August 2010
PIT @ HOU 9/14
Pirates Lineup:
McCutchen 8
Jones 9
Tabata 7
Alvarez 5
Walker 4
Doumit 2
Clement 3
Diaz 6
Maholm 1
*The Buccos lineup is all kinds of crazy. Jones moves to the second spot and Walker drops down to fifth. Pedro moves up to cleanup and Tabata is batting third. I’m all for switching it up and seeing if it can get the boys hitting again. The Pirates have scored just 11 runs in their last 5 games. In the month of August they have been outscored 39-69 and are just 3-12.
I like the idea of giving Clement a start. Since he was re-called he is batting .333 with 2HR. He has a much different approach at the plate since the begining of the year when he struggled so bad. I think he deserves another shot.
I’m not happy to see Doumit back behind the plate. Synder just had the day off on Thursday. Yuck!
Astros Lineup:
Bourn 8
Sanchez 6
Pence 9
Lee 3
Keppinger 4
Michaels 7
Johnson 5
Quintero 2
Norris 1
On Pirates Pre-game, Greg Brown chatted with Chris Synder:
Greg Brown: “Chris, is it still special to come back home?”
Chris Synder: “It’s always good. This will be the first time I’ve come back here twice. I came back here earlier in the season with Arizona and now I”m back again. For the past few years, it’s just been the one time trip so now family and friends get the double dose.”
GB: “Now that your in the National League Central, you can count on at least two trips every year here. What about the family and friends? Still pretty good contingent on hand?”
CS: “Yeah it is. They already got their show early on in the season. There was close to 20 tickets that I think I left today.”
GB: “Chris when you grew up where you an Astros fan? And if you were, did you have any particular players that you watched closely?”
CS: “I was. I was a big Astros fan. As a young kid I’d probally say it would be easy to say Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott. As I grew up it was Biggio and Bagwell. All those guys, I loved watching the Astros.”
GB: “I assumed you went to games at the Astrodome and here.”
CS: “Yeah, I was there. I saw Randy Johnson’s first win as an Astro. I saw Mike Scott’s no-hitter. There are quite a few of them [that] I saw. A clinching game that they had, yeah it was fun.”
GB: “Now that you are with the club a couple weeks, do you feel comfortable calling yourself a Pirate or is it still kind of a strange feeling?”
CS: “It’s still a little different. I’m starting to get a little comfortable around the guys and getting to know them and know the pitchers I think which is most important. And starting to get a good feel for them. It’s just one of those things where you got to be the same guy you’ve always been.”
GB: “First time you came over we asked you about your learning crash course, in terms of the pitching staff and low and behold, shortly after that, changes in the pitching staff. Is that a thing that concerns you at all? Or do you kind of roll with the punches?”
CS: “I guess you kind of roll with the punches. I hadn’t been here long enough to know the situation where the two guys who are no longer here . I didn’t know what kind of situation they were in or what was going on or which direction the organization wanted to go. I’m not unfamiliar with coaching, managerial, general manger changes. That’s something I’ve seen quite a bit of in the past couple years.”
GB: “Now that you’ve gotten to know the team, gotten to know the staff, what do you think about the direction of this club Chris? The record is abysmal, let’s be honest about it. But what about the short and long term future of this club?”
CS: “I think this last month and a half is going to be big. It’s going to be one of those things where we kind of have to learn how we play. I have to learn what makes the pitcher sucessful because there is very good arms in the rotation, in the bullpen. The young guys with Tabata, Alvarez, Jones, guys like that, Walker. These guys are getting their taste of a first full season out of the way and it’s tough. If you look at it, as if they were Septemeber call-ups, they get the one month where your riding on adrenaline, the ball looks like beach ball. That first full season where pitchers learn who you are, scouting reports get out and your going to take your lumps. And they are getting that out of the way this year and they’re having success. So i think taking that and finishing up strong and getting used to playing the full season because September will creep up on you and It’s tiring. You get through that and take that into next year with a hunger of you don’t want to be a last place team anymore. Or you don’t want to keep up the, however many years that this team has had losing seasons, you want that to finally come to and end and you want to be part of it.”
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:
- 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.
- 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
- Today’s loss means the Pirates are only six games away from the 18th consecutive loosing season.
- Evan Meek pitched his worst outing of the season giving up four runs on five hits through just 1/3 of an inning.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
- Pedro Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a walk. The last time he did this? Exactly a month ago, on the 13th.
- Ronny Cedeno, who is number 13, woke up Friday morning with left shoulder. He’s not sure how he injured it.
- The Pirates have only 13 road wins this season.
- Andrew McCutchen ended his 0-for-13 drought last night, with two consecutive singles.
- 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.
- 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.
PIT @ HOU 9/13
Pirates Starting Lineup:
McCutchen CF
Tabata LF
Walker 2B
Jones 1B
Alvarez 3B
Milledge RF
Snyder C
Diaz SS
Ohlendorf P
* Ronny Cedeno is out of the lineup with a left shoulder inpingement.
Astros Starting Lineup:
Bourn CF
Sanchez SS
Pence RF
Lee LF
Blum 2B
Johnson 3B
Wallace 1B
Quintero C
Myers P
Other News and Notes:
- The Pirates traded AAA RHP Travis Chick to the Rangers for PTBNL or cash.
- 54 games into his career, Pirates Jose Tabata (0 for 4 Thurs) is yet to go hitless in back-to-back gms. Last player do it: Ichiro (87 gms) (via @RobBiertempfel)
- The Pirates signed 11th-rd pick OF Daniel Grovatt and assigned him to short-season A State College.
- LHP Danny Moskos was demoted from Triple-A Indy to AA-Altoona. Moskos has been struggling as of late.
Padres Dominant Pitching completes sweep of Pirates as they lose 3-0
Zach Duke pitched his fourth quality start in his last five outings yesterday against the Padres. He went six innings, gave up six hits, two earned runs, three walks, two strikeouts but falls to 5-11 on the year. Unfortunately, the Pirates offense went silent and couldn’t give Duke the win he deserved. The only mistake Zach had was a two-run home run to Ryan Ludwick, who hit his third of the series.
“It’s a loss, but I still feel pretty good about the way I pitched,” Duke said. “The Padres pitched extremely well this whole series. You know it’s going to be a battle, but unfortunately we came out on the short end.”
“He pitched good enough to win, but we couldn’t get anything going,” Russell said. “As the game went along, both sides could see that it was getting tough to hit with the shadows. We knew we were going to have to get out early and we couldn’t get anything going.”
The Padres are first in the National League for a reason. The Bucs learned that one the hard way as they were swept by San Diego. The Pirates finish 0-6 against them this year. The Padres pitching staff is one of the reasons why they have been so great this season. Not only the starting pitching, but the Bullpen has been just as dominant, if not more so. In a past post I showed that the pen’ leads in the the majors in everything from ERA to strikeouts to walks to opponent average.
Jon Garland pitched six innings giving up just one hit, walked four and struck out five. He is now 11-8 on the season. The Pirates only managed to get four hits the whole game. Gregerson picked up his 28th hold and Heath Bell came in for his 34th save.
“They made good pitches when they needed to. They executed pretty well,” said Pedro Alvarez. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t give [Duke] any run support. He has been pitching really well, just hasn’t gotten the wins.”
“Their pitching staff is really good, obviously,” said manager John Russell. “They are going to make it tough on a lot of people to score runs. You can’t make mistakes. You can’t give them anything because they’re not going to give up much.”
Chris Resop came in and pitched a scoreless hitless inning for the Pirates, striking out two. Since he was purchased from the Braves he has been pretty dominant. 4.2 innings pitched, three hits, just one run, one walk, and seven strikeouts. Not too shabby!
Joel Hanrahan came in and pitched a scoreless hitless inning, striking out two. Hanny has been filthy all season and he even hit 99 on the gun to strike out Matt Stairs. (I believe that is the hardest I have seen him throw. His fastball is usually around 97.)
The Pirates are in Houston for a three game series. As if the road wins haven’t been brutal enough, they are 0-6 at Minute Maid Park this season. The Pirates are just seven losses shy of the dreaded 18th consecutive losing season.
Today’s pitching Matchup:
Ross Ohlendorf 1-9, 4.23 ERA
VS
Brett Myers 8-7, 3.21 ERA
Ohlendorf still has just one win on the season. Saturday against the Rockies, Ross had one of his best outings of the season. He struck out six over six-plus innings and allowed four hits. The Bullpen blew the lead and kept him from winning his second game.
Myers has a franchise record streak of 23 straight starts of six innings or more this season. His last outing he pitched six innings, gave up four runs on seven hits, striking out two while just needing 78 pitches. In Brett’s last three starts he is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA that includes 18 strikeouts.
Other News and Notes:
- The Pirates drop to 13-45 on the road this season and have now lost seven straight road losses, in which they have only scored 11 runs.
- Left Handers are hitting 34-for-100 (.340 AVG) against Zach Duke this season.
- Jeff Locke 6IP, 8H, 3ER, 6K (3.71 ERA)
- Colton Cain 4IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 4K (5.00 ERA)
- During the game a foul bowl was ripped down twoards the Pirates bullpen. Chan Ho Park and Chris Resop ran out of the way while the ballgirl stepped in front of them and caught the ball. It was pretty funny, if you missed it, check the video out here
- Brad Lincoln -97 pitches 5IP 3H 0R 2BB HB 5K
PIT @ SD 9/12
Pirates Lineup: (39-74)
McCutchen CF
Tabata LF
Walker 2B
Jones 1B
Alvarez 3B
Doumit C
Young RF
Diaz SS
Duke P
Padres Lineup: (66-46)
J.Hairston 2B
Tejada SS
Gonzalez 1B
Ludwick RF
Headley 3B
S.Hairston LF
Denorfia CF
Hundley C
Garland P
- Argenis Diaz is making his first major league start at shortstop. He was re-called from Triple-A Indy on July 21st but has never started. He has three career at-bats (1-for-3 .333 AVG)
- Ryan Doumit, who made a horrible non-play yesterday, is starting as catcher today. (Because he proved to catch the ball so well yesterday?)
- The Pirates are wearing throwback 1970′s pinstripe uni’s today in honor of the Padres “throwback thursdays” which I must say is pretty sweet.The Buccos will also be wearing the pill box caps while the Padres will wear the mustard yellow jerseys.
- Zach Duke is 2-2 in 4 starts against SD. 27.2 IP, 23 H, 11 ER, 2 HR, 12 BB, 18 K
- Some relevant facts about the current state of the Pirates -PiratesEI
Greg Brown interviewed Chris Resop on Pirates Pre-Game yesterday:
GB: “Chris, I know this doesn’t suprise you but to some of us who kind of followed your career from afar, you’ve ”wowed” some of us in the Broadcast booth by this arm and we’re wondering, “Man, the Atlanta Braves. They are pitching rich certainly but they have given the Pirates an oppurtunity here with you. And of course it’s a great oppurtunity for you.”
CR: “Yeah. The one thing about Atlanta is their starting staff right now, from top to bottom, all five of those guys are putting together such quality starts that they’re really running on about a four, five man bullpen. It’s just one of those things and you kind of get squeezed out of a position and that’s fine because another door opened for me. And I was greatly appreciative of this oppurtunity that Pittsburgh has given me and I’m going to try to do my best.”
GB: “Were you suprised that it was Pittsburgh at all?”
CR: “No. I was just happy. I was relieved I was able to get claimed off waivers no matter who it was. Everybody’s always asking “Where do you want to play?” I don’t care where I play as long as I have a job and I’m playing the game I love.”
GB: “Chris, what about starting or relieving? We’ve asked Neil Huntington about this, and you have a history of course of starting and knock-out numbers down in Gwinette-Triple-A in Atlanta’s organization this year. The Pirates seem like they are in need of starters. Would you relish that oppurtunity?”
CR: “Yeah. Again, this goes along with who I want to play for, same thing. I don’t care if I’m the water boy. So whether it’s starting, it’s relieving, it’s middle relief, whatever it might be, I’ll take any oppurtunity I get as long as I’m pitching.”
GB: “How big was your experience in Japan? What did you learn from that?”
CR: “I think the most important thing I learned was, and this is going to sound kind of funny, but, to not take this game for granted. I learned to respect this game so much more from being there and not really pitching. I almost feel like the game was being taken from me. It really opened my eyes and made me really appreciate every oppurtunity I have over here.”
GB: “Doesn’t that Chris, in turn almost help you become a better pitcher?”
CR: “Yeah, it does. You sit down and you start to focus more and you start to concentrate a little harder. And you do the small things that make you a much better player.”
GB: “We haven’t had a chance to see you swing the bat just yet. You are really recently, a pitcher.”
CR: “Yeah, 2004 was my first year throwing. I was drafted as an outfielder in high school. Obviously the hitting thing didn’t work out. [Laughs] That’s why I’m here today. I can hit a little bit if push comes to shove. I can get a bunt down I guess I can say. [Laughs]
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.
PIT @ SD 9/11
Pirates Starting Lineup:
McCutchen 8
Tabata 7
Walker 4
Jones 3
Alvarez 5
Doumit 9
Snyder 2
Cedeno 6
McDonald 1
Padres Starting Lineup:
J Hairston 4
Tejada 6
Gonzalez 3
Ludwick 9
Headley 5
Torrealba 2
Venable 7
Denorfia 8
Correia 1
- According to MLB.com Reporter Jenifer Langosch, Ryan Doumit was getting extensive pregame work in Right Field this afternoon with John Russell.
- The Pirates VSL team took the league championship with the 21-2 win over VSL Mariners today.
- (@ScottDMcCauley) Since June 1st: Brandon Moss .293/359/561 & his 66 RBI since June 1st lead ALL (MLB/MiLB) of baseball
- Brandon Moss also became the first Indianapolis Indians player since 2005 to hit 20 Home Runs in a single season.
- Former Pirates pitcher and broadcaster Nellie King died on today at the age of 82. -Pirates.com
Pirates can’t get Karstens a W in hometown debut
Jeff Karstens made his first career start in his home town of San Diego last night, unfortunately the Bucs couldn’t pull together enough runs to get Karstens the win he deserved. Jeff piched six innings, gave up three hits, two runs, struck out three batters and walked one. He threw 85 pitches, and retired his last 12 in a row. (The last hit given up was way back in the second inning by LeBlanc)
The Pirates have scored only 14 runs in the 45 1/3 innings Karstens has been on the mound this season.
“There are always a couple guys that it happens to, but it’s going to make me better, I believe,” Karstens said, giving the negative stat a 180-degree flip. “It’s helping my confidence knowing that even when games are like that, I know that I can pitch and keep my team in the ballgame.”
“We’ll come around. It’s just a matter of maturing and finding ourselves and finding who you are as a person. I think that’s what I’ve found this year. Last year, I was so worried about results and all this other stuff. This year, I said I was just going to be myself and whatever happens, happens.”
“It’s baseball,” he began. “It’s very humbling. It’s a little bit of a roller coaster ride this year. I think I’ve had some moments where I’ve shown some good stuff and I’ve had some moments where I look like last year, where it wasn’t so great.”
The long ball hurt the Pirates, Ryan Ludwick hit two on the night, his first and second as a Padre.
“I’m a firm believer in attacking pitches in your zone, and they both were in the area where I was looking,” said Ludwick, plenty familiar with Pirates pitching from his days in St. Louis. “I was fortunate to get them.”
LeBlanc pitched 5.2 innings giving up five hits, just one run, stuck out eight pirates and walked two. He threw 106 pitches, 66 for strikes and is now 6-10 on the season. The Padres bullpen were their normal dominant self giving up just two hits through 3.1 innings and stuck out three. Heath Bell picked up his 32nd save on the season.
Pirates lose 4-1.
Other News and Notes:
- Andrew Lambo has been on fire since being traded from the Dodgers. Hitting .406 at AA Altoona. 3-4 RBI, BB last night.
- John Bowker hitting .500 (12-24) for AAA Indy since he was traded from the Giants. He also hit his first Home Run last night since being a part of the Pirates organization.
- Nationals Pitcher, Drew Storen tweeted and shared an adorable picture yesterday.
@DrewStoren:Little compare and contrast. Shot from today rocking Expos Hat for BP vs. shot from me as an Expo’s bat boy.
@DrewStoren: In honor of Expos Night.
- Alex Presley 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, (.317 AVG)
- John Bowker 3-for-3, HR, 3 RBI
- Rudy Owens 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 3K, 2BB (ND)
- Zack Von Rosenberg 5IP, 8H, 2ER, 2K, 0BB (L 1-6)
- The Pirates drop to 13-43 on the road this season and are now 0-4 against the Padres.
- Padres- All about the Pitching (This season) Entering Tues.
MLB Rank
Record 64-46 3rd
ERA 3.28 1st
Strikeouts/9IP 7.93 2nd
Walks/9IP 3.15 3rd
XBH Allowed/Game 2.36 1st
Opp Avg. .235 1st
Ground Ball Pct 59.1 5th
- Padres Bullpen (This season) entering Tues.
MLB Ranks
ERA 2.77 1st
Opp Avg. .211 1st
Holds 71 1st
Strikeouts/9IP 9.8 1st
Walks/9IP 2.6 1st
Inherited Runners 20.2% 1st
- Ronny Cedeno hit his 20th double of the season last night.
- Run Support Average (Lowest in MLB) Entering Tues.
Roy Oswalt 2.48
Ted Lilly 2.63
Jeff Karstens 2.77
Wade LeBlanc 3.22
Johan Santana 3.28
–Minimum 100 IP
- RHP Steven Jackson has cleared waivers and accepted his assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis.
- Andy LaRoche second career start at first base last night; his first at that position since June 11, 2008 at San Diego (when he was a Dodger)
He spoke to FSN on Pre-Game on making his first start at first base since 2008:
Andy LaRoche: “It’s going to be interesting. Only career start at first base was here in San Diego, first game in 08. Hopefully it will pick up where I left off that day. As long as I stay relaxed out there I think I will be okay. Knowing where to go on certain plays, holding runners on, but as far as catching the ball and flipping it to the pitcher that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I’m probally going to be thinking the whole game about if I’m in the right spot, and I’ll always be looking at the dugout to make sure I’m in the right spot.”
- Highest Batting Average by a Pirates Rookie:
2001- Craig Wilson .310
2006- Ronny Paulino .310
2010- Jose Tabata .306
2010- Neil Walker .303
1996- Jason Kendall .300
- The Pirates’ record on the year is now 39-73, just nine losses shy of clinching the 18th consecutive losing season.
- Pedro Alvarez hit in the clean-up spot for the first time in his Major League Career. He went 1-for-3 against SD with a RBI and a walk.
Today’s Pitching Matchup:
James McDonald 1-0 0.00 ERA
VS
Kevin Correia 8-7, 4.81 ERA
McDonald is coming off an outstanding debut as a Bucco. He pitched six shutout innings, struck out a career-high eight batters, which included six of seven in a row.
Correia in his last outing against the Dodgers, pitched 5.2 innings, gave up four hits, no runs, one walk. In his last three starts, 17.2 innings, Kevin has only managed to strike out four batters.
PETCO Park is easily one of my favorite ballparks. San Diego is just a very beautiful city in general. The stadium has open walk-ways, which give you a really cool beachy vibe. There are waterfalls at the entrance ways. It even has a sandbox in the outfield for the kids to play in during the game. You can also bring your blanket and watch the game from the outfield, they even have a huge TV you can see the game on as well. If you haven’t visted it before, I highly recommend it.
![DSC01628_thumb[2].jpg](http://mlblogskristylovesherbuccos.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dsc01628_thumb5b25d1.jpg?w=418&h=320)
![DSC01662_thumb[2].jpg](http://mlblogskristylovesherbuccos.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dsc01662_thumb5b25d1.jpg?w=421&h=323)
I haven’t been back to PETCO since 2008. I wish more of my friends loved baseball, I miss going on roadtrips to different stadiums.
Preview: PIT @ SD 9/10
Tuesday starts a six game road trip for the Pirates.
Jeff Karstens 2-7, 4.47 ERA
VS
Wade LeBlanc 5-10, 3.61 ERA
Karstens had problems with his command during his last outing. In five innings he allowed nine hits, two walks and three runs. Jeff will be pitching in front of his home town, with plenty of friends and family memebers rooting him on.
LeBlanc hasn’t won a game since June 12. He has a 2.67 ERA at home this season. Wade’s last three starts, 18 2/3 innings, has a 5.30 ERA and has had trouble giving up the long ball.
The NL-First Place Padres look to win their seventh straight against the NL-Worst Pirates. The Padres swept the Pirates at PNC Park this season in July.
The Padres have been struggling as of late, winning just four of their last 10 games.
“Everyone is handling it fine,” closer Heath Bell said. “I don’t think we’re not playing well.
“I think that we are still playing solid baseball and we’ve done that all year. There’s some other teams right now who are hot. Everyone gets hot.”
“No one here is panicking,” Bell said. “This is the time of the year where the older guys show the younger guys that this is no time to panic.”
The Pirates are just 3-7 over their last 10 games. Saturday night’s Walk-off, Three-run Home run by Pedro Alvarez in the 10th inning against the Rockies could be an indication of brighter things to come for the organization.
Other News and Notes:
- The Pirates sign RHP Nick Kingham (4th round), Brandon Cumpton (9th round) and Ryan Hafner (17th round) from the 2010 Draft.
- Charlie Morton had a great outing for Indy on Saturday. He gave up one run on five hits over six innings, striking out five and walking two.
- Andy LaRoche having to adjust to bench role -Pirates.com
- Have Pirates finally bottomed out? -Pittsburgh Post Gazette
- Pirates when…(This season)
July Season
Scoring run in the first 5-1 22-10
Allowing run in the first 2-8 7-32
Ahead after 1st 5-0 17-5
Behind after 1st 1-7 3-29
Tied after 1st 3-9 20-36
Ahead after 6th 6-0 25-4
Behind after 6th 1-13 5-60
Tied after 6th 0-1 8-4
- Combating Igonorance II- The Pirates are spending money -PGH Pine Tar
Pedro Alvarez lifts the Pirates’ and fans hope in the 10th inning
Before I even start my post, you must listen to the Call by Steve Blass and Greg Brown from the extra inning, walk-off homerun by Pedro Alvarez.
Three-Run Walk-off Homerun by Pedro- Video and Call
I was sitting my seat, nervously shaking my foot, bitting my nails when Garrett Jones was at the plate. He worked a walk. Pedro walked up to the plate. I say it now, and I will say it again. He is very special. He gives me hope and excitement that I haven’t felt for a player from the Pirates in a very, very, very long time. The moment Pedro connected with the ball I flew out of my seat, arms up in the air, screaming as loud as I could. I knew it was gone. Everyone in the stadium knew it was gone. The sell out crowd jumped to their feet and went nuts. The stadium shook with cheers and screams. I jumped around like a little kid, high fiving everyone around me. All of my emotions went wild. I skipped to my car after the game. I’m not even kidding. I can’t even remember a more exciting game at PNC Park in my life. It was by far, one of my favorite games to be at. Everytime I replay the video from the Walk-Off, I get tears in my eyes and chills up my spine. Pedro is a superstar in the making, he is just going to continue to get better and better. It was so awesome to see a glimpse of what could be in store for the future Pirates.
“Running around the bases, I don’t think it could have been any louder,” Alvarez said, “or the place would have collapsed if it were.”
“It’s pretty unreal,” he said. “I can remember one other time hitting a walk-off home run, and obviously here on a Saturday night, a packed house, in the big leagues — nothing can beat that, maybe except Game 7 of the World Series.”
“In all honesty, when Garrett’s up there having that great at-bat, I’m hoping he gets on,” Alvarez said. “I wanted to go up there.”
“Pedro loves to play, loves to win,” Russell said. “And he wants to be on that stage. I say that in a good way. Not in a cocky way. He wants to be that guy. I think Pittsburgh fans are going to see some really special things out of this group, and Pedro’s one of them.”
“That guy that’s on deck, with what he’s shown us already, all the big hits … I’m not seeing anything to hit, but I’m thinking how he’s the guy I want up next,” Jones said. “And then, when I’m on first, I had a really good feeling about it. And sure enough …”
“I think the baseball gods finally looked down on us and said, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” Pirates manager John Russell said.
The Walk-off Homerun was by far the highlight of the night, but here is more notes from the game:
Chris Synder hit his first Homerun as a Bucco in the 6th inning with two on and one out.
Garrett Jones hit a Solo-Homerun in the seventh inning.
Joel Hanrahan came into the ninth inning for the save. Back-to-back nights, Hanny blew the lead. Hanrahan entered Friday given up five runs over his past 27 innings, he has now allowed five runs over the past two games. His 3.40 ERA jumped 4.20.
Sean Gallagher in the 10th inning gave up a two-run home run to Todd Helton.
Ross Ohlendorf pitched six innings giving up four hits, two runs, one earned, one walk, six strikes. He got the No decision.
Other News and Notes:
- The Pirates traded Brian Bixler to the Nationals for Cash Considerations.
- Ryan Doumit was activated from the DL, Erik Kratz was optioned to Triple-A Indy. Doumit is expected to split time with Lastings Milledge in right field and Chris Snyder at catcher.
“We’ll piece it together, but it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge to make sure we get all the guys in, get some playing time,” Russell said, adding, “I know he was ready to come back here, so it’s good to have him back.”
“Any time you play against better competition, you learn from your mistakes, but you also learn from watching guys doing it very well at the level I want to be at for a long time, so if you can watch those guys and learn from those guys in a live setting, that’s priceless information that you can gain,” the 30-year-old Kratz said. “Would I love to stay longer? For sure. I would love never going back, but that’s not the reality of the move that they made right now.”
- Jim Leyland on helping young players: “These kids don’t need somebody yelling and screaming at (them) and asking them to do things they’re not quite capable of doing yet. This team needs coaches and a manager right now that are trying to help them through some real tough times, get them acclimated to the big leagues, hope they get the big hit in a big situation once in a while, and keep encouraging them. They don’t need negative (stuff). If I was dumb and a young manager, I might appease the public and tear the clubhouse up tonight and set the place on fire. The fans would say, “He really cares.” -Detroit Free Press
- The Pirates relieved pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho of their duties Sunday morning. Assistant pitching coach Roy Searage will take over as the interim pitching coach, and minor league field coordinator Jeff Banister will be the interim bench coach.
“Both Gary and Joe are quality baseball men who have worked hard during their time with the organization,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement. “However, [manager John Russell] felt strongly, and I agreed, that [Kerrigan and Varsho] were no longer the right fit for our staff and a change at this time was in the best interests of the club.”
“It was a very gut-wrenching decision,” Russell said. “There are some issues I’ve been working through for quite some time now that could not be resolved in a way I felt would be for the betterment of this organization. I respect both men greatly. I lost two friends today. That’s tough to deal with. But my main focus is this team, this organization, and I felt moving forward that this was the time to do this. With two months left in the season, I wanted to accomplish something this year moving into next year.”
“Just some issues that I felt we needed to change,” he said. “Things I tried to work through. I’m not going to go into details out of respect of those two men. I’m just going to leave it at that.”
On the starters’ potential, Searage said: “We just have to work hard and get back to the drawing board. There are some specific things I don’t want to address right now because I haven’t gone over them with the starters. But, if I you saw what James McDonald did the other night, throwing changeups to right-handers, and Ross Ohlendorf did that last night, with changeups to right-handers, that is an important thing you must have as a starter. If you’re going 50-50 with fastballs and sliders, that’s easier for the hitter.”
-Pittsburgh Post Gazette
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Pedro Alvarez in his last four games: 7-for-16, 3HR, 8RBI.
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Today is the first time since June 11th that Garrett Jones has started in Right field.
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The Pirates signed their fourth round pick, Nick Kingham. He is the 20th player the Pirates have signed so far in the 2010 Draft.
Today’s Pitching Matchup:
Esmil Rogers (RHP) 1-2, 4.85 ERA
VS
Paul Maholm (LHP) 7-9, 4.59 ERA
Rockies Lineup:
Fowler CF
Barmes 2B
Gonzalez LF
Tulowitzki SS
Mora 1B
Iannetta C
Spilborghs RF
Stewart 3B
Rogers P
Pirates Lineup:
McCutchen CF
Tabata LF
Walker 2B
Jones RF
Alvarez 3B
Doumit C
Clement 1B
Cedeno SS
Maholm P
Kristy Robinson
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