First number, last word

145: The number of pitches, at a minimum, Hurdle wants his hitters to look at every game, claiming studies show that teams that make opposing staffs go through at least 145 pitches win 60 percent of the time.

"That's why we play a hard nine innings, regardless of the situation or the outcome. You've got to keep playing." -- Andrew McCutchen on the late-strike tendencies of the Pirates. who entered Sunday having scored 42 percent of their runs in the sixth inning or later.