Motivated Kevin Correia Gives Pittsburgh Pirates Exactly What They Needed
By Tom Smith
Don’t look now, but the pitcher who was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen at the trade deadline, demanded to be traded, and was placed back in the rotation only because of injury is pitching better than most of the 18 pitchers on the roster. Pittsburgh Pirates starter Kevin Correia has a lot of motivation to pitch well down the stretch for the Bucs.
Correia is as competitive as anyone I’ve met. The Bucs right hander has a baby on the way, and his Pittsburgh Pirates are somehow in the middle of a race for a wild card spot.
One would think the wild card spot would motivate most anyone on the team, but if you heard James McDonald talk the other night, maybe that’s not the case.
The California kid will become a free-agent at the end of the season and last night he pitched like a man on a mission. He struck out the side in the first inning and never looked back. The Pirates raised the jolly roger with a 3-0 shutout over the Chicago Cubs. Correia, Jason Grilli, and Joel Hanrahan combined to put the Cubs in the rear view mirror and set up a showdown at PNC Park tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers.
In Correia’s last 31.2 innings pitched he has allowed 30 hits and just seven earned runs. He has won nine of his past twelve decisions. In his past sixteen starts, Correia has pitched 93.2 innings and gave up 42 earned runs in his past 17 starts.
Correia lost five straight starts from the end of April until May 20. In his past 17 starts he has been charged with three or fewer runs 14 times. The Bucs are 12-5 in those games.
Woooooooooooooooooooo!