Big Lead Sports Bar

4/25/2007

Maholm Shuts Out Astros, Shuts Up Blogger

Paul Maholm, Pirates pitcher and apparent reader of Mondesi's House, showed his displeasure with my wisecrack yesterday and proved me wrong, throwing a three-hit, complete-game shutout in a 3-0 win over Houston.
Of course, his teammates gave their usual, meager offensive output of three runs and 12 runners left on base, but on this evening that would prove to be enough. With the win, the 8-10 Pirates are just four games back of division leader Milwaukee, the only team currently above .500 in the NL Central.
Aside from Maholm's 99-pitch gem, Jack Wilson led the way with two doubles and two runs scored. Jason Bay added three hits and 2 RBI, and Ronny Paulino hit his first home run of the season.
On the negative side of the ledger, Adam LaRoche had another 0-for-4 night, pulling his average down to .098. Is .100 going to be called "The LaRoche Line"? Because if that's the case, Brad Eldred is also at The LaRoche Line with his 0-for on Tuesday night.
Tonight, Zach Duke and his 9.00 ERA take the hill for the Pirates. I'm guessing I should make another one-liner, which hopefully would inspire a second consecutive struggling Pirate hurler. But I'll pass...for now.
The scary part about that 9 ERA is that Duke's actually had four starts this season---he's literally given up 19 runs in 19 innings. I would guess you might see some offensive fireworks tonight, but after I completely missed the mark yesterday, all bets are off.
Duke will face Matt Albers, a 24-year-old righty who has the chore of replacing both Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte in the Astros rotation this season. Unfortunately for Albers, his team photo makes him look a little less intimidating than said Rocket:

3 comments:

Unknown said...

"the 8-10 Pirates are just four games back of division leader Milwaukee, the only team currently above .500 in the NL Central"

Here's hoping the division remains this bad and keeps the Bucs interesting enough to get us to training camp in mid July.

Bigk1327 said...

I can't believe you used the term "LaRoche Line" it cracks me up. My closest friend said it a couple weeks back and we've been using it ever since. That is what I really like about your blog, you're down to Earth just like anyone of my friends would be, and it actually makes it seem like I'm just talking with one of my friends when I'm reading your blog. Keep up the great work!!!

Anonymous said...

If it makes you feel any better, Craig Wilson is batting .146 in ATL.

One more thing...I hate the Pirates. Or maybe the Nuttings. Or McClatchy. Or Francisco Cabrera. It's all pointess....at this point.