After a relaxing holiday, it’s time to stir up some passion with another edition of The Hot Button, the new feature that marries interactive polls and opinions, with some national topics mixed in.
Among the subjects up for debate and voting: Pittsburgh athlete popularity, how the Pens should be built, Amar’e Stoudemire's $100 million contract, the Summer of LeBron, and baseball’s Midsummer Classic. The message, as always, it delivered on the t-shirt of the trust-fund-powered female depicted below: Vote or die!
PEDRO ALVAREZ hit his second home run in as many days, and Garrett Jones knocked in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Bucs took three of four from the reigning NL Champs, and have now won five of their last seven.
Evan Meek picked up the win, his fourth of the year, in his one inning of relief, and Octavio Dotel threw a scoreless ninth for his 19th save of the season. Starter Jeff Karstens allowed nine hits and five runs in his six innings of work to come away with a no-decision. Delwyn Young and Jones each drove in two runs during the Pirates' momentum-turning six-run 7th inning to aid the cause.
The Pirates have a day off before they take to the road on Tuesday night, as Brad Lincoln (4.65, 1-2) takes on Wandy Rodriguez (5.30, 5-10) in Houston
My take: Quietly, the Pirates have built a little bit of momentum after seemingly hitting rock bottom yet again, and it's welcome news around these parts. Pedro Alvarez is starting to show some power, the starters have had a few nice outings, and for once, the team appeared to actually have fun playing the game on Sunday. Their next opponent, Houston, is having nearly as bad a season as the Pirates, so this upcoming series could provide a rare opportunity for some real momentum.
While a case could certainly be made for Andrew McCutchen, no one is complaining with the choice of Meek, who has had an outstanding season, with a 0.98 ERA, 4-2 record, 42 strikeouts, 11 walks and a .178 opponents' batting average in a staff-high 37 appearances. He is the first Pirate middle-reliever to get an All-Star nod since Mace Brown in 1938.
My take: Meek has emerged as a good story in a sea of unfortunate Pirate tales, and he certainly didn't take the usual path to get where he is. This team always seems to strike gold in the bullpen, and it looks like Neal Huntington has unearthed another gem in Meek, a 2007 Rule 5 draft pick via Tampa Bay.
ROB NIEDERMAYER is the next veteran on the Penguins' radar, according to the PG's Dave Molinari. Niedermayer would potentially fill the third-line center role in the event that either Jordan Staal or Evgeni Malkin is moved to winger, as expected. If things don't work out with Niedermayer, other possibilities on the market include Dominic Moore, Jeff Halpern, John Madden, and Ryan Johnson, many of whom are very familiar with the Pens.
My take: Niedermayer isn't expected to bring much offense to the table (he hasn't scored 20 goals or more since 1995-96), but the numbers could work (he earned $1 million last year for New Jersey) and he brings the presence of an elder statesman, for whatever that's worth to this particular team. If Jordan or Geno make the move to wing, someone's going to have to fill that hole, and given the Pens' budget, it's going to be someone the likes of Niedermayer.
TAKERU KOBAYASHI, one of the world's most prolific competitive eaters, was arrested yesterday when he showed up and rushed the stage at the conclusion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championship in New York, once again won by Joey Chestnut. There was apparently a contractual dispute between Kobayashi and Major League Eating that caused the impasse. And no, I'm not making that up.
My take: The only loser in this was competitive eating fans. Chestnut was not pushed by any of the also-rans making up the field, therefore eliminating any of the drama of previous competitions. He ate "only" 54 hot dogs this year, which is still a lot, but not when you consider he downed 68 at the 2009 event. The Penguins need the Flyers, Batman needs the Joker, and Chestnut needs Kobayashi. Arch-rivals are a necessary evil in life.
I realize the general demographic of the MH audience, but some of you might be old enough to remember a seven-game stretch of baseball known as the 1960 World Series. The games the Pirates won were all relatively close, with finals of 6-4, 3-2, 5-2, and 10-9. The games the Yankees won were decidedly not close: 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0. It was a strange dynamic, and eventually took every last at-bat to decide the series, but things worked in our favor.
One can't help but think of the '60 Bucs series when looking at the early results of the 2010 model, a team that's given up 43 runs in their first four losses while winning games in more dramatic fashion, including a walk-off 4-3 win over Los Angeles last week and a two run ninth-inning to topple the Giants, 6-5, late last night in San Fran.
Aki Iwamura, who homered earlier in the contest, singled to center, scoring Ryan Church for what would be the go ahead run last night in a Pirate ninth that also saw Andy LaRoche go deep. Evan Meek pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Octavio Dotel did his best to make it exciting, surrendering a two-run dinger to Eugenio Valdez in the ninth before closing things out for save #2. Garrett Jones had three hits, two RBI, and the game-ending catch of a scorching line drive to win it for Pittsburgh.
The two teams close things out at 3:45 today, with Charlie Morton and his 21.60 ERA taking on Jonathan Sanchez and his 6.23 ERA. Judging by recent (and 50-year-old) history, it's either going to be a shootout or a blowout, since we got the requisite win out of the way last night.
A trip to Shea Stadium resulted in an exhilarating 13-1 thrashing of Oliver Perez and the Fets (as in the circa-late 80's "Muck the Fets") on Wednesday for YOUR Pittsburgh Pirates.
Perez surrendered two hits, five walks, and seven runs over an inning and 2/3, conjuring up painful memories of his days as a Bucco. Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady led the charge at the plate with three hits each and a combined five runs and six RBI. The sub-Mendoza Line Adam LaRoche and Jose Bautista were a combined 1-for-8, with three strikeouts and eight runners left on...and the Pirates still blew them out.
The Pirates got two-hit ball from the law firm of Gorzelanny, Van Benschoten, and Meek, to go along with eight Ks (and nine walks, but who's counting?) For one afternoon, all wheels were turning.
Of course, there had to be a negative, and here it is: Gorzo left the game after five innings because of tightness in his back, but said he doesn't expect to miss his next start.
The Buccos close April at 11-16, "good" for last place in the NL Central and 2 games behind Texas for the worst record in the majors. Their team batting average is 25th, their ERA 29th (next to last), and their fielding is 30th (last). But other than that, everything's great.
The Pirates open May with a much-anticipated grudge matchup against the 11-17 Washington Nationals on Thursday night at 7:05. The pitching matchup features Zach Duke (0-2) against Odalis Perez (0-3). I'm sure most of you will completely ignore the Penguins' potential clinch game in order to catch this one.
Tom Gorzelanny pitched six innings, yielding six hits, three walks, and three earned runs. Not the greatest performance ever, not the worst performance ever, but he turned the game over to the bullpen with a 3-2 deficit. Big mistake.
In two innings, the Bucco bullpen surrendered seven hits, seven earned runs, and two home runs, as 3-2 became 10-2 in short order. Yikes and gadzooks.
After Monday's opener, in which the bullpen blew the game once (9th inning, five runs) and almost twice (12th inning, two runs), I'm starting to think this may be a big problem.
Damaso Marte's ERA is 81.00. Matt Capps' is 40.50. Evan Meek's is 27.00. A small sample size, yes. But frightening numbers nonetheless.
Unfortunately, the Pirates couldn't muster much against pitcher Jair Jurrjens, who was making his eighth career start and first for Atlanta. Imagine that: the Pirates struggling against an unproven starter. We've never heard that before.
Jurrjens is better known is these parts as the Detroit Tiger prospect who was almost traded for Jack Wilson last year. So he could very easily have been a Pirate. But the Bucs and Tigers failed to make a deal, and Jurrjens eventually got dealt to the Braves as part of the Edgar Renteria deal.
The Pirates' offensive ineptitude was led by...drum roll...Adam LaRoche, who was 0-4 with three LaWhiffs and five runners left on base. He was closely followed by Jose Bautista's 0-4/4 LOB game and Jack Wilson's 0-4 performance.
Next on the Bucco Agenda is a rubber match with Atlanta at 7:10 this evening, as Zach Duke and Mike Hampton begin their Comeback Player of the Year campaigns.
--The Pirates made final tuneups to their championship 2008 roster: P Sean Burnett was sent to Indy; 2B Freddy Sanchez will open the season on the roster despite an inflamed shoulder; relievers Franquelis Osoria, Phil Dumatrait and Rule 5 draft pick Evan Meek made the team; Casey Fossum and Turd Ferguson (aka Jaret Wright) were unconditionally released.
--The Steelers re-signed Nick Eason, meaning that the Booger McFarland ship has probably sailed.
--Five more collegians met with the Steelers: Boston College OT Gosder Chrilus, Texas A&M DL Red Bryant, Kansas fullback Brandon McAnderson, Michigan State RB Jehuu Caulcrick and Hampton DE Kendall Langford.
