Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 thread -- Onward Sweet Futility, AWAY!!!!

• karen lotz

  

  what kind of shenanigans are the Pirates trying to pull here? Pitching rubber isn't square with home plate?
• killer_ewok

  

  Buccos win 4-2 to take 3 out of 4 from ATL.
  
  Raise it.
• Heretic

  

  Hopefully, that's Sanchez' last start for the Pirates. Can't be using the relief for six innings or so most times he goes out there.
  
  Fortunately, that relief was kickass today with six shutout innings. And the offense did enough again. Great series for the team!
• Heretic

  

  Six shutout innings by Locke last night. A huge surprise for me, as he was pretty dominant with 6 Ks and only allowing four baserunners.
  
  Stuff like that and McDonald's last start are encouraging. Leave it so Sanchez is the only weak starter in the rotation who needs replaced (by either Morton or Liriano). For a while, it was looking like Burnett, Wandy and...uh...three big bags of shit.
• Heretic

  

  Team looking to take 3/4 from Philly on the road, which would be nice. Very nice.
  
  Especially since 3/4 of the other teams in the Central are all looking legit right now, so being able to get a road series win against anyone (even if they are a possibly past-their-prime team like the Phillies) would be nice. Very nice.
• Heretic

  

  Phillies doin' what they did yesterday (completely fall apart on the mound after the sixth inning has ended), so Pirates have a 5-3 lead with bases loaded and only one out in the top of the eighth.
  
  This is good.
• Heretic

  

  It's official. Took 3/4 from Philly and are 13-9 now. Pretty good, since they were 1-5 at one point.
• Heretic

  

  Welp, all I can say is that I hope we never have to see Johnathan Sanchez again after he didn't even get one fucking batter out last night.
  
  Alive, that is.
• GoPens

  

  MLB does the Pirates a favor and suspends Sanchez 6 games. Praise God.
• killer_ewok

  

  Raise it
  
  Buccos beat Cardinals 9-0.
• killer_ewok

  

  Pirates are in first place. Gonna enjoy it while it lasts.
• Heretic

  

  killer_ewok;1435382 wrote:Pirates are in first place. Gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

  Indeed. If nothing else, I don't remember them being good this early in the past two years. Didn't they start slow and then go crazy in May-June to be up there? Having a winning April is a nice sign, especially if guys like Locke can contribute like they are. I doubt anyone expected him to be 3-1 with a sub-3 ERA after April, especially since the only reason he made the rotation was because none of Morton, Liriano or Karstens were ready.
• GoPens

  

  Sanchez DFA. That took way to long.
• hasbeen

  

  Just got my tickets for Wednesday's game vs. Seattle. King Felix is the probable starter as long as the M's are okay with skipping their 5th mans start. I'm pumped. Haven't been to a Mariners game in a couple years.
• Heretic

  

  Pirates lost 2/3 to Washington, in large part due to Clint Hurdle apparently being a pupil of the Dusty Baker School of Incompetent Bullpen Management.
  
  Yes. In a tie (or very close) game, let us not use our best pen guys (Melancon, Grilli), because the team doesn't have the lead and, therefore, you're not working for a save situation. Instead, let's have rookies and average guys pitch in the super-high-leverage situations and eventually fail while the top guys collect spiderwebs on the bench.
• GoPens

  

  I couldn't believe when I heard that Hurdle absolutely will not put in Melancon nor Grilli in any game where the Pirates don't have the lead. Unbelieveable.
• Heretic

  

  GoPens;1438957 wrote:I couldn't believe when I heard that Hurdle absolutely will not put in Melancon nor Grilli in any game where the Pirates don't have the lead. Unbelieveable.

  I know. And a decision that stupid probably won't be reversed by this weekend's double epic fail of (1) Tony Watson giving up the losing run in his SECOND inning of work in the top of the ninth, followed by (2) rookie Bryan Morris giving up a three-run dinger in the eighth to turn a 3-2 game into a 6-2 one.
  
  At the very least, you can say his policy cost the team a legit shot at one win and then turned a doable game into a definite loss.
• Heretic

  

  Liriano looked good in his first start until possibly wearing down in the sixth inning (although he only threw 90 pitches). If he can even be a solid starter (ie: better than the train wreck he's been recently), he'd be a big help. Burnett, Wandy, Locke and a good Liriano would give them a pretty solid top 4 starters, so we'd only need someone to be decent in the #5 spot until whenever the team decides Cole is ready.
• killer_ewok

  

  Raise it. 3-2 win today. Won 3 of 4 vs. Mets.
• Heretic

  

  I'm happy. I figured with Harvey starting for the Mets against Jeanmar, it was about as sure of a loss as you can get in baseball.
  
  Play of the day was the wacky bounce that saved Melancon's ass. Hard hit ball down the line...hit the first base bag, bounced up in the air to the second baseman, who relayed it to Melancon for the out. It doesn't hit the bag and it's a two-run hit.
• Heretic

  

  Man, the Pirates will at worst split a four-game series with Milwaukee and they have a shot at 3/4. That is seriously unprecented with the way they've owned us in past years.
• Heretic

  

  Top three teams in the NL right now are all from the Central (St. L, Cincy, Pitt). Kinda weird to see, since it wasn't that many years ago where it seemed like if anyone could stay above .500, they've have it in the bag.
• Heretic

  

  ADDENDUM: Three of the top 4 teams in the NL. The Pirates and Giants both have the same record to be tied for third, but when I checked last night, the standings hadn't changed to show SF's win.
  
  Hopefully having a series against Houston will move Pittsburgh in front of SF, at least.
• Heretic

  

  Got 2/3 from Houston and Locke was real good today with 7 shutout innings.
  
  Not much offense today (or in the series), but wins are wins.
• killer_ewok

  

  Snider with a PH Grand Slam to lead the Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Cubs.