Party Like It’s 1999, Pittsburgh Pirates Back At .500

Jeff Karstens attacked in Houston.

We gave the Astros a huge warning earlier today.  The Pittsburgh Pirates right hander fired 6.2 innings of shutout baseball.  It was a masterful game for Karstens as the California kid and the Pirates defeated the Astronauts 1-0.

Neil Walker showed some nice signs at the plate with a leadoff second inning hit to the opposite field.  Hometown moved to second on a Bud Norris pitch that went to the backstop.

With nobody out, Garrett Jones then destroyed a 3-0 pitch from Norris to give the Bucs their one and only run of the night.  Karstens and company took care of the rest.

Karstens allowed three hits.  Karstens allowed no walks.

It’s getting old.  Just look at his 2.14 ERA in his last ten starts.   Look at the earned runs he has allowed in those past ten starts, it’s a beautiful thing.

Last night: Zero Earned Runs

Arizona: Zero Earned Runs

Phillies:  One Earned Runs

Two

Two

One

Two

One

Three

Two

Three

Karstens cruised through the Astros lineup, he held Hunter Pence hitless and later in the game Pence would lose his MLB leading hitting streak.  The Pirates defense was strong behind Karstens and the bullpen.   Hurdle mentioned the pitching staff has been able to command the zone well.  By doing this, the Pirates can set their defense and it’s obviously working well.  Karstens turned it over to Tony Watson who faced one batter and got the job done.

Tim Wood and Jose Veras reversed spots from the last time, this time Wood put two Astros on the bags.

The right hander was lifted for Jose Veras, who batttled, but got the game to Joel Hanrahan when Jose Tabata grabbed a flyball in the left field corner.

We’ve come to learn it’s over after the Hanranator enters the game.  Six pitches was all it took for Mr. Perfect last night with a great grab by Ronny Cedeno for the final out.

The win set the Bucs record at .500 for the latest time in a season since 1999.  God, that doesn’t seem possible.

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"Left knee.  He did it early in the game.  Ray and I thought he wasn’t finishing the pitches the same way, so we got him out of there.  HurdleHe came in on a mission.  Hurdle on Jose VerasI’ve always been really tough on myself.  This is what I want to do, but I understand there are only five spots.  Jeff Karstens"