Better Late Than Never

Kevin Correia had a chance to become the winningest pitcher in all of Major League Baseball going into last night's matchup with the ailing Mets. It looked like he may have been heading for some trouble early, but Cutch flat out robbed J-Bay and made one of the better catches I have seen from him with 2 outs and a man on 3rd in the bottom of the first. This one required Mr. Sunshine to change his pants between innings. While the defense had Correia's back, the offense was having trouble getting anything done against veteran Chirs  Capuano. The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the 4th inning, when the Mets struck first with Ruben Tejada's 2-run single staking them to a 2-0 lead.

As the game wore on, it appeared as if KC was going to have to wait for his 8th win and another splendid outing from a starting pitcher would turn out all for not. Then came the 7th inning and as is the case with anything involving Pirates baseball, you are to always expect the unexpected. It started off innocuously enough, with Cutch notching his second infield single of the game. The Pride of PR followed with a bunt single and Matt Diaz followed that with a dribbler that resulted in a 3rd straight IF single, loading the bases. The Red Hot Chris Snyder followed suit with the 4th IF single of the inning when SS Tejada decided to try and get Walker at 3rd with his grounder, but failed. Cutch scored cutting the score to 2-1. The Bucs weren't done, though. Overpaid smacked a liner to center that a diving Angel Pagan couldn't corral and the Pride of PR trotted home to tie the game while leaving the bases loaded and 0 outs. Cedeno was next, but he fanned, forcing Jake Taylor to pull KC and go to Xavier Paul to PH. Paul came through with an RBI single to right and was followed by Tabata, who reached based on a run scoring Fielder's Choice, giving the Bucs a 4-2 lead. Josh Harrison kept the party going with the Pirates FIFTH, that's right folks FIFTH, infield single of the inning, scoring Overpaid and increasing the lead to 5-2. That, folks is Pirates baseball! 5 infield singles in one inning.

Future All Star Chris Resop worked a 1-2-3 7th and the Bucs came up to bat in the 8th looking to pad their lead. After a walk to Walker, Zach Duke's Twin   Brandon Wood doubled him home for a 6-2 lead. Snyder was hit by a pitch and Overpaid singled again, driving in Wood. I am starting to think of lifting the Overpaid nickname. Cedeno walked to load the bases and Paul came through with another RBI single stretching the lead to 8-2. After Tabata hit into yet another FC, GI Jones hit a PH sac fly for a 9-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. The Guy Who Cried came on in the 8th, getting the first out before getting abused again, this time giving up a HR to Justing Turner and a double to Beltran in consecutive at bats. He managed to K J-BAy but was pulled in favor of 1st round draft pick Matt Weiters Daniel Moskos, who got Daniel Murphy to line out to end the threat.

Walker singled in the top of the 9th but a FC and line drive DP ended the top half, giving the Bucs a chance to preserve KC's 8th W of the season. Jose Ascanio worked a relatively uneventful 9th to seal the deal and give the Bucs a second straight W, final score Bucs 9, Mets 3.

Player of the Game: This is tough with Paul, Correia, Overpaid, and Cutch all making a strong case. I will go with Cutch. He was 3 for 5 and scored the Bucs first run but also may have saved the game with his highlight reel diving snag in the first.

Headscratcher of the Game: 5 infield singles in one inning! Wow.

Facepalm of the Game: I guess for the Mets, giving up 5 runs in an inning where only 2 balls left the infield and neither were HR's would suffice as a face palm moment.

It's June 2nd and the 26-28 Pirates have the Major League leader in wins. Today, they have a chance to surpass the total number of road wins they had for ALL of last season and to pull within 1 game of .500. The Mets are a depleted team and the Bucs actually took advantage. Lately, the bounces and breaks have really been going our way. This catching Lightning in a Bottle idea looks like it might be taking form. However, next up after the Mets is a 3 game set against the Phillies and that could be a season destroyer.

It's polarizing to be a Bucs fans right now and for many reasons. You want to embrace the idea that this team is hanging around yet you almost WANT them to fail to make the FO look bad. In that same breath, you also can't get your hopes up because we all remember the 30-30 followed by 37-65 season. I guess if we are at a point where we are rooting against this team, maybe we have lost our way? Actually not, this team hasn't won anything and they are still 2 games below .500. This ownership group has done nothing to earn anybody's trust. Kevin Correia, Paul Maholm, and Lyle Overpaid look like they are shaping up nicely to be shipped out of here next month. Anybody who thinks that is piling on really and truly is a FO plant. If this team SOMEHOW manages to contend for a playoff spot and I am behind them, Nutters can call me a bandwagon fan all they want. My first and only priority with this blog is and always has been seeing respectable, winning baseball return to this great city and once proud franchise.