; part of a 15 hit assault Sunday. Josh Harrison made the most of two spot starts by going 4 for 8 including a homer. The Fort continued his hot streak with a pinch hit on Friday and a homer Saturday.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Jones, G, 1B, RF	13	2	4	0	0	5	8	0.308	0.308
McCutchen, A, CF	11	1	2	1	1	4	4	0.182	0.308
Marte, S, LF	10	0	2	2	0	3	2	0.200	0.273
Walker, 2B	9	2	3	3	2	2	3	0.333	0.417
Harrison, SS, 3B	8	1	4	1	0	0	2	0.500	0.556
Barmes, SS	7	1	2	0	0	3	8	0.286	0.286
Sanchez, G, 1B	7	1	2	0	0	1	5	0.286	0.286
Alvarez, 3B	7	0	1	0	0	3	2	0.143	0.143
Barajas, C	6	0	1	0	1	0	3	0.167	0.375
Snider, RF	6	0	0	1	1	1	0	0.000	0.125
McKenry, C	5	1	3	1	0	1	2	0.600	0.600
Presley, LF	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	0.500	0.500
Burnett, AJ, P	4	0	0	0	0	3	3	0.000	0.000
Rodriguez, W, P	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0.500	0.500
McDonald, J, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.000	0.000
Totals	101	10	27	9	5	28	43	0.267	0.321

Batting
Doubles (1): Jones (17)
Triples (2): Presley (4), Marte (1)
Home Runs (4): McKenry (11), Harrison (3), Walker (12), McCutchen (23)

Baserunning
SB: Snider (1)
CS: McCutchen (8)

Fielding
Errors: Alvarez (16)
DP: (Walker-Jones)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Burnett, AJ(W, 14-3)	8.7	3	2	2	3	7	1	2.08	0.69
Rodriguez, W(L, 7-10)	7.0	7	3	3	0	4	2	3.86	1.00
McDonald, J	6.0	7	4	3	1	7	0	4.50	1.33
Hughes, J(L, 2-1)	2.0	2	1	1	1	0	0	4.50	1.50
Qualls	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Hanrahan(S, 32)	0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00
Totals	25.0	19	10	9	5	19	3	3.24	0.96

Transactions: None.

Series Preview: The Reds

Current record: 60-44, 2nd place in NL Central, 3.5 games back

Up Next: Cincinnati Reds, 64-41, 1st place in NL Central, 3.5 games ahead

Season Series: 5-4 (1-2, 2-1, 2-1)

Notes: Here’s the big series we’ve been waiting for. The Reds have won 13 of 14 and 20 of 23 to expand their lead to 3.5 games. Joey Votto is still out and Brandon Phillips is questionable. The only move the Reds made at the deadline was to add Jonathan Broxton as a setup man. No lefty starters mean we won’t see much of Gaby Sanchez except as a pinch hitter vs Sean Marshall and Aroldis Chapman.

Familiar Faces: Ryan Ludwick, Xavier Paul, Bronson Arroyo

Probable Pitchers

Friday: LH Wandy Rodriguez (7-9, 136.2 IP, 94 K, 3.82 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
vs. RH Mat Latos (9-3, 127.1 IP, 117 K, 4.17 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)

Saturday: RH James McDonald (10-5, 130.2 IP, 115 K, 3.37 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)
vs. RH Mike Leake (4-7, 119.2 IP, 79 K, 4.44 ERA, 1.35 WHIP)

Sunday: RH A.J. Burnett (13-3, 124.0 IP, 102 K, 3.27 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)
vs. RH Homer Bailey (9-6, 131.0 IP, 97 K, 3.85 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

No lineups yet.

Starling Marte LF
Travis Snider RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Neil Walker 2B
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Rod Barajas C
Clint Barmes SS
Wandy Rodriguez P

Cubs Wrap Up

Scores:
Monday: 14-4 Loss at Chicago Cubs. Bedard, Resop stink it up. Box score.
Tuesday: 5-0 Win at Chicago Cubs. Burnett CG, SHO, 1 hitter. Box score.
Wednesday: 8-4 Win at Chicago Cubs. Seven straight hits score 5. Box score.

Season Record: 60-44, 2nd place in NL Central, 3.0 games back

Notes: A busy series that saw of lots highs and lows. Erik Bedard and Chris Resop had horrible innings on Monday. A.J. Burnett took a no-hitter into the 8th on Tuesday. Casey McGehee grounded into a double play in what turned out to be his final at bat as a Pirate. Neil Walker knocked in five runs – including a grand slam – on Tuesday. Joel Hanrahan pitched for the first time in a week and gave up a cycle to the first four betters he faced, then struck out the side. In their Pirate debuts, Gaby Sanchez had no hits but saw a lot of pitches and took a walk, and Travis Snider had three hits and scored three runs.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Marte, S, LF	14	1	4	2	0	5	3	0.286	0.286
McCutchen, A, CF	11	5	6	0	3	2	1	0.545	0.643
Alvarez, 3B	10	0	4	0	3	4	3	0.400	0.538
Barmes, SS	10	1	2	1	2	1	7	0.200	0.333
Jones, G, 1B	9	3	4	3	2	1	4	0.444	0.545
McKenry, C	9	1	3	5	0	2	4	0.333	0.333
Snider, RF	9	3	3	0	1	2	3	0.333	0.400
Walker, 2B	6	2	2	5	0	0	5	0.333	0.333
Harrison, 2B-3B	6	1	1	0	0	1	2	0.167	0.167
Presley, RF, PH	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0.000	0.000
Burnett, AJ, P	4	0	0	0	0	4	0	0.000	0.000
Barajas, C	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	0.000	0.250
Karstens, P	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	0.000	0.000
Sanchez, G, 1B	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	0.000	0.333
Bedard, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000
McGehee, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.000	0.000
Sutton, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
Watson, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.000	0.000
Totals	104	17	29	16	13	28	48	0.279	0.359

Batting
Doubles (4): Alvarez (16), McCutchen 2 (21), Jones (16)
Home Runs (3): Walker (11), Marte (2), McKenry (10)

Baserunning
SB: Marte (2), Alvarez (1)
CS: Presley (5)

Fielding
Errors: Alvarez (15)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Burnett, AJ(W, 13-3)	9.0	1	0	0	2	8	0	0.00	0.33
Karstens(W, 4-2)	5.0	3	1	1	1	4	1	1.80	0.80
Bedard(L, 5-12)	4.3	7	9	8	2	7	2	16.62	2.08
Watson(H, 11)	3.0	3	1	1	0	4	0	3.00	1.00
Hughes, J(H, 10)	1.3	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	1.50
Resop(H, 6)	1.3	5	4	4	0	0	1	27.00	3.75
Grilli	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	1.00
Hanrahan	1.0	5	3	3	0	3	1	27.00	5.00
Totals	26.0	26	18	17	6	29	5	5.88	1.23

Transactions: Traded RHP Brad Lincoln to Toronto for RF Travis Snider. Recalled RHP Daniel McCutchen from AAA. Designated OF/IF Drew Sutton for assignment. Traded OF Gorkys Hernandez to Miami for 1B Gaby Sanchez and minor league RHP Kyle Kaminska. Traded 1B Casey McGehee to New York Yankees for RHP Chad Qualls. Optioned RHP Daniel McCutchen to AAA.

Trade Deadline Recap

All told, the Pirates made four deals leading up to yesterday’s 4pm trade deadline.

Traded CF Robbie Grossman, LHP Rudy Owens and LHP Colton Cain to the Houston Astros for LHP Wandy Rodriguez

Traded RHP Brad Lincoln to the Toronto Blue Jays for RF Travis Snider

Traded CF Gorkys Hernandez and a draft pick to the Miami Marlins for 1B Gaby Sanchez and RHP Kyle Kaminska

Traded 1B/3B Casey McGehee to the New York Yankees for RHP Chad Qualls

They also made two moves to balance the roster:
Recalled Daniel McCutchen from Indianapolis Indians.
Designated LF Drew Sutton for assignment.

The new lineup looks like this:

Starling Marte LF
Travis Snider RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Neil Walker 2B
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Rod Barajas C
Clint Barmes SS

Bench:
Gaby Sanchez will platoon at first base.
Michael McKenry play 2-3 times a week at catcher
Alex Presley becomes the 4th OFer.
Josh Harrison
Jordy Mercer

New rotation:
A.J. Burnett
Jeff Karstens
Wandy Rodriguez
James McDonald
Erik Bedard

and the Bullpen:
Joel Hanrahan – closer
Jason Grilli – setup man
Jared Hughes
Tony Watson
Chris Resop
Kevin Correia – long relief/spot starter
Daniel McCutchen
*Chad Qualls – hasn’t joined the team yet, one of the above will need to go make room.

Overall the Pirates improved at RF, 1B, bench and the rotation and lost one good arm in the bullpen. Here’s what the other contenders did:

NL Central
Reds: Traded two minor league pitchers to Kansas City for RHP Jonathan Broxton.
Cardinals: Traded minor league 3B Zack Cox to Miami for RHP Edward Mujica

No huge improvements to either of the Bucs’ main opponents. Mujica is a nice piece that the Cards can use. Broxton doesn’t have a clear role in what was already a strond Reds bullpen. Both are still really good teams.

Wild Card:
Braves: Traded two minor league pitchers to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson

Dodgers: Traded two minor league pitchers to Philadelphia for Shane Victorino, araded a minor league pitcher and outfielder to Seattle for RHP Brandon League, traded two minor league pitchers to Miami for 3B Hanley Ramirez and LHP Randy Choate

Giants: Traded OF Nate Schierholtz and 2 minor leaguers to Philadelphia for RF Hunter Pence, traded minor league IF Charlie Culberson to Colorado for IF Marco Scutaro

All three of these teams made big upgrades and addressed clear needs. The Bucs clearest path to the playoffs is to win the division and avoid what could be a four team race for a single elimination game.