The bats fall silent as the Bucs lose 3-1.
Ugh. What a frustrating loss last night. After accumulating 17 hits and 12 runs on Sat, 19 hits and nine runs on Sunday the Bucs scored just one run and had only six hits yesterday.
Now I know, it’s not realistic to keep up what they did on Sat and Sunday, but I didn’t expect them to fall as short as they did.
Jeff Karstens got the Loss after pitching a really good game. He was perfect through four innings with four strikeouts and threw just 41 pitches, 34 for strikes. Unfortunately, he threw two really bad pitches which resulted in two homeruns. (Fielder, Weeks)
Karstens: 6IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 6K (66 pitches, 53 for strikes)
Multiple times throughout the game I found myself shocked how nasty Jeff was pitching. If you would have bet me a million bucks that he would have pitched this well all season I would have shook on it. Very suprising, but in a good way.
The bullpen took over, and didn’t give up a single hit through the rest of the game.
Lopez 0.2 IP, 0H, 1BB, 1K
Donnelly .01 IP, 0H
Meek 1.0 IP, 0H
Hanrahan 1.0 IP, 0H
Fast foward to the bottom of the ninth inning, Jones with a single, Alvarez walked (his third of the game by the way), no outs.
I was on the edge of my seat…
Doumit struck out, Church struck out, and Cedeno grounded to second base to end the game.
”I just felt I had a really good rhythm throwing strikes,” Karstens said. “And then when I got ahead I was expanding the zone a little bit, making them chase. Just doing what I’ve been doing while I’ve been here.”
“He threw the ball really well,” Pirates manager John Russell said of Karstens. “He was attacking the zone down, throwing a lot of strikes. The ball to Fielder just got flat up. He got behind Weeks and just didn’t make his pitch there. Talking to him and Ryan [Doumit], those were really the only two mistakes he made. Unfortunately he had to pay for it. But Jeff threw the ball very well. He was sharp, the ball was down. The rain delay didn’t affect him very much. It was good to see.”
Andrew McCutchen Update:
“It feels better, feels a little better,” McCutchen said. “Still tender, still a little sore, but I’m able to move it around and stuff. Still a little tender, and just got to give it some time.”
Pirates manager John Russell said the team will monitor the situation every day, noting that it’s possible McCutchen could come in Tuesday and take batting practice. It all depends on the soreness in McCutchen’s shoulder, which the team hopes will subside in the coming days and not be a lingering issue. All tests have come back negative.
“I just want to go out there. I want to be out with the team, helping them, but there’s nothing you can do about that,” McCutchen said. “All you can do is just handle what’s in front of you. Everything else is pretty much inevitable, so I’ll just go out and do what I can to still help the team. I can watch the game and still help the team as well — things I can be able to watch. I can see things that people may not be able to see, because they’re playing defense. So something like that.”
Around the Ballparks:
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The Royals won in walkoff fashion over the Blue Jays last night, only their second walkoff win of the season.
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Ubaldo Jimenez 5IP, 6H, 4ER, 5K- ND (Marlins won 9-8)
First 14 Starts: Last 5 Starts:
13-1, 1.15 ERA 2-0, 6.39 ERA
3 HR allowed 4 HR allowed
1.00 WHIP 1.32 WHIP
-17 ER in 3 No decisions
- The Dbacks scored 13 runs against the Mets, the second most they’ve scored ever against NYM.
- The Cardinals hit three Home Runs in the fifth inning yesterday, the first time this season they’ve had a 3HR inning.
STL Bullpen Stats:
25.2 Innings pitched, 17 Hits, 3 ER, .189 OPP AVG
The Cardinals have won 7 of last 9 games
- Brad Inge is out 4-6 weeks with fracture in his left hand. (He was hit by a pitch, fastball by Scott Feldman in the third inning of yesterday’s game VS Texas).
- Reds third baseman Scott Rolen has been given a cortisone shot in his right hamstring and is out of the lineup indefinitely.
- Dodgers interested in many pitchers -MlbTradeRumors
- White Sox still pursing Adam Dunn -MlbTradeRumors
- Mariners sign three international free agents -MLBTradeRumors
- The 2011 Rays and Carl Crawford -MLBTradeRumors
Other Pirates News:
- Pedro Alvarez in July, entering Monday: .308/.345/.558 .903OPS
- Cry Baby Braun went 0-4 with a K last night.
- Home Sweet Home (Highest Home Win % since June 19th)
White Sox 12-1 .923%
Indians 9-2 .818 %
Pirates 7-2 .778 %
Rockies 11-4 .733%
Tigers 8-3 .727%
- Milledge first 52 games: .246, last 25 games: .367
- The Pirates:
Sat & Sun Previous 7
RUNS 21 19
HITS 36 50
X-Base Hits 14 18
AVG .434 .215
ERA 3.00 .503
HR Allowed 1 16
-Had allowed at least 1 HR in 9 straight games before Sunday
- Recent Pirates Complete-Game Shutouts:
Paul Maholm (07/18/2010 VS HOU) 3H, 0BB, 1K -103 Pitches
Charlie Morton (09/30/2002 VS CHC) 4H, 3BB, 8K -119 Pitches
Zack Duke (04/3/2009 VS HOU) 4H, 2BB, 5K -119 Pitches
Jeff Karstens (08/06/2008 VS ARI) 2H, 1BB, 4K -113 Pitches
Today’s Pitching Matchup:
Dave Bush 4-7 4.07 ERA
Bush has six straight quality starts, but the Brewers are just 3-3 in those games because of a lack of offensive support. Bush lost, 2-1, in Atlanta on Thursday, with both of the Braves runs coming on homers. He has allowed 13 home runs this season.
VS
Brad Lincoln 1-3 5.14 ERA
Lincoln allowed two home runs against Milwaukee on July 11 in his last start, but kept his team in the game and left in line for a win that never came. His moment of truth came when he walked Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to lead off the sixth, but kept runs off the board.
Kristy Robinson
