Pirates' rally in 8th capped off by McKenry's 1st career homer

In the words of the great Mike Lange, "if you missed it folks, shame on you for six weeks."
The Pirates' Michael McKenry hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning for a 7-4 lead and Joel Hanrahan closed the door in the ninth with his 26th save in as many opportunities for a come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Cubs Friday night at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh (46-42) is in second place behind Milwaukee (48-42), who needed a walk-off two-run single to beat Cincinnati (44-46). St. Louis (47-43) is in the third after a loss to Arizona (49-41). The Pirates will enjoy their first winning mark at the All-Star game since 1992, which was the last time they had a .500 season and made the playoffs. The Bucs are 13-7 in their last 20.
Chicago (36-54) took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth with one out when Darwin Barney's RBI single scored Marlon Byrd and moved Alfonso Soriano to third. Soriano doubled off Jose Veras earlier in the inning.
After Veras struck out Blake DeWitt, he walked Kosuke Fukudome and Clint Hurdle brought in Daniel McCutchen.
McCutchen (3-1) got Starlin Castro to fly out to end the top of the eighth.
In the Pirates' eighth, Matt Diaz walked and was replaced by pinch runner Pedro Ciriaco. After Andrew McCutchen flied out, Neil Walker hit into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play, but Ciriaco broke it up and Walker was safe at first.
Ciriaco, who probably has his ID checked each time he enters the ballpark, made one of the biggest plays of the game.
Hurdle stated in his post-game press conference that we aren't talking about McKenry's heroics if Ciriaco doesn't break up that double play.
Lyle Overbay's single moved Walker to second and the Cubs brought in closer Carlos Marmol to relieve Sean Marshall (5-3).
Josh Harrison, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, lined a single to center that scored Walker to tie the game. Overbay moved to second. Harrison was 3-for-4. Marmol hadn't allowed a run to that point in 13 straight outings.
McKenry took the first pitch for a strike, then fouled off six straight offerings before belting his three-run shot to left-center.
McKenry, who was shopping for groceries in the New England area less than a month ago, granted the crowd of 37,140 a curtain call. That's doesn't happen too often in Pittsburgh, let alone for a journeyman catcher.
The Pirates trailed 1-0 in the first after Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer. They took the lead in the third when Alex Presley and Chase d'Arnaud scored on an infield single by Walker. Presley had singled and moved to third on a double by d'Arnaud. Walker's hit went deep into the hole at second and by the time the Cubs' Carlos Pena got the ball at first d'Arnaud was headed home.
That kind of aggresive play on the basepaths is what the Pirates need to do if they want to make a run at the division crown. They don't have the bats, so they must do the little things. I attribute that to Hurdle.
After Chicago took a 3-2 lead, Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run.
I know it was against the Cubs, who are 18 games under .500 and in fifth place in the NL Central, but this kind of win shows the character of this team.
They may not have the talent of the Cardinals, Brewers and Reds, but they believe they can win. It also feels good to win a game like this when you are a contender. If Pittsburgh had the same record as last year and won a game like this, It wouldn't mean that much. Winning close games when something is on the line does.
Kevin Correia takes the mound tonight for the Bucs in search of his 12th win. Correia won 10 games for the entire season in 2010.

DK calls on Nutting to Step Up to the Plate

Very Good, Very Fair article from DK in the Trib this morning calling for the Nuttings and their minions to step forward and be bold this summer in pursuit of winning and possible contention.

I don't know what others feel about DK, but he in my opinion, is one of the cities most level headed, hard working, and objective sports reporters.

Some money quotes from DK:

"Let's see how Nutting handles this modest success, whether he rises up or shrinks from it. Let's see not only whether he authorizes general manager Neal Huntington to add significantly to the payroll via trade but also whether he pushes for it."

"Hope won't cut it this summer either, unless hope can bat cleanup."

And there was even something from the Nuthouse himself that we will certainly hold him, and his general manger, to if they don't come through and add some help to this lineup by the trade deadline:

"We're just a couple games out, close to the All-Star break. It's a great opportunity. And we aren't going to make decisions based on restrictions of financing. We're absolutely in that position where Neal can, right now, be out there aggressively looking at options. He needs to do that."

Well said Mr. Nutting, now, as we the fans have wanted for the past decade plus, since your family has begun to sink their dirty claws into this once proud franchise, you had better put your money where your ever praise gushing mouth is.

Bucs need a sweep

After Wednesday night's 8-2 setback to the Houston Astros, the Pittsburgh Pirates are at 45-42.
The Bucs get a day off today, then host the Chicago Cubs for three games at PNC Park before the All-Star break.
If the Pirates sweep the Cubs, they would move to 48-42 at the break. Pittsburgh has owned Chicago in the past few seasons, and they could possibly move into first place with an impressive showing this weekend. They travel to Houston after the break. They also have a four-game set with Atlanta and three games with Philadelphia to close out the month.
Those final seven games could be very telling, as the Bucs will move into the final two months of the season.
Last night's game wasn't their best effort. Houston's five-spot all started off on an error. Errors happen, but they can't allow it to start a big inning. I give credit to the Astros. They are dead last in the division, something Pittsburgh knows all too well, but they battled.

Smizik Suggests the Pirates Stand Pat

The world's oldest Blogger, Bob Smizik, implied today that the Pirates best course of action would be to stand pat at the trade deadline and that the return of Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdro, Tabata, and Doumit from the DL would be enough to overcome the team’s lack of production at the plate.

To that I say: Bullshit!

Alvarez may be a legitimate power hitter one day, but right now he is more a liability than an asset to the team. Even his “magical” rookie campaign last season, that had Mr. Sunshine waxing poetic and comparing his batting prowess to Roberto Clemente, was really nothing all that special. His WAR was a ‘perfect’ 0.0

For those unaccustomed to the WAR stat, it stand for Wins Above Replacement. The concept is to rank the value of a player’s impact on the team winning games, in comparison to what the average AAA replacement would bring to the table.

Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdro’s offensive #s in 2010 would designate him as giving the Pirates 1.4 extra wins from the offensive side, but he was bad enough in the field that his defensive WAR was -1.4, so he was basically a total wash. A team of 0.0 WAR players would, statistically speaking, have a record of 52-110. So I guess John Russel had a whole team of Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdros and got them to perform 5 wins better than they should have by the numbers.

And this year Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdro has managed to somehow go even lower, dipping into negative WAR numbers at -0.6 So that is one of the “bats” your battlin’ Bucs are ready to be “saved by” according to Mr. Smizik.

I’ll admit that if Doumit can stay healthy, he will certainly be an upgrade from McKenry behind the plate and in the lineup. He is hardly a certified offensive stud, but in this group of hitters he is probably going to be hitting in one of the power spots (4/5/6) out of necessity.

Tabata can hit for average, but like the rest of the team as a whole, provides absolutely zero home run capabilities. I’m not saying that they are lacking in power, but Andrew McCutchen (9.9%) and Garrett Jones (9.2%) are the only two hitters with an Extra Base Hit Percentage above the league average of (7.1%). They need at least one, if not two, more players in the corners (outfield and infield) who at least provide the threat of taking the ball deep when they step up to the plate.

These are not unfounded grumblings and miserable misgivings of a cynical crank. They are cold, hard statistical truths. So Mr. Smizik, Mr. Huntington, Mr. Coonelly, and Mr. Nutting: please don’t try to sell us down the creek once again by suggesting that the return of a few injured Bucs are going to be enough to upgrade this lineup to a competitive level. Bring in some damn bats. The time is now.

Sorry, Charlie.....

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I am never one to dwell too long on losses, so I will try to make this one quick. The Bucs had plenty of chances to win this ballgame, but seemed to have very little interest in doing so. We started the scoring early when The King led off the bottom of the 1st with a single and was bunted over to 2nd by d'Arnaud. GI Jones walked and Cutch singled to left to score The King and give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. The Pride of PR then battled Bud Norris for an extended at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch. Eventually, Walker smoked a hard line drive to left field that for whatever reason lead Jones to make a break for 3rd base on contact. Land Mass Lee promptly chucked  the pill to 2nd to double off Jone and end the inning.

That would do it for the scoring until the top of the 6th inning, when the wheels totally came off. Great Stuff Morton had a good line going into the fifth, but had allowed a few base runners when he wasn't facing t he Astros 7,8, and 9 hitters. You could see all night he was going to his curveball too much and wasn't getting much from it. In the 6th, he couldn't make anything work and also didn't get much help from his defense. Bourn started the inning off by reaching on a d'Arnaud error. Angel Sanchez followed with a double to right center, scoring Bourn. Cutch had trouble picking the ball up and getting it from his hand to his glove and Sanchez made it all the way to 3rd. Hunter Pence then gave the Astros the lead with a single to right. Land Mass Lee was next and he brought Pence around with an RBI triple to center on a HORRIBLE misplay by Cutch. It's a play an All Star Center Fielder should make and a play I have seen Cutch make plenty of times.

Keppinger was next and lashed a double to score Lee and give the 'Stros a 4-1 edge. Morton finally got an out before surrendering an RBI single to Clint Barmes to make it 5-1. That was all for Morton on the night, 5.1 IP, 8 Hits, 5 R, 4ER, I BB and 6 Ks. Morton's ERA on June 4 was 2.52; it now sits at 3.80.

Anyways, the Bucs closed it to 5-2 when Cutch got an RBI groundout but the Astros drew more blood in the 9th when they tacked on 3 more runs. Final Astros 8, Bucs 2.

Player of the Game- Hunter Pence 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored

Head Scratcher of the Game- Jones getting doubled off of second base.

Face Palm of the Night- The top of the 6th inning. The fielding was subpar and Morton was also serving up batting practice.

The Bucs still won the series and the Astros were eventually going to get back into the win column. They had lost 9 out of 10 games, something was gonna give at some point, right? But I think it's the way the Bucs lost this one that is frustrating. While we've certainly had a good season so far, the things that have the potential to kill this team in the long run showed themselves again last night. Inability to get runs in, no power in the lineup, mental mistakes, and errors. Obviously, leaving guys on base and making errors is a recipe for disaster for any ballclub, but for a team like the Bucs to survive in the playoff race, they have to limit their mistakes and cash in on every precious chance they get to score. The Cardinals can make an error and cost themselves a run or two because they can get it back in one swing from Pujols, Berkman, or Holliday. The Brewers have the same luxury with the Brontosaurus, Braun, Weekes, Hart, and  even McGehee to some degree.

I mention those teams and their great hitting because those are the teams we are going to have to go through to win the Central. With a winnable series against the Cubs kicking off tomorrow night, the Bucs have the chance to stockpile some wins heading into the All-Star Break. After the break, things are going to get tougher once the Bucs leave Houston, facing the Reds, Cards, Braves, and Phillies to close out the month. We will then have 7 games against the Brewers in mid-August and we all know how tough they are for the Bucs to beat.

As a side note, listening to the game broadcasts and reading DK's tweets and PG articles and listening to Jake Taylor droning on about it, I can't believe  grown men whine so much about an All-Star snub.

A Place for Retardation and Losers

Or so we have been called:
http://www.pittsburghsportstavern.com/forum/showthread.php/7005-The-Bob-Smizik-amp-Lemmings-Beat-Down-Thread?p=190377

Originally Posted by Waiting for LaRoche 

They've all scurried away to a blog they started called "Mutiny on the Allegheny".They all pat each other on the back, and if anyone disagrees with the them they demand to know who you are and your Smizik blog name.It's all very entertaining.

that place is unbelievable. I just checked it out, a place for disenfranchised Pirates fans should read a place for ****tardation and losers. They have to put pictures up to distract from total lack of credible content.

Ironically enough, that is posted by a guy called "Waiting for LaRoche". Also ironic is one person comes on here and says we need pictures to break up monotony, someone on Pittsburgh Sports Tavern says we use pics to substitute for lack of content. Most ironic is that someone can seriously say those while resorting to 6th Grade Schoolyard name calling.

Well, if they have enough balls to trash all of us on their own site, why not come here and do it.? Make the discussion more interesting; that is the point of this blog in the first place. We encourage everybody to come here and participate, not just the Anti-Nutting Crowd. All are welcome  here at the Mutiny.

Train Kept A Rollin'

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The last time the Bucs had a record this good this late in a season was the Year the Franchise Died. 19 freaking years. I don't know where to begin, maybe I  will take the 7 Steps Of Acceptance approach:
1.) Shock and Denial- Are you serious? These 2011 Pirates are 45-41? Not a chance in hell. They're not that much different than the 2010 team that lost 105 games. How can this be possible? It's not happening. I absolutely refuse to believe a team that lost nearly 2/3 of it's game last season can be 4 games over .500 in July despite not making any significant roster changes. At all.
2.) Pain and Guilt- Maybe I should have seen this coming. You have to figure that the losing can't last forever and 2 entire decades is a stretch of ineptitude even to most blithering of idiots can't reach. Have I betrayed this franchise by not blindly buying into deadline dump after deadline dump and 5 Year Plans every 2 years?
3.) Anger and Bargaining- Okay, look, this team is playing WELL above their potential. But I swear, if they can somehow make it last, I will buck up and spend some more cash to watch them live.
4.) "Depression", Reflection, and Loneliness- Wait a second, you are telling me that I am the one in the wrong for not following this FO off of a cliff? No, don't join the bandwagon, don't leave us Anti's without any allies! Maybe we should have given this team more of a chance.
5.) The Upward Turn- Actually, we've given then 19 years worth of chances and all we've been repaid with is are bobbleheads and fire works, at least prior to this year. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy this run and it also doesn't mean it needs to be crammed in our faces. After all, we just wanted to see winning baseball and that is exactly what is happening. We should continue to enjoy it while we've got it.
6.) Reconstruction and Working Through-  Well, if the Bucs can complete the sweep tonight and win the series against the Cubs, they're in great shape heading into a tough stretch. If all goes well in Houston, I will  get tickets to the Reds series.
7.) Acceptance and Hope- This is no longer a fluke. This team is for real and playing meaningful games. If the pitching staff holds together and we can get a power bat somewhere in that lineup, we can do this thing. Forget the '97 Freak Show, this team is going to win the division and play meaningful baseball in October.

With last night's W, the Bucs are 45-41. Keep saying that to yourself without cracking even the slightest smirk. 45-41?!?!? Yes, it's true. The Bucs got another stellar outing from Jeff Karstens, going 7+, allowing 7 hits and 1 run. Brandon Wood was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and the Pride of PR and Overpaid chipped in 2 hits and scored 2 runs each. But the offensive play that put the game away was Karstens' brilliant suicide squeeze to put the Bucs up 5-1 and effectively put the game out of reach. In the bottom of the 6th, with Walker, Overpaid, and Wood on base with nobody out, Fort McKenry trotted out to the plate. Not exactly the guy you were hoping for in that situation, but he managed to drill a sac fly to score Walker and move Overpaid to 3rd.

Karstens then came to the plate with a 4-1 lead and runners on the corners with 1 out. It was almost a foregone conclusion that he was going to be bunting, but Jake Taylor had him stand pat and take the first 2 pitches, running a 1-1 count. On Tom Glavine Wandy Rodriguez's next delivery, Overpaid took off down the 3rd base line and Karstens squared around to lay down a perfect bunt. The Awful Astros had no chance at the plate and fire high to first base, barely getting Karstens as Jeff Keppinger made an unbelievable leaping barehanded catch to keep the ball from going into right field. The confidence and guts showed by Hurdle to make that call right there proves why this team have improved so greatly: they play to win every night.

Never was that more evident than when Walker softly lined a single into left and hustled around first to stretch it to a double. He was singled home by Brandon Wood 2 batters later. If Neil doesn't work his butt off and take that extra base, he doesn't score that inning. Plain and simple, this team came to win. Final Count Bucs 5, Astros 1.

Players of the Game- TIE-               Brandon Wood 2 for 3 HR (4), 3 RBI

                                                                             Jeff Karstens 7+ IP, 7H, 1 ER.

Head Scratcher of the Game- Matt Diaz getting picked off of first base with Cutch at the plate. Instead of our best hitter having a runner on first and 1 1out, it was 0 on and 2 out. Gotta be smarter there.

Face Palm of the Night: Mr. Sunshine Greg freaking Brown. I have known for quite sometime that Mr. Sunshine is little more than a shill for the FO and a franchise cheerleader, but his behavior has gone from mildly annoying to utterly and completely out of hand. Last night, he continued to talk about the Bucs offense having a penchant for knocking around the "Best Pitchers in Baseball", including Wandy Rodriguez, who is apparently a 5'11" Randy Johnson. As I posted last night, the Bucs actually have not fared very well against the top 10 pitchers in the NL that they have actually faced this year. Ironically, Rodriguez only recently moved into the Top 10 in ERA as he had a slow start to the season and even with a 2.95 (now 3.25) ERA coming into the game, his career numbers were 68-68 with a 4.09 ERA. Not much better than Maholm and I would hardly consider him one of the best in all of baseball.

Poor MS Paint Rendering

Then there was the on-going plugs/ commercials for the Joel Hanrahan All-Star Jersey, which 1 random guy in the stands happened to be wearing and the camera JUST happened to find him. Then, after discussing the jersey's availability for a few innings, Mr. Sunshine and Steve Blass basically did a Pirates Shopping Network ad for the jersey mid-inning. I have NEVER seen Steiggy and Errey peddle merchandise during a broadcast and same goes for Hillgrove, outside of the standard tv/radio sponsorship ads. This is why the Bucs can continue to win but will always be a 3rd rate organization.

All-in-all, this was a good W for the Buccos and they have a chance to sweep the series while the Astros continue to spiral out of control. This is the time to rack up wins and try to gain some ground in the division.