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Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – Pirates need to play to win

By Tyler Waite |

Welcome to the Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call, a daily feature here at RumBunter.com. Every morning at 9 AM, one of us will give you our random thoughts on the goings-on around the Pirates’ organization, and we’ll throw out a few links to some good Pirates-related items from around the web as well.

Playing not to lose?

Even before the game started yesterday afternoon, one thing stood out: the lineup. Yes, the Pirates were facing a lefty. And yes, players need time off occasionally. But the lineup that the Pirates fielded yesterday wasn’t one that the team should have put out in a pennant chase, and especially against the team that they’re trying to catch in the division. First, Aramis Ramirez probably should have been on the field. But instead, the team went with Jordy Mercer and Jung Ho Kang. Yes, Charlie Morton was pitching, so this choice makes some sense, but offense trumps defense in a pennant race, so even with Morton on the mound, Ramirez probably should have been on the lineup card.

Some other decisions didn’t make sense as well. Pedro Alvarez has a .283/.309/.472 line against lefities this season, but even knowing that, Clint Hurdle probably went with Michael Morse because of Morton’s ground ball tendencies, and Pedro’s poor defense. Again, offense trumps defense this late in the season in a pennant race. The most confusing decisions of all, though, were the choices to play Chris Stewart at catcher and Sean Rodriguez in right field. No, Francisco Cervelli can’t catch every game. But if he’s going to be given a night off, give him one against a team that’s not the Cardinals, or when Gerrit Cole is pitching (Cole and Stewart were a great match that probably shouldn’t have been meddled with). And although Sean Rodriguez went 3-4 on the day, and is better than Polanco against lefties, Polanco isn’t a platoon player. He’s going to be starting in a playoff game against a lefty, so why not give him the time against lefties before the postseason starts?

The point is, if you’re going to make drastic lineup changes, don’t do it against the Cardinals. Or else your offense lays an egg like it did on Saturday. Offense always trumps defense in a playoff push.

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Looking forward to Sunday Night

The Pirates and Cardinals will face off in their series finale on Sunday night on ESPN, in what will be another monumental game in the pennant chase. Hopefully the Pirates’ lineup will be better than it was on Saturday. That would mean Ramirez at third, Polanco in right, and Stewart at catcher, back to catching Cole like he did for the majority of the season. And this game will be the difference between 5.5 games back and 7.5 games back. The Pirates, with a win or a loss tonight, will need some major help in the final few weeks before the playoffs start if they still dream of catching the Cardinals. They still have three games left against them later this month, and winning all of these next four games could put them in a good place to make that dream come true.

Around the net

From the Tribune-Review, Rob Biertempfel notes that J.A. Happ is providing a boost to a rotation that is faltering around him. Definitely check it out.

In a non-Pirates story, some news that has taken a national form is that about Matt Harvey, who is closing in on his innings limit, which could affect whether or not he pitches in the playoffs. And Harvey isn’t fighting this limit. Here’s a piece from CBS Sports about this situation that’s a good read.

And in an intriguing piece from the Post-Gazette, the life of a September call-up (in this case, Jaff Decker) is outlined. Give it a read here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates need Sunday night’s game. Let’s hope they get it done.

Next: The importance of AJ Burnett's return

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