 |
 |
|
|
Bax’s Bucco Blog: A Positive Change
A Positive Change
This was a mighty eventful week in Buccodom as the Pirates finally divested themselves of Ian Snell and his terrible attitude. Snell actually ASKED to be demoted because of the ‘negativity’ surrounding his season. Well, Ian, what do you expect when you’re making over $3 million this year and you have a 2-8 record with a 5.36 ERA and 44 walks? Why wouldn’t fans be negative about the fact that the guy who was supposed to be our best starter the last two years has been our worst? The only bad thing about your demotion is that you’re going to be stealing money from the Pirates for the next year and a half until your contract is up because the Pirates aren’t going to want you back and no one is going to want to trade for a guy who willingly quit on his team. You’re a bum, plain and simple. Good riddance!
Now on to better news. First, Snell’s replacement, Virgil Vasquez, came up and pitched a very effective start for his first career win. Two, the Pirates cemented a winning interleague record for only the 2 nd time in history with a winning week against Kansas City and Cleveland. Three, the Buccos rediscovered the home run, bashing seven this week, including multiple big flies from Jason Jaramillio and Adam LaRoche. Four, the Pirates had a consistent week at the plate, scoring 30 runs and only scoring less than 3 runs once.
A 4-2 record for the week was a very solid mark by the Buccos and they fell just short of a 6-0 record, losing their two games by one run apiece. That puts their season record at 35-40 on the season but they are only 5 games out of first place and we’re only a week from the halfway mark! This week’s 3 game set with the Cubbies to kick of the week looms large……
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Monday: Off Day
Tuesday: Cleveland 5, Pittsburgh 4___________ _Ian Snell’s likely final start as a Pirate was a microcosm of his season: Two and 2/3 innings and 4 earned runs and another display of a lack of mental toughness. Despite Snell’s early deficit, the Pirates rallied for 4 runs in the 9 th inning and had the bases loaded but could not get the decisive hit to fall short of the Indians in the series opener.
Wednesday: Pittsburgh 10, Cleveland 6_______ The Pirates continued their trend of being virtually unbeatable at home with more than 20,000 fans on hand, winning their 8 th game in 9 tries! Adam LaRoche and Jaramillio powered the Bucco attack with home runs and rookie Andrew McCutchen added two RBIs in the effort. Zach Duke’s 6 innings of one run baseball earned him his 8 th win of the year and this game was a laugher were it not for 2 late errors by Andy LaRoche which accounted for most of Cleveland’s offense.
Thursday: Pittsburgh 3, Cleveland 2__________ _Cliff Lee and Ross Ohlendorf battled to a stalemate in a very impressive pitchers’ duel, each pitching 7 innings and allowing only two runs. The difference was a bottom of the 9 th inning walk off single by McCutchen, his 2 nd RBI of the day and his 16 th in 20 games since his call up, a very impressive start to his big league career. Matt Capps earned the victory, his first of the year, with a scoreless 9 th inning.
Friday: Pittsburgh 5, Kansas City 3____________ _Virgil Vasquez’s debut was the major story in this game, as Charlie Morton was pushed back to Sunday to give his injured leg a bit more time to heal. Vasquez pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs and left the game with a 5-2 lead thanks to home runs by Jaramillio, Nyjer Morgan and Jack Wilson. Capps allowed a solo home run in the 9 th to the Royals’ Mark Teahen but nailed down his 17 th save of the year to take the opener from the Royals.
Saturday: Pittsburgh 6, Kansas City 2___________ The Pirates’ two through six hitters combined to go 9 for 20 at the plate and drove in five of the Buccos’ runs to power the series-clinching victory. Delwyn Young hit a home run and drove in 4 to account for most of the run production. Paul Maholm calmed down after allowing two early runs to pitch seven strong innings for his 5 th win of the year.
Sunday: Kansas City 3, Pittsburgh 2____________ The Royals sent out the best pitcher in major league baseball, Zach Greinke, and he performed well, tossing six plus innings and allowing only 2 runs. In fact, the only reason he left was because of a rain delay but the Pirates couldn’t take advantage as Kansas City salvaged the sweep. Charlie Morton pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 runs for the loss.
> Pro Baseball Fans features a great selection of & Pittsburgh Pirates apparel & jerseys online.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
1) THE BIG FLY: Seven home runs in a week feels like it doubled the Pirates’ season total. While that’s not exactly true, this team entered the week last in the National League with 42 home runs. Even with the big week, the league-leading Phillies’ 104 still doubles the Bucco total. However, it was a start.
2) THE NEW GUYS: Virgil Vasquez and Charlie Morton both made their PNC Park debuts this week and both pitched solidly, combining for 11 innings and 5 earned runs. Both appear early to be upgrades over the players they replaced.
3) ADAM LAROCHE: It was a big week for LaRoche, who went 11 for 24 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs, raising his batting average nearly 20 points. He was a constant source of offense and reached base every game.
Honorable Mention: Zach Duke, Andrew McCutchen, Delwyn Young, Jason Jaramillio
THE NEGATIVE
1) IAN SNELL: Good riddance to a player who hasn’t had the mental toughness to harness his obvious physical attributes. He’s going to cost the Pirates about 5.5 million dollars until his contract runs out next year.
2) ANDY LAROCHE’S DEFENSE: Three errors. Ugh. Thankfully his two errors in the 9 th on Wednesday didn’t cost the Pirates the game.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Chicago Cubs, Zach Duke (8-5, 3.09 ERA) vs. Rich Harden (4-4, 4.95 ERA)
Tuesday , 7:05 PM EST vs. Chicago Cubs, Ross Ohlendorf (6-6, 4.75 ERA) vs. Ted Lilly (7-5, 3.41 ERA)
Wednesday : 7:05 PM EST vs. Chicago Cubs, Virgil Vasquez (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Randy Wells (2-3, 2.57 ERA)
Thursday : 12:35 EST vs. New York Mets, Paul Maholm (5-4, 4.35 ERA) vs. Tim Redding (1-3, 6.35 ERA)
Friday : 6:10 EST @ Florida, Charlie Morton (0-1, 4.09 ERA) vs. Carl Volstad (5-7, 4.63 ERA)
Saturday : 6:10 EST @ Florida, Duke (8-5, 3.09 ERA) vs. Andrew Miller (2-3, 4.17 ERA)
Sunday 1:10 PM EST @ Florida, Ohlendorf (6-6, 4.75 ERA) vs. Ricky Nolasco (4-6, 6.42 ERA)
The Pirates have a big week with a make up game against the Mets planted between series on Thursday. The Pirates open up with divisional rival Chicago and these games loom large as the Buccos need to win their division games to move up the standings. This won’t be an easy series, as Rich Harden boasts the worst stats among the 3 anticipated Chicago starters and everyone knows how good he can be on any give night. Hopefully the Cubs bring their usual influx of fans to join a boisterous Bucco crowd in all three games because the Pirates are now 11-1 at PNC Park when the crowd is above 20,000.
The Pirates lose a travel day on Thursday as the Mets come to town but pick up a home game against the Mets, who send hapless Tim Redding to the mound. A win here would be a very nice addition to the week but it will only be a quickie with the Mets before the Buccos head to south Florida.
Speaking of Florida, the Pirates caught a break going into this series. The Marlins’ top two starters, Josh Johnson (a likely All-Star) and Sean West, won’t be facing the Pirates, which means that they have a much better chance to emerge with a series victory. Zach Duke, Charlie Morton and Ross Ohlendorf take the hill for the Bucs.
With the division as close as it is, the Pirates have to start winning games. This week will officially take us to the halfway point of the season and if the Pirates can have a big week, we could actually be in for a very interesting second half. A 4-3 or 5-2 week would be an excellent showing and would bring the Pirates right to the precipice of a .500 record.
It sure is fun to see the Pirates still in the thick of things as June turns to July………
Expect Bax’s Bucco Blog to be a weekly feature every Monday. If you have any comments, questions, grievances, Bucco sob stories or general insults, feel free to email me at matt.baxendell@gmail.com
You can also follow me on Twitter under username MattBaxendell!
By: Matt Baxendell
MLBcenter.com Pittsburgh Pirates Correspondent
> View all of the MLB baseball news articles from ProBaseball-fans.com.
Advertisement