Pittsburgh Pirates Caffeine: Three Wins In The Book; Two Big Games Left To Complete Jump Start

There could easily be an argument

made that the Pittsburgh Pirates had some luck over the first four games of the 2011 season.  Lady luck went against them, and she has been with them thus far on the opening road trip of 2011.  Regardless, the Pirates are hitting the ball better than this core of talented young players ever has.

And the starting pitching has backed it up.

But for me, the big games are tonight and tomorrow.  Two studs the Pirates have had difficulty facing will be on the mound in the next 48 hours at Busch.  The Pirates counter with James McDonald, who was effective last season, but has been sidelined with an oblique for parts of spring training.  The Pirates say he is healthy.  Then the biggest test will be tomorrow when Kevin Correia gets to battle Chris Carpenter.  Gulp.

The bottom of the Red Bull can:

The next 48 hours will help decide just how pumped Pirates fans will be for the opening series against the Rockies.  Which will it be for the Bucs faithful?  Off the charts (5-1,) cautiously optimisitic (4-2,) or same old Buccos (3-3.)

Either way, Thursday can’t get here fast enough.

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We have never sugarcoated our feelings toward Cory Giger. He sucks at making college football predictions, but he excels at writing. That’s why he made our Pirates Caffeine this morning.

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Kipper brings up a great point, when the Pirates had 16 hits for the first time since 1920, something good is happening. The fact they were all singles doesn’t bother me in the least, Matt Garza was on the mound. 16 hits is 16 hits. Mom said.

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Pat Lackey takes a detailed look at Charlie Morton’s outing.

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Cardinals fans are sad today. Let’s trust it stays that way. [My favorite line…a scarce crowd announced at 32,007]

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Gerritt Cole is pumping fastballs to the tune of 57 strikeouts in 48 innings this season. Oh yeh, and he isn’t talking to newspapers.

"Cole refused to speak with The New York Times, not even about his performance Friday, which dropped his earned run average to 2.06 in seven starts, with 57 strikeouts and 10 walks in 48 innings. He has also turned down interview requests from newspapers that cover the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seattle Mariners, who hold the first two selections.Clipped from: www.nytimes.com (share this clip) Follow RumBunter on TwitterClipped from: rumbunter.com (share this clip)"