Costly Mistakes in Eighth Inning Send Pirates To 6-4 Defeat

by Zane Heiple

Photo By Getty Images

Tonight was one of those nights for the Pittsburgh Pirates that have become few and far between this year, but nonetheless still painful to watch.  While it may only be July, some of us feel that we can’t take games too seriously this time of year, but this team still needs to put games away against a team with the caliber of play as the Houston Astros.

The Pirates did have some great plays on defense and collected three solo home runs from Neil Walker, Lyle Overbay, and Brandon Wood.  The offense started out slow on the night as they stranded five base runners in the first two innings and while the box score showed eleven hits on the night, seven of those came from Walker and Mike McKenry.

The defense for Pittsburgh seemed sloppy all night.  In the second inning Garrett Jones had trouble getting to a fly ball hit by Jason Michaels, fortunately that did not cause any damage.  The damage did come one batter later when McKendry and Maholm appeared to get a pitch crossed up and the ball went to the back stop, allowing Carlos Lee to score.  McKendry appeared to be in position to catch the ball, and then looked like he could have made a throw to make it interesting at home plate.  McKendry then appeared to have a shot at throwing out Hunter Pence at third base in the eighth inning, but he either lost his grip on the ball or was not comfortable throwing to Brandon Wood as he was running to get in position for the throw.  Pence would then score the tying run on a Brett Wallace fielder's choice.  There was a play at the plate and after watching all the replays, the call could have gone either way.

Paul Maholm, who started for the Buccos, had a below average start from what we are used to seeing from him in 2011.  He would leave the game after only going five innings allowing three runs on nine hits, to go with three strikeouts and one walk.  He left the game with a one run lead and early on it looked like it might hold up, as Daniel McCutchen and Chris Resop set down all three batters they faced.  The problem came in the eighth when Jose Veras came to the mound.  He would walk the leadoff man and it went downhill from there as the Astros put three runs on the board and would win 6-4.

Tonights game was roller coaster with a bad ending.  I am confident that Pittsburgh will play better tomorrow, since they seem to save their worst outings for when Maholm is on the hill.  While it may not be a must win tomorrow, it is an important game.  Kevin Correia is on the hill for the Pirates, while Wandy Rodriguez will pitch for the Astros.  First pitch is scheduled for 2:05.

Record vs. Astros:  8-3
Record vs. N.L. Central:  21-13
Road Record:  25-21
Overall Record:  48-44

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Karstens, Bullpen Shutout Astros

by Zane Heiple

Photo by AP

After a 6-4 home stand, the Pittsburgh Pirates headed to Texas for a three game series with their division rivals the Houston Astros.  While the Astros have the worst record in baseball, Minute Maid Park was not kind to the Buccos in 2010, where they posted a 0-9 record.  Jeff Karstens would be given the task of getting their 2011 campaign in Houston off to a winning start, while Bud Norris would counter for the Stros. 

Garrett Jones got the Pirates on the board with no outs in the second inning, when he hit a single to right field that scored Neil Walker. 

That would be the only run of support Karstens would receive in his 6.2 innings pitched tonight.  He would strikeout three, while only giving up three hits.  Chris Resop would come out of the bullpen and strike out the only batter he would face to close out the seventh.  The Astros also had a strong outing from their starter.  Norris would finish his day pitching seven innings allowing one run on six hits, while striking out nine and walking two. 

The Pirates would use three pitchers in the eighth inning to collect the three needed outs.  After walking a batter to put runners on first and second with one out, Jose Veras would be able to get Jason Michaels and Michael Bourn to fly out to end the threat.  The Houston bullpen would shutdown Pittsburgh’s offense as they would not give up a hit in two innings of work.

A 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth set the stage for Joel Hanrahan to close out the game.  He would collect his 18^th save of the year by getting the first two batters to ground out and then Ronny Cedeno made a diving catch to finish of the win for the Buccos.

Another great night by the pitching staff led the Pirates to victory.  Hanrahan collected his 18^th save tonight, the Buccos surpassed their 2010 road wins total tonight with their 18^th road win for this season, and Pittsburgh once again is at the .500 mark.  Hopefully Pittsburgh can get over the .500 mark and stay there starting tomorrow when these two teams battle again at 8:05.  Charlie Morton will take the ball to the hill tomorrow for the Pirates.

Record vs. Astros:  3-1
Record vs. N.L. Central:  14-10
Record on the Road:  18-15
Overall Record:  33-33

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!