The Pirates have released their 2012 Spring Training Schedule. Here it is. The only really strange thing about it, at least from just eyeballing it, is that the Pirates will play their final two exhibition games against the Phillies in Philadelphia, then actually start their regular-season schedule against the Phillies at home on April 5.

March 2 Black & Gold Charity Game (split-squad)
March 3 @ Blue Jays (Dunedin)
March 4 Blue Jays
March 5 @Orioles (Sarasota)
March 6 Yankees
March 7 Blue Jays
March 8 @ Phillies (Clearwater)
March 9 @ Red Sox (Fort Myers)
March 10 Twins
March 11 @ Rays (Port Charlotte)
March 12 Phillies
March 13 Off
March 14 @ Orioles (Sarasota)
March 15 @ Twins (Fort Myers)
March 16 Phillies
March 17 Rays
March 18 @ Twins (Fort Myers)
March 19 Off
March 20 @ Yankees (Tampa)
March 21 Red Sox
March 22 Rays
March 23 Tigers
March 24 Astros
March 25 @ Astros (Kissimmee)
March 26 Orioles
March 27 @ Phillies (Clearwater)
March 28 @ Rays (Port Charlotte)
March 29 Twins
March 30 Rays
March 31 Orioles (split-squad)
March 31 @ Twins (split-squad – Fort Myers)
April 1 @ Blue Jays (Dunedin)
April 2 @ Phillies (in Philadelphia)
April 3 @ Phillies (in Philadelphia)

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout.

That’s all the news for today.

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.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

Read More: Jeff Keppinger (2B – SFG), Orlando Cabrera (2B – SFG), Carlos Beltran (RF – SFG), Charlie Morton (P – PIT), Ryan Vogelsong (P – SFG), San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Pirates at San Francisco Giants, Aug 8, 2011 7:15 PM PDT

In a perfect world for the San Francisco Giants, they’d play a struggling Pittsburgh Pirates team directly after struggling through a tough series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Well, perhaps that not “perfect world.” That term would be reserved for them beating the struggling Pirates after struggling themselves with the Phillies. Judgement for that scenario shall be reserved until, you know, the game has actually been played.

But it is true that they’re in a great situation to recover from the recent slump. Although, maybe the Pirates are looking at the Giants and thinking “Well, they’ve been losing lately, this is a good chance for us to get back on the horse!” Something will give, and seeing it give will probably be hilarious, given the recent showings. The Pirates are losers in every one of their last ten outings, and the Giants have barely salvaged series against the Diamondbacks and Phillies with one win in each.

Tonight, Ryan Vogelsong will take the mound for the Giants. He’s looking to get a winning streak going for the defending World Champions, as well as extend his own streak of not losing games. He’s 9-1 with a 2.19 earned run average in eighteen starts (twenty games) and hasn’t lost since May 26th. His last six games were wins, including an 8-1 beatdown of the Diamondbacks. He beat the Pirates earlier this year on April 28th, going 5 2/3 innings with two runs and eight strikeouts. 

Vogelsong will have the support of guys like Orlando Cabrera and Chris Stewart. That last sentence was a funny one … it was a joke, you see, though those two aren’t without their moments, driving in RBIs in Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Phillies, alongside Jeff Keppinger, who went 4-4. Unfortunately, he won’t have Carlos Beltran, who won’t be in the lineup today, according to Hank Schulman.

Charlie Morton will be taking the mound for Pittsburgh, hoping to get something going after going 1-3 over his last seven. He did pitch well in his last outing though, throwing seven shutout innings good for a no-decision against the Cubs. San Francisco will be looking for the Morton of the game prior, the one that gave up eight runs (six earned) and nine hits over just four innings to the Phillies.

It’s not all bad. He’s sporting a 8-6 record with a 3.80 ERA on the season and has a 5-2 record when on the road (nine starts). Credited with a no-decision the last time he played the Giants, Morton is 1-3 with a 3.48 ERA all-time against them. 

The game is set for 7:15 p.m. on Monday night.

What are your opinions.

(Sports Network) – In just a matter of weeks the Pittsburgh Pirates have gone
from the penthouse to the outhouse and watched their brief lead atop the NL
Central standings turn to dust.

Mired in a season-worst 10-game losing streak and 10 games off the pace in the
division, the Pirates are out west hoping to put an end to their woes in
Monday’s opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at
AT&T Park.

Pittsburgh was able to split a four-game series in Atlanta before suffering
sweeps at the hands of the Phillies, Cubs and Padres. It lost all seven games
on a recent homestand, including three straight versus San Diego over the
weekend. The Pirates tried to stop the bleeding on Sunday, but dropped a 7-3
decision to fall for the 12th time in the past 13 games. Starting pitcher
Kevin Correia allowed four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings to suffer the
loss and Brandon Wood led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run and three
runs batted in. Xavier Paul chipped in two hits for the Pirates, who were
seven games over .500 (51-44) after a win over the Reds on July 19 and now
have just three wins since then (3-15).

“It’s amazing how quick things can change. On the other hand, we can change
them in our direction quick as well,” Wood said about his team’s recent
struggles.

San Diego outscored Pittsburgh by a count of 35-10 in the series. The Pirates
will also visit Milwaukee for three games on this upcoming road trip. Hoping
to get the Buccos back into the win column tonight will be starter Charlie
Morton. Morton is just 1-3 over his last seven starts and threw seven shutout
innings for a no-decision in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Cubs. Morton was
coming off a start at Philadelphia in which he gave up eight runs — six
earned — and nine hits in four innings.

Morton has performed rather well on the road this season with a 5-2 mark in
nine visiting assignments, but is just 1-3 with a 3.48 ERA in five career
starts against San Francisco. He faced the Giants in a 3-2 loss on April 26 at
PNC Park and did not figure into the decision with six innings of one-run ball
and six strikeouts.

San Francisco has endured its struggles as well and was able to gain some sort
of order with Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Phillies in the finale of a four-game
series from AT&T Park. Giants ace Tim LIncecum hit the 10-win mark (10-9) by
holding Philadelphia to a run on seven hits with five K’s over 7 2/3 innings.
Javier Lopez got the final out of the eighth inning before closer Brian Wilson
came on to register his 34th save of the season. Wilson and Braves rookie
closer Craig Kimbrel are tied for the most saves in the majors.

The Giants were able to maintain their slim half-game lead over the Arizona
Diamondbacks in the National League West.

“We got the Diamondbacks nipping at our heels … We have to use this as a
[spark] to a winning streak,” Lincecum said.

Jeff Keppinger went 4-for-4 with an RBI, while Orlando Cabrera and Chris
Stewart both drove in runs for San Francisco, which salvaged the finale of the
series to win for just the second time in 10 tries. The Giants are 2-5 on a
10-game homestand and have held the top spot in the NL West for the past 44
days.

Ryan Vogelsong will try to stretch San Francisco’s stay in first place when
he takes the mound Monday night. The All-Star right-hander hasn’t lost since
May 26 versus Florida and is 9-1 with a 2.19 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) this
season. He has won his last six decisions and defeated Arizona in last
Wednesday’s 8-1 drubbing by the Bay. He allowed one run and five hits over six
innings and struck out seven batters.

Vogelsong, who played with the Pirates in parts of 2001-2006, beat Pittsburgh
in a 5-2 victory on April 28 from the Steel City, as he delivered 5 2/3
innings of two-run ball and eight K’s. He is 6-1 with a 1.30 ERA in 11 games
(10 starts) at home this season.

San Francisco won two of three meetings in Pittsburgh from April 26-28 and is
10-5 in this series since the beginning of the 2009 campaign.

The Sports Network

What are your opinions.

Not much else going on in the MLB planet today.

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 31, 2011

PHILADELPHIA — New to the area, Hunter Pence hitched a ride to the ballpark with Chase Utley.

Pence knows his way around the bases, though, and when he scored the winning run on Raul Ibanez’s double, he found Utley and most of his new teammates at the plate to mob him.

Two days into his stint with the Phillies, Pence knows this: “They have fun, they work hard, they play hard.”

And they win.

Ibanez homered twice and hit the game-winning double in the 10th inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. “Any of these guys can carry you for a day,” Pence said. “That’s the beauty of it,”

The Phillies trailed 5-3 in the eighth when Ibanez hit a two-run shot for his second homer of the game. He doubled to right off Tony Watson (0-2) in the 10th to score Pence and help the Phillies complete a three-game sweep of the Pirates.

“We stay together and pull together when we need to,” Ibanez said.Antonio Bastardo (4-0) struck out one in a scoreless inning to earn the win.

Ibanez hit a solo homer in the second off Pirates starter Jeff Karstens and his tying blast was off Jose Veras. The Phillies are a season-high 29 games over .500 (68-39) and swept their fifth series of the season.

The Pirates, trying to keep pace in a crowded NL Central race, left Philadelphia reeling but with two new bats. A day after they traded for Derrek Lee, the Pirates acquired outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the San Diego Padres.

Pence, acquired Friday from Houston, hit a one-out double in the 10th and Ibanez followed with his 21st double of the season. The Phillies increased their lead to six games over Atlanta in the NL East and are starting to pull away.

“It’s electric,” Pence said. “Everyone has a different charisma about them where you expect it to happen.”The Pirates are fading in the division and hope Lee and Ludwick can get them back on track.

Lyle Overbay hit a two-run homer and Karstens pitched seven solid innings for the Pirates.

On the brink of losing his starting first baseman’s job, Overbay connected on a two-run shot off Phillies starter Vance Worley in the sixth for a 4-3 lead. Overbay, a disappointment in his first season with the Pirates, will hit the bench once Lee joins the team. Lee, acquired from Baltimore on Saturday, should take over at first when the Pirates return home.

The Pirates then got Ludwick from the Padres for a player to be named or cash considerations.Ludwick batted .238 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 64 RBI in 378 at-bats. He was scratched two minutes before the start of the Padres game Sunday against Colorado.

“I’m excited because I’ve got another chance to make the playoffs, going to a team that’s in the pennant race, back in the Central to an area I’m familiar with,” Ludwick said. “It’s just sad things didn’t work out here.”

Karstens got a big boost when Overbay connected to right to put the Pirates ahead. It was one of the few times this season Overbay delivered in the clutch as the Pirates hoped when they signed him a one-year deal in the offseason.

The veteran first baseman was signed to provide Pittsburgh’s offense with some much-needed pop, but he has struggled in hitter-friendly PNC Park. He entered the Philadelphia series with just one RBI since July 4, or two fewer than pitcher Kevin Correia. Overbay was batting only .217 in July and was 2 for 22 in his last eight games entering Sunday.

With Lee on the way, he was scheduled to join the team Monday, Overbay should find himself on the bench.Asked for an interview, Overbay said, “As long as it’s not about the Derrek Lee trade.”

He later said he didn’t know what was ahead for him after a talk with manager Clint Hurdle.The Pirates open a seven-game game homestand Monday against the Cubs.

After allowing 17 runs to the Phillies in the first two games of the series, Karstens turned in a nice little outing. But the Pirates couldn’t solve.”They have a bunch of answers,” Hurdle said. “Today, it was Ibanez.”

He hit his 15th homer in the second, a solo shot, for a 1-0 lead and Jimmy Rollins singled in two runs in the fifth that gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

The Pirates scored another run in seventh on Garrett Jones’ RBI double off reliever Brad Lidge. Xavier Paul had a two-RBI single in the fifth.

Worley, coming off his first career complete game, picked up where he left off, fanning five straight batters over the first and second innings. With his glasses and quirky mohawk, Worley has become an instant fan favorite. He struggled after his fast start, allowing seven hits and four runs in six innings.

Notes

• The Pirates transferred C Ryan Doumit to the 60-day disabled list.
• The Pirates have three games left vs. the NL East.
• Ibanez had his first multi-homer game of the season.

Thanks for reading! .

Gotta run!.

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Philadelphia Phillies’ Hunter Pence pops out in the second inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday, July 31, 2011, in Philadelphia.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—New to the area, Hunter Pence(notes) hitched a ride to the
ballpark with Chase Utley(notes).

Pence knows his way around the bases, though, and when he scored the winning
run on Raul Ibanez’s(notes) double, he found Utley and most of his new teammates at the
plate to mob him.

Two days into his stint with the Phillies, Pence knows this: “They have
fun, they work hard, they play hard.”

And they win.

Ibanez homered twice and hit the game-winning double in the 10th inning to
lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on
Sunday.

“Any of these guys can carry you for a day,” Pence said. “That’s the
beauty of it,”

The Phillies trailed 5-3 in the eighth when Ibanez hit a two-run shot for
his second homer of the game. He doubled to right off Tony Watson(notes) (0-2) in the
10th to score Pence and help the Phillies complete a three-game sweep.

“We stay together and pull together when we need to,” Ibanez said.

Antonio Bastardo(notes) (4-0) struck out one in a scoreless inning to earn the win.

Ibanez hit a solo homer in the second off Pirates starter Jeff Karstens(notes) and
his tying blast was off Jose Veras(notes). The Phillies are a season-high 29 games over
.500 (68-39) and swept their fifth series of the season.

The Pirates, trying to keep pace in a crowded NL Central race, left
Philadelphia reeling but with two new bats. A day after they traded for Derrek
Lee(notes), the Pirates acquired outfielder Ryan Ludwick(notes) from the San Diego Padres.

Pence, acquired Friday from Houston, hit a one-out double in the 10th and
Ibanez followed with his 21st double of the season. The Phillies increased their
lead to six games over Atlanta in the NL East and are starting to pull away.

“It’s electric,” Pence said. “Everyone has a different charisma about
them where you expect it to happen.”

The Pirates are fading in the division and hope Lee and Ludwick can get them
back on track.

Lyle Overbay(notes) hit a two-run homer and Karstens pitched seven solid innings
for the Pirates.

On the brink of losing his starting first baseman’s job, Overbay connected
on a two-run shot off Phillies starter Vance Worley(notes) in the sixth for a 4-3 lead.
Overbay, a disappointment in his first season with the Pirates, will hit the
bench once Lee joins the team. Lee, acquired from Baltimore on Saturday, should
take over at first when the Pirates return home.

The Pirates then got Ludwick from the Padres for a player to be named or
cash considerations.

Ludwick batted .238 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 64 RBIs in 378
at-bats. He was scratched two minutes before the start of the Padres game Sunday
against Colorado.

“I’m excited because I’ve got another chance to make the playoffs, going to
a team that’s in the pennant race, back in the Central to an area I’m familiar
with,” Ludwick said. “It’s just sad things didn’t work out here.”

Karstens got a big boost when Overbay connected to right to put the Pirates
ahead. It was one of the few times this season Overbay delivered in the clutch
as the Pirates hoped when they signed him a one-year deal in the offseason.

The veteran first baseman was signed to provide Pittsburgh’s offense with
some much-needed pop, but he has struggled in hitter-friendly PNC Park. He
entered the Philadelphia series with just one RBI since July 4, or two fewer
than pitcher Kevin Correia(notes). Overbay was batting only .217 in July and was 2 for
22 in his last eight games entering Sunday.

With Lee on the way, he was scheduled to join the team Monday, Overbay
should find himself on the bench.

Asked for an interview, Overbay said, “As long as it’s not about the Derrek
Lee trade.”

He later said he didn’t know what was ahead for him after a talk with
manager Clint Hurdle.

The Pirates open a seven-game game homestand Monday against the Cubs.

After allowing 17 runs to the Phillies in the first two games of the series,
Karstens turned in a nice little outing. But the Pirates couldn’t solve.

“They have a bunch of answers,” Hurdle said. “Today, it was Ibanez.”

He hit his 15th homer in the second, a solo shot, for a 1-0 lead and Jimmy
Rollins(notes) singled in two runs in the fifth that gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

The Pirates scored another run in seventh on Garrett Jones’(notes) RBI double off
reliever Brad Lidge(notes). Xavier Paul(notes) had a two-RBI single in the fifth.

Worley, coming off his first career complete game, picked up where he left
off, fanning five straight batters over the first and second innings. With his
glasses and quirky mohawk, Worley has become an instant fan favorite. He
struggled after his fast start, allowing seven hits and four runs in six
innings.

Notes: The Pirates transferred C Ryan Doumit(notes) to the 60-day disabled list.
… The Pirates have three games left vs. the NL East. … Ibanez had his first
multi-homer game of the season

If you like reading our blog, remember to bookmark it.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates are still providing plenty
of surprises in their successful first half of the season.

Mike McKenry’s first major league home run, a three-run shot in
the eighth inning, rallied Pittsburgh to a 7-4 victory over the
Chicago Cubs on Friday night and assured the surprising Pirates of
a winning record at the All-Star break for the first time in 19
years.

The Pirates were 49-39 at the break in 1992 on their way to a
third consecutive NL East title. They have had 18 consecutive
losing seasons since, a record for major North American
professional sports.

‘I’ve learned from experience that you don’t put expectations on
people,” coach Clint Hurdle said. ‘You draw up a plan and follow
that plan. I don’t what’s going to happen from here on in. I’m not
an expert. My job is just to get ready to play. Where that’s going
to take us, I don’t know.”

Where it has taken the Pirates so far is contention in the NL
Central. They are in a second-place tie with the St. Louis
Cardinals, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Pirates have 10 players on the disabled list and started
four rookies on Friday. Yet they won for the fifth time in six
games thanks to McKenry, who is hitting .242 in 20 games.

McKenry was the backup catcher with the Boston Red Sox’s
Triple-A Pawtucket club when the Pirates acquired him in a trade
last month. Yet he has settled in nicely as the starting catcher
with Chris Snyder and Ryan Doumit on the DL.

‘The thing about Mike is he comes to play,” Hurdle said. ‘On the
home run, he kept taking good pass after good pass after good pass.
You got the feeling he was going to square a pitch up
eventually.”

McKenry tried to downplay the biggest moment of his young
career.

‘I don’t know about being the hero,” he said. ‘There were eight
other innings where guys just battled their brains out.”

The Pirates stayed hot before yet another large crowd as they
continue to win back old fans and make new ones in a city that has
waited a generation for a competitive baseball team.

Attendance was 37,140, the Pirates’ ninth sellout of the season
and fifth in their past seven dates at PNC Park.

‘Anytime you have sellout crowds, it’s usually an electric
atmosphere,” Hurdle said. ‘And the atmosphere has truly been
electric in this ballpark. It’s been great to see and be a part of
it.”

McHenry’s drive deep into the left-field bleachers came one
batter after Carlos Marmol suffered his sixth blown save in 24
opportunities when he relieved Sean Marshall (5-3) and allowed Josh
Harrison’s game-tying single on the rookie third baseman’s 24th
birthday.

Daniel McCutchen (3-1) got the final out of the eighth inning
for the win and Joel Hanrahan got his 26th save.

Harrison had three of the Pirates’ 12 hits, Andrew McCutchen
homered, Neil Walker hit a two-run single and rookie left fielder
Alex Presley and Lyle Overbay added two hits each.

Phillies 3, Braves 2, 10 innings: Raul Ibanez hit a solo homer
with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Phillies
to a victory over the Braves.

Roy Halladay pitched seven strong innings, Carlos Ruiz hit a
tying homer and the Phillies increased their lead to 3.5 games over
the Braves in the NL East. It was manager Charlie Manuel’s 600th
career win with the team.

Rockies 3, Nationals 2: Jason Hammel pitched into the seventh
inning for his second win in 13 starts, and the Rockies beat the
Nationals to end a five-game losing streak.

Hammel (5-8) allowed two runs and five hits as Colorado won for
the first time in eight road games.

Marlins 6, Astros 3: Hanley Ramirez continued his recent torrid
hitting with three hits and three RBIs and Javier Vazquez pitched
seven solid innings as the Marlins defeated the Astros.

Florida broke a 2-2 tie and took the lead for good on Ramirez’s
run-scoring single in the third inning. He drove in Gaby Sanchez,
who reached on a two-out double.

Diamondbacks 7, Cardinals 6: Leadoff man Kelly Johnson broke a
seventh-inning tie with his second grand slam of the season and the
Diamondbacks’ bullpen barely hung on for a victory over the
Cardinals.

Chris Young added a two-run triple and David Hernandez earned
his fifth save in as many attempts as the stand-in closer for the
Diamondbacks.

Ian Kennedy (9-3) allowed three runs in six innings, matching
his career-best victory total from last season.

Brewers 8, Reds 7: Mark Kotsay hit a two-out, two-run single in
the ninth off Reds closer Francisco Cordero and the Brewers rallied
twice to beat Cincinnati for their third straight win.

In the ninth, Nyjer Morgan hit a one-out triple off Cordero
(3-2) to cut the lead to 7-6 but was thrown out at the plate on
Corey Hart’s fielder’s choice. Prince Fielder walked, Casey McGehee
hit an infield single and Kotsay ripped a hit to right for the
winner before being mobbed by McGehee on the base paths.

Dodgers 1, Padres 0: Chad Billingsley scattered four hits over
eight innings and Rafael Furcal singled in the go-ahead run in the
eighth to give the Dodgers a victory over the Padres.

Billingsley (8-7) struck out four and walked a season-high
five.

Mets 5, Giants 2: Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking
home run off All-Star closer Brian Wilson in the ninth inning,
leading the Mets past the Giants.

Carlos Beltran and Nick Evans added RBIs in the inning to help
the Mets to their fifth victory in six games.

Comment Below!.

Jeff Karstens is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ fifth starter. Who would have believed that he could have held his own against the Phillies’ Cole Hamels in a pitching duel? But he did.

Both men gave up only one run while they were on the mound. Karstens managed to pitch for seven innings, a season high for him. Hamel lasted eight.

Jimmy Rollins scored the Phillies’ only run in the top of the sixth when he doubled, stole second and a single sent him home (two other batters on either side of him were caught in a double play). A replay showed that he might well have been out at second.

The Pirates retaliated in the bottom of the inning, when Ronny Cedeno walked, was sacrificed to second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and was sacrificed home by Jose Tabata.

Then relievers Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Dan McCutchen closed the door on further Phillies scoring. Rookie Danny Moskos got the save. That’s because following his outing, Xavier Paul singled, stole second and came home on a single by Tabata, who got both of his team’s RBIs.

The Pirates don’t score enough. This extra inning game was an example of this fact. But unlike the past, the team’s pitching is sometimes good enough to compensate for this fact. In fact, as fellow writer Paul Ledewski pointed out, the team had shown by far the greatest improvement in starters’ ERA in the National League from last season (as of June 2), 1.75 runs compared to 0.65 for the second-ranking Atlanta Braves.

Leave any suggestions in the comment box.

All season, the Philadelphia Phillies have waited to have their entire everyday lineup available.

Friday, they finally got it. What it didn’t get was any sustained offense.

Cole Hamels allowed only one hit in eight innings, but the Phillies managed only six hits in a 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“We didn’t hit,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. “We need to score some runs. Hamels pitched very good. The bullpen was good. We went five innings where we didn’t square a ball up. We went 15 outs and didn’t hit a ball on the nose.”

Jose Tabata hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 12th inning as the Phillies lost their third consecutive game for only the second time this season.

Philadelphia has scored only four runs in those three games.

“I think this lineup is going to hit,” Manuel said. “It has to hit. I’ve got confidence in those guys hitting. I’ve seen those guys hit for four or five years, some of those guys for six or seven years. I don’t see any reason why we won’t hit. We can get started any time we want, though. That’s how I look at it. I like the lineup.”

Outfielder Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list Friday; he, Chase Utley, Ruiz and Domonic Brown had all missed parts of the season thus far with injury.

But having all their regulars available did little to help an offense that ranks a pedestrian 18th in the majors in runs.

“It’s good to have everyone together,” Hamels said. “Now we need to try to keep guys healthy, go out and play to the best of our ability and try to get on a positive roll.”

Tabata smacked a sinking liner off of Danys Baez (1-3) toward the hole on the right side that a lunging Utley got a glove on but could not handle. Right fielder Ben Francisco’s throw was not in time, giving Tabata his second RBI of the game when Xavier Paul scored from second. Paul had singled with two outs and stole a base.

Pittsburgh won for the third time in four games.

Hamels and Jeff Karstens had dueling one-hitters going through five innings.

“I really felt fortunate to get out of it by giving up only one run,” Hamels said. “I wasn’t happy about how I executed my pitches. A lot of guys hit balls hard but they were right at guys. We played good defense and that saved me.”

Daniel Moskos (1-0) earned his first major league win for Pittsburgh.

Moskos worked a perfect top of the 12th — surviving a Carlos Ruiz fly to the warning track in right-center.

The crowd of 33,861 was the Pirates’ third-largest of the season — heavily aided by several thousand Phillies fans who had made the cross-state drive.

Jimmy Rollins led of the game with an infield single, but Karstens retired 15 of the next 16 he faced.

After Karstens hit Ryan Howard with a pitch later in the first, the Phillies didn’t have another baserunner until the sixth. They had two on and none out with the heart of their order coming up, prompting the sea of red in the stands to start chanting “Let’s go Phillies!”

Placido Polanco lined into a double play, but Rollins stole second, and Utley drove him in when he softly lined a single that found its way through the right side of the infield.

The Pirates tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the inning without a hit.

Cedeno led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Karstens. A wild pitch got him to third and he scored when Tabata flew out to deep right.

Karstens, who had two strikeouts and did not walk a batter, continued a recent stretch of good Pirates starting pitching. Paul Maholm allowed six earned runs in Pittsburgh’s previous game Thursday, snapping a streak of 13 games in which starters allowed two earned runs or less.

“We know what their starting staff is like, and we know what our job is: Try to go out there and keep pace with Cole and give our team a chance to win,” Karstens said. “It took a little longer than we wanted but we eventually got the big hit in the 12th.

“It was a fun game,” Karstens said.

Hamels pitched well enough to win what would have been his fourth consecutive start for the third time in his career and tie Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia for the majors’ lead in victories with eight. He has allowed only 20 earned runs over his past 11 starts.

“He was really sharp, Hamels,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “There wasn’t a lot of hittable balls for us.”

NOTES: The walkoff hit was Tabata’s second of the season, the other coming April 8 against Colorado. … Victorino, out since May 18 with a strained right hamstring, went 0 for 5. … The Pirates are 21-12 against the Phillies at 10-year-old PNC Park. … Philadelphia has lost nine of its past 14 road games. … The only other time Philadelphia lost as many as three in a row was a four-game skid May 14-17. … .. Rollins stole two bases, extending the Phillies’ streak to 11 consecutive successful steals and 23 out of 24.

There is the quick update of the day.

CBSSports.com wire reports
June 3, 2011

PITTSBURGH — With each late inning, Pittsburgh put the potential winning run in scoring position.

In the ninth, 10th and 11th, a Philadelphia reliever walked a Pirates batter, only to strand him at second or third when Pittsburgh couldn’t come up with a clutch hit.

Jose Tabata almost legged out a weak grounder to third with two outs and a man on third in the 10th. He didn’t waste his second such opportunity two innings later.

Tabata hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Phillies in a game without an extra-base hit.

“I think in the moment, you want to win the game so you put a little pressure on yourself,” Tabata said.

“You saw me before with somebody on third base and [not come through],” he added. “But the next time, it’s a new time, and said to myself, ‘OK, this is my moment. Come on.”‘

Tabata smacked a sinking liner off of Danys Baez (1-3) toward the hole on the right side that a lunging second baseman Chase Utley got a glove on but could not handle. Right fielder Ben Francisco’s throw was not in time, giving Tabata his second RBI of the game when Xavier Paul scored from second. Paul had singled with two outs and stole a base.

Pittsburgh won for the third time in four games, beating the four-time reigning National League East champions who have the best record in the NL for the fourth time in five games at PNC Park, dating to last season.

“When you play teams like that, you want to go out there and prove a point,” Paul said. “Make a statement that we can play with these guys. We’re on a little roll here.”

The Phillies lost their third consecutive game for only the second time this season, despite starter Cole Hamels allowing only one hit in eight innings.

Hamels and Jeff Karstens had dueling one-hitters going through five innings. Karstens was charged with four hits in seven innings.

Daniel Moskos (1-0) earned his first major-league win for Pittsburgh.

Moskos worked a perfect top of the 12th — surviving a Carlos Ruiz fly to the warning track in right-center.

“We didn’t hit,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “We need to score some runs. Hamels pitched very good. The bullpen was good. We went five innings where we didn’t square a ball up. We went 15 outs and didn’t hit a ball on the nose.”

The crowd of 33,861 was the Pirates’ third-largest of the season — heavily aided by several thousand Phillies fans who had made the cross-state drive.

The ones who did got to see Philadelphia’s full everyday lineup for the first time this season. Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list Friday.

But having all their regulars available did little to help an offense that ranks a pedestrian 18th in the majors in runs.

“I think this lineup is going to hit,” Manuel said. “It has to hit. I’ve got confidence in those guys hitting. I’ve seen those guys hit for four or five years, some of those guys for six or seven years.”

Jimmy Rollins led off the game with an infield single, but Karstens retired 15 of the next 16 he faced.

After Karstens hit Ryan Howard with a pitch later in the first, the Phillies didn’t have another baserunner until the sixth. They had two on and none out with the heart of their order coming up, prompting the sea of red in the stands to start chanting “Let’s go Phillies!”

Placido Polanco lined into a double play, but Rollins stole second, and Utley drove him in when he softly lined a single that found its way through the right side of the infield.

The Pirates tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the inning without a hit.

Cedeno led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Karstens. A wild pitch got him to third and he scored when Tabata flew out to deep right.

Karstens, who had two strikeouts and did not walk a batter, continued a recent stretch of good Pirates starting pitching. Paul Maholm allowed six earned runs in Pittsburgh’s previous game Thursday, snapping a streak of 13 games in which starters allowed two earned runs or less.

“We know what their starting staff is like, and we know what our job is: Try to go out there and keep pace with Cole and give our team a chance to win,” Karstens said. “It took a little longer than we wanted but we eventually got the big hit in the 12th.

“It was a fun game,” he said.

Hamels pitched well enough to win what would have been his fourth consecutive start for the third time in his career and tie Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia for the majors’ lead in victories with eight. He has allowed only 20 earned runs over his past 11 starts.

“He was really sharp, Hamels,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “There wasn’t a lot of hittable balls for us.”

Notes

• The walkoff hit was Tabata’s second of the season, the other coming April 8 against Colorado.
• Victorino, out since May 18 with a strained right hamstring, went 0 for 5.
• The Pirates are 21-12 against the Phillies at 10-year-old PNC Park.
• Philadelphia has lost nine of its past 14 road games.
• The only other time Philadelphia lost as many as three in a row was a four-game skid May 14-17.

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

What do you guys think about this.

PITTSBURGH – Jose Tabata hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in a game without an extra-base hit.

Tabata smacked a sinking liner off of Danys Baez (1-3) into the hole on the right side that a lunging second baseman Chase Utley could not handle. Right fielder Ben Francisco’s throw was not in time, giving Tabata his second RBI of the game when Xavier Paul scored from second. Paul had singling with two outs and stole a base.

Pittsburgh won for the third time in four games.

The Phillies lost their third consecutive game for only the second time this season, despite starter Cole Hamels allowing only one hit in eight innings.

Hamels and Jeff Karstens had dueling one-hitters going through five innings. Karstens was charged with four hits in seven innings.

Daniel Moskos (1-0) earned his first major league win for Pittsburgh, which had the winning run in scoring position in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings.

Moskos worked a perfect top of the 12th — surviving a Carlos Ruiz fly to the warning track in right-center.

The crowd of 33,861 was the Pirates’ third-largest of the season — heavily aided by several thousand Phillies fans who had made the cross-state drive.

The ones who did got to see Philadelphia’s full everyday lineup for the first time this season. Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list Friday; he, Chase Utley, Ruiz and Domonic Brown had all missed parts of the season thus far with injury.

But having all their regulars available did little to help an offense that ranks a pedestrian 18th in the majors in runs.

Jimmy Rollins led of the game with an infield single, but Karstens retired 15 of the next 16 he faced.

After Karstens hit Ryan Howard with a pitch later in the first, the Phillies didn’t have another baserunner until the sixth. They had two on and none out with the heart of their order coming up, prompting the sea of red in the stands to start chanting “Let’s go Phillies!”

Placido Polanco lined sharply to third — right at Josh Harrison, who turned and fired to second, where Neil Walker doubled off Hamels.

But Rollins stole second — just beating Ronny Cedeno’s tag on a throw that beat him to the bag, a play which elicited arguments from Cedeno and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. Utley drove him in when he softly lined a single that found its way through the right side of the infield.

The Pirates tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the inning without a hit.

Cedeno led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Karstens. A wild pitch got him to third and he scored when Tabata flew out to deep right.

Karstens, who had two strikeouts and did not walk a batter, continued a recent stretch of good Pirates starting pitching. Paul Maholm allowed six earned runs in Pittsburgh’s previous game Thursday, snapping a streak of 13 games in which starters allowed two earned runs or less.

Hamels pitched well enough to win what would have been his fourth consecutive start for the third time in his career and tie Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia for the majors’ lead in victories with eight. He has allowed only 20 earned runs over his past 11 starts.

NOTES: The walk-off hit was Tabata’s second of the season, the other coming April 8 against Colorado. … Victorino, out since May 18 with a strained right hamstring, went 0 for 5. … Rollins stole two bases, extending the Phillies’ streak to 11 consecutive successful steals and 23 out of 24. … The Pirates are 21-12 against the Phillies at 10-year-old PNC Park. … Philadelphia has lost nine of its past 14 road games. … The only other time Philadelphia lost as many as three in a row was a four-game skid May 14-17.

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