Results tagged ‘ John Bowker ’
Bowker pulled from game with knee soreness
John Bowker was pulled after the fourth inning during Saturday night’s game against the Astros due to Right knee soreness.
Manager John Russell said that the soreness was the byproduct of Bowker fouling a ball off his right knee earlier in the week. His knee unexpectedly tightened up after a few innings of play on Saturday.
Bowker went 0-1, reaching on an error against Astros’ Bud Norris. It was his 10th straight start and his 14th start since being re-called on September 1st.
Bowker taking advantage of great opportunity
John Bowker was in the lineup for the fifth straight game on Sunday playing first-base for the third time since being re-called from Triple-A Indy on September 1st. He has also made six starts in right-field.
Bowker was acquired from the Giants in the Javier Lopez deal on July 31st. He has been taking full advantage of his opportunity in the final stretch of the season and wants to be a part of the Pirates long-term plans.
“I’m looking at this as a great opportunity to come in and just show what I can do,” Bowker said. “It’s nice coming to the field and having a good feeling [that] you’re going to be in the lineup. I’m just trying to not do too much and just relax. Since I’ve been over here, I’m just really happy to just get the opportunity to play.”
General Manager Neal Huntington likes what he seems from Bowker who has had at least one RBI in four of his past five games.
“It’s an intriguing left-handed bat,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said of Bowker. “The ball comes off his bat very well, he’s got good power, it’s a short swing. When he uses the whole field, he can do some damage. Defensively, he’s adequate at right [and] adequate at first. He’s an intriguing guy. You can see why he puts up the numbers he puts up in Triple-A, and now the biggest question is, how does he translate that to the Major League level and in what role and in what situation?”
Bowker hit .303 in seven season in the minors. He had 44 home runs and a .562 SLG in Triple-A.
Bowker, Pirates support J-Mac and beat the Dbacks 9-6
J-Mac continued to pitch well at home since being acquired from the Dodgers. With Saturday’s 9-6 win over the Dbacks, McDonald picked up his fourth victory –just one loss in five starts at PNC Park– and has a lowered his ERA to 2.60.
McDonald was done after five innings (he ran his pitch count up to 101) allowing two runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out six.
“He was just a tad off,” said Snyder. “He wasn’t missing by much, but it was right out of the strike zone. Even on a night like tonight, where he didn’t have his best stuff, he battled, grinded, got himself through five and kept us in the ballgame.”
Enright knocked in a two-out single in the fourth inning ending J-Mac’s streak of 20 straight scoreless innings.
The last Pirates pitcher to achieve this feat was Kip Wells in 2002 with 22.
On Saturday night, however, the Pirates offense had his back.
John Bowker and Chris Synder had three-hit nights. And the nine runs scored was the most in a game since July 21st at PNC Park.
The line-up, one through nine, played a huge part in the victory. Every batter had at least one run scored, or drove in a run.
“From top to bottom, we got some big hits all the way through,” manager John Russell said. “Arizona has a pretty good offensive club. No lead is really ever safe with these guys. It was good that we continued to add on and keep the pressure on them.”
Bowker –who started at first-base for an injured Garrett Jones– went 3-for4 with two RBI and also hit his first home run as a Pirate.
“He’s a threat at the plate,” Russell said prior to the game. “Some balls he is just missing. If he can get on those balls a little bit better, he could be a very dangerous guy.”
“I’ve kind of been unlucky, but tonight [I] squared up some balls good,” said Bowker, who has started six of the team’s past seven games. “It’s a matter of playing consistently and being aggressive. I feel like I’ve been a little bit late on some balls. I’m trying to be more aggressive right now.”
J-Mac finally -after going 0-for-28– hit his first major league hit.
“They picked me up real big,” McDonald said of his teammates. “I wasn’t on my A-game today. I just wanted to fight for those guys. As hard as they’re playing, I wanted to keep them in the game.”
The Bullpen surrendered four runs late in the game, but Evan Meek ended the threat with getting Church to pop-up to Alvarez.
I missed the game due to my uncle’s wedding. Dissapointed I missed out on such a great game, McDonalds first Major League hit and Bowker’s first home run as a Pirate. It’s nice to spend time with my family though.
Here is a picture of my little cousins from Kentucky. Madison, Jordan, me and Karen. I did their hair and make-up. =)
News and Notes 9/14
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John Bowker has made a good impression since he was re-called. The coaching staff were very impressed by his defense at first base on Sunday. They also expect to use him quite often the remainder of the season.
“I’d like to give him a little bit more of a look,” Russell said. “He’s got bat speed, very direct to the ball, some power … instincts on the field.”
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Brad Lincoln has yet to be used out of the ’pen since being re-called a week ago but has continued throwing on the side.
“We’re making a lot of progress,” Ray Searage said. ”His neck, which had been stiff two weeks ago, is fully recovered.”
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Both Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata have been given the green light to steal. John Russell’s intention is to get the top two in the order to be more aggressive on the bases and for them to be considered as a “threat” for the 2011 season.
“That’s how you’re going to learn,” Russell said. “We can create a lot of really fun things with that. Once they start to get a taste of it — Andrew is going to keep going, and so is Jose. When you pull off a couple double steals, now they know. They’re going to be a pretty good tandem.”
Pirates still unsure about right field
“We’re hoping, but September evaluations are tough,” Russell said. “We’ve got a lot of guys. There are guys we feel good about. Obviously we’d like a guy to be in the lineup everyday and do what corner outfielders do. But we’re not there yet.”
A total of six players have played in right field this season, Garrett Jones leading the team with 45 appearences.
Manager John Russell doesn’t expect to determine the every day player by the end of the season. He’s hoping someone makes the most of the opppurtunity and runs with it.
Garrett Jones, Lastings Milledge, Ryan Doumit, John Bowker, Brandon Moss and Alex Presley are all being considered to be the every day right fielder but that doesn’t mean the Pirates wont pursue other options in the free-agent market.
“We’ve got some good candidates in-house,” he said. “It could be intriguing. We’ve got some guys who’ve had some success. We’ll look at our options this winter and see what’s available to us.”
Kristy Robinson
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