Bradenton made quick work of St Lucie in the first round of the Florida State League playoffs on Wednesday night. They now move on to the finals and a chance at their first FSL title. Altoona looked like they were on the way to a win in the first game of the Eastern League playoffs last night, but they turned a late 7-3 lead, into a 12-8 loss.
Bradenton got a little help from the other playoff series between Dunedin and Tampa. It took 13 innings to decide a winner on Tuesday night in game one of that series. The second game went 15 innings last night, and now those teams have to play again tonight, while the Marauders have the day off. Another plus is that the first game of the finals is in Bradenton, so even though the Marauders don’t have the home field advantage, they will definitely be the fresher team. Game one of the finals will be at 6:30 PM tomorrow with Yeudy Garcia on the mound and Tim Williams in the press box providing live coverage. We don’t know who they are playing yet, so we don’t have the full schedule for the finals.
Clay Holmes will get the start for Altoona tonight, trying to even up the series. This is obviously a big start for him. The next three games (if necessary) are in Akron, so it would be good (understatement) if the Curve didn’t go into those last three games needing to win all of them to take the series. Holmes has faced Akron five times this season, and after giving up six runs in 2.2 innings back in April, he has allowed 13 runs over 21 innings in the last four games. Akron has accounted for two of his worst starts this season. The second one was right in the middle of an impressive run of games in which he allowed two earned runs or less in ten out of 11 starts. That 11th game was five runs over four innings against Akron six weeks ago.
Holmes obviously struggled versus Akron, as they put up a .910 OPS against him. One of the good things though, is that the Akron lineup has seen a lot of change over the season. Seven Akron hitters he faced this year aren’t on the team anymore, and four of their current hitters haven’t seen him yet. One other advantage he could have is that he’s giving teams a different look than they saw earlier in the year. He went from mostly four-seam fastballs, to mostly two-seam, as well as a new changeup he started throwing after the last time he saw Akron.
Holmes was working on things in a lot of his starts this season, even when he was doing well, but some of his poor starts had more behind them. In one game, he was concentrating on throwing inside all game and he did not do well (it was actually the first game against Akron). He concentrated on throwing to the outside of the plate to right-handed batters in one start. Another game he was throwing his changeup a lot and had poor results. He had the game where he first started using his two-seam fastball again, another game where he brought out the changeup and another game where the plan was to throw his curve early for strikes.
In all of those games, the game plan remained the same despite some poor results. I’m going to guess that in a playoff game, he’s going out there to get outs and if something isn’t working, they won’t stick with it.
**Here are the first round playoff schedules for Altoona and Bradenton, which will remain up in the Morning Report until both teams either win, or have been eliminated.
Bradenton
9/6: Marauders 11, St Lucie 6
9/7: Marauders 4, St Lucie 1
Marauders win series 2-0
FSL Finals
9/9 Marauders vs TBD 6:30 PM
9/10: Marauders vs TBD
9/11: Marauders @ TBD
9/12: Marauders @ TBD (if necessary)
9/13: Marauders @ TBD (if necessary)
Altoona
9/7: Akron 12, Altoona 8
9/8: Altoona vs Akron 6:00 PM
9/9: Altoona @ Akron 7:05 PM
9/10: Altoona @ Akron 7:05 PM (if necessary)
9/11: Altoona @ Akron 6:05 PM (if necessary)
PLAYOFF PUSH
The Pirates trail the second wild card spot by a 4.5 games.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 4-3 over the Cardinals on Wednesday night. Ivan Nova gets the ball tonight, as the Pirates start a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. This will be Nova’s seventh start for the Pirates. He faced the Reds in his first start and allowed three runs over seven innings. In his last three starts combined, Nova has allowed four runs over 21 innings. The Reds will counter with Dan Straily, who has a 3.83 ERA in 159.2 innings, with 131 strikeouts and a 1.18 WHIP. He has faced the Pirates four times already this season, though three of those starts came during the first five weeks of the season. In 21 total innings against Pittsburgh, Straily has given up six earned runs.
MLB: Pittsburgh (67-69) vs Reds (57-81) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Ivan Nova (2.89 ERA, 2:28 BB/SO, 37.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (70-74) (season preview)
AA: Altoona (0-1) vs Akron (1-0) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (4.22 ERA, 64:101 BB/SO, 136.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (0-0) vs TBD 6:30 PM 9/9 (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (2.76 ERA, 54:127 BB/SO, 127.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (71-68) (season preview)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (38-38) (season preview)
Rookie: Bristol (25-43) (season preview)
GCL: Pirates (22-34) (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (27-42) (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
There aren’t any new minor league videos up, so in honor of Trevor Williams winning his first MLB game, here is a Williams highlight from earlier in the season. Playing the role of the strikeout victim is former Pirate prospect JaCoby Jones
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
9/7: Josh Smith assigned to Altoona.
9/6: Pirates recall Tyler Glasnow, Drew Hutchison, Trevor Williams and Pedro Florimon. Kelvin Marte and Curtis Partch designated for assignment.
9/6: Henry Hirsch assigned from Altoona to Bradenton.
9/5: Jung Ho Kang activated from disabled list.
9/3: Jacob Taylor assigned to Morgantown.
9/2: Pirates recall Jameson Taillon, Steven Brault, Jason Rogers and Adam Frazier. Chris Stewart activated from disabled list.
9/1: Jung Ho Kang sent to Indianapolis on rehab.
9/1: Pirates receive Jake Brentz and Pedro Vasquez from Mariners to complete earlier trade for Arquimedes Caminero.
8/31: Pirates trade Kyle Lobstein to Baltimore Orioles for Zach Phillips.
8/31: Logan Ratledge promoted to Bradenton. Alfredo Reyes activated from West Virginia disabled list.
8/31: Pirates release Raymond Rodriguez, Ramy Perez and Ramon Garcia.
8/31: David Whitehead assigned to Morgantown.
8/30: Tito Polo and Stephen Tarpley sent to New York Yankees as part of Ivan Nova trade from August 1st.
8/30: Jason Creasy and Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
8/30: Justin Maffei and Trace Tam Sing assigned to Indianapolis.
8/30: Henry Hirsch and Junior Lopez promoted to Altoona
8/30: Nick Neumann activated from Bradenton disabled list.
8/30: Alen Hanson promoted to Pirates. Jameson Taillon and Steven Brault assigned to Bristol.
8/30: Pirates purchased contract of Kelvin Marte. Kyle Lobstein designated for assignment.
8/30: Mitch Keller and Sean Keselica promoted to Bradenton. Scooter Hightower and Matt Frawley promoted to West Virginia
8/30: Mike Wallace promoted to Morgantown.
8/29: Pirates recall Steven Brault. Gerrit Cole placed on disabled list.
8/28: A.J. Schugel recalled from Indianapolis. Adam Frazier optioned to Bristol.
8/28: Pirates activate Tyler Glasnow from disabled list. Optioned to Indianapolis.
8/28: Justin Topa placed on disabled list. Henry Hirsch activated from temporary inactive list.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Six former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a game of note. Starting with the most recent players first, we have 1994-95 pitcher Mike Dyer. He pitched 69 times out of the bullpen between mid-1994 and the 1995 season, both of which were interrupted by the strike. Dyer was put on waivers and lost to the Expos at the end of Spring Training the following season.
Jim Smith, 1982 infielder. Made the Opening Day roster after the Pirates traded away infielder Vance Law. Smith saw very limited playing time, hitting .238 with seven errors, serving as the backup for all three infield positions. The Pirates sent him to the White Sox after the season, where he was in the minors as depth behind Law.
Jim Bagby Jr., 1947 pitcher. He is famous for being the last pitcher in the game that ended Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Bagby only played one year in Pittsburgh, but he has an interesting footnote to his career. His dad Jim Bagby Sr. pitched for the 1923 Pirates. They both spent most of their career in Cleveland as well. The older Bagby won 31 games for the 1920 Indians team that won the World Series.
Val Picinich, 1933 catcher. Played 18 years in the majors, although he only played 1,037 games. Signed with the Pirates in June 1933, getting into 16 games. He caught 86 starts from Walter Johnson.
Rosie Rosebraugh, 1898-99 pitcher. Pitched four games as a September addition in 1898, then made two unsuccessful starts the following year. That was his only Major League experience.
Russ McKelvy, played right field for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys on August 24, 1882. Went 0-for-4 in his only game. His only other Major League time was in 1878 for Indianapolis, where he led the league in games played. McKelvy played for the 1877 Pittsburgh Allegheny(no S) of the International Association. That team/league is considered the first minor league ever.
On this date in 1909, the Pirates lost 4-2 to the Chicago Cubs, the team that trailed them by five games in the standings. In most seasons, the Pirates would be running away with the NL crown with a 90-36 record, but the Cubs were holding tough. This loss though would be the low point for the Pirates, as the next day they beat the Reds by a 3-1 score. That win was the start of a 16-game winning streak that put the NL title away at the end, and the season finished with their first World Series title.
