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Game #90: Van Benschoten and Bullpen Walk Nine

PNC Park | 7:05 | Van Benschoten vs. Brian Moehler | Box

Just a day after the Pirates won despite walking 10 hitters, the Bucs lost after walking nine Astros batters. I’m dumbfounded by this. The Astros left 14 men on base, otherwise this could’ve been really ugly.

John Vanbenschoten was lucky to escape the first inning. He got two outs, but then went HBP, BB, HR, 1B, 1B, 1B 1B before he got Brian Moehler to end the inning. The Bucs trailed 4-0 after three outs were recorded. I’d say that JVB settled down after the first, but that would be a fib. The Astros left two on in the second and the third. They left a man on second with one out in the fourth and they put three runners on in the fifth inning before Sean Burnett came in. JVB needed 117 pitches to go 4-2/3 innings. On the bright side, in addition to the six walks he gave up, he struck out six hitters.

The Pirates managed to tie the game at four. As normal, Nate McLouth was in the middle of it. He hit three doubles and scored twice.

Houston broke through in the seventh to score twice, giving themselves a cushion they wouldn’t relinquish. Their inning was started by a bunt single from Michael Bourn. Last Pirate get a bunt single leading off an inning was Matt Alexander. Just kidding. Not sure who it was.

Jose Valverde tossed the 9th for the save. Moehler hung in long enough for the W. Burnett took the loss.

Pre-Game Thoughts
I can tell you all you need to know about Brian Moehler simply by saying his 9th most comparable player according to Baseball-Reference.com is Kip Wells. Actually, that’s a bit odd given that Moehler notched 29 saves in 2007 for Houston. He started 2008 in the bullpen, but moved into the rotation in May. He hasn’t pitched poorly, but maybe a little bit inconsistent. He has allowed three runs or less in 9 of his 11 starts this year. Yet, he is only 4-4 on the year.

Against the Pirates he is 3-4 overall. That includes a complete game shutout in 1998. He has made seven starts and three relief appearances against Pittsburgh and has compiled a 4.54 ERA. He made three relief apperances last year against the Smoky City Nine. The most recent was 9/16/07 in a mop up role.

The Bucs are 25-78 against Moehler. Jason Bay (2-11) and Doug Mientkiewicz (3-15) are struggling. Adam LaRoche is 6-14.

With the way he has pitched, you’d think maybe John Van Benschoten was running out of chances. Given the current state of the Pirates pitching staff, it appears his opportunities will be endless. He has started two times in 2008 and given up 11 runs in 6-1/3 innings. JVB’s first career win came against Houston back in 2004. Both his career appearances against the Astros were in 2004.

The Astros are 5-12 off Van Benschoten. Both Lance Berkman and Michael Bourn have two hits of JVB.

Here’s a sad stat for you: Among all pitchers with at least 75 career innings pitched, JVB has the worst career ERA with 9.04. He leads Andy Larkin who got to pitch for the 1998 Florida Marlins (post-fire sale, post-WS). Coming in third place is Aaron Myette who was a first round pick of the White Sox in 1997. Former Buc 1st rounder Kurt Miller and former Pirate retread Dave Wainhouse crack the top 20. Pulled this info off the PI system at Baseball-Reference.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Home, Nate McLouth, July, Matt Alexander, Dave Wainhouse, 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates, John Van Benschoten, Kip Wells, Doug Mientkiewicz, Adam LaRoche, Houston Astros, Jason Bay, Sean Burnett, 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.