1 
0For whatever reason, Clint Hurdle opted to swap Charlie Morton's and James McDonald's scheduled starts against the Reds. Monday night ,the decision worked out well enough. Tuesday night was more of the same. When the "same" means shutting out the highest scoring team in the NL, I would take more of the same over and over again.
Tuesday's game wasn't for those who love to see offense,nor has this series so far, but it certainly didn't lack in excitement. The late innings saw the Bucs clinging to a 1-0 lead with the Reds threatening at every corner, but they came up empty every time. J-Mac worked 6.1 innings of scoreless ball, fanning 7 in the process. He was far from perfect, but certainly the performance Bucs fans were looking for after he failed to register a decision in his past 4 starts, let alone registering a win. The win also moved the Bucs 7 games above .500 and kept them a half game ahead of the hated Brewers for first place in the NL Central.
J-Mac started off on a roll last night, setting down the first 3 Reds batters in order, fanning white hot rookie Zack Cozart and All-Star 1B Joey Votto to end the first. The bottom of the first saw what could pass as an offensive explosion as far as this series is concerned. After The King grounded out to lead off, Harrison singled to shallow right (what else would he do?) and the Pride of PR smacked a ground rule double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for Cutch. It's always a good time to break out of a slump, but Cutch was unable to do it here. He did manage yet another productive out, though, bringing in Harrison with an RBI groundout. Cutch is now 1 for 19 since the All Star break, yet still have knocked in 4 runs in 5 games.
The Reds threatened in the top of the second inning. Miguel Cairo knocked a 1 out single up the middle but the Bucs looked to catch a break when Chris Heisey hit into a would-be double play. Heisey beat the throw and Mr. Sunshine was whining for a runner's interference call on Cairo. Heisey then swiped second and moved to third on a balk. I guess J-Mac felt like giving up a free base since we haven't had the " 2 passed balls and a wild pitch per night" since Fort McKenry showed up.McDonald gave away another free one by walking Fred Lewis but Ryan Hanigan flied out to end the threat.
It was pretty much a pitcher's duel until the top of the 7th. Cairo lead off with a walk and was bunted to second by Heisey. Fred Lewis then managed an infield hit and it was 1st and third with one out. Hanigan drew a walk and Jake Taylor decided to yank J-Mac with the bases juiced and 1 out and the Buccos clinging to a 1-0 lead. Joe Beimel came on to face Jay Bruce, hitting for Mike Leake, and despite missing terribly with his "out pitch", managed to get a swing and miss to send Bruce back to the dugout. Whew. Future
The Bucs did little in the bottom of the 7th and Resop set down the Reds in order in the top of the 8th. The King hit a 2 out double in the bottom half, Harrison couldn't slap him home and it was Hammer Time! Looking for his second consecutive game and to preserve the Bucs second consecutive "s word", the Hammer was all business. He got Cairo to ground out quickly, then Heisey drove a fly ball DEEP to the right center gap. Cutch sprinted on to make the catch effortlessly despite having a long run in a dead sprint to make the play. Underrated catch right there. With 2 outs, the Reds started to wake up. Ramon Hernandez came on the pinch hit and lined a base hit into center. Ryan Hanigan did the exact same thing and suddenly the go ahead run was on base. Facing Jay Bruce, Hanrahan didn't flinch, hitting 97 on the gun before getting him to bounce to Walker to end the game. RTJR! Bucs 1, Reds 0.
Player of the Game:
James McDonald- 6.1 IP, 0 R, 7 K, 4 H, 3 BBHead Scratcher of the Game: The King caught stealing while being left out to dry by either he or Harrison missing a hit-and-run sign.
Face Palm of the Night: I love Teke but I have to worry for the sake of his sanity. In the post game he said t hat there is no reason to rush Kdro back because the Wood and Harrison are getting it done and so are the other guys Opie has brought in. I am sorry, but who on this offense is doing anything? Or at least doing anything consistently. Cutch, Walker, and Presley. That's it. They were not acquired by Opie. Overpaid, Diaz, and Jones are inconsistent. Harrison has a .274 OBP and a .309 slug%. Wood is hitting .214 with a .282 OBP. d'Arnaud has 1 RBI and is hitting .224 with a .250 OBP and .294 slg %. How is that getting it done?
The Reds have now gone 18 straight innings without scoring a run. Imagine going that many years without a winning season. Oh wait...........
The NL Central foes will do battle at 12:35 today with Karstens facing Johnny Cueto. Karstens comes in on fire and hopefully can keep the Reds bats cool.
The head scratcher of the night for me was why would you bring in X. Paul to pinch run, then send him on the first pitch??? Stevie Wonder coulda saw that coming.
ReplyDelete@ Burress--
ReplyDeleteI don't think you mean to say Jones, Diaz, Overbay are "inconsistent." Typically, "inconsistent" is announcer-code for "not very good."
Baseball is a game about sustained excellence. Almost anyone can get hot for a few games. Good players do it for longer stretches.
Coincidentally, I don't disagree with a "not very good" assessment, either. Jones' season this year is actually not drastically worse than 2010; the "normal" stats of HR and RBI will be well below last year, but AVG, OBP, OPS are all about the same.
Since May 1, Diaz is hitting .299. There's not a lick of power in there, but it is .299. That's why I'm opposed to these calls of cutting Diaz loose; he's a veteran guy that makes contact and makes a good bench player/spot starter. He can't start, but offensively I'd say he's still one of the best 25 they can field.
Overbay...well, we all know how I feel.
Why isn't anyone talking about Garrett Jones' power outage? This is more a job for the mainstream media that has access to Jones and various scouts, but there's gotta be a hole in his swing that he's having problems fixing. Seems like he's pretty much avoided all criticism this year with Overbay and Diaz taking all the heat.
ReplyDeleteGarrett Jones is a guy pulled off the scrap heap playing for 1/10 of Overbay's salary of 1/4 of Diaz. His numbers are similar to Overbay's, but with more HR. Diaz has ZERO homers this year. ZERO.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Jones sohudl be expected to do much and he doesn't. Overbay is a high priced free agent for these parts and performing at about the same level as a guy picked up off the scrap heap and earning 1/10 your salary merits criticism in my book.
Jones is what he is, a streaky hitter with flashes of brilliance mired with extended blackouts.
I only mention it because of his decreasing power numbers, which are alarming. In his first season he hit 21 home runs in 314 AB. In 2010 he hit 21 again but in 592 AB. Now this year he has just 9 in 236 AB.
ReplyDeleteI dunno maybe he's trying to use the whole field or something but on this team I'd have him swinging the bat as hard as he can every time like Vlad Guerrero does. The power hasn't gone anywhere, it's just something with his swing or with how guys are pitching him. Hopefully he figures it out.
@ Burress--
ReplyDeleteTrue, but if you're going to use your expectation of performance, then you can't really fault Diaz for having little power. He's never hit more than 13 in a season.
Should he have more than zero? You'd like to think so, yeah. But he's not a centerpiece for the offense; at this point he's more bench player/spot starter against a LHP. Personally, I'm OK with that for what they're paying him. He's an established ML hitter on the bench making about 2 mil. And by all accounts, the players love and respect the hell out of the guy.
Reds are 1.5 run favorite to win by some betting services today.
ReplyDeleteHead scratcher concerning stealing bases last night. Both runners were not protected by the batter. I have always thought adding a swinging bat complicates the defense when trying to throw out a baserunner.
Great article today by DK about the PBC making a move or two to improve the team.
@SeanAY,
ReplyDeleteI like Diaz, he is decent and you're right, we shouldn't expect much power from him. Actually, you're overall assessment is 100% spot on. I always blindly defend Jones because I think he can be more than he is. However, I'm not saying Jones is above critism, he's maddening, just citing my beliefs as to why people lay off of him perhaps.
@Virgil,
Agreed about swinging to protect runners. Presley almost stopped halfway as if to say "WTF?". Slappy Harrison looked clueless.
Also agree about DK's article. How the PG let him get away is beyond me. Genuine talent and most readable in PGH.
I also really appreciate the feedback. What would you guys think about e-mailing me your votes for Player of the Game, Head Scratcher, and Face Palm of Night after each game to do a sort of popular vote deal?
Kind of like hockey and the 3 stars of the game approach?
Burress:
ReplyDeletethe e-mail thing sounds good.
Just make sure the player of the game receives a corndog as his prize !! :)
There are two things about Jones. Number 1 obviously Overbay has detracted attention away from his struggles. Number 2 he is no longer as important as he use to be. There are more guys to count on. A return of Pedro would take even more pressure off of him and he could produce at a better rate. Or then again he could do worse. I guess I'll just shut up now.
ReplyDeleteDog
"Dan said...
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't anyone talking about Garrett Jones' power outage? "
Dan, I honestly think Jones power outage has a lot to do with him platooning this year. I know everyone talks about "splits", but when a player platoons, he doesnt get the necessary at-bats and rhthym to break out of slumps.
Or he could have a hole in his swing......... :)
I'd be happy to do it, but unfortunately I rarely get to watch games from my vantage point in Michigan. I also haven't put together the scratch to afford the MLB TV package yet, but if the Pirates finish the season strong, it's a consideration for next year.
ReplyDeleteIf I can find a bar that carries Pirates games in the area, I'm totally on board.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6786450/frank-coonelly-says-pittsburgh-pirates-consider-adding-players
ReplyDeleteI guess the fans are doing their part, time for ownership to step up. They got their wish: fans fill the seats while they take ZERO RISK.
My post from SmizBlog, as I'm too lazy to type it again:
ReplyDeleteOh look, Frank Coonelly made a comment about trades to ESPN!
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_...ng-players
Surely he said something to give the fans confidence!
"Our fans have been energized by this team. The rebonding between the city and its team that (manager Clint Hurdle) talked about wanting to be a part of is happening," Coonelly told Olney. "Yes, the great response at the gate gives us greater capacity to add players as (general manager Neal Huntington) looks to make the team better at the deadline and into August."
That's...uhh...not terribly encouraging.
I know I'm typically the one that is against the parsing of words coming from FC, but can anyone think of anything that inspires LESS confidence?
He doesn't have to be specific. He could have said, "We in the Pirates' organization are delighted and thrilled to see our attendance increase and our fans commit more and more to what we're doing at the ballpark. We want to assure our fans that we as an organization will do everything possible to reciprocate that commitment as we play for a division championship."
There. Nice and vague, and inspires more confidence than the tired old "we have the capacity to add" lines.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteFC should always refuse to speak to the media. He is a disaster.
What do you guys think of adding a "trade deadline" post. You know where we put all thoughts about possible moves there.
Dog
SeanAY-
ReplyDeleteI don't look to Frank Coonelly to inspire confidence. That's not his job. That's the players' jobs. And I honestly don't see as much of a difference between the actual statement and your suggested one.
News like this comes and goes from other teams every day. I've never been able to figure out why what comes out of Frank Coonelly's mouth matters at all. I listened to Kevin McClatchy, in the same job capacity, spew the same crap for 10 years but it was never parsed like this. I think people used to understand that you judge a front office on what they do, not what they say.
By the way, to the site admins, the sidebar on the right is unbelievably long and, for me anyways, adds serious load time to the page. The gap between the record since the blog birth and the poll is insane. The pages are seriously as long as the longest PBC threads in history. It's like this on both I.E. and Mozilla. Any way to fix that? Thanks.
@Dog,
ReplyDeleteI kind of tried to get that going last week with
http://mutinyonthea.blogspot.com/2011/07/you-get-what-you-give.html
We will collaborate and try to get another one up shortly.
@Dan,
the Sidebar issue is ridiculous. I have tried EVERYTHING to make it shorter. Problem is this: anything we put there stretches beyond the length of the post. I am continually trying to fix it, it looks like SHIT.
Any suggestions on how it could be fixed would be appreciated.