Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call – Sean Rodriguez to the Rescue

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

Late Inning Magic

Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3. It was their first win when trailing in the ninth inning since July 12th, 2014. For most of the game, it felt like a fairly typical pending loss for the Pirates. They had an early lead before the Phillies took a lead in the eighth. Turns out, it was all set up for a dramatic ninth inning.

The Pirates put two men on when Francisco Cervelli walked, followed by a Jordy Mercer double. Sean Rodriguez then hit a pinch-hit three-run home run to put the Pirates ahead 5-3. The victory gave the Pirates their 70th win of the season as they currently sit at 70-73. I know it’s easy to feel underwhelmed by this win given the Pirates’ playoff chances are mostly dead but it’s good to see the team still fighting even in games that are “meaningless.” During their horrible stretch, many have accused the Pirates of quitting or not caring about the piling losses. Last night should put that to bed. This is still a proud team that wants to win every night.

Last night’s hero also easily won our Twitter Player of the Game Poll:

#RaiseIt (Finally!!) The Pirates comeback to beat the Phillies 5-3. Who is your player of the game?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 14, 2016

Operation Shut Down

The big news yesterday was the Pirates officially shut down Gerrit Cole for the rest of the 2016 season. The team placed him on the disabled list, effectively ending his season. This move marks the end of a very disappointing 2016 for the Pirates’ ace. He could never find the consistency that made him a Cy Young candidate last season.

Any time a player struggles, there’s a heavy amount of recency bias in how many view him. Cole is still a very good Major League pitcher and whether you see him as an “ace” is irrelevant. His success in 2017 will be vital to the Pirates success. If he bounces back and pitches well, that will only mean good things for the team.

Baseball Talk on the Web

Fox Business explores baseball’s attempt at capturing a new market as MLB opens a pop-up store in London

Bleacher Report tells you Each MLB Contender’s Biggest Roadblock to Reaching the 2016 Postseason

Deadspin tells you why Mitch Williams was fired from MLB Network

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