The Pittsburgh Pirates lost their third in a row, this one in heartbreaking fashion, to the Texas Rangers last night by a 6-5 final.
That's 14 road losses in a row and 15 losses in their last 17 games for the Battlin' Bucs, who are now 25-47 and dead last in the NL Central, 15 games back of St. Louis. That's a .347 winning percentage, which puts them on pace for 56 wins in a 162-game season. Only the Baltimore Orioles, at 20-52/.278, are worse.
That's 14 road losses in a row and 15 losses in their last 17 games for the Battlin' Bucs, who are now 25-47 and dead last in the NL Central, 15 games back of St. Louis. That's a .347 winning percentage, which puts them on pace for 56 wins in a 162-game season. Only the Baltimore Orioles, at 20-52/.278, are worse.
Jeff Karstens, who apparently is the Pirates' new ace, kept the Rangers in check for the better part of the night, giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. But in the end, it was Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single off the freshly-recalled Steven Jackson with two outs in the ninth that would do the Pirates in, giving the Rangers a three-game sweep of the series.
The Pirates displayed some internal strife during the sixth inning, when coach Gary Varsho, Lastings Milledge, and Bobby Crosby got into a heated discussion over a botched hit-and-run - Milledge was thrown out at second and Crosby didn't swing. Varsho and Milledge had to eventually be separated, and Milledge said something to Crosby as they took the field in the next inning.
The sad part is that the Bucs actually hit the ball well, with 14 hits on the night. Five players in the lineup had multiple hits, while Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones had three each. Pedro Alvarez added a double and 2 RBI, and Crosby continued his hot week with two hits. On the down side, four players struck out multiple times, and four players left three or more runners on base. So to say the Pirates blew a few opportunities would be a fair statement.
The Bucs try to set their problems aside and get back on the right track tonight in Oakland, as Brad Lincoln (0-1, 6.50) takes on Ben Sheets (2-7, 4.95) at 10:07 Eastern.The A's have lost seven of eight and have scored only 20 runs in those games, so this might be an interesting matchup.
A few Pirate notes:
-P Daniel Moskos and OF Alex Presley were both promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis yesterday after standout 2010 seasons so far with Double-A Altoona.
Moskos, the Curve's closer, has 17 saves and 30 strikeouts in 31 innings, while allowing just five earned runs and nine walks. His fastball has been closed as high as 96 mph.
Presley was leading the Eastern League with a .350 batting average and seven triples through 67 games, with 13 doubles, six homers and 47 RBIs to boot. Prior to this season, Presley spent two seasons at the high-A level.
-On Tuesday, P Chris Jakubauskas pitched in his first game since being struck on the head by a line drive in late April. He walked one and struck out five in three innings of work for the GCL Pirates, allowing four earned runs and six hits.
-Aki Iwamura will officially report to Indianapolis today and split time playing 2B and 3B, according to Neal Huntington.
-Daniel McCutchen will start for the Pirates on Saturday vs. the A's, but that will not be official until after tonight's game, allowing the Bucs to use an 8-man bullpen. In three starts with the Bucs earlier this season, McCutchen allowed 18 earned runs on 19 hits in 12 innings. At Indy, he was 4-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 10 games.
-Peter Gammons appeared with Seibel and Starkey on Thursday and named Buck Showalter and Eric Wedge as managerial candidates for the Pirates. He also weighed in on the team's recent PR nightmares and the debate over Stephen Strasburg and the All-Star Game.
