The Pirates slated 2 solid outings and one hideous performance on their way to dropping just their 2nd home series of the season, dropping 2 out of 3 to the N.L Central leading St. Louis Cardinals.
Friday, May 7: The Buccos’ first challenge of the series was to face the once again-rejuvenated Chris Carpenter. The Cardinals’ ace had good stuff on Friday, but it wasn’t the best, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits through 7 innings. The Pirates’ bats were alive, slating a total of 11, but had just as many wasted opportunities, stranding runners, tallying numerous base-running mistakes, and lacked timely hitting. Andrew McCutchen continued his hot streak, going 3-4, while Lastings Milledge and Andy LaRoche each added 2 hits.
The Cardinals took the lead for good in the top of the 9th inning, as Yadier Molina smashed a run scoring double, which capped off his 4-5 performance by knocking in his game-leading 3rd RBI. One of the more frustrating outings lately, the Pirates lost a 1-run game for only the 2nd time this season.
Saturday, May 8: Pirates’ Jeff Karstens pitched a gem on Saturday, giving up only 3 hits in 6 innings of shutout baseball. In all, five Bucco pitchers only gave up 4 hits, and Octavio Dotel slated his 6th save of the season as the Pirates evened up the series, setting up the rubber match on Sunday.
The Pirates’ bats, on the other hand, were much more active, as Jason Jaramillo notched 3 hits, while Ronny Cedeno and Andrew McCutchen added a pair of knocks a piece. This was a good old fashioned pitchers’ dual in truest sense of the word between Karstens and the Red Birds’ starter Jaime Garcia. The Pirates didn’t need much offense, which was fortunate because they certainly didn’t get much in the way of runs. Cedeno singled in the 2nd inning, scoring Steve Pearce, while Jaramillo delivered a HUGE RBI single in the 8th, giving our beloved Buccos an insurance run. As a Pirates fan of…well…forever, I can honestly say that the Pirates can never have too many insurance runs.
Sunday, May 9: As with every Sunday home game, it was kids’ day at PNC Park. It’s always a great tradition for the little tikes to meet their favorite Pirates. Unfortunately, the Pirates played as if they were either Little Leaguers or as though they were hung over from the night before after winning on Saturday night.
Their putrid performance on Sunday erased any positive vibes from their victory the night before. The Pirates lost for the 12th time by more than 6 runs this season. Ugh. Paul Maholm got roughed up in his 3.1 innings of work for 6 runs (4 earned) and 6 hits, suffering his 3rd loss of the season. Joe Mather and Ryan Ludwick each had multi-hit games. The Cardinals first stepped on the gas in 3rd inning with 4 runs, and didn’t let up the entire game, notching 2 runs in the 4th inning and 5 in the 6th on their way to the 11-4 route of our Pirates. The Cardinals leave Pittsburgh today after winning another series against the Buccos.
Despite the awfully embarrassing performance today, the Pirates still find themselves dwindling around the .500 mark. Their extremely competitive first two games against the Cardinals provide further proof that when they get solid pitching from their starting pitchers, the Pirates are a different team. We now welcome the Cincinnatti Reds to PNC Park for a 3 game set starting tomorrow. We all hope the Bucs can wrap up their homestand with a series win against the N.L. Central rivals.
Current Record: 14-17
And…As Always…Let’s Go Bucs!
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