The Pedro Alvarez saga in Pittsburgh has reached an end. The Pirates’ first-round draft pick was in Pittsburgh Wednesday morning, presumably for a physical, and he signed a contract later in the day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The Pirates promised a new day when the franchise completely overhauled its management from top to bottom in the offseason, hoping to end 15 years of futility and restock a minor league system in disrepair.

The Hillcats’ Chris Jones sent the Lynchburg fans home happy on the final day of the season by driving in the game-winning run with a double in the bottom of the eighth as the Hillcats extended their winning streak to four with a 3-2 victory over Salem at City Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Hillcats catcher Kris Watts found himself in the middle of nearly all the action in Lynchburg’s four-run, eighth inning rally that led to a 9-7 victory over Salem at City Stadium on Sunday.
Trailing 7-6 with one run already having crossed the plate on an error by Avalanche first baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand and runners on second and third, Watts roped a double into the gap in right center to score Kent Sakamoto and Eddie Prasch and put the Hillcats up 8-7.

The Hillcats wasted little time dispatching Salem, 4-0, on Saturday in front of nearly 3,000 fans who were on hand at City Stadium for the final fireworks display of the season.

Playoffs? No, the Hillcats and Avalanche won’t be making those this year.

It was another soggy, miserable night for the Hillcats as Frederick scored seven runs before Lynchburg got its first hit and the Keys cruised to a 7-3 victory Tuesday at City Stadium.

It’s hard to tell which aspect of the Hillcats’ 5-0 loss to Frederick on Monday was more embarrassing:
1) the five errors they committed, or …
2) the one hit they managed all night.
Either way, it added up to a loss as Lynchburg (25-38) began its final seven-game stretch of the season.

Three outs separated the Hillcats and their first win in a week, a one-run lead serving as their only buffer between victory and a four-game sweep at the hands of visiting Winston-Salem.

The Hillcats’ August is quickly deteriorating into a real-life version of the movie “Groundhog Day.”
Another day, another poor offensive showing, another loss, with no end in sight.

There are no baseball hitting commandments per se, but Hillcats manager Jeff Branson might have unintentionally coined the first two after his team’s latest offensive flop, a 4-1 loss to Winston-Salem at City Stadium on Friday.

Since losing his two best hitters to Double A at the end of July, Hillcats manager Jeff Branson has stressed the importance of putting the pressure on a defense — bunting runners up, stealing bases, utilizing the hit and run.

The homestand started with the Hillcats in a massive funk. They had lost 11 straight before pounding Potomac for two straight nights. So it’s strangely appropriate that Lynchburg ended its week-long run at City Stadium by snapping Myrtle Beach’s 11-game win streak.

The Lynchburg Hillcats dropped the first game of doubleheader against Myrtle Beach, 8-4, on Friday while the second game was tied 4-4 going into the ninth.

It seems Scott Diamond hasn’t forgotten who dealt him his only Carolina League defeat.

When Jim Negrych and Jamie Romak, two of the Carolina League’s premier hitters, were promoted to Double-A Altoona two weeks ago, it appeared the Lynchburg lineup wasn’t left with a whole lot to work with.
The Hillcats who remain beg to differ.

The mood in the Lynchburg clubhouse following Tuesday night’s win was light. Not crazy. Not loud. Not outlandish. No, the tenor was more relaxed, as if the Hillcats had collectively exhaled a sigh of relief.

It might not seem like it, but Lynchburg’s recent 10-game road trip — which produced an astounding 10 straight losses — was not nearly as bad as it sounds.

The Hillcats lost two of the best bats in the Carolina League on Tuesday when third baseman Jim Negrych and outfielder Jamie Romak were promoted to Double-A Altoona.

In his first start in Lynchburg, Brad Lincoln displayed just about everything Pirates fans have heard about the former No. 4 overall pick.

Top Pirates pitching prospect Brad Lincoln made his much-anticipated home debut for the Hillcats on Wednesday night, but it was left fielder Jared Keel who stole the show.

Jarrod Dyson should have had the ball. That much was made clear when his Wilmington infield teammates made no move to back him up with two outs in the first inning. But Dyson misjudged the ball as it came off Jim Negrych’s bat, and it landed in short left field for a bloop double.

Daniel Moskos’ numbers weren’t pretty. The Pirates’ 2007 first-round draft pick had another shaky outing Monday night at City Stadium as the Hillcats lost 8-6 to Wilmington, allowing 12 hits (a season-high for a Hillcat pitcher) and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The theory would seem to make sense. Shunned by the Pirates’ organization, Brad Correll returns to Lynchburg and crushes two home runs and drives in six runs to lead Wilmington to an 11-2 victory Sunday night, thus showing the Pittsburgh brass what a huge mistake it made in releasing him in the middle of 2006.

WOODBRIDGE — Brad Lincoln, the former first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted this week from Hickory, N.C., experienced a rocky debut with the Lynchburg Hillcats on Friday night in a 13-5 loss to the Potomac Nationals.

WOODBRIDGE — The Potomac Nationals were not quite ready to relinquish their hold on the Carolina League Northern Division Thursday at Pfitzner Stadium. With a 6-2 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats, Potomac remained in first place and extended their division lead to 1 1/2 games.

Brad Lincoln, the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2006 at No. 4 overall, has been promoted to Lynchburg and is scheduled to start for the Hillcats on Friday in Potomac.

Wilmington right fielder Cody Strait looked to be in line to play the spoiler again Tuesday afternoon, coming to bat with two on and only one away in the bottom of the ninth, with Lynchburg leading by just a run.

Cuffman talks about Pennsylvania sports, being drafted by the Pirates and what he would change about the game of baseball.

The season’s all-star break came and went 2½ weeks ago, and when all was said and done, the only Hillcat to receive a permanent bump to the next level was catcher Steve Lerud.