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You know sometimes you just need a game where you go out and it falls into place. Last night was that night for me. We had concerns about pitching for the Bucs. And for another night with Ross Ohlendorf on the mound, it looked like we are going to be just fine.
As I listened to the game on 104.7, I was able to gather some nuggets of inspiration…
“He is not afraid of the hitters,” said Bob Walk Gee Bob wonder where he gets that from? Old Joe Kerrigan had Ross Ohlendorf throwing at dummies years ago. Ohlendorf was going after the Braves. “He is not going to fail because he won’t go after the hitters,” Walk said.
Ross has proved he has no fear. He has been stellar this spring with 0BB and 10K’s. Remember, this is the same pitcher that has shown this isnt just a flash, not a one time highlight. He has been consistent throughout camp. Ten days ago, he also sparkled against the Yanks on with 4IP and no hits allowed.
When Ross came to the plate tonight, Brian Bixler was on first base with one out. Everyone in the park knew what he was going to do. Ross got his bunt down moving Bixler to scoring position. ” You can’t do it better, perfect speed, excellent direction,” said Walk. Greg Brown chimed in about the Pirates pitchers receiving hitting instruction this Spring. Ohlendorf is asking so many questions to Tony Beasley. (The regular Rumbunter readers know from past posts that Beasley has been working on the pitchers hitting. Bob Walk has made a point to share it on broadcasts.) Beasley apparently had been telling the broadcasting crew that Ross was asking him a ton of questions about hitting. You know ” he was a Princeton kid” said Greg Brown.
He does it all well. If this man genius known as Ohlendorf can apply all that brain power, builds on his confidence, and has some success early this season…oh my.
Ross had his ‘get me over’ curveball and his A1best curve working against the Braves. (Facing Schafer in third: Get me over curve strike one, A1 Curveball strike two, 93 mph fastball, K.) Last season he was a two pitch pitcher, and was highly predictable with his pitch selection. Times have changed Pirates fans.
McCann led off the fourth with a first pitch single. Francoeur hits a hard one hopper to Bixler for a double play. Two down. SS Escobar fly ball to corner in right and Craig Monroe catches it. Braves scoreless through five.
Ross would add a sixth scoreless inning on the night and finish 0R 0ER 6IP 3K. His ERA was lowered to a microscopic .59. (He gave up a run against Houston-and also the Netherlands) He had ten groundouts and five flyball outs on the night. You think we found our #4?
Let me know your thoughts…
PS..If you haven’t had a chance to log onto the PBC Blog on postgazette, I encourage you to do so. http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/pbc/default.aspx There are some amazing fans gathered on the site and I have really enjoyed hanging out (be certain to check out all the avatars that JAL monitors) I trust you will have as much fun as I have had with all of our fans in the asylum. I will touch more on it later in the season. Right now, I am enjoying our 14th win of the Spring. I like this above .500 stuff… and then I just read the story about Tabata’s wife? I seriously trust this is some kind of prank.