Pirates Win Fourth in a Row. Who Is This Team?

An Adam LaRoche two-out double into the right field corner stretched the Bucs win streak to four.  His hit saved a game that started with the Bucs jumping to a 3-0 lead that elicited emails and text that included the highlight by PJ who texted, ”who is this team?” 

We always scream for timely hits at Rumbunter.  I want to be the first to formally thank the Pittburgh Pirates Baseball Club for delivering those timely hits this evening.

I’m afraid the Pirates of years gone by could have easily let this game slip away.  It didn’t happen tonight.  1BLaRoche should be praised for that, just  like the fans that love Doug M preached, ”it’s the people in the dugout’s leadership that make the difference.”  Well look no further than Big Buck Hunter Adam who stepped up tonight when we needed the timely hit.

It’s easy to ask for a sweep from the Pirates against the Nats.  The truth is, this Nationals team can hit.  For anything close to a sweep to occur, the Bucs will need to continue to jump on this Nats ball club early and often.  Having the top of the pitching staff on the bump the rest of the way will help, but it’s not a given the Bucs will sweep.

It’s shocking that 18K plus were in Nats Park tonight.  Friday night against the world champion, fresh from the White House Phillies, the stands were noticeably empty.  Of the forty suites on the third base line, we were the sole occupants.  Thanks for the attention during the evening Nats staff.

Tonight, the Bucs bats were again ignited by the Pyromanics in the Nats bullpen as they scored three runs in the tenth inning.  This time ex-Buc/ex-Duke Joe Beimel was the man with the gas can that gave Tom Gorzelanny his first major-league victory as a reliever, an 8-5 nailbitter before 18,000+ at Nats Park.

Gorzelanny (1-0) struck out Willie Harris looking in the ninth to escape a potential Chinese finger trap as the bases were juiced with two away.  Gorzo pitched a 1-2-3 10th inning to earn the win.

Beimel (0-3) took the 14th loss in 15 decisions for the Nationals pyros bullpen.

Good Luck with that Strasburg pick Nats.

How hot is Brandon Moss?  The average jumped to .261

Nyjer with the sac bunt that sets up the win.  Perfection!

Defense Wins–after making three errors in the Opener, and five in their first three games, the Bucs have made the second fewest errors in the NL with 12.

Pittsburgh is tied for second in fielding pct. and has not made more than one miscue in a game since the Opener.

Will Gorzo get to stay with the Bucs and head to his hometown of  Chicago?   Not sure if you heard GM Neil on the show Sunday, but he said Gorzo was ”the only option” to bring up while the team worked through this stretch.  Thanks Boss.

Gotta love Tom G’s approach to this bullpen endeavor.  How uncomfortable is that situation for Jeff  ‘I nabbed your paycheck’  Karstens tonight?

Is Gorzo up from AAA to make Karstens focus?  Nah, don’t think so, but it sure helps.  Too bad he didn’t scare Evan Meek.  Three walks in an inning Evan and nobody scored?

How much has this team changed?  We need to dig deeper into this in future posts….but really…who is this team?

We believe it is a much improved team over the one on May 20 last year, but there are some dynamics changes.  Call it a re-commitment, call it new coaches, call it all the peripheral ‘stuff’ that one can’t put a finger on.  It certainly isn’t measurable, well not on the surface anyway.  Many statistics suggest the Pirates were the only team to improve their major league club in the NL Central.  It certainly is hard to measure but something….something  really is different.

Is the talent enough to reach.500?  The statistics certainly scream it won’t happen, but I tell you, it feels a little different and it might not be there yet, but…..

Anyway, back to our point.

At this point last season,  Paul Maholm had lost his fifth game and the Bucs were 21-24 and preparing to fade away.  The Brewers had smacked a 7-2 win on the board before jerking their shirt tails out of their pants.  The pitching staff continued to struggle and the bottom was just a few weeks away with the Bay, Nady, etc trades.

Do you feel like this Pirates team will fade?  We sure don’t.  Look at this lineup from last year….

Pittsburgh Pirates           AB   R   H RBI   BB  SO    BA   OPS  Pit  Str   PO   A  Details
F Sanchez 2B                  4   0   1   0    0   1  .260  .633   24   19    2   3   2B
J Bautista 3B                 3   0   0   0    1   1  .223  .671   18   10    1   2
N McLouth CF                  4   1   0   0    0   1  .299  .989   27   15    1   0
J Bay LF                      3   1   1   2    1   0  .260  .888   17    8    2   0   HR
X Nady RF                     4   0   2   0    0   0  .313  .866   17   14    5   1
A LaRoche 1B                  3   0   0   0    1   2  .203  .642   33   21    5   0
R Paulino C                   4   0   1   0    0   1  .220  .554   13    9    9   1
B Bixler SS                   4   0   1   0    0   1  .175  .441   17   11    2   3
P Maholm P                    2   0   0   0    0   1  .133  .483   10    6    0   0   GDP
  S Burnett P                 0   0   0   0    0   0                          0   0
  L Rivas PH                  1   0   0   0    0   0  .219  .492    2    2    0   0
  M Salas P                   0   0   0   0    0   0                          0   0
Totals                       32   2   6   0    3   8              178  115   27  10

Doesn’t that make you feel better?

 A nice move by Cory Giger with the Mirror.  He headed down to Frederick yesterday to look at Pedro’s first year in the pro ranks.  Richie Hebner who manages the Keys’ got a nice look at Pedro.  Read the link for his candid comments. [Altoona Mirror]

The Brewers need a second baseman  [ESPN]