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Friday, July 19

49 down. 32 to go.

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Pirates win a walk-off thriller, 8-7, over the Phillies at PNC. The Bucs have won five in a row and seven of their last 10. They’re a half game out of the Wild Card conversation and six games behind front-running Milwaukee and three games ahead of last place Chicago.

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CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!! (Carrot-Palooza Edition)

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@> Cutch - 2 for 3 with 2 bb and 3 runs scored.

@> B.Rey - 3 for 5 with 2 rbi.

@> O’Cruz - 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 batted in.

@> Nick the Stick - for the walk-off single and 2 batted in.

@> Rowdy - A Pirate first 0 for 1 with 3 sac fly ribbies.

@> M.A.Taylor - For his part in a clutch (with Cutch) double steal in the 9th.

@> Santana - For his tip toe through the tulips 6th. (welcome to the CLB, cousin!)

@> QP - For his clean 7th.

@> Hodor - For his clean 8th.

@> Mlod - For keeping it together when the chips were down in the 9th and getting the win.

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Okay. OK! Alright already. I know that that’s ten (10) carrots when we normally only give out six, and that in a 1-2-3 fashion. But can ya give me an amen for taking my wheelbarrow to the farmer’s market after a game where we break the .500 mark, which we’ve been counting down to all season, and we beat the team with the top record in the NL, and we seem to be getting on a little bit of a run?

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I mean… That was an entertaining game and darn near impossible to break that game down into our normal carrot allotment.

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Now. Let’s do this again Saturday night.

NIGHT! S! A! TUR! DAY!

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——————————————————

“Mama! Daddy’s scaring me!”

“ELVIS! Stop scarin’ the baby.”

-Wabbit

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I don’t mean this in a pissy way but is anybody paying attention to what Termarr is doing?

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Buctober

You can take that to the bank.

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Quick question and some observations:

What's going on with Solometo?

Tip of the cap to Rowdy Tellez. That was some professional hitting, putting the ball in play to drive in runs. Great to see him in a much better place.

If Ortiz pitches his nuts off and we take the series today, GMBC and sheltie will look like geniuses, having Keller and Skenes ready to roll for the St Louis series. Ok, maybe they'll just look lucky, but how awesome it will be if we can take this series.

I wonder what it looks like to have a 121 mph line drive flying over your head? That ball got to the wall fast!

Kyle Nicolas has a chance to be special and I love that he was able to minimize the damage after he got himself into trouble.

I don't want to put the cart before the horse but watching his last two appearances, it feels like QP is in a much better place.

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Last night showed that guys like Joe and Taylor can be very valuable bench pieces. Palacios can be too. The point is that adding one impact bat outfielder puts guys like that in better positions to succeed than full time starting roles

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Joe has been a very solid pickup by BC last year. His BB/K numbers are Good, he has decent power, his Defense (Advanced) at 1B based on 250 innings in 2024 is 10th of 39 first basemen, and he is a very cost effective player at $2.125 mil, after a 1.5 fWAR in 2023, and he is at 0.7 fWAR so far in 2024. Palacios always provides a good AB and decent OF defense. And, both Joe and Palacios are positive clubhouse influences.

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Joe solely as a 1B platoon with maybe a spot start every week or two is probably the perfect amount to play him

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Not to mention the need to lengthen the starting lineup. The top three won't do it every night.

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I noticed it was packed at the stadium last night - 39,000+. Two possibilities came to mind - Philly fans came to Pittsburgh, or it was Fireworks night? Did not get to see it, but the single by NG was not a cheapie - 104.4 mph. Fantastic effort by the whole team to stay in it and put the pressure on in the 9th. Think Oneil Cruz needed a short break? After being sidelined for almost all of last season, and I would think he is still testing the ankle - would be only natural.

Another strong outing for Zander Mueth in the FCL - now 6-1, 1.51 ERA, 11 Starts/47.2 IP, 22 BB/51 K. 6''6" 205, just turned 19 in June, 3 years younger than Paul Skenes who is 6'6" 235. So far, a lot of strong performances from the players drafted in 2023! Do the Pirates allow Mueth to pitch a game or two at Bradenton, or just shut him down after the FCL season ends? That FCL Group of players and pitchers are young and talented and will push a lot of people up or out!

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Yes, to fireworks and Philly fans. I was just in Delaware last week and multiple people told me they were coming to this series. On another note Mueth & Matoma looking like a nice rookie class of 2027. Did Matoma play any baseball in Uganda or was he just signed as an athlete?

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Its yinzerpalooza!

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Michael Kennedy finished last season at Bradenton. I’d guess that’ll be the model for Mueth. Unless the FCL team makes the playoffs, he’s done there now. Season ends next Thursday.

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Time to switch Perez and QP’s roles. At least until Falter or Jones comes back.

Pirates are in thick of playoff push and can’t afford to showcase a veteran for a possible trade at expense of a victory.

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Yes, but I also believe having an effective long man in the pen is helpful.

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Not sure I would make any moves based on a game against the Phillies - they just punish the ball! Based on how the Pirates made moves prior to the AS Break and now coming out of it, BC is trying to steal a couple of starts for some of the younger arms. A very smart move, and instead of risking failure, they have won 5 straight! Go figure!

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