Offense falls short, Padres continue to own the Buccos

To become a Major League Baseball Player, it’s important to be able to catch the ball. Ryan Doumit has had a rough year behind the plate this year, we all know this, only throwing out 10% of base stealers, six passed balls, not to mention he can’t stay healthy. So putting Doumit in right field wouldn’t be so bad right? He does have a nice bat–the Pirates could use more power in their lineup.

Now, I’m not blaming the loss on Doumit. There are many other factors that could have happened but Ryan’s non play did create a huge shift in the game.

Any other player would have caught that ball, but since Doumit, one–can’t catch and two–isn’t a natural right fielder it was a disaster waiting to happen.

The Pirates were trailing just 1-0 and Doumit’s decision to let the ball drop a few feet in front of them gave the Padres the oppurtunity to break open the lead. The inning should have ended, instead they ended up scoring three runs.

What bothers me most is the fact that Ryan didn’t even attempt to make that catch.

With guys like Brandon Moss and John Bowker, who are tearing it up in AAA-Indy. Both with a lot of power, both that can actually play the outfield. There is no reason to play Doumit in RF, trade him away.

John Russell was asked if he would have liked to have seen Doumit be more aggressive on the play. 

“You’re asking a lot of a guy who hasn’t played in the outfield very much,” Russell said. “The more he plays out there, he should be able to read the ball better.”

Okay. I will stop ranting. I’m just not sure why the Pirates are so smitten on keeping him around. He had one great year in 2008, since then he has gone back to his typical .250 AVG, 10 HR..

James McDonald lasted just 4.2 innings. To be fair, J-Mac, other than the high pitch count pitched pretty decent. He struck out six, and walked just one. He did throw a career-high 107 pitches. The Padres did a good job of being patient at the plate, and fouling off a lot of pitches. He continued to hit 94-95 on the gun and he has a nasty curve and change.

I had good stuff,” McDonald said. “I felt like my command was a little bad sometimes when I got ahead of the hitter. I’ve got to be more aggressive putting them away early in the counts.”

When the Pirates received Sean Gallagher from the Padres, we knew he had a lot of issues with his control and comand. That is an understatement. In just 12.1 innings, Gallagher has walked 15 batters. Sean has shown glimpses of great outings, on July 28th he pitched three hitless, scorless innings and struck out four. He needs to get better control if he wants to be a part of the Pirates future.

Gallagher walked back-to-back guys in the fifth with the bases loaded. The Padres scored three runs and nine men came to the plate.

“It was unfortunate with two outs, and then next thing you know, three runs,” Russell said. “[We] just couldn’t get out of that inning without the damage.”

 

Since the Pirates have acquired Chan Ho Park off waivers he has allowed the opponent to score in two of the three appearances thus far. He gave up four hits and three runs in sixth inning including a two-run Home run by Hariston Jr.

   

Correia pitched a really good game until the seventh inning when the Pirates started a rally, scoring five runs.

“I threw three good pitches that they got hits off of,” Correia said. “They didn’t hit them real hard, but they hit them where they had to. When I walked [Alvarez] with the bases loaded, that was kind of the only thing I regret.” 

The Pirates managed to get one run in the eigth inning by an RBI Single by Walker but it wasn’t enough as the Buccos lost 8-5. The Pirates have now been outscored 32-14 in the five games against San Diego this season. (0-5)

 

 

With last nights loss, the Pirates are now Major League worst, beating out the Orioles who have been in last place all season long. I think it’s time we all get a little more familiar with Anthony Rendon.

 

If things continue and the Pirates finish last, they would get first dibs on this guy. He’s 5’11″, 180 pound third baseman. In 2009 with Rice University he hit .388 with 20 HR, 72 RBI with an .461 OBP, .702 SLG. He was also named Baseball America’s “Freshman of the Year”

 

 

 

Other News and Notes:

• Pedro Alvarez has knocked in a run in 7 consecutive games; longest by a Pirates rookie since Frank Colman in 1944 – 8 straight games.
• Small payroll teams turning the tables on baseball’s big boys -USATodaySports
• OK, now will it work with Alvarez and Tabata for the Pirates? Complete with quotes from fired pitching coach Kerrigan: -CBSSports
• Pirates Pre-Game show on FSN chatted with newly acquired prospect, Andrew Lambo.

Rob King: “Your thought’s about being traded from the Dodgers to the Pirates organization? Did it come out of the blue?

Andrew Lambo: “The Dodgers were making a lot of moves so everybody kind of knew to keep their bags packed. They are a real big name organization. It’s just something that’s in the business and that’s part of the baseball business. I got approached on Saturday that I was traded, Me and James McDonald were traded for Dotel. I was really excited to get an oppurtunity like this. I was pretty pumped.”

RK: “It’s been a world wind couple of years for you. Last year you were Baseball America’s top rank Dodgers prospect, you have a suspension earlier this year. Do you view this now as a part of a new transition for you? A chance to have a fresh begining with a new organization like the Pirates?”

AL: “Yes, absolutely. This is a real fresh start for me to start new in this organization and show them how I got about things and my business on and off the field. I think this is a real great oppurtunity with a great organization.”

RK: “You’ve wasted little time Andrew, proving your worth so far. .357 [AVG] over seven games, a couple of home runs. Do you feel comfortable already?”

AL: ”Well, you know, it’s been tough. This has been an up and down year for me with my 50 game suspension. I haven’t really gotten much at-bats that all these other guys have. It was really tough to leave and then come back but it’s starting to come around. It’s a progression. These past couple of days I’ve been feeling good and our team has been going really good here. It was a real good environment to come into when your teams in first place and you got a lot of good guys on the team. I’ve just been doing my job and just trying to contribute to get the win.”

RK: “Did it make it easier that you had a familar face in Bryan Morris? A guy you played with in Great Leagues in the Dodgers organization in 08? Did that help? You knew at least someone when you walked into a new dugout?”

AL: “Yeah. I knew Bryan with the Dodgers. I also knew Chase pretty well. I grew up with his brother playing ball. It wasn’t too big of a transition. I played in a couple of fall leagues so I was kind of familiar with the whole new face environment. These guys have been great. They’ve really welcomed me as their own. You can’t ask for more from these guys. It’s been a fun time, this has been a great week and hope to continue it.”

RK: “From a teams stands point, you went from a Chattanooga team that wasn’t doing very well in the standings, to an Altoona team that’s in first place in the Western Divison in the Eastern League surrounded by a lot of guys, like you, young guys. This team is performing well with prospects carrying the weight at-bats, pitching appearences. Kind of exciting to be thrust into a pennant race right now?”

AL: “It’s great. I love winning. That’s my ultimate goal is to come out every single day and try to win ballgames. That’s what these guys do. Like I said before, I came in here and I didn’t have to do anything. All I got to do is worry about my business and take care of my stuff and that’s it. Everybody else takes care of their own business and that’s a great thing when you enter a team. These guys are really, really good. This is a great ballclub. My Chattanooga team, it was tough. We couldn’t really find wins. We have a lot of great guys over there, I’m sure they will pick it up and finish strong. But this is a great, great ball club. Coming from that team to this team has just came a complete 180.”

 

• The Pirates VSL beat the the Mariners VSL 21-2 in the Championship Series.

Luis Cardona went 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs.

Francisco Aponte went 3-for-5 with two RBI and four runs.

(SP) Roberto Espinosa went six innings giving up four hits and two runs while stricking out three and walking two.

The Pirates VSL combined 20 hits.

• Brandon Moss 1-4, HR, 2 RBI (.271 AVG)
• Starling Marte 3-for-7, two doubles, RBI, Run (.299 AVG)
• Matt Curry 2-4, HR (4) (.323 AVG)

 

 

 Today’s Pitching Matchup:

Zach Duke 5-10, 5.32 ERA

VS

Jon Garland 10-8, 3.55 ERA

Duke is making his 150th Career start for the Buccos today. Maholm will make his 150th on Sunday. The Pirates have never had a pair of teammates reach the 150-start milestone in the same season before. The last pair to do so were Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle with White Sox in 2005. Zach allowed three runs on 10 hits his last outting against the Rockies. He threw 100 pitches through the six innings, striking out five and not walking a single batter.

Garland got the loss his last time out due to lack of offense from his team. (Padres lost 2-1)Jon gave up just two runs through seven innings, giving up just three hits and struck out four. He did walk six Dbacks and has walked 61 on the season.