Pirates Fight Hard, Lose To Reds In Extra Innings

The Pittsburgh Pirate had a dramatic comeback loss last night against the NL Central leading Reds.  The Bucs lost 4-3 in extra innings.  Seriously, how do the Pirates youth continue to fight against the pennant contenders?  Say whatever you will, this team is not quitting.  It would be easy to give up on this awful season.  Sure, a few of these players are playing for the sole purpose of increasing trade value, however a few of them are playing for pride.  It was glaringly evident last night. 

The young core of the Pirates refuses to go away.  It’s a shimmer of hope in a dark, dank season for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Frankly, I like what I see from the youngsters.  It’s obvious to me that Andrew McCutchen is feeling the pain of the losses.  From our untrained eye, we have to believe nagging injuries are hurting his production.

However, the ninth inning comeback by the Pirates was a vivid picture of what this team can possibly (big word) achieve with an injection of talent in 2011.  The question remains, where will that talent come from next year?

The magic number for the Pirates is down to just 15 which would clinch the worst record in MLB and the number one pick in next year’s draft.

Birthday boy Neil Walker extended his MLB leading hitting streak to 16 games.  Paul Maholm also pitched well throwing seven innings before turning it over to an effective Pirates bullpen.

Chan Ho Park was Jenna Jamison filthy.  And until Will Ledezma collapsed, the Bucs showed enough guts to pull out a victory.  Indeed, the worst team in MLB  played hard enough to steal a victory until Chris Snyder dropped a throw from Ronny Cedeno with the bases full of Reds and nobody out.

I think I have lost my mind.  Somewhere Aki Iwamura is having a smoke wondering what the hell happened in 2010.