Ross Ohlendorf was recently picked as the smartest player in baseball in a survey of major leaguers by Sports Illustrated.

The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander didn’t need his Princeton degree to explain the way he pitched Friday night.

“I didn’t pitch well at all,” he said.

Omar Infante and Logan Morrison homered during a nine-run third inning and the Florida Marlins pounded out 22 hits in a 13-4 rout.

Ohlendorf (0-2) had his string of winless starts reach 15 as he was rocked for six runs and 10 hits in two-plus innings. He needed 54 pitches to record six outs.

Ohlendorf has not won since July 2, 2010, against Philadelphia, and is tied with Cincinnati’s Dontrelle Willis for the longest active winless streak. Ohlendorf has been limited to six starts this season because of shoulder problems.

Infante drove in five runs, adding a solo shot in the first, while Morrison had four hits and three RBIs. The Marlins had a club-record 10 hits in the third. Morrison and Bryan Petersen each had two hits in the inning as Florida broke the record of nine, which had been done four times, most recently on Sept. 17, 2001, at Montreal.

Ohlendorf gave up four straight hits to start the third before being lifted.

“Almost all of the hits came off fastballs,” Ohlendorf said. “Stuff-wise, I wasn’t real great but location was the main thing, especially in the third inning. They were just very hittable pitches in terms of being up in the zone and in the middle of the plate, too.”

Ohlendorf has gone 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in four starts since coming off the disabled list Aug. 23, allowing 33 hits in 16 innings. With less than three weeks left in the season, Ohlendorf is running out of time to break his winless streak or find the answers to his problems.

“He’s been working on things since he got here,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “I think some things he’s trying to figure but hasn’t are things that would give him the opportunity to get the ball down in the strike zone with consistency. We’re not getting good locations. Hitters have been too comfortable because Ross is making too many mistakes up in the zone.”

Florida’s 13 runs tied a season high, set July 16 against the Cubs at Chicago. The Marlins beat the Pirates for the 12th time in the last 14 meetings.

“I’m pretty sure this happens every week for the Yankees and the Red Sox, but it doesn’t for us,” Morrison said, alluding to the Marlins being 11th in the NL in runs scored. “It was a lot of fun.”

Infante hit his three-run homer in the third. It bounced off the glove of left fielder Alex Presley, who was on the warning track, and into the bleachers.

“It was a freak thing and I really don’t have an explanation for it,” Presley said. “I should catch it in my mind. It happened. Hopefully not again, though.”

The homer stretched the Marlins’ lead to 9-1.

Petersen, Emilio Bonifacio, Gaby Sanchez, Donnie Murphy, John Buck and winning pitcher Ricky Nolasco (10-10) all finished with two hits for the Marlins.

Pedro Ciriaco had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates. Presley and Ryan Doumit had two hits apiece.

Nolasco’s streak of 22 scoreless innings against the Pirates ended in the second when Doumit doubled and scored on Ciriaco’s single to draw Pittsburgh within 2-1. Florida then countered with its big inning to put the game away.

Florida’s third inning came with a downside, though, as both right fielder Mike Stanton and first baseman Jose Lopez strained right hamstrings while running out hits and were forced to leave the game. Stanton, who has been bothered by hamstring stiffness since spring training, was making his first start since Sept. 3.

Florida took a 2-0 lead against Ohlendorf as Infante hit a solo home run down the left-field line in the first and doubled home Nolasco, who had singled, in the second.

The Marlins’ big third inning was started by Stanton, who singled. Murphy pinch ran, went to third on Morrison’s double and scored on a throwing error by right fielder Ryan Ludwick.

Lopez, Buck, Petersen and Nolasco followed with consecutive singles, with Lopez’s and Nolasco’s driving in runs. Bonifacio then hit a sacrifice fly, Infante hit his defense-aided, three-run blast and Morrison added his his two-run homer.

Florida made it 13-1 in the fifth as Murphy tripled and scored on Morrison’s single before Buck hit a run-scoring single.

Notes: Pittsburgh RHP Jeff Karstens will return to the rotation Tuesday against St. Louis after missing two starts because of shoulder fatigue. … Pirates LHP Jeff Locke will make his major league debut Saturday night when he faces RHP Anibal Sanchez (7-7, 3.83) in the middle game of the three-game series. Locke, 23, was a combined 8-10 with a 3.70 ERA in 28 games with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. Though Sanchez has struck out a career-high 173 batters in 171 1-3 innings this season, he has only one win in his last 15 starts. … Five Pittsburgh prospects have joined the club for the weekend but won’t be placed on the active roster: Indianapolis LHP Justin Wilson, 1B Matt Hague and OF Gorkys Hernandez and Altoona RHPs Kyle McPherson and Bryan Morris.

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Omar Infante and Logan Morrison both homered during a nine-run third inning and the Florida Marlins pounded out 22 hits in a 13-4 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Infante drove in five runs, adding a solo shot in the first while Morrison had four hits and three RBIs. The Marlins had a club record 10 hits in the third. Morrison and Bryan Petersen each had two hits in the third as Florida broke the record of nine, which had been done four times, most recently on Sept. 17, 2001 at Montreal.

Infante got an assist on his three-run homer in the third when it bounced off the glove of left fielder Alex Presley, who was on the warning track, and into the left-field bleachers.

Petersen, Emilio Bonifacio, Gaby Sanchez, Donnie Murphy, John Buck and winning pitcher Ricky Nolasco (10-10) all finished with two hits for the Marlins.

Ross Ohlendorf (0-2) had his string of winless starts reach 15 as he was rocked for six runs on 10 hits in two plus innings. He needed 54 pitches to record six outs.

Pedro Ciriaco had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates and Presley and Ryan Doumit also had two hits each.

Nolasco’s streak of 22 scoreless innings against the Pirates ended in the second inning when Doumit doubled and scored on Ciriaco’s single to draw Pittsburgh within 2-1. Florida then countered with its big third to put the game away.

Florida’s third inning did not come without a downside, though, as both right fielder Mike Stanton and first baseman Jose Lopez suffered strained right hamstrings while running out hits and were forced to leave the game. Stanton, who has been bothered by hamstring stiffness since spring training, was making his first start since Sept. 3.

Morrison, the left fielder, was shaken up when he slid into the side wall to catch Garrett Jones’ fly ball in the eighth inning but stayed in the game.

Ohlendorf has not won since July 2, 2010 against Philadelphia and is tied with Cincinnati’s Dontrelle Willis for the longest active winless streak. Ohlendorf has been limited to six starts this season because of shoulder problems.

Florida took a 2-0 lead against Ohlendorf as Infante hit a solo home run down the left-field line in the first and doubled home Nolasco, who had singled, in the second.

The Marlins’ big third inning was started by Stanton, who singled. Murphy pinch ran, went to third on Morrison’s double and scored on a throwing error by right fielder Ryan Ludwick.

Lopez, Buck, Petersen and Nolasco followed with consecutive singles, with Lopez’s and Nolasco’s driving in runs. Bonifacio then hit a sacrifice fly, Infante hit his defense-aided three-run blast and Morrison added his his two-run homer.

Florida made it 13-1 in the fifth as Murphy tripled and scored on Morrison’s single before Buck hit a run-scoring single.

Pittsburgh’s’ Pedro Alvarez tripled and scored on a single by Presley in the fifth, Andrew McCutchen doubled and came home on Derrek Lee’s single in the sixth and Ciriaco hit an RBI triple in the eighth.

Notes: Florida CF Mike Cameron missed his second straight game with tightness in his right hamstring and said he did not anticipate returning to the lineup any time soon. Pittsburgh RHP Jeff Karstens will return to the rotation Tuesday against St. Louis after missing two starts because of shoulder fatigue. Pirates LHP Jeff Locke will make his major-league debut Saturday night when he faces RHP Anibal Sanchez (7-7, 3.83) in the middle game of the three-game series. Locke, 23, was a combined 8-10 with a 3.70 ERA in 28 games with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. Though Sanchez has struck out a career-high 173 batters in 171 1-3 innings this season, he has only one win in his last 15 starts. Five Pittsburgh prospects have joined the club for the weekend but won’t be placed on the active roster: Indianapolis LHP Justin Wilson, 1B Matt Hague and OF Gorkys Hernandez and Altoona RHPs Kyle McPherson and Bryan Morris.

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Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

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Brian Burres pitched into the sixth in his first start of the season and Alex Presley had two triples, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Friday.

Presley reached four times and scored twice as Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak. Josh Harrison doubled, singled and scored twice.

Burres (1-0) allowed one run and five hits over 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

Four Pirates relievers combined for 3 2-3 perfect innings, with Joel Hanrahan picking up his 33rd save in 36 chances. Jason Grilli got the last two outs of the sixth, Chris Leroux pitched the seventh and Jose Veras worked the eighth before Hanrahan struck out two in the ninth.

Carlos Pena went deep for the Cubs, who have lost nine of 12. The first baseman now has at least 25 homers in five straight seasons and six times overall in his career.

Ryan Dempster (10-11) worked out of a couple of early jams and held Pittsburgh to three runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. He struck out nine, two shy of his season best, and threw a season-high 121 pitches.

Pena connected in the second, hitting a drive to the deepest part of center field to give the Cubs the lead.

Pittsburgh responded with two in the third. Presley led off with a triple off the right-field wall and Harrison followed with a single to right. Garrett Jones added a two-out RBI double.

Neither team mounted much offense after that. The Cubs stranded two runners in the third and fourth. The Pirates didn’t threaten again until Presley’s one-out triple in the seventh chased Dempster. Presley scored on Jose Tabata’s two-out single off Kerry Wood.

Presley became the first Pirate to record two triples in a game since Andrew McCutchen on June 8, 2009. He has five triples on the season.

Fielding woes have plagued the Cubs, who entered with a major league-leading 114 errors and added two more on Friday. That doesn’t include a miscue in the first when Harrison’s grounder to shortstop Starlin Castro was misplayed into a rare infield double when the Cubs failed to cover second base.

McCutchen was hit in the left wrist area in the first inning. He remained in the game to run the bases, but was replaced by Tabata before the Cubs batted in the bottom half.

NOTES: The Cubs promoted 1B Bryan LaHair from Triple-A Iowa. LaHair’s 38 home runs for Iowa were leading the minor leagues. . Cubs RHP Andrew Cashner (right rotator cuff sprain) pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab outing for Iowa. Manager Mike Quade said Cashner reached 99 mph with his fastball and the club is hopeful he will return to the big leagues next week. . The Cubs announced that RHP Carlos Zambrano will not pitch for them again this season, even though his time on the disqualified list expires on Sept. 11. . RHP Jeff Karstens (shoulder), who was scratched from his scheduled start Friday, played catch but is likely to miss more than just this start, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. . Pirates 1B Derrek Lee (left wrist) took batting practice and the team hopes to activate him from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday if all goes well. . The Cubs will send RHP Casey Coleman to the hill on Saturday to face Pittsburgh RHP Ross Ohlendorf. Coleman has an 11.34 ERA in 19 2-3 innings at Wrigley Field this season.

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CINCINNATI (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder John Bowker from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday for a player to be named or cash, adding a left-handed hitter to their bench.

The 28-year-old Bowker played in 19 games for the Pirates this season, going 4 for 17 with a double before he was designated for assignment on May 4. Bowker batted .306 in 106 games for Triple-A Indianapolis with 15 homers and 76 RBIs.

He drove over from Indianapolis and joined the Phillies before the third game of their series against the Cincinnati Reds.

“I’m kind of in shock,” Bowker said. “I’m pretty excited. I started the season with Pittsburgh, then I was designated for assignment. While I was in Indy, I tried to keep a good attitude. It helped to get at-bats. That was important.”

The NL East-leading Phillies wanted to improve their outfield depth and their bench. Bowker will be eligible for the playoff roster. He has played right field, left field and first base.

“The scouts say he’s a good hitter,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He’ll give you a good at-bat and a little bit of pop. He gives us some balance. He’ll definitely help us.”

Philadelphia optioned reliever Michael Schwimer to Triple-A Lehigh Valley following a 9-0 win over Cincinnati on Tuesday night. The Phillies also transferred right-hander Jose Contreras to the 60-day disabled list to create an opening on the 40-man roster for Bowker.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled RHP Ross Ohlendorf from AAA Indianapolis and have designated reliever Joe Beimel for assignment.

Ohlendorf is expected to start on Tuesday night when the Pirates host first-place Milwaukee. It will be his first start with Pittsburgh since being placed on the disabled list in April with discomfort in his left (throwing) shoulder. Ohlendorf went 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in seven minor league starts. He is 0-0 with a 7.37 ERA in two starts with Pittsburgh.

Beimel went 1-1 with a 5.33 ERA in 35 games for Pittsburgh but has struggled this month, giving up eight runs in 5 2-3 innings, including a two-run homer to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun on Monday night.

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

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PITTSBURGH — Gerrit Cole got his first look at PNC Park on Saturday. The Pittsburgh Pirates say they’re in no rush to put this year’s overall No. 1 draft pick on the mound there anytime soon.

“The last thing we want to do is rush this process,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re intelligent about it. We’ve got a long time that Gerrit is going to be a successful pitcher in this organization. We’ve got to make sure we go about it the right way.”

Cole agreed to a deal Monday night that included an $8 million signing bonus. The right-hander pitched three years at UCLA.

Huntington said he’s seen it all too often with promising young players — particularly pitchers — who get placed on too much of a fast track to the majors. He vowed to resist that temptation with Cole.

“There’s some great examples of success, and there’s some tragic examples of failure,” Huntington said. “We’re trying to work toward the success side.

“We’re definitely looking to build Gerrit to where he’s ready to attack a 200-plus innings workload at the major-league level, but history is littered with guys who tackle that 200-inning count before they’re ready physically,” he said.

For now, Cole will report to the Pirates’ spring-training complex in Bradenton, Fla. Full Story

Johnson: Pudge could return to Nationals

The Nationals could bring Ivan Rodriguez back to the team for 2012, manager Davey Johnson told MLB.com.

Rodriguez, currently out with injury, isn’t expected to return to the team before September, clearing up playing time for new backstop Jesus Flores, who is 26 years old and far more relevant to the Nats’ future. Rodriguez is hitting .214/.276/.325 this season in 129 plate appearances. It’s by far the worst offensive showing in his career, and I-Rod is set to also mark a career low in games played, currently at just 39 with a previous low of 88… set in his first season as a 19-year-old.

“Anybody would be crazy not to have [Rodriguez] back,” Johnson said. “He is a tremendous talent. He has been great here this year. He is fun to have around. He can hit, he can catch, he can throw and he adds to our depth at catching. He is a valuable asset. It just depends on the roster and what goes on over the winter and what our needs are.”

Despite the ringing endorsement, Johnson did admit that Rodriguez’s return will depend on Flores, who was drafted in the Rule 5 draft before 2007 and hit .244/.310/.361 that season. He also saw 90 games worth of time in 23 and was off to a great start in 2009 as a 24-year-old, hitting .301/.371/.505 through 106 PA before injuring himself and missing the rest of the 2009 season, as well as 2010. He’s finally back in action, though, and was recently promoted back to the majors where he is at .244/.295/.390 through 16 games.

Pirates’ Maholm on DL

PITTSBURGH — Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm is on the disabled list for the first time, sidelined by a shoulder strain.

Maholm has lost four straight starts and five consecutive decisions, and Pittsburgh is 0-7 in games he started since the All-Star break. Over his past four outings, Maholm’s ERA has climbed a half-run to 3.66. He has allowed 17 earned runs and 31 hits in 22 2/3 innings.

The Pirates recalled rookie left-handed reliever Tony Watson from Triple-A Indianapolis. Watson was 0-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 25 appearances earlier this season.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle says he hasn’t worked out his upcoming rotation, including a doubleheader on Monday. Brad Lincoln, currently in the bullpen, and Ross Ohlendorf, who began the season in the rotation but is in Indianapolis, are potential options.

Twins scratch Nishioka

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka has been taken out of the team’s lineup because of back spasms.

Nishioka was slated to bat ninth against the New York Yankees. The Twins announced the change about an hour before first pitch. Matt Tolbert was inserted at shortstop in his place.

Nishioka’s first season with the Twins has been rough. He is hitting just .217 with five extra-base hits in 203 at-bats, plus 10 errors. He missed 59 games after breaking his lower left leg in the first week of the season. He was the batting champion in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year.

Second base umpire Brian O’Nora also was declared out for the game due to a personal medical matter, leaving a three-man crew to work the game.

Rockies boot Hammel from rotation

Jason Hammel has been dropped from Colorado’s starting rotation in lieu of Alex White, the team announced.

Hammel’s demotion is unsurprising, as the 28-year-old’s wheels have fallen off over the last three months. After two successful seasons with the Rockies after coming over from the Rays and lining up 2011 as another solid year, Hammel has instead thrown up a 7.24 ERA over his last 12 starts. He’s shown no signs of turning it around either, with a 9.24 ERA over his last four starts, including a three-inning stinker against the Dodgers on Friday when Hammel coughed up six runs.

Alex White, who was acquired from the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade in the midst of rehabbing from an injury, will make his Rockies debut by sliding into Hammel’s spot on Tuesday, with Hammel headed to the bullpen.

“I worked tirelessly to figure this out,” Hammel said after Friday’s start to the Associated Press. “Obviously, I’m not fulfilling expectations right now. It’s very disappointing to me and of course, the whole organization, too. Point the finger at me for holding this organization back right now. If we want to get going in the right direction, I need to figure it out.”

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PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Pirates activated left fielder Jose Tabata(notes)
from the disabled list on Tuesday and optioned slumping third baseman Pedro
Alvarez(notes) to Triple-A Indianapolis for the second time this season.

Tabata had been out since June 27 with a strained left quadriceps. He played
in 13 minor-league rehab games with Class A Bradenton and Indianapolis, hitting
a combined .293 with six doubles.

Tabata was in the lineup Tuesday night and batting leadoff against St.
Louis. Tabata was hitting .265 with three home runs, 15 RBIs and 14 stolen bases
in 71 games when he was hurt in a game against Boston as he beat out an infield
single.

“I’m excited to be back and a little nervous, too,” Tabata said. “It’s
been a long time. It kind of feels like opening day again.”

Alvarez has hit .196 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 56 games in two
stints with the Pirates. He won the National League rookie of the month award
last September.

“We still believe in Pedro and that he will be a big part of what we’re
doing here,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I told him to go down,
embrace it as a challenge and swing the bat with bad intentions.”

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Published: Aug. 13, 2011 at 2:32 PM

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Gotta run!.

The Houston Astros began the second half of the season the same way they did the first.

With a loss.

The Astros lost 4-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night to begin a six-game homestand, casualties of a masterful performance by Jeff Karstens, who pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout and first since 2008.

It didn’t help that the Astros came out of the All-Star break struggling offensively, helping Karstens (8-4) extend his career-best winning streak to five games.

“He’s a hard pitcher to face when you’re coming out of the break after four days off,” Astros center fielder Michael Bourn said.

Houston starter Brett Myers (3-10) struck out a season-high 11 but gave up three early runs on the way to picking up his fourth loss in as many starts.

“After the third inning, I thought he threw the ball extremely well, a lot like he threw last year,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “To see the six strikeouts out of the 11 hitters he faced after the triple in the third inning, that was pretty good. It was nice to see him so aggressive.”

Houston’s offense, by contrast, was anything but.

It was the Astros’ fifth straight defeat and ninth over the past 10 games. It was Houston’s fourth consecutive home loss and 17th over the past 20 games.

The defeat dropped them to 2-8 against the Pirates this season after finishing 11-4 against them in 2010.

The Astros dropped their April 1 season opener at Philadelphia 5-4. Three games later, they dropped to last place in the NL Central standings, where they have remained since.

Pittsburgh entered the game four over .500 at this point of the season for the first time since 1992. By night’s end, the Pirates were tied for first place in the Central.

Karstens held the Astros to just one hit — Hunter Pence’s single in the second — through the first five innings.

He retired 13 straight after Pence’s hit before allowing consecutive singles to pinch-hitter Chris Johnson and Bourn in the sixth. Karstens improved to 3-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.41 in three starts against the Astros this season.

“You don’t see it very often that a guy throws 83 pitches for a complete game, and he only had 18, 19 balls,” Mills said of Karstens. “It was pretty impressive. Everything was working for him. He was getting ahead of guys.”

And he did it at a fast pace, helping to wrap up the game in 2 hours, 20 minutes, which complicated things further for the Astros.

“He was too efficient,” Mills said. “The guys have done such a good job of lengthening him out, but every time we tried to do that, we were behind 0-2, and it became something that was really tough to get into.

“He wouldn’t really give us a chance (to slow him down). He kept pounding the zone.”

Bourn agreed.

“He was coming out (and) getting ahead real early,” he said. “That’s what was good for him. He wasn’t falling behind. He was attacking with the fastball.

“When (a pitcher’s) attacking, you either take or you swing early. He wasn’t missing too much.”

It was Karstens’ first shutout since Aug. 6, 2008, at Arizona.

Andrew McCutchen hit a one-out triple out of Bourn’s reach in the top of the third inning to drive in two runs for the Pirates, who won their second straight and sixth of their last 10.

“I made a mistake,” Myers said of his pitch to McCutchen. “I tried to go in and I pulled a little bit over the middle of the plate. They’re supposed to hit balls like that. I was hoping (Bourn) could run it down, but it got away from him.”

Alex Presley singled to lead off the game, stole second and scored on a one-out single to right by Neil Walker.

Pence reached third base — the only Astros player to do so — in the seventh on a single by Carlos Lee, but Brett Wallace grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Pinch-runner Xavier Paul scored on a fielding error by Astros second baseman Jeff Keppinger in the eighth to cap the scoring.

NOTES: The Pirates recalled LHP Joe Beimel (left elbow inflammation) from the 15-day DL on Friday. Pittsburgh optioned LHP Daniel Moskos to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday to clear a spot on the roster. … Friday was the 15th time in his career that Myers finished with double-digit strikeouts. … Houston OF Jason Bourgeois (right quadriceps strain) went 0 for 3 on Friday in his rehabilitation assignment with the Gulf Coast League Astros. He is scheduled to join Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday.

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