Pirates vs. Cubs : 7.7.11

Stats: The Pirates begin their final series before the All-Star break against NL Central rivals, the Chicago Cubs.  While the Pirates have been playing competitive baseball throughout the past month and a half, the Cubs have been doing anything but.  They have currently lost 5 of 6 and were swept in their last series by the Washington Nationals.  Overall, the Cubs are 35-53 and in 5th place in the NL Central, a whopping 10 1/2 games behind the Pirates in the division.

Probable Pitchers:

James McDonald (5-4, 4.40 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (1-2, 3.91 ERA)

Matchup: James McDonald takes the hill against the Cubs and looks to continue his string of extremely successful starts.  McDonald has not allowed more the 3 ER in a start since May 13 and in doing that has lowered his ERA from 6.20 to 4.40.  The Cubs Rodrigo Lopez has been equally as effective as McDonald in his past few starts.  In his most recent start, Lopez limited the White Sox to 2 hits and no runs over 7 innings.  In his only start against the PIrates, Lopez went 6 innings giving up 1 run while striking out 5.  Neither team has face the oppsing pitcher enough to get a good book on matchups but I would be willing to bet that McCutchen has a good game.  I know it seems like every preview that I write has McCutchen projected to do well, but that is what happens when he is the best player on the team.  To back up my prediction, McCutchen has reached base safetly in his past 18 games at PNC Park.  I am also feeling a prodigiously long Garrett Jones home run.  Maybe a shot that finds it's way out of the stadium.  For the Cubs, former Pirate Aramis Ramirez has been en fuego, batting .308 with 5 HR and 9 RBI in the past week.  Another player to watch for the Cubs is Carlos Pena.  There has been some chatter lately that Pena may be available at the trade deadline and could possibly be had for cash considerations since the Cubs would like nothing more to get out from under his 10 million dollar contract.  Pena is hitting a paltry .225 this year but has 19 HR and 48 RBI.  Honestly, if the Pirates can get him for some low level prospects or even cash he would be a significant upgrade at 1st base, allowing the Pirates to field a proper lineup with speed at the top (Tabata, Presley, McCutchen) and power in the middle (Walker, Pena, Alvarez).  Imagine a lineup that looks a little something like this...

RF Presley

LF Tabata

CF McCutchen

1B Pena

2B Walker

3B Alvarez

C Doumit

SS Cedeno

P Correia

Looks alot like a real lineup huh?

Prediction: Pirates win 7-2.  Let's Go Bucs!

Get Out the Brooms

The Pirates tonight will go for their second consecutive sweep against the Astros. They are currently on a 7 game winning streak against these Astros and look to finish above .500 at the all star break for the first time since 1992. Last nights game was a microcosm for the little things the Pirates haven't been able to do as a team over the past 18 years. Jeff Karstens threw another gem limiting the Astros to 1 run on 5 hits in 7 innings. Again I will state for the record that I have no idea how Karstens gets people out. Utter insanity. In addition to jeff karstens pitching out of his mind, the pirates also got timely hitting from role players. Before this year, if there was a game where the pirates "better" players struggled, that meant through pirates lost the game. last night journeyman brandon wood was the pirates offense, driving in 3 runs while going deep for the 4th time this season. The buccos keep defying all logic and baseball sense, let's hope it continues tonight. Tonight, charlie morton takes the hill for the pirates looking to put together another quality start. I think we see charlie and his electric stuff, tonight against the Astros. Look for Morton to record his best strikeout game of the season, all while leading the Pirates to a series sweep over the Astros. Let's go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Astros : 7.4.11

The Pirates are 44-41.  Read that again, the Pirates are 44-41.  Now this most likely will not last throughout the summer but for the time being and as long as the Pirates continue to win ballgames, you have to be loving it.  Today's game was really two seperate games.  In the first 2 1/2 innings the Pirates played about as bad as a baseball team can play.  They committed two errors on relatively routine plays and got thrown out at 2nd and home by Hunter Pence.  Entering the bottom of the 3rd they were down 3-1 and looked like a team that was ready to quit.  Then...they flipped the switch and scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd on double's from d'Arnaud (2 for 5) and McCutchen (1 for 4) and a single from Lyle Overbay (2 for 4).  They then went on to add runs in the 5th and 6th innings and from there Veras and Hanrahan shut the door and the game was over.  A mention has to be given to both Alex Presley and Joel Hanrahan.  Presley was 3 for 4 today and is now hitting a robust .364 with an OPS of .970.  The Pirates are going to have some serious roster management to do when Jose Tabata comes back because there is no way that Presley can be sent back to Indianapolis, not when he is playing this well.  Hanrahan also notched his 25 save and is still perfect in save opportunities.  He will be representing the Buccos in Arizona at the All-Star game.  Speaking of All-Star game, Andrew McCutchen got hosed.  How he is not considered one of the 34 best players in the National League is beyond me.  Moreover, since he didn't get voted him or chosen by the players how is it possible that he is not one of the final 5 that the fans get to vote on during the next week.  McCutchen is hitting .294 with 12 HR, 46 RBI's, 15 steals and an .890 OPS.  On top of that his WAR (wins above replacement player, which is a measure of a laundry list of stats and is look at as one of the best gauges of a player's success) is 4.6.  That number is only matched by Jose Bautista (5.6) and Jose Reyes (4.6).  Both players will be starting next Tuesday in the All-Star game.  McCutchen is a rising star and should be an All-Star, at least I am not the only one who thinks him being left off the team is a crock of crap. 

Pirates @ Nationals : Doubleheader

Tough loss by the Pirates last night and even though the offense scored only one run, I think that we can put this loss on Clint Hurdle and his management of the bullpen.  Hurdle brought in Tim Wood (with Hanrahan and Veras ready to pitch) in the bottom of the 9th and he promptly let up a single, threw a wild pitch, walked a batter, let up a sacrifice fly and then threw a belt high fastball that Matt Stairs drove into right field for a walk off single.  I have no idea why Hurdle stuck with Wood after he clearly didn't have it and honestly he hasn't ever had it so it wouldn't surprise me if he is back in the minors soon.  Today the Pirates play a double header with James McDonald pitching Game 1 and Brad Lincoln, making his season debut, pitching the night cap.  Lincoln has thrown relatively well down in Indianapolis and deserves a shot to make a spot start.  Hopefully, he pitches well and makes the decision to send him down extremely difficult.  The first game is currently under way as I right this and at this point in the game, Alex Presley is 2 for 2 and Chase d'Arnaud has a stolen base.  I know I have said this before but I love the way these guys play.  Hopefully, the Buccos can find a way to win both of today's contests and push their record to 3 games over .500.  Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates @ Nationals : 7.1.11

The Pirates pitched well, got lucky and scored some runs and in the end beat Toronto 6-2 to win their first interleague series in an American League ballpark in 17 series.  Jeff Karstens had another great outing for the Bucs and as I pointed out in my previous post I still don't know how he gets so many people out.  His stat line yesterday: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 K and 64 of his 88 pitches were strikes.  Throughout the month of June, Karstens has gone 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in 6 starts.  For the season, Karstens has a 2.65 and a 1.08 WHIP which is an insanely low number.  Karstens just keeps on pitching well and hopefully some of his current success will rub off on Charlie Morton tonight.  Tonight, Morton is on the hill in his first start in 2 weeks after taking some time to rest his fatigued arm.  I think that Morton will have a big bounce back game tonight and pitch very well against ex-Pirate Tom Gorzelanny.  Another thing to look out for is whether not Neil Walker will play tonight after taking last night off with a sore back.  The Pirates and the Nationals have split their season series thus far and tonight is the night the Pirates get on top.  Morton pitches well, the rookies, Presley and d'Arnaud have good games and the bullpen "Hammers" it down.  Pirates win 6-3.  Let's Go Bucs!

Game 3: Pirates @ Blue Jays - Observations...

This isn't going to be a real game post but I wanted to make a comment or two about what I have been seeing throughout this series. For one, I really love watching Alex Presley and Chase d'Arnaud play baseball. You can tell that these young kids are just happy to be in the big league and love playing the game of baseball. I love how they both run down to first as hard as they can which really shows me that they care about the game and playing it the way it is suppose to be played. Also, d'Arnaud has a freakin' hose for an arm. He fields the ball at 3rd and takes his grand old time getting the ball out of his hand and still gets the runner by 2 steps. I wonder how hard he throws the ball across the infield. What I would give for an arm like that. Another observation is the fact that I have absolutely no idea how Jeff Karstens gets anybody out. He doesn't throw hard, he doesn't have nasty stuff and he does spot his pitches particularly well but he has a 2.60 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP so he is obviously doing something right. The only thing that I can think of is that he changes speeds really well and just knows how to pitch. Some guys just get out there and throw (Re: Joel Hanrahan) but guys like Karstens are in the mold of Greg Maddux. Guys who don't throw hard or have "electric" stuff but pitch with their brain as much as they do with their arm, all of which leads to outs and wins. Here's hoping that he can keep up his winning ways and that the young guys can keep enjoying their "jobs" and playing hard. Let's Go Bucs!

Game 2 : Pirates @ Jays

I didn't write a blog preview for the series because I am bush with games every night this week and I wanted to change it up and write some reactions instead. Although most people watching last nights game would be concerned about the fact that Correia gave up 4 runs and the middle relief struggled before getting the game to Veras and Hanrahan, I am feeling exactly the opposite. I am encouraged by last nights game for a few reasons. First, Alex Pressley had a big game going 2 for 4 with his first bomb and 3 rbis. He should fill in nicely for Tabata with more power. Secondly, Hanrahan was again dominany, allowing weak grounders and a pop up before blowing absolute smoke by Thames for the final out with Jose Batista lying wait in the on deck circle. The hammer is 23 for 23 on save opportunities and at this point in the season is preventing anyone from squaring up tut ball against him. Lastly, over the last month the Pirates have been winning games with great starting pitching and just enough offense to squeak out victories. Yesterday the Pirates won in a completely different fashion by outscoring the Jays and hitting the long ball. Last nights win showed me that the Pirates might be able to occasionally win games with marginal pitching and good offensive production. Hopefully the Pirates can keep this up against the offensive minded Blue Jays. I am all in with these Pirates and have been all in for over a decade, I'm just glad that now it seems like the rest of Pittsburgh has hopped on for the ride. It's amazing what a team playing good baseball for 3 months can do for baseball fandom in this great city. Let's Go Bucs!

Quick Preview

I totally spaced on todays preview because I was so happy that the pirates have already won the series. Todays game is the Buccos playing with house money, so a sweep would be great but the series us already in the bag. James McDonald for a for the pirates and I do think he will pitch well but I just can't see a sweep of the mighty red sox. Red sox 5 - pirates 2. But oh how great a sweep would be. Let's go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Red Sox : 6.25.11

Recap: The Pirates were able to eke out a win last night behind some great starting pitching (Maholm - 5 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's), some timely hitting (Overbay - 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 R against a lefty after being benched for the Baltimore series) and finally some great work from the bullpen as a whole (3 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 1 BB, 2 K's, 0 runs).  The biggest moment of the game had to be David Ortiz's at bat against Jose Veras in the 8th.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Ortiz is sent to the plate to pinch hit.  Veras who had already given up 2 hits, is left in the game (instead of being lifted for a left handed pitcher) and promptly gets Ortiz to ground out to Cedeno who was playing up the middle with the shift on.  The entirety of the at bat came in a deluge that distracted Ortiz and allowed Veras to get the out.  After that "the Hammer" came in and went 1, 2, 3 against the top of the Red Sox order and the game was over.

Pitching Probables:

 Jeff Karstens (4-4, 2.54 ERA) vs. Tim Wakefield (4-2, 4.26 ERA)

Matchup (sort of): Did you know that Tim Wakefield (who is 44 years old) is the last active major league player who was playing the last time the Pirates had a winning season.  The year was 1992 and Wakefield, then a 24 year old, was a starting pitcher for your Pittsburgh Pirates.  Wakefield has had one hell of a career.  After being released by the Pirates following the strike season of 1994, Wakefield moved on the the Red Sox and has become the team leader in games started, innings pitched and with 10 more victories the leader in career wins passing legends Roger Clemens and Cy Young, talk about good company.  Wakefield's best year statistically was his first year with the Red Sox in 1995.  That year he went 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 27 starts including 6 complete games.  Eventhough Wakefield has had the majority of his success while pitching for the Red Sox, he was instrumental in helping the Pirates reach the playoff in his rookie year of 1992.  Wakefield's first win with the Bucs came on July 31, 1992 when he beat the Cardinals in St. Louis with a complete game, 146-pitch shutout.  That year he finished 8-1 with a 2.15 ERA and also had 2 complete game victories over the Braves in the NLCS.  The only time Wakefield has faced his old team was he he pitched seven scoreless innings at Fenway Park on June 18, 2005.  Wakefield has announced that he will retire at the end of this season and when he does there will be no one left in the major leagues that has been on a winning Pittsburgh Pirate team, unless...

Prediction: I know I really didn't talk about any matchup's in the matchup section and rather used that space to talk about Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer, and his amazing career.  With that being said, the Pirates have faced a knuckleballer this year in the Mets, R.A. Dickey and fared much better against him the second time they faced him.  The Pirates also have Jeff Karstens on the mound tonight who is 1-0 with a 0.65 ERA in four June starts.  Although Andrew McCutchen was 0 for 3 last night and has struggled against knuckleballers, I think he will be the player the Pirates need him to be tonight.  I also fully expect Garrett Jones to be in the lineup tonight against the right handed pitcher so look for him to have a good game.  Also, congrats to Chase d'Arnaud who made his major league debut last night at 3rd base and promptly hit his first triple.  Chase is the Pirates best infield prospect and more importantly best shortstop prospect, so he will be one to watch.  All of the above leads me to believe that the Pirates will be relaxed and will play well in front of another huge crowd tonight.  I look for the Pirates to chase Wakefield and hang on for the win.  Pirate 7 - Red Sox 5.  Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Red Sox : 6.24.11

Programming Note: Since this is a pretty big series with each game this weekend expected to be a sellout, I have decided to preview each game/matchup individually.  He we go...

Stats: The Boston Red Sox roll into town this weekend for what is sure to be one of the biggest series' in PNC Park history.  The series is of added importance because the Pirates are actually playing competitive baseball.  The Pirates somehow sit at .500 with a less than stellar offense and absolutely no power production from any of the corner infield or outfield positions.  As of today the Pirates sit 3 games behind the 1st place Brewers and for the first time since 1997 are in the division title race in June.  The Red Sox on the other hand wield the best offense in baseball and are ranked 1st in runs, batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.  They have won 14 of 18 games and are currently in 1st place in the American League East with a 1/2 game lead over the New York Yankees. 

Pitching Probables:

Paul Maholm (3-8, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (9-3, 3.70 ERA)

Matchup: Look at the above pitching matchup.  Now, everyone including myself would say that Jon Lester is the better pitcher.  He is 70-28 in his career with a 3.57 ERA in 6 seasons.  He has been an all-star and has thrown a no hitter and oh yeah he beat cancer, so he is pretty much the man.  With all that being said, Paul Maholm has been the better pitcher this year.  Maholm has a lower ERA (3.29 to 3.70), a lower WHIP (1.16 to 1.27) and a lower batting average against (.221 to .242).  I know that Lester pitches in the American League East which has much better teams than the National League Central but all of the metrics that I have pointed out above show that Maholm has just been flat out better.  The only metric that Lester is better than Maholm in is record (9-3 to 3-8) and that is solely a product of the fact of run support.  In his 15 starts, Lester is getting an average of 6.7 runs of support from his Boston teammates.  In contrast, Maholm is receiving just 2.60 runs of support and has received more than 3 runs of support only twice.

Prediction: Tonight's game, not to mention the entire series will come down to whether or not the Pirates offense can keep up with the Red Sox.  Boston will score runs.  They average 5.41 run/game so the Pirates will have to do their best to keep up with them.  Neither pitcher tonight has ever faced the other team and only a few hitters have at bats against both Maholm and Lester so it is hard to predict who will be a factor.  With that being said, I think that McCutchen and Walker are going to carry the team tonight.  Walker will be batting from the right side and I fully expect him to be locked in and ready to go against Lester.  As for the Red Sox, I can tell you that without a doubt David Ortiz will not hurt the Pirates tonight because he isn't in the lineup since the game is being played by National League (aka the "best" league) rules.  The only way we will see Big Papi is in a pinch hitting situation.  Having said that, I think the Pirates will battle tonight but ultimately won't score enough runs for Paul Maholm and against Jon Lester.  Red Sox win 6-1.