Pirates swept by the Padres

Pirates lose, Pirates lose, 6-3. The Pirates were swept for the 12th time this season. They are just 12-51 when they score three runs or less.

 

Brad Lincoln made his ninth career start yesterday. He went 6.1IP, 8H, 6R, 6ER, 3K, 2BB, 2HR -103 Pitches (LP 1-4)

Lincoln continued to struggle with his fastball and threw everything up in the zone. The Padres took advantage of it.

After having a 2-0 lead into the third, it quickly unraveled. Pitcher, Matt LeBlanc singled, followed by Jerry Hariston JR. Denorifa hit a two-run double, then Gonzalez lifted one into the right field porch for a two-run Home Run. Torrealba walked, then stole second, then Venable hit a RBI-Single. Nine men came to the plate, five hits, five runs and a walk were issued by Lincoln throwing 40 pitches.

“I’ve got to be able to shut innings down and keep the runs to a minimum,” Lincoln said. “I let that inning get away from me and it hurt us.” 

After the game Brad Lincoln was optioned to Triple-A Indy. In his Nine Major League Starts he was 1-4, 6.57 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and a .311 Opp Avg. In 50.2 IP he allowed 64 hits, 39 Runs, 37 ER, 9HR, 14BB, 21K.

“Just being able to be up here and face Major League hitters and be around the guys in the clubhouse and learn and know what it takes to compete up here,” Lincoln said, “I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here. I just haven’t been able to show the results.”

“I’m thinking too much out there. I just need to go someplace else and get that taken care of,” Lincoln said. “For me, it’s probably the best move. … I’ll be back.”

Huntington added: “We feel like there have been some mechanical changes that have taken place over time at the major league level that have caused some of the velocity reduction. We think we can get him … back where he was mechanically and back where he was mentality-wise” in Indianapolis”

Ronny Cedeno and Jose Tabata both had two hits and continued to be hot since the All-Star Break. Cedeno went two-for-three with a Homerun (5) a walk, and two RBI. He is hitting .421 in the second half while Tabata has hit .386.

In Tabata’s last 12 games (entering Sunday) .380 AVG, 6 2B, 6BB, 8RBI.

John Russell: “He’s got a quiet approach, sees the ball well and that leads to patience and that leads to working the count and that’s why he’s able to hit at the top of the order. With his speed and the way he does things, he drives the ball and uses the whole field. For his age he’s a very accomplished hitter and we knew that in Spring Training when we watched him. That this guy’s a little bit further along then most young hitters. It makes his very valuable.”

 

“I wouldn’t say disappointing — record-wise, yes, but our guys showed themselves as a team that we can score some runs, and we can swing the bats, so we’re going to take that as a positive out of this,” Pirates manager John Russell said of the homestand. “Obviously, we’re not excited about the record, but I think some guys grew a little bit on this homestand, and that’s the most important thing for our young players now, is to continue to grow and continue to believe that they are making some strides. And we saw some of that.”

“We still saw that we still have some room for development,” Russell said of the past 10 games. “Would we like to win more games? Obviously, can’t take that away, but we’re seeing some growth.”  

 

LeBlanc went 6IP, 8H, 3ER, 2K, 0BB. (WP 5-8) and Heath Bell picked up his 29th save.

Brendan Donnelly was designated for assignment following the game. In 38 games, Donnelly was 3-1 with a  5.58 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, .234 OPP AVG. In 30.2 IP he gave up 26 hits and 21 runs, including six homeruns and 21 walks.

“They’re moving forward, and that’s fine,” said Donnelly, 38, who pitched in six of nine games after the All-Star break and called himself “just exhausted, overused” by that brief outing Thursday. “I don’t know what their definition of ‘moving forward’ is, but we’ll see.”

 ”I think I’ve been released a few times in my career, and you usually see it coming, you have a hunch, and I didn’t see this one coming,” Donnelly said. “I feel like I’ve been throwing the ball good the last month. The other night, I was just exhausted, overuse, but like I said, I didn’t see it coming. I thought I was doing what they wanted me to do. I know I was doing in the clubhouse with the guys, with the younger guys, with [Evan] Meek and [Joel] Hanrahan and whatnot. They asked me to work on them from day one in Spring Training. They have a world of talent. I like to think I helped them a little bit learn how to be successful at this level, so granted, my job here is done.”

The Players were all pretty upset to see Brendan go, as he was a big part of the team giving the young guys a veteran to look up to and learn from.

“He definitely was a … real leader, took charge,” first baseman Garrett Jones said. “It’s their decision. You just go along with it. But we’re going to miss him. A great guy in the clubhouse. A warrior out on the field. A good guy to have on your side.”

He was the only leader … that would step up and say stuff and not care [about teammates' feelings],” Meek added. “Any time you make a trade or get rid of a leader in your clubhouse, it’s not going to be popular. There’s a business side to the game, obviously.”

Paul Maholm and Joel Hanrahan tweeted about the loss of Donnelly:

@Maholm28: Also sad to see Donnelly go he was a great teammate and leader. True professional 

@Hanrahan4457: Tough weekend for us and even tougher after the game, Donnelly is an awesome person and helped our whole team and myself alot, great leader

Donnelly remained optimistic that another team would pick him up.

“I hope so,” he said. “Neal said he was trying to trade me and didn’t have any takers. I have some considerable incentives in my contract that were just about to kick in, so it doesn’t really make sense for another team to trade for me when, if this happens, I become really cheap for another team. Hopefully, they can go on the games that I’ve had and know that I’m healthy, and that I’ve been there and done it, and I’m ready to go now.” 

 

The Pirates have not annouced who will fill the two spots on the 25 man roster.

@RobBiertempfel: Expect Pirates to call up Wil Ledezma, Justin Thomas for pen. Then send Thomas back down and recall Daniel McCutchen for rotation.

 

Although the Pirates finished the 10 game homestand 4-6, there were some positives.

• In the Pirates last 9 games (Stats entering Sunday):

Record: 4-5

Runs/Game: 6.3 (The Pirates averaged only 3.2 runs before the All-Star Break)

Hits/Game: 10.9

Average: .305

Doubles: 25

Slg Pct: .464

ERA: 4.22

Walks/9IP: 2.7

Strikeouts/9IP: 7.0

Opp Avg: .241

• Delywn Young (Who filled in for McCutchen for five games):

Hits/At-Bats: 7/16

Avg: .438

HR: 2

RBI: 7

Runs: 7

BB: 4

Slg: .875

 

Minor League Update:

• Prospect Watch: Hitters

(Indy) Alex Pressley- .348 AVG, 9HR, 58RBI, .538 SLG

(Curve) Josh Harrison- .309 AVG, 2HR, 56 RBI, 27 SB

(Spikes) Matthew Curry- .392 AVG, 3HR, 18 RBI, .620 SLG

(GCL) Exicardo Cayonez- .323 AVG, 15 RBI, 5 SB

(GCL) Eric Avila- 3.09 AVG, 18 RBI, .518 SLG

• Prospect Watch: Pitchers

(Curve) Jeff Locke- 10-3, 3.24 ERA, 91K/16BB

(Marauders) Nate Baker- 7-6, 3.02 ERA, .099 WHIP

(Power) Phillip Irwin- 5-1, 2.44 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

(Power) Quinton Miller 1-1, 2.19 ERA, .193 OPP AVG

(Spikes) Tyler Waldron 2-2, 2.73 ERA, 21K/5BB

 

 

 

Around the Ballparks:

•  Don’t Blame Paul Maholm- PiratesProspects
• Pirate fans still complain about the Nate McLouth trade. Well fans, here is what we are missing out on: McLouth is 6-for-65 (.092) w/ 1 RBI, .183 OBP in 23 g. Since 7/9/09, .205 w/ 9 HR, 35 RBI, 13 SB, .646 OPS
• Cubs John Grabow has yet to throw off the mound. Says sprained left knee taking longer than expected. Won’t be back next week.
• The Nationals allowed a season-high 5 unearned runs in their 8-3 loss to the Brewers yesterday.
• The Reds were shut out by the Astros yesterday, 4-0. It was an MLB-high 12th time this year the Reds have been held scoreless.
• Diamndbacks traded Haren to Angels for Joe Saunders, Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez and a player to be named later. -MLB
• The Marlins had their 4th walkoff win of the week today. They are the 6th team since 2000 to have 4 walkoff wins in one week.
• The Padres move to 19 games above .500 for 1st time since 1998. (The Last time SD played in the World Series. Coincidence?)
• Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson landed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday because of a strained right oblique muscle.
• (Via @BaseballGuys)From John Lewis of SABR: July 2nd, Pedro Alvarez had a .443 OPS. 14 games later his OPS was .834.
• (via @ScottDMcCauley) Jeff Clement will be away from the Indians for the next couple of days. Personal reasons & will rejoin the team Wednesday in Syracuse.