Josh Harrison, Neil Walker Lead Comeback | Pirates 5 Mets 1

Comments
Josh Harrison is a career .307 hitter in the minor leagues. After tonight, he's a career .500 hitter in the major leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates looked like they were going to go down without a fight after being shut out by R.A. Dickey for 7 innings. However, they finally showed some life late, scoring 3 runs in the 8th and 2 runs in the 9th to win their 25th game of the year.

Ronny Cedeno set the table in the 8th with a lead off single, he was followed by 2 quick outs as Dusty Brown popped out and Matt Diaz struck out. Jose Tabata got on after being hit by a pitch which brought up Harrison with 2 on and 2 outs. Harrison seized the opportunity and singled in Cedeno. After that, Andrew McCutchen walked and Neil Walker put the Pirates up for good with 2-RBI single. Brandon Wood made his case to stay relevant with a 2-RBI single of his own in the 9th with the bases loaded.

This was all made possible by a great outing from James McDonald. The second best "Mc" on the team went 6 innings giving up only 1 run and striking out 5. McDonald has been very good recently and is following the rest of the rotation's lead keeping his team in almost every ballgame he pitches. The offense didn't come soon enough to earn J-Mac a win, but I'm sure he'll gladly accept the no decision knowing his Buccos won the game.

It was the Pirates first win ever at Citi Field, which moves them to 1-9 all time there.

It'll be interesting to watch Harrison and Wood have a mini-battle for playing time at third base while Pedro Alvarez rehabs. I would fully expect to see Harrison starting at third pretty much every day until then, but Wood only helped his chances with his hit tonight (granted it was a bloop).

We've got 2 more with the Mets coming up, Kevin Correia will look for his National League leading 8th win tomorrow and then Paul Maholm will head out to finish the series on Thursday.

Pirates vs. Mets, Game 53

Comments


Pittsburgh Pirates (24-28) vs. New York Mets (25-28)
7:10 at Citi Field

James McDonald (3-3, 5.23) vs. R.A. Dickey(2-5, 4.50)


Lineups:
Pirates Lineup:
1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Josh Harrison 3B
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Neil Walker 2B
5. Lyle Overbay 1B
6. Garrett Jones RF
7. Ronny Cedeno SS
8. Dusty Brown C
9. Jeff Karstens SP
Cubs Lineup:
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Justin Turner 2B
3. Carlos Beltran RF
4. Jason Bay LF
5. Daniel Murphy 3B
6. Nick Evans 1B
7. Josh Thole C
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. R.A. Dickey SP
Liveblog:


Gameday:

Pirates Batters Count Analysis

Comments
The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't been great at the plate this year, and that's probably an understatement. Currently we are 50 games into the season and the team is hitting .236 altogether. I wanted to try and find out more about the struggles, so I compiled statistics for Pirates batting averages in each of the possible 12 counts a batter can face. I took the Pirates 12-main offensive contributors: Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Lyle Overbay, Ronny Cedeno, Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, Chris Snyder, Ryan Doumit, Matt Diaz, Steven Pearce, and Brandon Wood. Here's the breakdown:

That's enough numbers to give you a headache, so here's the totals for all 12 of these guys together:
You can see that the Pirates hit very well when they swing at the first pitch, hitting .344 on 0-0 counts. The offense has done a good job while ahead in the count (1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 3-1) with an average of .314, but has struggled mightily while behind in the count (0-1, 0-2, 1-2) with an average of .177. The Pirates are especially bad with 2 strikes on them, hitting .163 to this point.

The young Pittsburgh offense has let opposing pitchers exploit their holes too often this year. Once a pitcher gets ahead, the Pirates are very ineffective. That's not too big of a surprise with young hitters, as it can sometimes take a couple years for a hitter to correct some of the flaws that he has at the plate. We've seen that largely with Alvarez, who just can't seem to do anything with pitches on the outer half of the plate. As these young hitters mature, hopefully we'll start seeing them being more comfortable while behind in counts and expand their game to be able to do more things with more pitches.

To me, this means that the Pirates need to start being a little more aggressive early in counts. When they sit back and take 2 strikes, at bats aren't going to end well most of the time. The Pirates are hitting .336 when they put one of the first 2 pitches of the at-bat in play. Right or not, I'm saying the Pirates should not be so tentative to swing early in counts, because we've seen them be extremely effective when they have done so thus far in 2011.

Pirates vs. Cubs, Game 51

Comments


Pittsburgh Pirates (24-26) vs. Chicago Cubs (22-28)
2:20 at Wrigley Field

Jeff Karstens (3-3, 3.57) vs. Ryan Dempster (3-4, 6.29)


Lineups:
Pirates Lineup:
1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Garrett Jones RF
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Neil Walker 2B
5. Lyle Overbay 1B
6. Ryan Doumit C
7. Brandon Wood 3B
8. Ronny Cedeno SS
9. Jeff Karstens SP
Cubs Lineup:
1. Kosuke Fukudome RF
2. Darwin Barney 2B
3. Starlin Castro SS
4. Aramis Ramirez 3B
5. Carlos Pena 1B
6. Alfonso Soriano LF
7. Tony Campana CF
8. Koyie Hill C
9. Ryan Dempster SP

Liveblog:

Gameday:

Pirates May Starting Pitching Report

Comments
The Pittsburgh Pirates have 3 games left to play in the month of May. The team is 12-11 this month to this point, and that's almost all because of the starting pitching. Of the 23 starts Pirates pitchers have made, 19 of them have resulted in allowing 3 earned runs or less. 16 of those starts has resulted in a "Quality Start" (6 or more IP and 3 or less ER). It's been nothing short of phenomenal.

The combination of Kevin Correia, Paul Maholm, Charlie Morton, James McDonald, and Jeff Karstens has an ERA of 2.91 in the month of May. To go along with the stellar ERA, they have a K/BB ratio of 2.32, another really strong number. Seeing those numbers, you would expect the Pirates to be a lot better than 12-11 during the stretch, but the offense just hasn't been there to support them. Hopefully that side of it will come around soon.

Here is the detailed start-by-start breakdown of the Pirates starting pitching performances this month. Enjoy.

Buccos Bring The Bats

Comments
Saturday's game isn't even over yet, and I'm writing this post.

Right now it's 9-0 Pirates in the 7th inning. The Pirates have 4 home runs. Ronny Cedeno, Lyle Overbay, Chris Snyder, and Andrew McCutchen have all gone yard. They're tearing the cover off the ball, and it's real exciting.

In addition to that, Paul Maholm has pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits, striking out 4, not walking anybody, and throwing only 66 pitches. He looks poised to join Charlie Morton and Kevin Correia in the 2011 compete game club.

There's still 2 and a half innings to go, but I just wanted to be the first to start wrapping this game up.

Pending a ridiculous comeback, the Pirates will improve to 24-26 and get their 15th road win (with only 12 road losses) this year. They'll be going for the sweep tomorrow afternoon. Let's Go Bucs!

Happy 7th Birthday, Garrett Mackowiak!

Comments
May 28, 2004. The Pittsburgh Pirates were hosting the Chicago Cubs in a day-night doubleheader. Kip Wells took the hill for the Pirates, opposite Matt Clement for the Cubs in game 1.

Both pitchers put up 0's through the first innings before the Cubs got a run in the 4th on a Corey Patterson RBI single.

The Pirates answered with 3-spot in the 5th, as Randall Simon scored on a wild pitch, Bobby Hill and Tike Redman scored on a Jack Wilson single, and Daryle Ward brought in Jason Kendall with a sacrifice fly. Things were looking up for the Bucs with a 3-run lead heading into the 6th inning.

Wells put up another 0 in the 6th but got into trouble in the 7th, loading the bases with 2 outs. Wells was pulled for Mike Johnston, who came into face Michael Barrett with the bags full Cubs. On a 1-2 pitch, Barrett connected for a grand slam that put the Cubs up 5-4, much to the dismay of the Memorial day crowd of Pirates fan.

That's just the beginning of the story. Tike Redman led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a triple to centerfield, and Abraham Nunez prompty brought him in as the tying run with a single off Joe Borowski. After that, Jason Kendall singled, Jack Wilson lined out, Daryle Ward was intentionally walked, and Craig Wilson struck out swinging, to bring up Rob Mackowiak with the bases loaded and 2 outs.

Now let me take a minute to tell you what most of you probably already know. May 28, 2004 was a big day for Mackowiak, regardless of what would happen in these 2 baseball games. He and his wife had birthed their first child earlier in the day, Garrett Mackowiak. He made it to the ballpark in time to be put in the starting lineup for game 1, and now he had a chance to make his day even more memorable than it already was.

Mackowiak didn't hesitate, it was his day and he was going to win his team the game in style. Borowski delivered the 2-1 pitch and Mackowiak got all of it, driving a walk-off grand slam to right center field.


It was quite a finish to game 1 of the double header, and game 2 was nearly just as good.

It was Oliver Perez vs. Glendon Rusch, and both pitchers pitched well. Perez went 6.1 innings giving up 3 earned runs and Rusch went 6.2 innings giving up 2 earned.

The early scoring for the Pirates came from Ruben Mateo, who hit a solo homer in the 2nd inning, and Daryle Ward who singled in the 6th to bring in Jack Wilson.

The Cubs got a run in the 3rd and 2 runs in the 4th on a Patterson 2-run homer, which led them to a 1-run lead heading into the 9th. Chicago would get an insurance run in that 9th inning on a Jose Macias RBI single and were feeling confident in their chances to split the double header. LaTroy Hawkins trotted in from the bullpen to try and save the game for his team.

After walking Tike Redman, the hero of game 1, Rob Mackowiak stepped in to the box as a pinch hitter. The new dad still wasn't content with what he had done that day, and wanted to really ruin Cubs fans' Memorial Day. Hawkins delivered a fastball for the first pitch of the at bat, and Rob didn't hesitate, taking a swing and depositing it into the right center field seats to tie the game. I can still hear Greg Brown today...

"Mack, mack, tally wack! Give that dad a home run, to tie it!"

The Pirates wouldn't score again in the 9th and headed to extra innings. Mike Gonzalez pitched a scoreless 10th and Craig Wilson hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the frame to send the fans home happy.

It was one of the most memorable experiences in my 20 years of being a Pirate fan, and every May 28th lets me relive it again.

Happy 7th birthday Garrett.

Pirates vs. Cubs, Game 50

Comments


Pittsburgh Pirates (23-26) vs. Chicago Cubs (22-27)
1:05 at Wrigley Field

Paul Maholm (1-7, 3.65) vs. Randy Wells (1-0, 1.50)


Lineups:
Pirates Lineup:
1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Garrett Jones RF
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Neil Walker 2B
5. Lyle Overbay 1B
6. Steve Pearce 3B
7. Chris Snyder C
8. Ronny Cedeno SS
9. Paul Maholm SP
Cubs Lineup:
1. Tony Campana CF
2. Darwin Barney 2B
3. Starlin Castro SS
4. Aramis Ramirez 3B
5. Alfonso Soriano LF
6. Lou Montanez RF
7. Carlos Pena 1B
8. Koyie Hill C
9. Randy Wells SP

Liveblog:

Gameday:

Pirates Home Run Log

Comments
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been getting great outings from their starting pitchers very often in 2011. The problem is that the offense has been putrid, and has the Pirates 4 games under .500 at 22-26.

The offense has been pretty good early in games, but the bats have been silent late in games. The Pirates are averaging .56 runs a game in the first inning this year. They score .35 runs in the 2nd, .31 in the 3rd, .54 in the 4th, .48 in the 5th, and .54 in the 6th. Innings 7 through 9 have been the killer, they are scoring just .35 runs in the 7th and 8th, and only .15 in the 9th. They have scored 6 runs total in the 9th inning this year. You aren't going to win many close games when that's happening.

The Pirates have 10 comeback wins with their largest comeback being 3 runs, and they have blown 12 leads.

Home runs have been hard to come by for the Pirates for a long time now, and this year is no different. When the Pirates do get their home runs, it seems like the timing is never optimal. Let's take a closer look at that, here's a spreadsheet I through together that shows all the Pirates home runs, when they were hit, and how many runs they brought in:


You can see from that graphic that the majority of the Pirates home runs have been solo shots. 21 of the Pirates 36 dingers have been with the bases empty. Only 5 home runs have come with 2 or 3 runners on base.

The Pirates have not hit a home run in the 9th inning yet this year, but they have hit 5 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th inning.

If Pedro Alvarez comes off the DL and starts hitting for the power that he is capable of, we should see the Pirates home run numbers start looking a little better, but I still don't think the Pirates will be anywhere but near the bottom of the pack in home runs at the end of the year, and that is going to hold the offense down.

It's #McTwitterWeek

Comments
It's #McTwitterWeek!

Be sure to follow @McEffect and check back here daily for updates, my favorite tweets of the week, and prize giveaways!

Wednesday McTweets

Comments
The buzz of #McTwitterWeek has pretty died, and it's only Thursday. After a huge Monday of gaining followers, my growth has pretty much stopped. I'm stuck at 609 followers and I think it's time to give up and stop annoying all of my followers. Unless something big happens, this will probably be the last of my #McTwitterWeek talk.

Wednesday was dominated by one tweeter, so this post is going to be entirely dedicated to @marcman6.

Tuesday McTweets

Comments
#McTwitterWeek is slowing down fast. I only got a handful of new followers yesterday after a huge Monday. I guess people are getting annoyed with my shameless self-promotion. Anyways, here are some of of my favorite tweets from people that didn't quit no me... yet.

T-Shirt Ideas

Comments
Trying to make some Charlie Morton shirts... have these two designs in mind. I'm just asking my readers if they would buy one, which one they like better, and if they have any ideas for better designs. So please help me out. Thanks a lot, here are the two shirts:

#1

#2



Sorry these surveys are very unattractive, but this is the best they'll fit on my blog:


Jurrjens'd

Comments
The Pittsburgh Pirates have not scored a run in their last 19 innings at the plate. You have to give credit to the dominant performances of the opposing starting pitchers (Rick Porcello and Jair Jurrjens), but it also is starting to look like the Pirates surge of offense last week may have been a fluke.

After collecting just 8 hits their last two games, the Pirates are batting .236 as a team, which is 14th in the National League. The pitching continues to be very good, with a staff ERA of 3.93 and now 7 straight starts without giving up more than 3 earned runs. I don't have the numbers, but the Pirates starting rotation has to be one of the better ones in the National League this year.

The plus side of tonight is that Charlie Morton was good again despite giving up 2 runs in his first 3 innings. He threw 50 pitches in those innings but settled down and made it through 7 innings giving up just those 2 runs. Unfortunately for Morton the offense couldn't get it going and he suffered his 2nd loss of the year. Good to see Morton battle through a rough start to an outing and keep his team in it.

The Pirates have another game with the Braves tomorrow at 12:35 before hitting the road Thursday and opening a series with the Cubs Friday.

Braves vs. Pirates, Game 47

Comments


Atlanta Braves (26-23) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (22-24)
7:05 at PNC Park

Jair Jurrjens (5-1, 1.80) vs. Charlie Morton (5-1, 2.62)


Lineups:
Braves Lineup:
1. Jordan Schafer CF
2. Martin Prado 2B
3. Chipper Jones LF
4. Brian McCann 1B
5. Eric Hinske RF
6. Alex Gonzalez SS
7. Freddie Freeman C
8. Brooks Conrad 3B
9. Jair Jurrjens SP
Pirates Lineup:
1. Andrew McCutchen CF
2. Jose Tabata LF
3. Garrett Jones RF
4. Neil Walker 2B
5. Lyle Overbay 1B
6. Brandon Wood 3B
7. Chris Snyder C
8. Ronny Cedeno SS
9. Charlie Morton SP

Liveblog:

Gameday:

The Original "Mc" Effect Debate | McLouth vs. McCutchen

Comments
The Atlanta Braves are in town, which would normally mean that Nate McLouth is returning to Pittsburgh. However, McLouth is on the DL and won't make the trip. That really puts a damper on my week of Mc-ing, but we're going to go for it anyway.

When McLouth was traded to Atlanta in June of 2009, the Pittsburgh Pirates called up their top prospect, Andrew McCutchen, to take his spot. Let's take a quick look at the two players stat lines since the day of the trade:

McLouth:
Year Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
2009 ATL 84 396 339 59 87 20 1 11 36 12 6 47 70 .257 .354 .419 .773 104
2010 ATL 85 288 242 30 46 12 1 6 24 7 2 33 57 .190 .298 .322 .620 69
2011 ATL 48 194 164 25 39 8 0 3 11 1 2 21 33 .238 .332 .341 .673 89
162 Game Avg. 162 593 515 90 129 32 3 19 62 19 3 57 102 .251 .336 .431 .767 103
ATL (3 yrs) 217 878 745 114 172 40 2 20 71 20 10 101 160 .231 .331 .370 .701 90
McCutchen:
Year Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
2009 PIT 108 493 433 74 124 26 9 12 54 22 5 54 83 .286 .365 .471 .836 121
2010 PIT 154 653 570 94 163 35 5 16 56 33 10 70 89 .286 .365 .449 .814 120
2011 PIT 44 199 171 26 44 9 2 8 24 7 4 25 32 .257 .359 .474 .832 130
3 Seasons 306 1345 1174 194 331 70 16 36 134 62 19 149 204 .282 .364 .461 .825 122
162 Game Avg. 162 712 622 103 175 37 8 19 71 33 10 79 108 .282 .364 .461 .825 122
It's pretty obvious who the better player has been since that day. I don't think anybody expected McLouth to have outdone McCutchen after 2 years time, but I'm sure most people thought it would be closer than it actually has been.

McLouth has hit .231/.331/.370 and McCutchen has hit .282/.364/.461, not even close. The only category that McLouth has a slip in is strikeouts, and that's a very thin gap (102 per 162 games for McLouth to 108 for McCutchen).

Possibly the best part of this whole deal is that the Pirates acquired Charlie Morton, who has been dominant this year after a really tough 2010 season.

Despite popular belief, Pirates management doesn't do everything wrong.

Monday Morning/Afternoon McTweets

Comments
It's been almost 24 hours since I first started tweeting about #McTwitterWeek, and I have gained nearly 100 followers since then. There were some quality tweets earlier today, here are my favorites (click the tweet to follow the tweeter):


^that's Pat McAfee, the Indianapolis Colts' punter. Haters gonna hate!

My Top Ten Favorite "Mc's"

Comments
As you can probably tell, I really enjoy it when the letters 'M' and 'C' are put together at the beginning of a word, especially a surname. In fact, I've even considered changing my name to Jon McAnderson. No, that's a joke. Anyways, in honor of #McTwitterWeek, I am posting my top 10 favorite athletes with an "Mc" at the beginning of their last name. Let's go.
#10 Deuce McAllister

The long time running back for the New Orleans Saints. He barely made this list. In fact, I'm surprised he did. In 2007, I used a first round fantasy football draft pick on McAllister. Deuce played 3 games and rushed for 92 yards, and then missed the rest of the season with an injury. My fantasy team went on to finish 3-11. Thanks Deuce. Despite that, I still have some love for the guy.

#9 Brian McCabe

Another fantasy story here. If you know me well at all, you'll know that I don't get into hockey much at all. However, I do play fantasy hockey. I think it was 2 years ago that I drafted McCabe and he tore it up and helped me win my league's championship. That's good enough for me.

#8 Darren McFadden

Last year I drafted Run-DMC in fantasy football and traded him before the season started, he went on to rush for 1,157 yards and the team I traded him to won the league championship. I'll never doubt you again Darren, come over sometime for a barbecue? Cool.

#7 Quentin McCracken

I hardly remember McCracken being in the majors, but he has one of the coolest names of all time. Go 'head Quentin.

#6 Dexter McCluster

Another just straight pimp name. Who doesn't like a guy named Dexter? McCluster went big for the Chiefs this year and helped his team win their division. He's also one of my best friends.

#5 Nate McLouth

Three years ago McLouth would have been an easy number 1 on this list. He was 50% of the inspiration for my blog name, but he's fallen quite a bit since he was traded to Atlanta. I wasn't upset at all when they traded him because it gave the Pirates a chance to bring up McCutchen, and I didn't think McLouth was that great anyways. He's proven me to be right, and has struggled in Atlanta since the trade. Plus, the trade brought Charlie Morton here; everything is great. McLouth will continue to be one of my favorite baseball players, and certainly one of my favorite Mc's. Keep your tips up Nate.

#4 Brandon McAnderson

I doubt any of my readers have heard of this guy. One thing you may not know about me is that I'm a huge Kansas Jayhawks fan. Brandon McAnderson was a Kansas running back when they won the Orange Bowl in 2008. He was an absolute tank. Plus, he has my last name in his last name, preceded by a "Mc", he could be a Milwaukee Brewer and I'd still like him.

#3 James McDonald

J-Mac was a lock, but you may be surprised to see him as only the #3 here. I was very excited seeing McDonald pitch as well he did last year after we brought him, but he's struggled a little bit this year. He's looked good recently and I still expect big things from him. He'll have to be around for a little bit longer to earn a spot in the top 2 though.

#2 Pat McAfee

The Colts punter and former West Virginia Mountaineer. McAfee is a real tool bag. He's probably most well known for his arrest last year after he went swimming in a canal, while inebriated (check out that word). However, I like him because we both grew up in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania. If R.J. Umberger's name was McUmberger, he'd be on this list too. Plum pride baby!

#1 Andrew McCutchen

I mean this one was obvious. The Pirates best player and our biggest hope for the future, how could I not love McCutchen? Just look at my blog picture. I'm a genius, and he's real good at baseball. We're the perfect fit.

#McTwitterWeek

Comments
To borrow some words from Martin Luther King Jr., I have a dream.

A dream of attaining 1,000 twitter followers, and a dream of attaining them by the end of this week. Click the following link to help my dream come true.

@McEFFECT

Right now it's Monday morning around 1:00, and I have 555 twitter followers. By next Sunday at 11:59, I really want to have 1,000. It's a long shot, I know, but America was born on long shots. They said we'd never get to the moon. They said blacks and whites would never live in peace with one another. They said @McEffect couldn't get 445 new twitter followers in 7 days. We've achieved those first two, so let's get the 3rd one done as well.

Throughout the week I will be tweeting a lot and looking for my favorite tweets. I will be making at least post a day here with my "McTweets of the day". At the end of the week I will also give out a grand prize of 15 dollars to my favorite tweeter (and you thought college kids don't have money).

So we're gonna get it started right now. Here are some of my favorite tweets so far tonight, after the introduction of #McTwitterWeek, click the picture to follow that tweeter:



@shamtown is off to a fast start with 3 really solid tweets. Keep 'em coming Rich.

Also props go to @pek28 who had a funny tweet, but it had a naughty word in it so I didn't want to post it here.

I should also throw in a pair of tweets that I laughed at a couple days ago and saved:


Big ups to @MikeShaeffer, because everybody loves a good That's What She Said.

So that's it for Monday morning's #McTwitterWeek update. Please, please, please follow me @McEffect and tweet at me often. Try to funny for your chance to win $15 and possibly more. Much more to come throughout the week.

Oh, and let's go Bucs.