 |
 |
|
|
Bax’s Bucco Blog: Road Blues
The Pirates had a disappointing Rocky Mountain road swing this week, giving away a number of games en route to a disappointing 1-5 finish, dropping their season record to 31-38. The Pirates couldn’t hit at important junctures, couldn’t get outs when needed and could avoid absorbing a bunch of tough losses to the Colorado Rockies.
However, it was back to the same old frustrating effort by the Pirates at the plate. 25 runs, but 3 games with 3 or less runs scored usually means 3 losses. I’m not going to harp on the week because frustrating is about the only way to sum it up.
On the bright side, the Pirates have to be very pleased by the continued growth of Andrew McCutchen, who appears to be very much the real deal. He and Freddy Sanchez provided the only consistency in the offense. I really hope that the Pirates’ brass doesn’t get the trade bug up on their brain again and decide to trade Sanchez, which would probably result in the torching of PNC Park by angry Pittsburghers. We can only hope they’re smarter than that……
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Monday: Off Day
Tuesday: Minnesota 8, Pittsburgh 2___________ _Paul Maholm struggled early and often as Minnesota’s Joe Mauer dominated at the plate, raising his average to a shocking .429 with a 4 for 4 effort. Maholm allowed 8 runs in 5 innings to take the loss as the Pirates were never really in the game to begin with.
Wednesday: Pittsburgh 8, Minnesota 2________ _The Pirates rebounded well from their disappointing start to the series as Ian Snell finally earned his 2 nd win of the year with another very good start (6 innings, 2 earned runs). Snell hadn’t won a game since April! The Brothers LaRoche both bombed home runs at the plate to fuel the Pirate offensive attack.
Thursday: Minnesota 5, Pittsburgh 1__________ _The Buccos had no answer for Minnesota’s Nick Blackburn, who pitched a complete game in the winning effort. Another quality start, this time by Zach Duke, went to waste in the loss as the Pirates lost the rubber match in the Twin Cities. Jesse Chavez began a rough week in relief by allowing 2 runs in 2 innings of work.
Friday: Colorado 7, Pittsburgh 3______________ _Poor starting pitching hurt the Pirates in the series opener against the surging Colorado Rockies. Ross Ohlendorf allowed 6 runs in 5 innings and the Pirates could only muster 3 late runs before losing the series opener. Rookie Andrew McCutchen continued his tear at the plate with a 2 for 5 effort.
Saturday: Colorado 9, Pittsburgh 7___________ The Pirates blew this game, plain and simple. After a stellar start from Charlie Morton, who went 5 innings and allowed only 2 runs, the Pirates carried a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the 8 th, only to see the lead evaporate with John Grabow on the mound. Multi-hit efforts from Nyjer Morgan, Andy LaRoche and Brandon Moss went to waste in the 9 th as Jesse Chavez gave up a walk-off home run to Todd Helton to eliminate any chances the Pirates had to win the series.
Sunday: Colorado 5, Pittsburgh 4___________ _Paul Maholm had another bad start to continue a worrisome trend as he allowed 5 runs in 5 innings to put the Buccos in an early hole. The Pirates made it a one run game in the 6 th but could not muster a single hit against the Rockies’ bullpen to find themselves swept right out of the ballpark. Andrew McCutchen and Freddy Sanchez did most of the Pirates’ limited damage, combining for 4 of the 7 Bucco hits.
> Pro Baseball Fans features a great selection of & Pittsburgh Pirates apparel & jerseys online.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
1) IAN SNELL: After showing some definite signs of progress in his past few starts, Ian finally earned his 2 nd win of the season. Snell, whose ERA has dropped to just over 5.00, could finally have found what has been ailing him and a surge from the Pirates’ highest paid starter could really help with Maholm struggling.
2) ANDREW MCCUTCHEN: The rookie continues to impress at the big league level, batting .345 this past week with a homer and 6 RBIs. He’s been everything anyone could have expected since his call up after the McLouth trade.
3) FREDDY SANCHEZ: Freddy continues to show why he is one of the best hitters in baseball. This week he bashed out 8 hits for a .364 average and was a solid presence in a lineup that was inconsistent at best.
4) BRANDON MOSS: It seems Moss is the definition of a streak hitter. After having a two week stretch where he pulled his batting average up nearly 70 points, Moss was invisible for the next two weeks until going 6 for 9 this week. He certainly has talent, I just wish he had consistency.
Honorable Mention: Zach Duke, Charlie Morton
THE NEGATIVE
1) PAUL MAHOLM: Two starts, 10 innings, 13 runs. Simply unacceptable for a guy who was widely expected to be the Pirates’ ace this year. Maholm can’t stink for two straight starts if the Pirates want to have a chance to compete. His ERA has skyrocketed to 4.48.
2) THE CATCHERS: This week is the first week I can honestly and truly say that the Pirates dearly missed Ryan Doumit. Sure, his power has been missed all season long but Jason Jaramillio and Robinzon Diaz had been solid replacements. That is, until they combined to go 4 for 22 at the plate this week. The Buccos can’t handle their catchers hitting below the Mendoza line…..
3) THE BULLPEN: The line at the end of the week: 15.1 innings pitched, 10 earned runs. When your bullpen has an ERA near 6.00 for the week, you’re going to struggle to win games and the Pirates are no different. The bullpen has to be better this week.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday : OFF DAY
Tuesday , 7:05 PM EST vs. Cleveland, Ian Snell (2-7, 5.08 ERA) vs. David Huff (2-2, 7.09 ERA)
Wednesday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Cleveland, Zach Duke (7-5, 3.18 ERA) vs. Carl Pavano (6-5, 5.73 ERA)
Thursday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Cleveland, Ross Ohlendorf (6-6, 4.94 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (4-6, 2.94 ERA)
Friday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Kansas City, Charlie Morton (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Gil Meche (4-6, 4.11 ERA)
Saturday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Kansas City, Paul Maholm (4-4, 4.48 ERA) vs. TBA
Sunday 1:35 PM EST vs. Kansas City, Snell vs. Zach Grienke (8-3, 1.96 ERA)
The AL Central tour continues as the Pirates host the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals this week at PNC Park. Simply put, the Pirates have to win some games this week, starting with municipal rival Cleveland.
The Indians are a pity 29-42 and have a terrible interleague record. Furthermore, the Pirates are something like 8-1 this year when they have over 20,000 fans at home and all 3 Indians games are going to be near sellouts. Finally, the Indians’ first two starters have ERAs of 7.09 and 5.73, respectively while sending their two most consistent starters in recent weeks (Snell and Duke) to the mound. The Buccos have a MAJOR pitching advantage in those two games. If the Pirates can’t take 2 out of 3 against a beat up Indians team that is struggling through a bad year, I will be disappointed and likely mocked by my many Clevelander friends. Please, boys, give me SOMETHING!
The Pirates then follow up the Indians with a tougher matchup against the Royals. This is much more difficult because the Royals’ two announced starting pitchers are erstwhile ace Gil Meche and Cy Young frontrunner Zach Grienke, whose 1.96 ERA is baseball’s best. The Buccos will be fortunate to notch a winning series here if they don’t jump on Meche, who is solid but can be beaten. Grienke, on the other hand, is practically unhittable so if the Pirates win that game I’ll be shocked.
In short, a 4-2 week would be an excellent effort from the Buccos and would prevent them from embarking upon a bad slide down the standings. They have to have a good week here or they could be looking at another summer in the NL Central cellar.
Expect Bax’s Bucco Blog to be a weekly feature every Monday. If you have any comments, questions, grievances, Bucco sob stories or general insults, feel free to email me at matt.baxendell@gmail.com
By: Matt Baxendell
MLBcenter.com Pittsburgh Pirates Correspondent
> View all of the MLB baseball news articles from ProBaseball-fans.com.
Advertisement