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Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates Preview

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The Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed their first winning season since 1992 last year, and made the postseason for the first time since the alignment of 1994 that introduced the current divisional format. Pittsburgh topped it off by treating the home wins to a wild-card win and stretching the eventual National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals to a deciding fifth game in the Division Series. Is there an encore ahead? Let’s take a look at the Notebook Nine, our key talking points about the Buccos for the coming year…

The Collapsing Pittsburgh Pirates Pitching

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It was pitching that put the Pittsburgh Pirates into playoff contention this season. It was pitching that the Pirates strengthened at the trade deadline when they acquired Wandy Rodriguez from the Houston Astros. And it’s pitching that’s now threatening to be the reason for the demise. The Pirates have been hit hard in the second half of the season, especially in the month of August and today in Milwaukee I saw it carry into September firsthand, as the Brewers hung twelve runs on the board and won a 12-8 slugfest. What’s going on here?

NL Weekly Report: Pittsburgh Pirates Join National Heat Wave

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Amidst a mid-July that has much of American submerged in record heat, the Pittsburgh Pirates are only serving to turn up the temperatures further, ripping off a hot streak that’s moved them to the top of the National League Central as the franchise looks for its first winning season since 1992—also the last time they made the playoffs, as the “Buccos” as they’re called down on the banks of the Allegheny where I once worked the produce yards, have never made the postseason in the post-realignment era begun in 1994 with the creation of the NL Central.

MLB March Report: Pittsburgh Pirates

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Do you remember the 1992 National League Championship Series? The Pittsburgh Pirates had a 2-0 lead in the ninth of Game 7 in Atlanta before a three-run rally was punctuated by slow-footed Sid Bream beating a throw home from a young (and gangly) left fielder named Barry Bonds and Pittsburgh lost its third straight NLCS. If you remember that, you not only remember Pittsburgh’s last playoff appearance, but their last winning season. Coming off a year where they led the NL Central as late as July before slipping under .500, hopes are high that this Pittsburgh team can hit the magic number of 82 wins—and maybe more. TheSportsNotebook uses our usual evaluation points of the ability to get on base, hit for power, starting pitching and relief pitching.