tough losses two days in a row

eh well 5-5 is not bad for this team

Most importantly, they now have a day off finally in order to give their relief pitching something resembling a break. I'd guess Karstens will take Ohlendorf's place in the rotation until he returns.

And an extended break after a rainout tonight. I think the Cubs got crunched by the Astros, so the tie for second place is down to the Pirates and Brewers now, if that means anything...lol.

It is oddly invigorating to be 10 games into the season and talking about a series that has legit early-season positioning implications. Get swept and they're in the dregs unless they sweep the Reds. Pull off a sweep and they're 8-5 and likely not far off the Reds making this weekend fun and interesting for both teams. Win or lose 2-1 and they'll probably need to win at least two against the Reds on the road to not fall 4-6 games off the pace.

Bucs haven't fared well against the Brewers the last couple of years. Wasn't there a 20-0 game last year vs. the Brew Crew? And something like a 17 game losing streak to them broken last year?

Yes. In recent times, Milwaukee vs. Pittsburgh has been the baseball equal of a 20-on-1 gangbang with the Pirates being the chick. That's something that I hope changes. Or at least, Ryan Braun gets beaned. I'll settle for that.

Yesterday seems to have sucked, getting four-hit by the Brewers or something like that. Correia was great for five innings, but got shelled after that. Hopefully, Maholm can right the ship tonight and break the current three-game losing streak against Randy Wolf, who has stunk so far this year.

Another boffo offensive effort tonight. Maholm was excellent after a rocky first inning, but is continuing to look like a hard-luck pitcher of the year candidate. Off the top of my head, I can't remember if he fell to 0-2 or 0-3, but his ERA is in the low 2s. At the plate, they didn't string anything together until the bottom of the ninth, but still only got one run off a wild pitch.

Kinda funny. Last year, they were almost .500 at home, but unbelievably horrible on the road. Right now, they're 4-2 on the road and 1-5 at home. Three of those five losses could have gone either way, but a few of those road wins could have, too.

Tomorrow's worrisome. The best hope is that Arroyo has a complete meltdown, which has happened from time to time, especially in the early parts of the season. He's had two strong starts, which means he might be due for a shit one. However, he's a crafty pitcher. That means that if he doesn't have a meltdown appearance, he'll utterly dominate the Pirates. And a lot of their big guys are slumping B-A-D-L-Y right now. Pittsburgh's best hope is that Morton keeps it close (a possibility as he's been great so far this year at keeping the ball on the ground, which would negate Cincy's huge power advantage) and hope Dusty gives Masset another 8th inning hold opportunity.

Damn, I was hoping the wheels wouldn't fall off.....especially this early.

I'll be happy winning 1 game in Cincy.

GoPens;741855 wrote:I'll be happy winning 1 game in Cincy.

Both Saturday and Sunday at least have some degree of legit potential. Volquez seems to start horribly (although MacDonald also did in his last start) and Leake sucked in his last start. Tonight looks like another no-offense performance, as Arroyo dominates the Pirates regularly. The team's only real hope is that Morton's sinker is working, so he induces ground ball outs AND Arroyo (due to mono) can't go too late into the game to give them a chance of doing something against the Reds relief.

Great night tonight! Not only was Morton masterful, only giving up one ninth-inning homer in a 4-1 complete game win, but the offense stepped up in a 6-1 win highlighted by a two-run blast by Walker and a solo by Jones. A lot of hits against Arroyo, who's been dominant against them recently. Great showing.

Now 8-8 after finishing off the Reds in style, Pittsburgh travels to Florida to start a series tonight.

Paul Maholm is the hard-luck pitcher on the team, with an 0-2 record despite a low 2 ERA. Therefore, he gets to take on Josh Johnson tonight. Johnson is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA. Maholm might be reaching "poor bastard" status as far this season is going.

Oh well...it was good while it lasted. Back to reality for the Bucs. Lose 6-0 to Florida, Maholm chased after 3 2/3 innings.

Figured Johnson would shut them down.

two more against Florida and three against the Nats

I'd take one in Florida and two against the Nats for an 11-11 mark

Damn. Bad sports night for me.

Yeah, Johnson was Johnson last night (utterly dominant) and Maholm was the "Bad Paul" we've all grown to know and love over the past few years.

Last night also sucked. Morton looked like 2010 Morton giving up 6 in 5 innings. And Nolasco dominated the Pirates as much as Johnson did. One more chance to look like a real MLB team against Florida tonight. Which would entail James MacDonald deciding tonight's the night to stop sucking.

6-0 two games in a row? Here we go...

Pirates claimed SS Brandon Wood off waivers from the Angels

former first round pick and highly touted prospect, he's been awful in the majors but showed a lot of power coming up through the minors, including a 43-HR season at high-A ball

Non;747728 wrote:Pirates claimed SS Brandon Wood off waivers from the Angels

former first round pick and highly touted prospect, he's been awful in the majors but showed a lot of power coming up through the minors, including a 43-HR season at high-A ball

Not something I like. From what I read, he has no clue about the strike zone (K/BB ratio abysmal) and his power numbers have been inflated by playing in big-time minor league hitters' parks.

From the SB Nation blog I read for the Pirates.

Wood obviously has legitimate power, but his impressive-looking minor-league record is mostly the product of spending nearly his whole career in two of the craziest hitting environments in the minors - the southern portion of the California League (where he hit 43 homers as a 20-year-old in Rancho Cucamonga) and the Mountain-Time-Zone portion of the Pacific Coast League (where he logged a ton of time as a member of the Salt Lake Bees).

And even in those wacky offensive contexts, Wood exhibited serious strike-zone issues, often striking out nearly three times as much as he walked. That tendency has eaten him alive in the majors, and the awful numbers he has posted there probably aren't a fluke, as he now has 153 strikeouts and 13 walks in 172 major-league games. Those are the numbers of a guy who simply has no idea what he's doing at the plate. And the problem doesn't seem to be getting better. In 2010, he had 71 strikeouts and six walks; this year he has eight strikeouts and no walks. Wood at been at Class AAA since the Reagan administration, so it isn't like he has been rushed to the big leagues, and not once has he put up big-league numbers that show even a glimmer of hope.

Sounds like he'll fit right in!

Non;747775 wrote:Sounds like he'll fit right in!

LOL...yeah. I read a blurb saying this sounds like the perfect match: The Pirates and a former elite prospect who is now looked at as the worst hitter of his generation.

Good win tonight. Washington's shitty defense allowed three unearned runs (of five overall) in the first inning and the Pirates rolled to a 7-2 win. Quality start (6IP, 2ER) by Karstens, Resop was GREAT getting out of a 1st/3rd/nobody out situation in the seventh, good offensive games by McCutchen, Tabata, Overbay, Cedeno (at least).

Only negatives are that Walker's still slumping (down to .240 with a no-hit performance, although I read that Werth robbed him with a great catch on a good blast) and Alvarez, while getting an RBI on a ground-out, still is struggling with the bat, getting no hits.

Tonight, Pittsburgh might try to take a 2-1 series win over Washington in the finale of the three-gamer. Weather might be a determining factor on what happens, as radar maps show rain on the way. Hopefully it will be dying down by game-time, though, so things go as scheduled.

Maholm and his inconsistencies will start for Pittsburgh, while John Lannon, who seems to struggle lasting more than 5 innings, will be the man for Washington.

Pirates down 2-0 in the 2nd.