The Battlin' Bucs, who were somehow 8-2 against the Cubs in 2010 entering this contest, could muster just one run, a fifth-inning Ryan Doumit solo shot, across the plate on Tuesday. Doumit also doubled, and Garrett Jones added two hits as well; but once again, timely hitting with men on base was not the Pirates' strong suit.
Of course, the Cubs weren't much better, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position - but if the other team scores one run and Alfonso Soriano hits two solo homers, you win. It's that simple, and that's exactly what happened for Chicago, which also got seven strong innings from perennial Pirate-killer Ted Lilly to aid their cause.
Jeff Karstens (2-3) allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings for the Pirates, striking out two and walking one. If you take away those mistakes to Soriano, he has a pretty good night, but unfortunately, they counted.
The series goes to a rubber match on Wednesday, as old friend Tom Gorzelanny (2-5, 3.41) takes on Brad Lincoln (0-2, 6.00) at 2:20 p.m. at Wrigley. It's old Pirate pitching prospect against new Pirate pitching prospect - how's that for drama?
11 comments:
Seeing as how I live out of the Pittsburgh area now and the Pirates are the last club in the league to be shown on national TV, I got the rare opportunity last nite to actually see the Pirates play this season on the Cubs national broadcast, instead of only imagining the dreadful performance though recaps and boxscores. All I can say is; anyone who pays to watch and financially supports this kind of $hit clearly has a mental flaw and probably also likes getting kicked in the groin by a fat woman in bondage gear. This isn’t baseball folks, this is anal sodomy…and this wasn’t even one of their “bad” games. Oh yeah, and I could care less if I see another picture of the Sears Tower ever again…lame broadcast. Do Yankees broadcasts include dozens of gratuitous, fuzzy shots of the Empire State Building?
Whether it was LaRoche’s God-awful, little league at-bats, Cedeno’s first pitch infield pop-up with 1 out and runners at 2nd an 3rd in the 7th, only to bring up the mighty Ryan Church to pinch-hit, or watching a less than spectacular, 3-6 Lilly get behind 3-0 numerous times late only to get out squeaky clean, I can’t for the life of me imagine how anyone could sit though more than a few innings of this unless at gun point. I’ve had root canals that were more pleasant. And of course, Milledge’s accidental assist to the catcher to throw out Jones at second was typical and par for the course.
I can’t see how Doumit stays on this club any longer as he and Jones are the only players on the team who approach looking professional at the plate. Everyone else aside from perhaps Pedro looks like they are up there to swat bugs. They need to trade Doumit ASAP for some lame excuse of a player or two and if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s probably the worst defensive catcher in the history of the game, he’d probably have been gone already.
I also enjoyed Milledge's assist to getting Jones gunned out at 2nd. We can't even move up on a wild pitch without getting in our own way.
Just a little nitpicking, Don labeled Lilly as a perennial Pirate Killer. Aren't most average an above MLB players perennial Pirate killers? I am just glad to see our 2B and RF didn't spear each other last night..... interesting that something as simple as calling off a guy on a flyball isn't understood at this level.
I loved how Bob Bremly, the Cubs announcer, commented on the fact the Cubs have 12 stolen bases against the Pirates. He also added they rarely run on other teams. Doumit actually threw someone out though.
Fundamental baseball is not something the Pirates have down at all.
Watching each and every Pirate swing at pitches out of the strike zone shows how poor the discipline is on this club. Add a lack of talent to that mix and it is easy to see why these guys could lose 110 games.
The lack of discipline falls squarely on the coaching staff. The fact that the coaching staff is still here after multiple seasons of poor discipline falls squarely on management. The fact that management makes regular poor personnel decisions falls squarely on ownership. Its all cyclical and enables each other. Leave it to a family whose fortune was made in the fastest dying industry since asbestos and olestra snack foods.
If the current coaching staff ran the Steelers sidelines, Limas Sweed would be an everyday starter.
No coincidentally, I get the same feeling in my bowels after watching a Pirates game, as I do after eating a can of Olestra Pringles.
When do we get another "Pittsburgh Pirates: The Movie" cast list?
Brad Lincoln has to be played by Nick Lachey. Luckily, BL isn't a huge Dbag from Cincinnati.
@Scott;
I agree the Coaching bears the majority of the responsibility.
However, some of these guys don't seem to grasp stuff that is taught in little league.
If I see Milledgeville miss another cut off man, and cause a runner to advance, I may have personally see to it that he misses a few games.
I would like to see Russell pull a Jimmy Dugan next time Milledge Idiot misses a cut off!
Actually Russell reminds me of Jimmy Dugan; or at least his first game when he sleeps the entire time.
My comments would be identical to Steve's in that I am from out of town and rarely have the misfortune to actually have to watch a game. I actually switched channels after the Cedeno's pop out. But what puzzles me the most about last nights game is this, with the exception of two bad pitches to "Fonze" the Pirates were in this game. No matter how hard they tried to lose it the Cubs never really looked like they were in control. Are the Cubs really that bad also?
I don't think the Cubs care. at all.
The same can be said of the Pirates. The difference is that most of the players suck and couldn't start elsewhere in the league so they don't play hard and the others play just hard enough to become trade bait and leave this organization.
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