Blowout. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	1	5	2	5
	9	14	1	5

Just a pretty awful game all around. Once again the box score looks like a train wreck with 20 players in the Pirates' box.

Duke was terrible. 3.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR.

Garrett Jones went 2 for 4. Pedro Ciriaco had a triple. In the 9th, John Bowker had the only RBI in the game pinch-hitting for Tabata for some reason.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Won 3-1.
Baltimore: Won 11-3.
Cleveland: Won 4-3.
Kansas City: Won 11-3.
Seattle: Lost 9-6.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	48	96
Seattle	55	90
Baltimore	57	88
Arizona	58	87
Cleveland	59	85
Kansas City	59	85

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

The Game That Wouldn't End... or Begin. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	0	6	0	10
	1	7	0	6

A great pitching effort wasted by lack of offense. Gee, it feels like I've typed that sentence before. 10 innings of futility for the Bucs offensively combined with a 44 minute rain delay made for a very long and boring game. Neil Walker's streak was snapped, although he did get 2 walks, so he's reached base in 19 straight.

J-Mac went 8.0 strong innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 ER and just 2 walks. He struck out 4.

Garrett Jones went 2 for 5, and he, Tabata, and Cutch all had doubles.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Lost 7-2.
Baltimore: Won 4-3 in 11.
Cleveland: Was off.
Kansas City: Lost 3-1.
Seattle: Lost 5-1.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	48	95
Seattle	55	89
Baltimore	56	88
Arizona	57	87
Cleveland	58	85
Kansas City	58	85

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

SERIES 47 - Mets

New York Mets

Monday, September 13, 7:10 PM (FSN)
Tuesday, September 14, 7:10 PM (FSN)
Wednesday, September 15, 7:10 PM (FSN)
Thursday, September 16, 7:10 PM (FSN)




Citi Field, New York, NY

---

Expected Pitching Matchups

September 13: James McDonald (3-5, 4.81 ERA) vs. Dillon Gee (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
September 14: Zach Duke (7-13, 5.47 ERA) vs. R.A. Dickey (10-6, 2.91 ERA)
September 15: Paul Maholm (7-14, 5.37 ERA) vs. Jenrry Mejia (0-4, 4.91 ERA)
September 16: Charlie Morton (1-11, 9.05 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfry (14-9, 3.89 ERA)

Lineups

Pirates

1. A. McCutchen, CF
2. J. Tabata, LF
3. N. Walker, 2B
4. G. Jones, 1B
5. P. Alvarez, 3B
6. J. Bowker, RF
7. R. Cedeno, SS
8. C. Snyder, C
9. [Pitcher]

Mets

1. J. Reyes, SS
2. A. Pagan, RF
3. C. Beltran, CF
4. D. Wright, 3B
5. I. Davis, 1B
6. J. Thole, C
7. L. Duda, LF
8. L. Hernandez, 2B
9. [Pitcher]

Let's Go Bucs.

Avoid the Sweep. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	7	0	8
	1	5	0	7

Not surprisingly, as there was a Steelers game on opposite this one, not many people were watching, or at least less than usual. But a win's a win. Especially a road win. Those are in short supply.

Brian Burres pitched 7.0 innings, allowing 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 0 HR. He also struck out 6.

No one got more than one hit, but Neil Walker extended his hit streak to 18 games, tied for 3rd longest in the NL (both active and not). Cutch had a double, the only multi-base hit.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Lost 4-2.
Baltimore: Lost 6-2.
Cleveland: Lost 6-2.
Kansas City: Lost 12-6.
Seattle: Lost 3-0.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	48	94
Baltimore	55	88
Seattle	55	88
Arizona	57	86
Cleveland	58	85
Kansas City	58	84

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

Another walkoff. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	4	5	1	2
	5	10	0	7

Another rally back from a deficit, another loss in extra innings. At least it lasted only 10 this time around.

The Great Stuff finally had his first decent outing since May 22nd, but it wasn't good enough for a win. He went 6.1 IP, with 6 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and 0 HR.

Jose Tabata went 2 for 4, and Neil Walker extended his hit streak to an unreal 17 games. John Bowker had the only extra-base hit, a double.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Lost 2-1.
Baltimore: Won 5-3.
Cleveland: Lost 1-0 in 12.
Kansas City: Won 8-2.
Seattle: Lost 7-4.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	47	94
Baltimore	55	87
Seattle	55	87
Arizona	57	85
Cleveland	58	84
Kansas City	58	83

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

The Drop Heard 'Round the World. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	10	3	6
	4	9	0	13

Don't really know what to say about this one. The Bucs battled back to tie the score in the 9th, only to allow Wil Ledezma and Joel Hanrahan load the bases in the 12th and Chris Snyder drop the force play at the plate for the winning run to come across. A failure of epic proportions.  But I guess it's just SOP, as always.

Maholm had a pretty great start, sans a 3-run 3rd. He went 7.0 IP, allowing 6 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, and 0 HR. He had a pretty amazing 8 strikeouts, something he's not really known for. the rest of the pitching staff added 7 more Ks, for a grand total of 15. That's probably a season high and probably hasn't happened for the Pirates in a good long while, but I really don't care to look it up and find out.

Cutch, Tabata, and Doumit (in RF again, I don't know either) all went 2 for 5, and Alex Presley got another look, albeit as a Pinch Runner for the slow as molasses Doumit. Jones had a double, and Snyder had a solo homer in the 3rd. Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to a frankly amazing 16 games.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Lost 13-4.
Baltimore: Won 6-3.
Cleveland: Won 2-0.
Kansas City: Lost 4-3.
Seattle: Lost 4-3 in 14.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	47	93
Baltimore	54	87
Seattle	55	86
Arizona	57	84
Kansas City	57	83
Cleveland	58	83

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

SERIES 46 - Reds

Cincinnati Reds

Friday, September 10, 7:10 PM (FSN)
Saturday, September 11, 7:10 PM (FSN)
Sunday, September 12, 1:10 PM




Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

---

The best and worst of the Central. Will the Buccos have any luck against Cueto this time around? I doubt it.

---

Expected Pitching Matchups

September 10: Paul Maholm (7-14, 5.43 ERA) vs. Homer Bailey (3-3, 5.00 ERA)
September 11: Charlie Morton (1-11, 9.66 ERA) vs. Aaron Harang (6-7, 5.15 ERA)
September 12: Brian Burres (3-3, 5.75) vs. Johnny Cueto (12-5, 3.45 ERA)

Lineups

Pirates

1. A. McCutchen, CF
2. J. Tabata, LF
3. N. Walker, 2B
4. G. Jones, 1B
5. P. Alvarez, 3B
6. R. Doumit, RF
7. R. Cedeno, SS
8. C. Snyder, C
9. [Pitcher]

Reds

1. B. Phillips, 2B
2. C. Heisey, RF
3. J. Votto, 1B
4. S. Rolen, 3B
5. J. Gomes, LF
6. D. Stubbs, CF
7. P. Janish, SS
8. R. Hanigan, C
9. [Pitcher]

Let's Go Bucs.

Recap

A lot has been going on in my life recently and this blog has been forgotten because of it. So to catch up on what I have missed, this post will quickly recap what's been happening in Buccoland for the last 7 games.

Chicago series, Game 3

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	6	0	12
	5	11	1	9

McDonald: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 HR.
Walker 3 for 5, Cedeno 2 for 4.
Doubles: Cedeno, Cutch, Walker.
Home Run: Walker, 3rd inning.

Washington series, Game 1

	R	H	E	LOB
	5	8	0	7
	8	11	1	5

Duke: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. Chris Resop strikes out the side in the 8th. 11 Ks total by the Bucco pitching corps.

Tabata 2 for 4, Jones 2 for 4, Doumit 3 for 4, Cedeno 2 for 4.
Doubles: Cedeno, Jones x2, Pedro.
Home Run: Doumit, 4th inning.

Washington series, Game 2

	R	H	E	LOB
	9	15	3	8
	2	9	1	10

Maholm: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R/ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Milledge 3 for 4.
Doubles: Walker, Cedeno.
Home Run: Cutch, 5th inning.

Washington series, Game 3

	R	H	E	LOB
	8	11	1	8
	1	11	3	11

Morton: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 E.
Cutch 2 for 5, Tabata 2 for 4, Walker 3 for 5.
Doubles: Walker, Cedeno.
Home Run: Pedro, 4th inning.

Atlanta series, Game 1

	R	H	E	LOB
	1	8	1	11
	3	4	1	3

Burres: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR. S: Hanrahan, 4.
Double: Pedro.
Home Run: Walker, 1 on, 6th inning.

Atlanta series, Game 2

	R	H	E	LOB
	0	5	0	6
	5	8	0	3

McDonald: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 HR. Hanrahan strikes out the side in the 9th.
Jones 2 for 4.
Doubles: Cutch, Jones, Pedro, Walker.
Triple: Cedeno.
Home Run: Young, 1 on, 7th inning.

Atlanta series, Game 3

	R	H	E	LOB
	9	14	0	13
	3	12	1	9

Essentially a spring training game for the Pirates. The box score looks like a train wreck.

Duke: 1.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R/ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR.
Cutch 2 for 3, Pedro 3 for 4. Alex Presley makes his big league debut, going 1 for 2. Pedro Ciriaco also appears as a PH, going 1 for 1.
Doubles: The Pedros, Alvarez and Ciriaco.

The Race For Last™

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	47	92
Baltimore	53	87
Seattle	55	85
Arizona	57	83
Cleveland	57	83

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.

Ryan Dumpster. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	14	15	0	6
	7	10	1	3

Now this is more like it. The Pirates seemed determined to equal the Cubs' 14 run output last time, and that's exactly what they did. Jeff Karstens picked up his first W since June 19, and GI Jones smashed his 20th homer of the year. One of my favorite lines from the TV side was when Bob said that the Pirates "dropped an area code" on the Cubs in the first 3 innings (4 1 2).

Jeff Karstens went 6.0 IP, allowing just 4 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 HR, and tied his career high of 6 Ks. Sean Gallagher came in for 7th and pitched very well, taking the Cubs down in order. Then the 8th happened. First of all, I'm not sure why JR decided to let Gallagher pitch another inning, but I really don't understand why he let him keep pitching so long in the 8th. He had allowed 4 runs to come in and was responsible for another by the time Russell finally waddled out of the dugout. Relievers should be pulled after allowing 2 runs, in my opinion. 1 can happen occasionally, and the reliever can usually get back on track. But 2 or more and he needs to get pulled.

In the meantime, while Jeff K. was dominating the batters, the Buccos were running up the score. Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata both went 3 for 5 with a walk and 2 RBIs, Neil Walker went 4 for 5 with 4 RBIs, and Garrett Jones had 3 RBIs. It was great to see a couple of bloops and blasts in the 4th and 6th innings, reminded me of the glory days. Doubles were hit by Pedro, Walker, Cedeno, and Cutch; Tabata had a triple, and GFJ and Walker both had 2-run homers, both to center.

Bucs look for the series win in a radio-only day game later today.

The Race For Last™

Arizona: Won 7-4.
Baltimore: Won 5-2.
Cleveland: Lost 4-3.
Seattle: Won 3-1.

The current standings:

Team	W	L
Pittsburgh	44	88
Baltimore	49	83
Seattle	52	80
Cleveland	53	79
Arizona	54	79

Eyes on the prize, Bucco fans.