Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – Marathon in the Mountains

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pittsburgh Pirates let the Rockies off the hook

Things were going well for the Pirates last night. Jon Niese was working through an excellent start, the club’s hitters were making another opposing starter work, and suddenly the team found itself with a 7-0 lead after just three innings.

And then Coors Field happened.

On the backs of four home runs – two in the fourth inning – the Rockies worked their way back into striking distance, capped off by an eighth inning Gerardo Parra home run off of Tony Watson.

The teams would flirt with taking the win, until Jordy Mercer connected on a double to score Gregory Polanco in the 12th. You can read our Takeaways and Throwaways from the game here for the complete story.

Bosses all over the Pittsburgh region are reportedly upset at the Pirates for causing sluggishness in their employees, the majority of whom stayed up for #latenightBUCN.

Pitching is clearly the weak link

It has become painfully clear that the Pirates’ pitching – both the rotation and the bullpen – is the weak link for the club right now. This is truly remarkable given how the staff carried the team in 2015. Last night’s game was a prime example of the inconsistent performances that have become commonplace. Niese was cruising before the wheels fell off for the lefty in the fourth inning. He nevertheless escaped, only to get tagged again shortly after, forcing Clint Hurdle to use Ryan Vogelsong in a less-than-ideal situation.

The pitching troubles manifested themselves again throughout the bullpen. All three of the Pirates’ vaulted trio of Neftali Feliz, Watson and Mark Melancon struggled. Feliz in particular looked a little worse for wear, giving up two runs while only getting through one-third of an inning.

Coors Field is definitely a mitigating factor here, but it is now crystal clear that the Pittsburgh Pirates face their biggest question in an area that was thought to be answered.

Yesterday’s Player of the Game

After each game, Pirates Breakdown will put out a poll asking readers for a player of the game. Here now are the results from last night’s poll.

VOTE: Who was tonight's Player of the Game?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) April 28, 2016

Make sure to watch for this poll on our twitter feed after each game.

Baseball Talk Around the Web

• Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently commented on the absurdity of the 15-day disabled list, and how it can leave teams short-handed, among other issues. I happen to agree with him. Check it out.
• In the on-going Tyler Collins saga, the 25-year-old outfielder was sent down to Triple-A following his incident in the outfield for the Tigers the other day in which he flipped off fans. It was the corresponding move to make room for closer Francisco Rodriguez, who was activated from the family emergency medical leave list.
• CBS Sports slotted the Pirates 6th in their latest power rankings. Not too shabby.

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