It’s not too often that you can says this, even if it is the end of April: The Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place.
It’s especially nice after they started the season 1-5.
The Bucs took two out of three games against the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend to pass them up in the NL Central standings.
The big surprise after the Pirates were hammered 9-1 in the first game of the series Friday has been the pitching.
With apologies to Andrew McCutchen, the cover boy for “MLB The Show” and the hot-starting Starling Marte, the best thing going with the Pittsburgh Pirates is A.J. Burnett.
Burnett took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning Wednesday night, giving up a double to Carlos Beltran in a 5-0 win.
Burnett whiffed four of the first nine batters and struck out eight total. He was on.
Here’s Clint Hurdle on Burnett last night:
Actually, he’s been on all season.
Want to try to look at the positives in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ latest shutout, a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night?
Well, starter A.J. Burnett (0-2) gave up just one run and struck out nine batters. He’s pitched well enough to be 2-0 so far this season.
And the bullpen kept the Pirates in the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers (3-2).
On top of that, Starling Marte had two hits in the game, both coming off of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (2-0).
Of course, those were the only two hits of the game for the Pirates (1-4).
You have to give them some credit — at least they’re consistent.
They had just two hits in Friday’s 3-0 loss to the Dodgers.
The Pirates will try to right the ship Sunday against Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-1). Jeff Locke is scheduled to take the mound for the Buccos.
A.J. Burnett carried the Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching staff for most of 2012.
He was rewarded for his 16-10 season by being named the starter for opening day against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on April 1.
Wandy Rodriguez is scheduled to start the team’s second game.
– Rick Green (follow me on Twitter @ETNrgreen)
The Pittsburgh Pirates needed a win against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday.
The entered the day 5.5 games out of first place and in danger of dropping out of the race for the National League Central Division title.
The Pirates got their win, thanks in large part to pitcher A.J. Burnett.
In perhaps the biggest game of the season so far, Burnett (14-3) responded. He gave up just three hits in the Pirates’ 6-2 win.
More importantly, Burnett improved to 7-2 after a Pirates’ loss.
He’s their stopper. He’s the one that can be counted on.
A few months ago, I never would have imagined I would have written that.
I think a case could be made that he’s their MVP and not Andrew McCutchen.
Up next for the Bucs, an 11-game homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Bucs are 33-16 at PNC Park. Maybe it’s time for them to make up some more ground on the Reds.
