Pirates Game 2 Thoughts: 6-5 Win over Cardinals

[Crimson's Ghost]

-- Didn't catch this one, since the Penguins game was on Root Sports instead. I listened to the game instead, which is a nice way to take in a baseball game. Apparently the game was on the MLB Network, but Atlantic Broadband doesn't carry that channel. I don't blame the Pens or Root for that problem, but I do blame the Pirates. Wish the Pirates can find some resolution to this early season problem, as the Pens and Bucs share a channel and 6-7 games can be affected. Couldn't the CW or KDKA sign up to cover a few games? That's where the Pirates need to negotiate and get a better TV deal. I don't know the specifics, but many say the Pirates have a very outdated and poor TV deal. I just can't imagine other teams face this issue, the Bruins would never kick the Red Sox off TV.

-- Wacha is a very good pitcher, but the Pirates knocked him out of the game in the fifth inning, which is no easy task. 10 hits, and some big extra base hits too. They'll be more battles with the Cards and Wacha, but it's nice to know the Pirates have some confidence and success against him.

-- From what I can tell, Niese probably wasn't as bad as his line would indicate. The team committed a few errors, Marte and Polanco both took poor routes to some balls - it happens. 7 K's to 1 Walk is fine by me. He'll likely be highly criticized by the fan base no matter what, but I would venture to guess he'll have some good starts for this team.

-- 4 scoreless innings from Caminero, Watson, Feliz and Melancon. That's the current core of your bullpen, and they did their jobs tonight.

-- Lobstein gave you 2 good innings, and was likely going to stay in there for another inning or two. Striking out the side tonight? That's fantastic.

--Jaso had another modest game at the plate, but he did get another hit and score another run.

-- Cutch was 3-5 with an RBI double, just the kind of game you expect from him.

-- Love Freese going 2-5, hate the 3 outs were strikeouts.

-- Marte is now hitless through 2 games.

-- Cervelli 1-5 with an RBI and a run on the Polanco triple. Always good to get offense from the catcher.

-- Polanco, after signing a potential 7 year deal, smacked a big RBI triple early in the game. Scored 2 runs, added a walk as well. It's really exciting to think of him possibly breaking out this year and beyond.

-- Harrison 2-5. Nice day for him.

-- Mercer with the walk-off hit. Have to hope he gets back to 2014 form, and so far so good.

-- Joyce and Morse went 0-1 apiece. SRod did the late inning defense thing again.


Pirates go for the sweep tomorrow ON TV. Juan Nicasio will get his first start of his Pirates career and will be matched against former Red Mike Leake.

[konjo78]

Baseball has always been better listening too than watching on tv. Was a good game

[223113]

An ugly W is always better than a pretty L.
I watched until the bottom of the 11th, then took a call from 1 of my kids, and missed the ending, haha!
So, following the fact-based theory that, "It's only weird, if it doesn't work.",....in future Bucs/Cards extra inning games, I'll take one for the team, and quit watching for about 5 minutes. That ought to ensure a W. We all gotta do our part, haha!

[12HankQB]

I couldn't pick up 93.7 very well on 403 by the hospital, had to switch to the old AM station. Undefeated

[Manfred]

Not available on Directv either, w/o paying for premium HD coverages. Sucks. Marte always seems to start slow. It'll come. Better to be 2-0 than the other way around.

[abpk2903]

Living in the DC/Baltimore market, last night I was actually able to get both games. The Penguins through the NHL Gamecenter App and the Pirates through MLB.tv. Most of friends and family in western PA weren't able get the Pirates. It's weird how blackout restrictions and live streaming capabilities have made it almost easier to see your team when you live outside of your favorite teams market.

Through LTE networks, my phone streams NHL or MLB games almost perfectly when I can't watch at home. So if I'm out golfing, playing softball, traveling, or do any other activity I can follow live on my mobile devices. How many more years until Cable TV is as obsolete as what was once the Antenna?

These cable companies would go out of business if it wasn't for live sports. Everything else can be streamed and watched when the time is most convenient. Live sports is the only think these cable companies can dangle over people's head to force them to pay $97 (the average cable bill) a month for their service. I really hope the next negotiations these leagues put their foot down and lift some of these blackout restrictions. That would be so much better for the sports consumer.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Basically Root Sports is the main reason why I have cable.

You can stream pretty much anything else.

[PortagePride]

Thankfully all of us Comcast/Xfinity customers we were able to catch both games. Pens were on root and the Pirates were on the MLB Network.

[dougkeklak]

I called my mom yesterday to let her know she would be out of luck so she could make one of her regular calls to ABB to complain! Truthfully, I thought way back in the early days of the switch to ROOT they had an alternate plan, a ROOT2 if you will for these types of situations. Sort of like the Big Ten Network has those alt feeds which is how some of us could watch Pitt-Iowa despite Penn State being the main prime time game. I truly hope FIOS becomes an option for the Johnstown area. On Comcast ROOT is 843 and the next channel is 848 (NBC Sports)... I always thought those channels in between were placeholders for this eventually becoming a reality.

Baseball is by far the best sport for radio. It's one of the reasons I have XM. When I moved to Pittsburgh the first place I lived in didn't have cable and I listened to the Buccos religiously on my stereo... despite it being '98 (look that season up if you want to see "collapse") I still have fond memories.

I didn't watch this one stem to stern but one thing that I feel is a positive is that by looking at the pitching matchups in this series, Wacha was the biggest challenge to the Buccos and they were able to knock him out. I take that as a positive.

[konjo78]

Not available on Directv either, w/o paying for premium HD coverages. Sucks. Marte always seems to start slow. It'll come. Better to be 2-0 than the other way around.

Could of sworn this week was Directv's Extra inning preview week. Pretty much the only week where you can get all the games for free unless you pay for the expensive package.