Bucco Fever

Posts Tagged Game Notes

Game Notes – June 28th – Royals @ Pirates

Jun 28

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

When I bought my tickets for today’s game about a week and a half ago, it was supposed to be Greinke v. Snell.  I was fine with that, wanting to see Greinke up close, being that he’s the early favorite for the AL Cy Young.  when Snell was sent down and it was announced Chaz Morton would make his PNC debut, that was just a bonus for me.  I’ve now seen the Pirates face 3 elite pitchers this year (Johan, Lee, Greinke) and of all 3, I thought Greinke made them look the worst.  While he only struck out 3 over a rain shortened 6 1/3 innings, we never were able to get anything going against him until the 7th.  Morton on the other hand didn’t seem to have his best stuff.  He cruised through the first 3, but his curveball looked flat to me, and it seemed that alot of balls were being hit very hard.  He has yet to last more than 5 innings in any of his starts for the Pirates.

One play that stuck out in my mind was the play at the plate on Teahan in the 5th.  From my vantage point (behind home plate, sec 117 row B), the ball beat him to the plate and Jaramillo missed the tag.  I’ve since watch the replay on mlb.com and that seemed to be the case.  As it turned out, if that run doesn’t score it may have been a different outcome, since we only lost by one run, but I generally don’t subscribe to that sort of logic (or illogic I suppose).

Box score wise, McCutchen was 0 for 4, and is now 0 for his last 10 since the walkoff single on Thursday.  Adam LaRoche continued to rake, going 3 of 4, and he also made several nice defensive plays at first base.  The loss moves The Pirates to 35-40 on the year.

Tags: , , ,

Game Notes – June 25th – Indians @ Pirates

Jun 26

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

I was at this game with a Cleveland friend of mine, and it turned out to be a good one, and a win for our buccos, even if attendance wise, there seemed to be more support for the road side.  Starting pitchers Ross Ohlendorf and Cliff Lee were both solid, each allowing 2 earned over 7 innings.  Andrew McCutchen was the real star on this night though.  He went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.  Forget about the walkoff single.  It was impressive, but his best at bat was the walk he drew in the seventh against Lee with the bases loaded.  Lee got ahead early 0-2, but from there ‘Cutch settled in, fouling off several pitches and taking a few other close ones to draw the walk and score the tying run.  All I have to say is wow.  To not get rushed, not get over agressive, against a cy young winner in that situation, wow!  At just 22, he has been nothing short of amazing so far.

I was at the concessions when Nyjer Morgan came to bat in the 6th, was hit by a pitch, and then JR was run for arguing it.  But even from the concessions, the fans were deafeningly loud when it happened.  Its a good thing JR was ejected and not T-Plush.  The HR Nyjer pulled back in the 8th clearly saved this game for the bucs.

The win moved the Pirates to 33-39 on the year as we head into a weekend series against KC.

Tags: , ,

Game Notes – June 10th – Pirates @ Braves

Jun 10

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

In my game notes from Monday, I wrote that with Jeff Karstens pitching an inning of relief, I thought there was a possibility, however small, that Chaz Morton would be called up to start tonight.  Well it turns out he was called up start, but it didn’t last long.  Morton apparently experienced some hamstring tightness during warm ups, was allowed to give it a go, but after one scoreless inning decided he couldn’t pitch through it and was pulled.  Karstens came in, and the bullpen combined for 8 innings, allowing only 2 earned runs and 5 hits.  While the effort from Karstens and the rest of the ‘pen was nice, I don’t understand this at all.  Morton is young kid who could potentially be a starter here for a long time.  Why even send him out there if the injury occurred during warm ups?

There wasn’t much in the way of offense in this one. Adam LaRoche went 1-3 with 2 RBI and 2 BB, Freddy Sanchez was 2-4 with a 2B.  Despite that, the bullpen was able to hold on for a 3-2 win, improving the team to 27-32 on the season.

Tags: , ,

Game Notes – June 8th – Pirates @ Braves

Jun 9

Posted by Sean H. Steimer | No Comments

I’m adding a new type of post beyond the links and long form stuff, as the title would indicate, game notes.  My schedule isn’t going to allow me to post these for every game, and don’t expect a game story ever, for that go to the Pirates website, or your favorite local paper, my intention is for this to be short, with a brief overview pointing out players and events that are notable and weaving in my thought sand opinions.

Last night the Pirates lost to former teammate Nate McLouth and the Atlanta braves in 15 Innings, 7-6.  McLouth was 3-7 with a HR, his tenth, while his Pirates CF counterpart, Andrew McCutchen went 4-7 with 2 triples and a double.  Through 5 games he is now hitting .400 with an OPS over 1.000.  While it is a small sample size, count me as a believer, his speed is ridiculous, and he doesn’t seem nervous out there at all, so look for him to only get better.

Zach Duke had a poor outing, giving up 6 runs in 6 innings.  Over the course of the 15 inning affair, the Pirates used their entire bullpen except for closer Matt Capps.  Jeff Karstens, who is scheduled to start Wednesday, took the loss in the 15th, but only threw 18 pitches, so it likely won’t affect the order of the rotation.  I know its probably too early for it, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Chaz Morton called up to make a spot start on Wednesday.  Morton last pitched on Friday, and is scheduled to pitch again on Thurday for Indy, which means he could make the start.  It seems unlikely that he would be called up so quickly after a trade though, only to be sent back down after one start.

Tags: , , ,