The Pirates have released their 2012 season schedule. The season begins April 5 at PNC Park against the Philadelphia Phillies. After three against Philadelphia, they’ll head out for a West Coast trip against the Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks before returning home to face the Cardinals and Rockies beginning April 20. 

They’ll begin interleague play with a road series against the Detroit Tigers in mid-May. They’ll host the Royals, Twins and Tigers in June, and also play interleague series against the Indians and Orioles. 

After only nine games at home in April, they’ll play 18 home games in May. It’s June that might pose problems for them, as they’ll have a ton of interleague games (which they’ve historically been awful in) and road series against the Brewers, Reds, Phillies and Cardinals.

They’ll be at home Wednesday, July 4 against the Houston Astros.

Their season will end with a home series against the Atlanta Braves from October 1-3. 

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout.

PITTSBURGH — Upon further review, he’s out.

Major League Baseball acknowledged Wednesday umpire Jerry Meals made the wrong call in Atlanta’s 4-3, 19th-inning win over Pittsburgh.

Meals ruled Pittsburgh catcher Mike McKenry failed to tag Atlanta’s Julio Lugo in the bottom of the 19th, allowing Lugo to score the winning run. Replays showed McKenry clearly tagging Lugo well before Lugo got to the plate.

The Pirates filed a formal complaint hours after the longest game in team history, and MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Joe Torre said it appeared Meals got the call wrong.

Torre said the tag was applied and the game should have remained tied. Torre said he spoke to Meals and “no one feels worse than him.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 26, 2011

ATLANTA — James McDonald and the Pittsburgh Pirates keep finding ways to win.

McDonald struck out a career-high nine in 5 1/3 scoreless innings and the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Monday night to keep pace in the tight NL Central race.

The Pirates are tied with St. Louis for first place in the division, a half-game ahead of Milwaukee, which was off.

The Braves outhit the Pirates 9-5, but Pittsburgh took advantage of its few scoring chances.

Braves starter Tim Hudson issued three walks in seven innings — and each of the three scored.

“Championship teams, they make good outs,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “They find a way to score without hits. We were able to find a way of doing that tonight, and we have to.”

McDonald (6-4) had the most strikeouts by a Pirates pitcher in almost two years. He gave up eight hits but did not walk a batter and ended each of the first five innings with strikeouts.

“It’s really important,” McDonald said of avoiding walks. “It’s been an issue for me this year. I told myself in the second half I was going to keep my walks down.”

McDonald has not allowed a run in two straight wins. He said he is focused on being more aggressive on the mound and staying ahead in the count.

“Being ahead is a big key for me,” McDonald said.

“They’re a good-hitting team. They’re going to get their hits. The thing is to keep the damage to a minimum.”

Joel Hanrahan pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save in 30 chances.

Atlanta’s Chipper Jones came off the disabled list with two hits, including a homer off Daniel McCutchen in the eighth.

McDonald struck out Alex Gonzalez to end the second inning with runners on first and third. The right-hander struck out Freddie Freeman to end the third with runners on second and third. He fanned Gonzalez again to end the fourth following Nate McLouth’s second hit.

The Braves loaded the bases against McDonald with one out in the sixth. Right-hander Chris Resop, who began his career with the Braves, took over and ended the threat on McLouth’s popup and Gonzalez’s third strikeout.

“I guess I was a little more pumped up than normal, going against Atlanta,” Resop said. “It’s nice to be in Pittsburgh having success and I guess proving to people I can pitch.”

Two walks hurt Hudson (9-7) in Pittsburgh’s two-run second inning.

After striking out the side in the first inning, Hudson walked Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez to open the second. The runners advanced on Lyle Overbay’s fly ball to center before McCutchen scored on Ronny Cedeno’s groundout to third base. Alvarez scored on Michael McKenry’s single to left.

Andrew McCutchen’s single drove in Garrett Jones in the sixth for a 3-0 lead.

That was all McDonald would need.

Hudson gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings. He had eight strikeouts in his first loss since June 15.

“They’re a good club. They’re not in first place by accident,” Hudson said.

“They made their hits count tonight. I feel like I has too good of stuff to give them free passes. You’ve got to make them earn it. I’m very disappointed on the outcome because my stuff was really good.”

Each team had a third baseman return to its active roster as a starter.

Jones, who had arthroscopic surgery on July 9 to repair torn cartilage in his right knee, returned with two hits, including his ninth homer, and a stolen base.

Alvarez had one hit and a walk in his first game back from Triple-A Indianapolis. Alvarez was recalled when the Pirates placed outfielder Alex Presley on the 15-day disabled list with a left hand contusion.

Alvarez bobbled leadoff hitter Martin Prado’s grounder for an error on his first chance in the first inning.

Dan Uggla’s sixth-inning single stretched his career-best hitting streak to 16 games.

According to STATS, LLC, Uggla’s .195 batting average is the lowest for any player since 1946 to carry a hitting streak of 15 games or longer after at least 100 games. An error against Cincinnati’s Miguel Cairo on Sunday was changed to a hit for Uggla on Monday, keeping the streak alive.

The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 2 minutes by rain.

Notes

• McDonald’s nine strikeouts were the most for the Pirates since RHP Russ Ohlendorf had 11 against St. Louis on Sept. 5, 2009.
• OF Wilkin Ramirez was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to clear a roster spot for Jones.
• An X-ray on Monday showed Braves OF Jordan Schafer has a chip fracture in his middle left finger. He struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
• Manager Clint Hurdle said he had no timetable on Presley’s return.
• Andrew McCutchen had his first stolen base since June 24.

ATLANTA (AP)—James McDonald(notes) and the Pittsburgh Pirates keep finding ways
to win.

McDonald struck out a career-high nine in 5 1-3 scoreless innings and the
Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Monday night to keep pace in the tight NL
Central race.

The Pirates are tied with St. Louis for first place in the division, a
half-game ahead of Milwaukee, which was off.

The Braves outhit the Pirates 9-5, but Pittsburgh took advantage of its few
scoring chances.

Braves starter Tim Hudson(notes) issued three walks in seven innings—and each of
the three scored.

“Championship teams, they make good outs,” said Pirates manager Clint
Hurdle. “They find a way to score without hits. We were able to find a way of
doing that tonight, and we have to.”

McDonald (6-4) had the most strikeouts by a Pirates pitcher in almost two
years. He gave up eight hits but did not walk a batter and ended each of the
first five innings with strikeouts.

“It’s really important,” McDonald said of avoiding walks. “It’s been an
issue for me this year. I told myself in the second half I was going to keep my
walks down.”

McDonald has not allowed a run in two straight wins. He said he is focused
on being more aggressive on the mound and staying ahead in the count.

“Being ahead is a big key for me,” McDonald said.

“They’re a good-hitting team. They’re going to get their hits. The thing is
to keep the damage to a minimum.”

Joel Hanrahan(notes) pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save in 30 chances.

Atlanta’s Chipper Jones(notes) came off the disabled list with two hits, including
a homer off Daniel McCutchen(notes) in the eighth.

McDonald struck out Alex Gonzalez(notes) to end the second inning with runners on
first and third. The right-hander struck out Freddie Freeman(notes) to end the third
with runners on second and third. He fanned Gonzalez again to end the fourth
following Nate McLouth’s(notes) second hit.

The Braves loaded the bases against McDonald with one out in the sixth.
Right-hander Chris Resop(notes), who began his career with the Braves, took over and
ended the threat on McLouth’s popup and Gonzalez’s third strikeout.

“I guess I was a little more pumped up than normal, going against
Atlanta,” Resop said. “It’s nice to be in Pittsburgh having success and I
guess proving to people I can pitch.”

Two walks hurt Hudson (9-7) in Pittsburgh’s two-run second inning.

After striking out the side in the first inning, Hudson walked Andrew
McCutchen(notes) and Pedro Alvarez(notes) to open the second. The runners advanced on Lyle
Overbay’s(notes) fly ball to center before McCutchen scored on Ronny Cedeno’s(notes) groundout
to third base. Alvarez scored on Michael McKenry’s(notes) single to left.

Andrew McCutchen’s single drove in Garrett Jones(notes) in the sixth for a 3-0
lead.

That was all McDonald would need.

Hudson gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings. He
had eight strikeouts in his first loss since June 15.

“They’re a good club. They’re not in first place by accident,” Hudson
said.

“They made their hits count tonight. I feel like I has too good of stuff to
give them free passes. You’ve got to make them earn it. I’m very disappointed on
the outcome because my stuff was really good.”

Each team had a third baseman return to its active roster as a starter.

Jones, who had arthroscopic surgery on July 9 to repair torn cartilage in
his right knee, returned with two hits, including his ninth homer, and a stolen
base.

Alvarez had one hit and a walk in his first game back from Triple-A
Indianapolis. Alvarez was recalled when the Pirates placed outfielder Alex
Presley(notes) on the 15-day disabled list with a left hand contusion.

Alvarez bobbled leadoff hitter Martin Prado’s(notes) grounder for an error on his
first chance in the first inning.

Dan Uggla’s(notes) sixth-inning single stretched his career-best hitting streak to
16 games.

According to STATS, LLC, Uggla’s .195 batting average is the lowest for any
player since 1946 to carry a hitting streak of 15 games or longer after at least
100 games. An error against Cincinnati’s Miguel Cairo(notes) on Sunday was changed to a
hit for Uggla on Monday, keeping the streak alive.

The start of the game was delayed 2 hours, 2 minutes by rain.

NOTES: McDonald’s nine strikeouts were the most for the Pirates since RHP
Russ Ohlendorf had 11 against St. Louis on Sept. 5, 2009. … OF Wilkin Ramirez(notes)
was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to clear a roster spot for Jones. … An X-ray
on Monday showed Braves OF Jordan Schafer(notes) has a chip fracture in his middle left
finger. He struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. … Manager Clint Hurdle
said he had no timetable on Presley’s return. … Andrew McCutchen had his first
stolen base since June 24.