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Game #140: Duke Tosses a Shutout

AT&T Park | 10:15 | Duke vs. Kevin Correia | Box

The Giants threw a fairly inexperienced lineup out there and Zach Duke took full advantage, allowing just six singles and two walks in throwing his second career shutout.

The Pirates offense utilized the long ball and the fly ball to get runs homes. Each the Pirates seven runs scored via XBH or SF. Adam LaRoche drove in two of the Bucco’s first three runs and Brandon Moss gave the Pirates a 5-0 cushion with a two run triple in the 8th. Each of the Pirates starting nine had at least one hit, paced by Ryan Doumit who had four knocks.

The game was also marked by a small earthquake that didn’t cause a delay.

If the Pirates win the rest of their games, they will finish 82-80. Not at all holding my breath.

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Game #139: Gorzy, Bullpen Blow Comfy Lead

Great American Ball Park | 12:35 | Gorzelanny vs. Josh Fogg | Box

And then frustration set in. The Pirates offense jumped all over Josh Fogg for five runs in the first two innings only to watch the Reds crawl back into it by scoring single runs in five straight innings off of Tom Gorzelanny and two relievers.

Nate McLouth hit a solo homer to put the Pirates back up in the 8th inning. But in the home half of the frame, the Pirates allowed the Reds to score three times to take the lead and win it.

Craig Hansen was charged with all three runs, though he didn’t allow a ball to leave the infield. The inning went like this:

BB
bunt single
sacrifice
run scoring wild pitch
walk
pulled for T.J. Beam
HBP
RBI single
sac fly
pop out

Gorzy was yanked with two gone in the fourth after giving up a two out RBI double to Jeff Keppinger.

After getting four hits off of Josh Fogg, who left after three with an injury, the Pirates didn’t get another knock until McLouth’s homer in the 8th.

Chris Gomez hit his first homer of the year in the second. It came with one on and put the Pirates up 5-0.

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Ohlendorf’s first Pirate start

Let’s take a quick look at Ross Ohlendorf’s first start with the Pirates in graphical form. He came out firing, attacking the inside corner with fastballs early. He jammed several Cincinnati hitters the first time through the order, and there was some visible frustration on their faces. As this was happening, Bob Walk commented that the Reds would have to adjust and start the bat sooner. With two outs in the fourth, Joey Votto adjusted. He jumped on an inside fastball and ripped it inside the right field foul pole.

As he approached the 35-pitch mark, Ohlendorf began mixing in some off-speed offerings. He maintained a solid balance of fastballs, sliders, changeups and curveballs the rest of the way. You can clearly see the mid-game change in approach in this velocity graph.

Also, take a look at these pitch location charts (vs. right-handed batters, vs. left-handed batters). These are from the catcher/umpire perspective, and you can see that there are plenty of fastballs on the inner half of the plate.

I am a fan of the way Ohlendorf approached last night’s game. Pound them with hard stuff early, go soft later in the game. He will not be able to follow that precise pattern every game, but it is a good mentality to have on the mound.

Note: All graphs courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net

Game #138: Bucs Win Two Straight!

Great American Ball Park | 7:05 | Ohlendorf vs. Edinson Volquez | Box

For the first time since August 18-19, the Pirates have won consecutive games. Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit each drove in a pair of runs. LaRoche’s 8th inning RBI broke a 4-4 tie and Andy LaRoche followed with an other run scoring hit to put the Pirates up by a pair.

They would need the cushion as the bullpen surrendered an 8th inning run before turning it over to Matt Capps for a perfect 9th.

Ross Ohlendorf was mildly effective. He gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings of work. He struck out two, walked one and gave up seven hits, including solo homers to Joey Votto and Chris Dickerson.

THe Pirates offense, despite a total of 15 whiffs, was up to the task against Edinson Volquez he allowed four runs over seven innings and struck out 13. Neither Ohlendorf nor Volquez was involved in the decision. Tyler Yates was the winner for Pittsburgh for getting the last out of the seventh. Jeremy Affeldt was charged with both 8th inning runs and the loss.

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Game #137: Bucs Losing Streak Ends at 10

Great American Ball Park | 7:05 | Snell vs. Aaron Harang | Box

It had to end sometime. And tonight it did. Ian Snell allowed just one earned run over six innings and four Pirate relievers combined to throw three no-hit innings to back a just-barely-there offense.

Brandon Moss had three hits, including a homer that was followed by a homer from Andy LaRoche to aid the offense. Adam LaRoche had a homer taken away by super-bust Corey Patterson.

Aaron Harang gave up all three Pirate runs for the loss. Matt Capps threw a perfect ninth for the save.

In the milestone department, Luis Cruz made his ML debut by starting at short and collected his first ML hit.
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Rosters Expanding - Who Will Join the Buccos?

It is September first and with that comes a formal acknowledgement that the Pirates are without any hope of salvaging a winning season. The good news is that the club will bring up some players with the rosters being allowed to expand.

The Post-Gazette speculates on who those players might be. On their list are the following in alphabetical order:

Jimmy Barthmaier
T.J. Beam
Brian Bixler
Luis Cruz
Robinson Diaz
Craig Hansen
Ross Ohlendorf
Ronny Paulino
Steve Pearce
Marino Salas
Romulo Sanchez

I would be very surprised if we don’t see either or both of Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen. The only negative to that is the clock starts on their arbitration eligibility. But, I can’t see any other way for this club to draw fans in the gates. The team has 10 home dates left. If there is good news it is that all three teams left to come into PNC are in the race (for now) - St. Louis, LA and Houston. The chances of the Cardinals and Astros are likely to be very slim by the time they arrive. There is no weekend home series against the Cubs that will pull in 100,000 fans.

Promotion wise, there is a Rennie Stennett give away, the on-going t-shirt Tuesday, a couple of cap days, a fireworks day, alumni autographs (Bobby Del Greco, Grant Jackson and Ken Macha - perhaps in town to interview for John Russell’s job?) and a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. Looks to me like they need to put the future of the franchise in the display case to get the turnstiles moving.

Game #136: Sabathia Fires One hitter

PNC Park | 1:35 | Karstens vs. C.C. Sabathia | Box

C.C. Sabathia struck out eleven and allowed just one hit and three walks in tossing a complete game shutout. The Brewers completed a pair of double plays behind him and C.C. faced just two over the minimum.

The lone hit was a dribbler from Andy LaRoche that Sabathia failed to field in the fifth inning.

Rickie Weeks led off the game and Bill Hall and Gabe Kapler drove home a pair later in the game to provide a lot more than Sabathia needed.

Jeff Karstens had allowed just Weeks’ homer in the first before running into trouble in the seventh. He allowed a one out double and a walk and was yanked in favor of Tyler Yates who gave up a two run double to the first hitter he faced - Hall.

10 straight losses. Its a battle for the cellar between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Good times.

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