Bucs are headed to the playoffs!!!

What a game! It's been a rocky week...but, boy, what a difference a day makes! I'm watching the players laugh, hug and soak each other with the spray of champagne. How sweet it is! This couldn't happen to a better team. Marte brought the party with the hr that won us the game but it took a team effort to extinguish the fire of that last hit! Cutch snagged the ball, fired it to Morneau. Morneau sailed it to Martin who would not let us down! I've never seen a team function like this before. You just have to love them. Raise the Jolly Roger! Playoffs here we come!!!

The fight for the pennant!

The Pittsburgh Pirates are tied for 1st place with the St. Louis Cardinals. With only a few games left, the pressure is high. The Cincinnati Reds aren't trailing far behind. Who do you think will win the pennant and possibly go into the World Series?

 Aug.9-12 has been a bummer to all of the Pirates' fans! The pirates where swept by the Colorado Rockies. Pitching the first 3 innings of game one was Francisco Liriano. He gave up 9 points to lead the pirates to a 1-10 loss. Making a suprising appearance, Josh Harrison pitched for his first time ever for the Pittsburgh pirates.
 The secound game was also another loss for the pirates. The final score was 4-6. A.J. Burnette pitched a good game but unfortunately the Rockies scored more than the Pirates leaving Pirates' fans frustrated.
  Last but not least the 3rd game was a 2-3 loss against the pirates. Locke had a good start but by the 6th inning it was a tie. It's the seventh inning and its looking good for the pirates but then Arenado doubles far out to deep right bringing Rosario home for a 2-3 loss.
 Although we were swept by the Rockies, we still lead the National League Central division with 70 wins and 47 losses.

Pirates v. Marlins

Pirates win! Pirates win! Pirates win!

Way to go Josh, hope A.J.'s pie was good. It can't be as sweet as another victory in the 9th!

Love this team! Bucs rule!

A trip to PNC Park from the eyes of an 8-yr-old!

I love baseball! My favorite things to see at the game are players trying to steal a base, watching the players get base hits, and when someone gets a home run. I got to see all of these things when I went to PNC Park on August 4! We sat in the bleacher reserved seats so Marte was right by us and he threw balls to the people in the bleachers after warming up every inning. We also got an autograph and picture with Mark Melancon before the game even started. He was really nice! I had an awesome ice cream cone after the 7th inning stretch. It was delicious! The pirates won 5-1 thanks, in part, to Russell Martin's incredible homerun with 2 players on base. I can't wait to go back to PNC!

Mark Melancon Autograph

On Sunday I went to the Pittsburgh Pirates game with my family. We sat in the Bleacher Reserved seats where the home run balls go. We got there just after the park opened and went to our seats. We were happy to see that Mark Melancon and other players were warming up right where we were. We lined up on the edge of the wall and he came over to sign autographs. He signed my Pedro Alvarez jersey that I had got that day, my brothers jersey and baseball glove, and my other brothers hat. We got to take a picture with him too. He was very nice and spent a lot of time signing autographs. He signed for everyone that asked. McCutchen was signing by the baseline seats for a long time also, but we weren't able to get his autograph. It was exciting sitting where the home runs went and we were lucky to have Russell Martin hit one not far from us.

Pirates beating Cardinals

In the five game series against the Cardinals, the Pirates have won 3 of the games, and there are still 2 to go. In the doubleheader game yesterday, the Pirates won both games. In the first game of the series  the Pirates won 2-9. The first game went into the 11th inning and then Russell Martin was hit home finishing the game with a score of 2-1. In the second game of the doubleheader, we won 6-0. Hopefully we can keep up the winning streak and sweep them in the 5 game series.

Quick Facts About Russell Martin

Russell Martin was born on February 15, 1983 in East York, Canada. He is currently a catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he previously played for the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has been an All-Star 3 times in his 7 of experience. In the year of 2007, he got 2 awards. The Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove. 

Pirates @ Marlins Game 3

The Pirates took a loss from the Marlins giving them 1/3 wins. The score ended 2-3. They did however did avoid a sweep from the Marlins earning a loss in the 2nd game. The Pirates had a lead of 2-0 in the 2nd inning but then the Marlins caught up and tied with them. The thing that brought the Marlins ahead was Stanton getting a home run. In the 9th inning for their last chance, the Pirates weren't able to catch up with them to at least go into over time.

Pirates @ Marlins Game 2

The Pirates beat the Marlins 7-4. Morton pitched for most of the game then Melancon came in for the save. McKenry got 4 out of 5 hits for his first career time of getting 4 hits in 1 game. This was the 1st win out of the 2 games in the 3 game series. All of those 7 points came from RBI's. There weren't any home runs.

Bryce Harper avoids sweep from the Pirates

In the 9th inning of yesterday's game, the pirates and Nationals were tied 7-7 and the pirates had already batted. Bryce Harper cam up to bat and changed that. He got a 2 point home run and won the game for the Nationals. They would've been swept in the 4 game series, but they won the game.

Pirates @ Nationals

     The Pirates beat the Nationals 5-1. In the 2nd inning, there were 0 outs and the bases were loaded. Neil Walker brought Alvarez home scoring us a point. We had one out with someone of 1st and 3rd. Zimmerman made an error saving us from a double play. That also scored Russell Martin and the score was 2-0 with 1 out. There were players on 1st and 2nd, Cole got us a hit scoring and bring us to 3-0. Then Walker made it home scoring us another point. When the Nationals were batting, Marte made an amazing catch stopping them from getting a home run.
     In the 3rd inning Ramos got a home run bringing the score to 3-1. The Pirates didn't score, and the only point was Ramos's home run.
     In the 8th inning Tabata got out, and so did McCutchen, bringing us to 2 outs. Alvarez came up and got his 25th home run! That brought the score to 4-1. Martin got a base hit and then Sanchez was up. Martin stole a base and the 2nd baseman dropped the ball so he ran to 3rd. Gaby Sanchez got a double and brought Martin home raising the score to 5-1. The Pirates got their 2nd win of the 4 game series against the Washington Nationals.

Pirates @ Nationals

For the first game of the series against the Washington Nationals the Pirateswon the game 6-5! In the first inning, McCutchen got a home run with Marte on base earning the Bucs 2 points. Then, soon after, McCutchen got his 2nd home run of the game with Mercer on base, earning us another 2 points. To get the last point, Gaby Sanchez brought home Martin getting us the final point. In the 9th inning to score got up to 6-5 with 0 outs. Grilli was pitching, trying to earn his 31st save. For the first out, he got a K. He gave away a double to Spin. He struck out Ramos to get the second out. Lombardozzi was up and Grilli had to step out because he was in pain. Mazzaro came in for Grilli to try get the last out to win the game. Vin Mazzaro got his 1st Major League save by getting him out.

Clint Barmes

Congratulations to Clint Barmes on his 1,000th MLB game!

Welcome back Walker :)

For tomorrow's game Neil Walker will be returning to playing and he'll be off the disabled list. He was on the disabled list for a strained right oblique. We are glad to have him back after his injury for the 2nd game against the Washington Nationals.

Pirates avoid a series sweep

The Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 avoiding a series sweep. Jeff Locke was the starting pitcher. Garett Jones got a home run in the 2nd inning giving us our first point. The rest were RBI's. Jason Grilli earned his 30th save of the season. The Pirates are 2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Women's Majestic Pittsburgh Pirates T-shirt

Tonight's Game Results

The Pirates took their second loss of the series against the Cincinnati Reds. The game ended with a score of 4-5. McCutchen was on third in scoring position and there was also a player on 1st with 0 outs. Martin popped one up and we got 1 out, and then McKenry struck out and brought us to 2 outs. Then Jordy Mercer was up and he also struck out giving us a loss in the 2nd game of the series. The Reds are 1 game closer to catching up to us. Tomorrow is an important game for us because we don't want them to sweep us in the series.

2nd game of the series

Today for the second game of the series against the Cincinnati Reds, AJ Burnett will be pitching against the Reds pitcher Mat Latos. AJ Burnett is 36 years old and Mat Latos is 25.

AJ Burnett

Mat Latos

The Pirates really need to get this win today, because the Reds aren't trailing far behind them. The Pirates were in first place before, but the Cardinals got ahead of them. We don't want the Reds to catch up. 

Inspirational Quote McCutchen Twitter

"Strive for the best and accept nothing less."

Game results

The Pirates sadly took a loss on the first game of the series against the Cincinnati Reds. The game ended 5-3. :(

5th Inning Comeback

In the beginning of the 5th inning the Pirates were losing 5-0 to the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates surely changed that! First Starling Marte went up to bat and got a home run. Then McCutchen got another home run right after him. Still in the same inning Russell Martin got another home run. The Pirates got out with a score of 5-3. I think that the Pirates had a great comeback and we will be able pull through and win this game.

Tonight's game: Pirates @ Reds

Tonight is the first game after the All-Star break, and we will be facing the Cincinnati Reds. Francisco Liriano is the starting pitcher and in both of his previous starts he hasn't been able to beat them. Today he will attempt his 3rd try to take down the Reds. The Reds are in 3rd place and 4 games behind of the Pirates. Having a season series of 6-4 against the Reds the Pirates are in the lead. The pitcher going up against Liriano is Mike Leake. Who will win this game?

Francisco Liriano

Mike Leake

Cool Pirates Apparel for Everyone

Drawstring bag for everyone. $14.95 

Women's running sorts. $29.97 

Kids Pirates t-sirt. $16.99

Men's Nike Performance t-shirt $29.95

Top 5 Pirates Nicknames

5. Garrett Jones- "GI Jones"

4. Gerri's Cole- "Cole 45"

3. Andrew McCutchen- "Cutch"

2. Pedro Alvarez- "El Toro"

1. Jason Grilli- "Grilled Cheese"

Is this our year?

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't been in the World Series since 1979! Our season is looking good this year, but we are only halfway through. Will this be our year? Comment what you think :)

Russell Martin inspirational quote on twitter

Russell Martin: "Who are the most important people on a team? Everyone." This is what we love about this pirates team. The players seem so humble and supportive of each other. They are setting a great example for all young athletes! Thanks, guys!

Fun Fact

On July 14, 2013 Russell Martin reached 1000 MLB games played.

Top 10 Things to Love About the Pirates

10. PNC Park

9. The Pirates Zoltan

8. Raising the Jolly Roger

7. Home runs in the river

6. Sweeping the series

5. Marte's spectacular steals

4. Andrew McCutchen's antics

3. Cole's fastball

2. Pedro Alvarez's home runs

1. Grilli's Amazing saves

Welcome to Pittsburgh Pirates Pitt-stop!

Welcome Bucs fans to our family-friendly blog about the Pittsburgh Pirates :) On this blog we will keep you updated on what is happening in Pirates baseball and present fun and interesting posts about our favorite team. We aren't like other baseball blogs because we aren't going to try to impress you with our command of history and stats, it is just a fun blog that will give you a different view of the Bucs inside and outside the dugout. I hope you enjoy our blog and feel free to give us feedback on what you think.