hallelujah! The Pirates win!

The Pirates win!! The streak is FINALLY over!

Alright. I’ll stop with the pictures. I was just so excited last night. The Buccos beat the Cubs 2-1 and are now 8-2 against them this season. It’s got to feel amazing to win that game after 34 days of straight loosing.

 

I tweeted this quote yesterday. Coincidence? You decide.

“Any minute, anyday, some players may break a longstanding record. That’s one of the fascinations about the game.” -Connie Mack

 

Maholm pitched an absolute beauty. He went 8IP 7H 0BB 1R 1ER 2K. 101 Pitches. He is the 1st pirates starter to go 8 innings this season. Not only did Paul pitch amazing he also got his 1st hit of the season and snapped a 0-38 hittless streak (dating back to last yr)

• Dotel got his 15th save of the season.
• GFJ who is batting .412 against the cubs this year went 0 for 3 with a BB.
• Tabata went 1-4 2B rBI SB R (5-5 for SB this season)
• Cutch w/ a RBI triple (his 5th of the yr) went 1-5 with 5 LOB – McCutchen has been going through a bit of a slump recently. Maybe a day off to recharge his batteries? He rarely gets a day off.
• Doumit 1-4 1K 3LOB. He scored the go ahead run. Although he BARLEY made it, didnt slide at the plate. He was so close to being out. Horrible base running. He has just been awful all season.
• Lastings Milledge has a .823 OPS since May 1st. He also leads all NL hitters with a .436 AVG since June 9th.
• There was yet ANOTHER collision in right field yesterday. This time involving Bobby Crosby and Lastings Milledge. Crosby was pulled on and replaced by DY. They later updated him with concussion like symptoms. He should be fine but is getting the day off today.
• Neil Walker is still having concussion symptoms. His MRI was negative and is still in pittsburgh getting futher tests. JR said today that within the next 2-3 days will determine if he needs to go on the DL.

The Pirates this season are 9-40 with 3 runs or less scored.

3 More draft picks were signed: RHP Casey Sadler (25th round) RHP Jason Townsend (31st round) and James Archibald (36th round)

Zack Duke did soft toss on Sunday and Monday. He is slated to throw of the mound on Friday and could miss 2 more starts.

Pirates vs Cubs (going into monday)           Pirates vs rest of MLB

7-2                                                           18-48

4.56 runs/gm                                             3.09 runs/gm

2.81 ERA                                                  5.66 ERA

0.44 e/gm                                                  .086 e/gm

 

Today’s pitching matchup:

Jeff Karstens 2-2 4.60 ERA           vs          Ted Lilly 2-6 3.28 ERA

• Karstens has not allowed more than 4 runs in a start since returning to the rotation May 24th. He is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA vs CHC
• Lilly has only 1 win in his past 11 starts. He is 0-2 with a 4.25 ERA against PIT

 

 

Minor League Updates:

 Jeff Locke: 5IP 5H 2ER 1BB 7K

Bryan Morris: 7IP 3H 2BB 6K 1R (Has a 3.35 ERA in AA)

Jim Negrych: 2-4 2RBI 2SB R (.411 AVG)

Chase D’Arnaud: 2-4 Triple 2RBI BB (.241 avg)

 

Around the Ballpark

• Jack Taschner (who refused a minor league agreement with the Pirates) signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers yesterday. He went 6.05 era, 7.9 k/9, 3.7 BB/9 in 19 innings with the buccos this year.
• Stats after the no hitter:

Braden: 0-5 4.31 ERA 30/9 K/BB 1.42 WHIP

Jimenez: 10-1 1.67 ERA 75/26 K/BB 1.00 WHIP

Halladay: 2-3 3.00 ERA 32/5 K/BB 1.28 WHIP

•  Strasburg made his 5th start last night. He went 6IP 6H 4R 3ER 2BB 7K -92 pitches Got his 2nd loss of the season.
• The cubs have 60 errors on the season (4th most in the NL)
• Highest win percentage vs the cubs (active pitchers)

Paul Maholm 6-1 .857%

Billy Wagner 6-1 .857%

Kevin Millwood 8-2 .800%

Brandon Webb 4-1 .800%

Chris Carpenter 10-3 .769%

• Scott Rolen hit his 300th career homerun yesterday
• Jason Heyward was put on the DL. He will wear a cast on his hand for 6 days. Diagnosed with a Bone Bruise (thumb) Matt Diaz will be activated today.
• Dustin Pedroia not expect to require surgery. Timetable about 6 weeks.
•  Victor Martinez also underwent more exams, they revealed minimally displaced fracture tip of left thumb. He is not expected to require surgery.
• John Grabow was pulled in the 8th inning of the PIT/CHC game yesterday. He was diagnosed with a sprained left knee. Was previously on the DL bc of knee May 31-June 15

The Dbacks have been struggling as of late.

• 5.33 team ERA (worst in NL)
• 14 Blown saves (most in NL)
• 15 Saves (2nd fewest)
• 38 quality starts (4th)
• .280 Opponet avg (3rd)
• 103 HR allowed (most in NL)
• 1.51 team WHIP (3rd highest)