Series: Pirates @ Rockies, Coors Field, Denver, CO
TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).
Facts/Reaction: I started to write this blog post before the final game against the Giants had ended and in the reason I stopped was because the Pirates were up 1-0 and Jeff Karstens had cruised through the first part of the lineup in innings 1 and 2. Then it happened...for the second time in this series, the Pirates became the Pirates again. So far this year, they have done a good job of not looking like a bunch of 8 year olds who have never played baseball before. Sure they haven't played great defense for most of the year, but they also haven't look lost out there. Tuesday night against the Giants was a different story entirely as the bullpen threw away Charlie Morton's good outing with a 10th inning so poor that I actually laughed. The 10th inning started with a flare base hit that somehow got through the legs of Matt Diaz when he tried to make the catch. Actually he didn't try and make the catch, he knew full well he wasn't getting to the ball and instead of breaking down and keeping it in front of him with no runners on, he gets lazy and a single turns into a double. After a great play by Lyle Overbay to throw the runner out at 3rd on a sacrifice bunt attempt, Joel Hanrahan's pickoff attempt ends up in shallow right field and the runner advances to 3rd. With a speedy runner at 3rd, Hanrahan got the next batter to hit the ball on the ground directly at a drawn in Neil Walker. Instead of staring the runner back and realizing he has all kinds of time to throw the runner out at first, Neil proceeds to give the runner at 3rd a quick and albeit worthless look back and then LOBS the ball to 1st. In doing this, he allows the runner to score the go ahead run in the top of the 10th inning. Looking back a runner is not only something that one learns in little league but also is something a professional making millions of dollars to play a game needs to do in order to allow his team (which is lacking in talent to begin with) to succeed. The fundamentals and having a general grasp of the game of baseball are what wins the extra 10 games a year for a team. The Pirates have an overall lack of talent, but that is not the only thing keeping them from being a competitive ball club.
I almost forgot to address what happened in Thursday game that made the previous paragraph possible. Instead of being long winded how about ESPN's play by play with a little commentary from yours truly. Without further adieu...
Top of the 3rd : Pirates leading 1-0
- M Fontenot singled to center.
- E Whiteside continues to bat after dropped foul ball by first baseman L Overbay. (Yeah that's right folks, the defensive first basemen that we are paying 5 million this year camps under a foul ball 5 feet from the 1st base bag in foul territory and then proceeds to drop it. Great.)
- E Whiteside hit by pitch, M Fontenot to second. (Free bases kill you, especially after a dropped pop up)
- R Vogelsong sacrificed into fielder's choice to first, M Fontenot to third, E Whiteside to second. (Overbay's second "error" of the inning, he fields the bunt and instead of getting an out at first tries to make up for his missed pop up and throws the ball to 3rd late. Bases Loaded. No Outs.)
The rest is a double scoring 2 runs. A pop out. An intentional walk. A fielder's choice on a double play that doesn't get turned scoring another run and then lastly but certainly not least Ryan Doumit attempting to throw out a runner at second and chucking it into the centerfield allowing another run to score. At the end of the inning 2 errors and 4 runs on 2 hits. Excellent. Let's go Bucs.
Pitching Probables:
Friday, April 29 - Kevin Correia (3-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-1, 2.67 ERA)
Saturday, April 30 - Paul Maholm (1-3, 3.90 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (2-1, 3.80 ERA)
Sunday, May 1 - Charlie Morton (2-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
Stats and Matchup: The Pirates had a ton of trouble with the Rockies a few weeks ago at home. The Rockies took 3 of 4 from the Pirates in their first home series of the year. However, that series was the beginning of the Rockies 7 game winning streak and now the Rockies are 5-5 in their last 10 games and have struggled to score runs batting .223 over that span. The Pirates will also face two starters that they didn't see in the first series in Jason Hammel and Ubaldo Jimenez. We all know about Ubaldo and his dominance in the first half of last season going 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 113 K's. Hammel on the other hand is lesser known. He has won 10 games in each of the last two seasons and this year is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA with 2 of his starts coming in the hitter friendly Coors Field. Hammel is also the brother of a guy I work with so I will be paying special attention to this game. Hopefully he pitches well and then the Pirates win the take the lead after he leave the game. A win for everyone involved.
Prediction: West coast series' are always hard to get a handle on and this one is no difference. With the debacle that was game 3 of the Giants series fresh in the teams mind there is a good chance that Game 1 will be a struggle. However, the Pirates got to Chacin in his last start against them and this time he has Kevin Correia opposing him. Correia is familiar with the NL West from his days pitching for both the Giants and Padres and he happens to be the best pitcher. If the Pirates can win Game 1 I think that they could win Game 2. All and all I say a surprising 2 of 3 from the NL West leading Rockies is in order. Raise the Jolly Roger.
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