Texas Showdown turned ugly in the 8th, Pirates lose 4-1

 

Ross Ohlendorf pitched a beauty tonight. He went 6.2 scoreless innings giving up four hits, two walks and struck out seven. He cruised throught six plus with a consistent fastball of 94-95. He retired 18 of the last 21 batters he faced. Unfortunatly for Ross, he got a no decision. In his last eight starts he has a 2.54 ERA but is just 1-3.

Our bullpen is so good, especially the back of it,” Ohlendorf said. “I know next time I’ll be completely confident they’ll get the job done, too. Everyone’s going to have a bad game.”

The Pirates held onto a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning. Evan Meek pitched his worst outing of the season. In just 1/3 of an inning Meek gave up five hits, four runs; which included a three-run homer from Carlos Lee and a walk. The four earned runs are the most he has give up in an inning.

“Ohlendorf has pitched exceptionally well his last few starts,” Meek said. “You just want to come in so bad and throw a zero up on the board, hand it over to Joel [Hanrahan]. . . and come out with a win. We scored one run and we battled. My job and our job down there in the bullpen is to hold the lead. . . It just went downhill from there.”

Everything was up. When the ball’s up, they’re going to hit it. I just didn’t execute any pitches,” Meek said. “We really battled to get that run. Ohlendorf, I can’t say enough about his outing. To go in there and [try to] do what I’ve done all year, and just to pitch how I pitched, was tough. I’m just kind of in a rut. Falling behind hitters. Walking guys. When you do that, it’s not going to be pretty. Location was absolutely terrible, and I paid for it.”

 

*Photo from AP, The bench after Lee’s three run homerun and the blown lead.

 

During the eigth inning Meek was having problems with his right foot. He shook it multiple times, and limped after he threw the pitch. Evan even altered his delivery trying to not put pressure on it. When asked about his foot he said “No, just occasional aches and pains, that’s all.” After the game, his left calf was wrapped in ice.

 

 

 

The Pirates have scored only 10 runs in their last five games. In the ninth inning the Bucs failed to take advantage of a great oppurtunity. Alvarez walked and then Milledge reached first on a miss communication between Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum. Neither called it and the ball dropped down the right field line. Lopez threw a wild pitch, but only Pedro advanced, Milledge stayed put at first base. Delwyn Young came into pinch hit and hit into a game ending double play.

 

The Pirates are 0-7 at Minute Maid Park this season and have now lost five in row, eight straight on the road.

 

Brett Myers continued his consecutive streak of six or more innings pitched to 24. He is only the 22nd pitcher to do so since 1920, Curt Schilling in 2002 with the Diamondbacks was the last.  

 

 

 

Other News and Notes:

• Ronny Cedeno was out of the lineup for a second straight game. He is dealing with a left shoulder impingement. Cedeno is not sure how the injury occured.

“I woke up this morning and I felt sore,” Cedeno said. “I can take ground balls but I can’t swing.”

Ronny has been checked out by doctors and is expected to only miss a few days.

 

• Neil Walker in his last 24 games is batting .354 with 20 RBI and 11 multi-hit games.
• The Pirates signed Daniel Grovatt (11th round pick from the University of Virgina) .289 AVG, 9 2B, 4 3B, 8HR, 56 RBI as a JR last season
•  The Pirates have released Jeff Sues. Just two years ago Sues was the Pirates top minor league pitcher. He has been on the suspended list.

 

Just for fun, since it is Friday the 13th, here is a list of all the “bad luck” or the strange things that happened for the Buccos:

 

1. For the second game in a row Jose Tabata went 0-for-4. Your probally thinking, that’s no big deal. Well, it is the first time this season that he has gone hitless in back-to-back games.
2. Speaking of jinxes, the Astros had an umbrella giveaway tonight. During the seventh-inning stretch, the public address announcer asked fans to open their umbrellas and wave them. Many of them did just that … indoors (Minute Maid Park’s roof was closed) … on Friday the 13th. The only things missing were a black cat and broken mirrors. -TRIBLIVE
3. Today’s loss means the Pirates are only six games away from the 18th consecutive loosing season.
4. Evan Meek pitched his worst outing of the season giving up four runs on five hits through just 1/3 of an inning.
5. Ross Ohlendorf got a No-Decision after pitching one of his best starts of the season. Although, I’m not sure that’s bad luck per-say. It doesn’t help when the Pirates offense only scores one run.
6. Ross Ohlendorf also extened “the most consecutive starts with less than four runs of support to 24. (Ted Lilly- 22 09/13/08-08/13/10, Jonathan Sanchez- 22 07/25/08-09/22-09, Randy Jones- 21 05/29/80-05/15/81, Ed Whitson 21 08/30/78-06/07/80)
7. Neil Walker gave the Pirates their first lead in 38 innings with the RBI Single in the third inning. The lead only lasted five innings after Carlos Lee hit a three-run home run in the eighth.
8. Pedro Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a walk. The last time he did this? Exactly a month ago, on the 13th.
9. Ronny Cedeno, who is number 13, woke up Friday morning with left shoulder. He’s not sure how he injured it.
10. The Pirates have only 13 road wins this season.
11. Andrew McCutchen ended his 0-for-13 drought last night, with two consecutive singles.
12. Evan Meek looked like he injured his right leg during his outing last night. Now, I don’t want to look too much into it but I can’t help myself. He kept shaking it and was trying not to put much pressure on it during his delivery. After the game when asked about it, he said ”No. Just occasional aches and pains.” But he did kind of dodge the question a little and changed the subject quickly. Let’s hope its nothing serious. He was spotted with ice on his LEFT calf after the game.   
13. The Pirates play the Astros for the 13th time this season on the 13th home game in the month of September.

 

*Okay, So maybe some of those weren’t really bad or strange. It was harder than I thought coming up with 13. I hope I atleast entertained you.

  

 

 

Today’s Pitching Matchup:

Paul Maholm 7-10, 4.90 ERA

VS

Bud Norris 4-7, 5.63 ERA

Maholm is making his 150th career start. In his last outing he gave up eight runs, six of them earned, in 2 2/3 innings. Paul has been inconcistent since his shutout back in July, going 1-9 with an 9.90 ERA since then.

Norris got a no-decision his last time out, pitching 6 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.