MVN - Most Valuable Network

Games #37 and #38 vs. Atlanta

PNC Park | 12:35 | Duke vs. Jair Jurrjens and Van Benschoten vs. Tim Hudson | Box - Game 1 | Box - Game 2

As Thunder pointed out in the comments, Phil Dumatrait didn’t start the second game. Instead John Van Benschoten was tossed out there and he was beaten soundly. Good thing the Braves left 15 runners on base in the opener. Otherwise, they might swept.

In the opener, Zach Duke danced into and out of trouble. He gave up five walks and five hits in six innings, but allowed no runs. The Pirates collected only five hits. One of those was a bases loaded double from Freddy Sanchez and the other was a two run jack from Adam LaRoche.

Tim Hudson continues his stingy streak in 2008. He allowed just one unearned run and two hits in seven strong innings to win his sixth game this year. Van Benschoten gave up six earned runs in four innings pitched.

The Pirates winning streak was snapped at a season best 6. The club is two games under .500.

Pre-Game Thoughts
Double dipping courtesy of a Mother’s Day rainout for the wraparound series.

Opponent Jair Jurrjens has his own fan web page and a devoted group called Jurrjens Surgeons. He has been very impressive in 2008. His record stands at 4-2 and his ERA is a stellar 2.72. He has struck out 36 in 44-1/3 IP. In only one start has he allowed more than three earned runs.

He beat the Bucs in his first start of 2008 with 5-1/3 innings of two run ball. In that game, the Bucs collected seven hits in 21 ABs off of Jurrjens.

Zach Duke tossed the third game of the year against Atlanta and received no decision as Xavier Nady drove home game winner in the 10th. Duke picked up his first win of 2008 in his last turn against the Giants. That was the game that put the Pirates on this nice winning streak.

Duke is 1-2 in four career starts against the Braves. His ERA is a respectable 3.38. Bad news the Braves are 21-60 off Duke. Chipper Jones is 5-13. Jeff Francouer is 6-11 with a homer and a pair of doubles.

In the second game it’ll be Tim Hudson with 140 career wins squaring off against Phil Dumatrait and his lone career win. Hudson leads all chuckers born in 1975 in wins. Livan Hernandez has 139. Former Buc Jeff Suppan had 119 and Freddy Garcia has 117. Chris Carpenter sits on 100 even.

Hudson has apparently pitched well when he has needed to against the group of Pirates for 2008. Collectively they have hit .290 in 131 at bats. Yet, they have combined for just one homer and three RBI. All of those belong to Jason Bay. Hudson is 3-3 with a 3.29 ERA against the Pirates in his career. That includes seven shut out innings in his last start against the Pirates on July 13, 2007.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 8:12 pm and is filed under Home, May, 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates, Phil Dumatrait, John Van Benschoten, Xavier Nady, NL East, Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Zach Duke, Game Threads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.