It’s no suprise that the Pirates and the Athletics have lacked power and runs scored all season. The game started at 10:05 here on the east coast but I thought the game would last no longer than 2 1/2 hrs and only a few runs scored. Boy, was I wrong!

Top of the 1st the Buccos scored 2 runs. Bottom of the 1st the Athletics scored 2 runs. It was actually a pretty good game for a few innings. Both teams bringing out the bats and putting runs up on the board. (I would like to note: How in the world does Tony Beasley have a job as a 3B coach? He is arguably the WORST in baseball. After a wild throw to 1st base Tabata went to 2nd. Good job right? Wrong. Beasley then sent him to 3B where he was out by a mile! Still shaking my head about that one.)

 

 

and then….

Shambles. Shambles. Shambles.

The 7th inning was a disaster. This is exactly how I felt after it FINALLY ended.

and maybe a little like this…

11 men came to the plate. 7 runs were scored. It took 3 pitchers to get 3 outs and to stop the bleeding. Here are there stats:

DJ: 0.0IP 3H 3R 3ER

Lopez 0.1IP 1H 2R 2ER 1BB

Donnelly 0.2IP 2H 2R 2ER 1BB 1K

and to make matters worse in the 7th inning. Church and Walker collided  trying to catch a foul ball down the right field line. Neil was down for a few minutes but did get up on his own. He was taken out of the game and was taken to the clubhouse where they said he was alert and coherent. He was taken to the hospital for further tests. There is still no word on the status of Walker. I hope everything is okay. You can see the video and read the article here

Neil had a great night too before the injury. He was a triple away from the cycle. He went 3 for 4, 2R. He hit a solo HR in the 5th (his first from the left side) and his 3rd HR on the season.

Walkers homerun snapped the 59 inning drought without a homerun. It was also the 1st HR hit in the 5th inning for the Pirates this year.

Justin Thomas made his debut in the 8th inning. He went 1IP 3H 2R 2ER 1K.

 

Other random notes from the game:

Cutch 1-4 1RBI SB 2R

Lincoln 6IP 8H 3ER 1K 2BB

Crisp 3-4 1BB 3R

Pennington 3-4 3RBI SB 2R

Sheets 6IP 8H 4ER 9K 0BB

The Pirates hitters 6-9 went 0-4. Big fat O’fers

Oakland had 17 hits on the night.

Pirates loose the 15th straight road loss.

 

I’m not exactly sure why I decided to stay awake for the whole game. (Perhaps to rub salt into the wounds?) or maybe because I thought there might be a chance for a rally? No clue either. I want to erase this game from my memory and move on. Today’s a new day.

 

The Children are the Future:

AAA Indy:

Clement 5RBI

Negrych 3H 2R (.408 in last 14 games)

Pearce 0-5 with 7LOB

The Indians won 9-8 over Toledo. They are now tied for 2nd in the West.

 

 

Around the Ballparks:

Some exciting news to mention. Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Dbacks threw a no hitter!

 

Thank goodness for MLBNetwork. They keep you updated throughout the game, and then went live from the 8th inning on. Seeing that my favorite part of the game is pitching I was on the edge of my seat watching.

After the 8th inning he was at 134 pitches. (134!!) He completed the game throwing 149 pitches and 8BB. (Which is perhaps a pretty sloppy no no? Nontheless a no hitter is a no hitter and is a HUGE acomplishment. My cap is tipped to you Jackson)

He is the only the 2nd in Dbacks history to throw a no hitter, 2nd to the Unit.

His stats on the night: 149 Pitches, 79 for K’s, 0H 0R 6K 8BB

The Tampa Bay Rays are the 1st team in ML History to be no hit 3 9 inning games in 12 month peroid. Brooklyn was no hit 3 times in 1906, 2 were 7 innings.

 

• Roy Halladay faced his former club, the Blue Jays last night and threw a complete game shutout.
• As we all know by now, Carlos Z is nuts. I’ll never forget the Gatorade machine may it RIP. If you didn’t see his latest show you can see it here He has been suspended indefinitely.
• Yankees were in LA to face the Dodgers last night. It was Torre’s 1st time facing his former club since he left as manager in 07. I’m sure the atmosphere was incredible. A lot of emotions between the teams. CC & Padilla, James Loney was ejected. Can’t wait to tune in tonight. Dodgers lost 2-1 and now 7 of 8.
• Battle of the Rookie of the Year? The Braves faced the Tigers last night. Heyward vs Boesch. How did they do?

Heyward: 1K 1LOB (batting .251)

Boesch: 1H 1RBI 1K 1LOB (batting .344)

 

Interleague Scorecard entering last nights games:

AL                                        NL

110 Wins                              100 Wins

.273 AVG                              .254 AVG

977 Runs                              932 Runs

194 HR                                 205 HR

 

 

NL K Leaders (Entering last night)

MIL Gallardo 115

SF Lincecum 113

ARI Haren 109

STL Wainwright 107

LAD Kershaw 103

FLA Johnson 98

PHI Halladay 98

CHC Dempster 97

COL Jimenez 95

STL Carpenter 95

NL ERA (Entering last night)

COL Jimenez 1.60

STL Garcia 1.79

FLA Johnson 1.80

MIL Gallardo 2.36

PHI Halladay 2.43

STL Wainwright 2.47

ATL Hudson 2.54

STL Carpenter 2.63

NYM Pelfrey 2.69

SF Cain 2.72

 

 

 Tonight’s matchup: Pirates @ Athletics:

Daniel McCutchen 0-2 13.50 ERA vs Trevor Cahill 6-2 3.21 ERA

D McCutchen Making his 5th apperance this season. Since he was sent down to AAA (April 25th) he has shown improvement going 4-5 3.86 ERA in 10 starts. This is Daniel’s first start in interleague play.

This is Cahill’s 2nd year in the big leagues. He has won his last 5 decisions and hasn’t lost since May 16th against the Angels.Trevor is 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA in 4 starts at home.