The storyline for this loss has to be about the Pirates lack of gonads in our corner outfielders.
It was a 1-0 Astros game starting the bottom of the 6th and Maholm was pitching a gem. Bourne hit a grounder that went off the end of Maholm’s glove for a single and that became the first out missed in the inning. Kepplinger then laid down a perfect bunt at Young who came in, bare handed it, and threw wildly across his body into the first base seats allowing both runners to advance. That was the second out missed.
Since runners were at second and third with no outs, Maholm tightened his belt – he got Berkman to strikeout on a low inside hook which should have ended the inning (see two missed outs above), but he pressed on. Lee hit a routine sac fly that should have been the fourth out in the inning (deep enough to score Bourne but should have held Kepplinger at second considering Church’s good arm, considering there was only one out so far). Unfortunately, Church decided to leave his feet and go into a slide two steps before catching the ball knowing the padded wall was quickly approaching and the ball fell in allowing both runners to score.
With Lee at second and still only one out, Pence hit a grounder to second (right, would have been the fifth out in the inning) and then Feliz hit a fly ball to right that Jones cloned Church’s slide on – also missing the ball ala Church. So what should have been the sixth out in the inning turned into an rbi double and Maholm was now down 4-0. By the time Towles popped up to first to end the inning, we had given the Astros seven outs in the inning.
Here’s a short audio broadcast of the inning for your enjoyment since you aren’t likely to ever hear a seven out inning again in your lifetime: April 23, 4th inning.
I bet your just dying to know how the Astros scored their first run? On an error. What did you expect?
Oswalt hit a grounder back through the box in the third that Aki ranged far to his left to try to snare but the ball went off his glove and Oswalt was safe. In my book a second baseman with average range would have gloved that ball but for Aki, it was a bit tough. Ok, so Oswalt is at first with one out and Bourne hit a slower grounder to Clement that he made an awkward play on but recorded the out all the same. Oswalt went to second. Then Kepplinger hit a routine sharp ground ball to Young and the ball went right through his legs, under his glove into left, and Oswalt scored.
It was hard to fault Young for the 3rd inning grounder that squirted through his legs allowing a run because the footwork he exhibited was that of an inexperienced middle infielder trying to get in front of the ball instead of a third baseball making a simpler backhand play. He has no business playing third but was forced into duty with LaRoche and Crosby both out with lingering injuries. But Young’s errand throw was inexcusable because he should have eaten the ball and not made the throw. Now, if you want to question why Vazquez was released in favor of Young, that’s a different story all together.
As a fan, it’s hard to excuse Church’s poor slide in the 6th with the game basically on the line. He’s played left at Minute Maid before (2007) so it’s not like he was a virgin out there. But there’s no reason to flat miss the catch. Jones’ slide was a bit late too and he ended up missing the catch as well, but his was a bit tricker play to make.
I mentioned the other day that we were going to bleed a lot of runs as a dysfunctional club with all the players playing out of position, and that sure played true Friday night.
The Bucs came back by hitting two yard balls in the 7th off a tiring Oswalt and Maholm held them in the bottom of the inning. So it was 4-3 and the top of the eighth when the club’s veteran leader (*cough cough*) Iwamua came to the plate. I was thinking to myself at this point that we had a chance to get back in this game because the Astros brought out Brandon Lyon to pitch dragging his 7+ ERA, but pitching better the last few times out.
What does Aki do?
Swing at the first pitch for a lazy fly ball to left.
Cutch then bats and grounds weakly to short.
Then the second veteran of the club comes to bat – Ryan Church.
What does he do?
Swing at the first pitch grounding meekly to second.
Lindstrom shut the door in the 9th and the Bucs lost their first one-run game of the year.
It was a tough loss for Maholm, especially since he was charged with four earned runs.
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Clement had some nice defensive plays on top of some sweet swings in this game.
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Take the family out to dinner Saturday night. * hint hint *
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“2:25: The crowd is not big, but it’s booing very loudly now.
2:37: Wow. Booing the pierogies when they came out. That’s a first.
3:07: It’s 16-0. What we are seeing here is nothing less than the worst game the Pirates have played at PNC Park. And it probably goes back well before that. An utter, complete humiliation.” Dejan at the PG
“Utter, complete humiliation.”
“Worst game the Pirates have played at PNC Park.”
What a joke.
I guess Dejan has been in a bubble since the park opened because we’ve stunk up the place a lot worse than the 20-0 whipping we took the other night. How about May 30, 2007, when the Padres skunked us 9-0 on a five-hitter? Or the 12-1 Fourth of July beating we took in 2005 from the Phillies which, to me, was the very worst game we ever played at PNC. Then there’s the 12-1 thrashing we took from the Cubs May 30, 2004 and another favorite of mine was the 11-0 mauling we took from Curt Schilling May 13, 2002. Those were significantly worse losses than the schooling handed to us by the Brewers.
You know why?
Because the rosters of those four clubs were significantly better than the roster we currently have. The Brewers 20 run score against McCutchen, and Milledge, and Jones, and Doumit would be about the same as a 10-0 score against the 2002 roster that Schilling beat where we had Giles, Ramirez, Rios, Kendall, Wilson, and Benson on the mound. We don’t have a Giles on our team now, nor do we have a Ramirez.. perhaps Doumit is Kendall, perhaps Jones is equal to Rios but I’m not so sure there, Milledge might think he is better than Mackowiack but I’m not so sure he is, and perhaps Cedeno and Wilson are equal. Cutch is significantly better than Hermansen but that’s about the only matchup where we are stronger today.
And that July 4th roster had Lawton, Sanchez, Bay, and Ward.. we have one player on our entire roster who can sit in that company and that’s Cutch and he’s not even a power guy. The July 4th roster also had Doumit, Wilson, and Castillo which is the level of player we have today. No, the Brewers 20 runs Wednesday would be about the same as 7 runs in that game.
My point is this – let’s compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges when we talk about worst losses. What the Brewers did was no special feat considering the talentless roster we have. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I know everyone thinks it was, and I realize getting beaten by 20 runs is hard to digest, but it really didn’t reach to the same level of some of the other games I told you about above.
No, that July 4th game is by far the worst game ever played at PNC.. that was embarrassing.. that was utter and complete humiliation. The Brewers talent doesn’t come close to the 2005 Phillies roster that beat us that day so, again, what they did was no big deal.
Oh, by the way, Lloyd McClendon was fired two months after that July 4th loss.
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A little birdie just told me that the Pirates aren’t in on Manny Machado, the high school shortstop wailing the ball. A second source said he scouted one of Machado’s games this week and the Pirates weren’t in attendance.
I’m wondering how high Miami’s Yasmani Grandal is creeping up. Those I’ve talked to question if he remains a catcher long enough to warrant picking him, and evidently his bat doesn’t project well enough for a corner outfielder, so where the dickens does he end up? Third?
Just don’t take your eyes off this guy. Everyone is telling me he isn’t on Huntington’s radar with the second pick but I have to tell you he fits our signability mold to a “T” and he fits our park to a “T”.
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Original Story:
http://newbucs.com/2010/04/23/ryan-ch...
