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Stunning comeback vs Cards
Written by admin
I started this post at the end of the sixth inning with the Bucs down 8-3 and the guys hanging their heads down between their legs. I watched out of the corner of my eye until the 9th and I saw Wilson hustling down to first. Next thing I knew, McLouth went yard, a couple batters later Bay’s little grounder to short wasn’t turned into a double play, and then Rivas crossed the plate to tie the game.
My heart was racing like crazy.
Bautista took the mound and, three pitches later, gave up a home run to Glaus then quickly got three outs.
Chavez started the 10th with a single (how bizarre) and two batters later, Jason Michaels drilled a Perez heater over the fence for a walkoff as I was screaming “get out! – get out!”
Greg Brown said it best – how improbable was that? The Pirates scored eight runs in their last three at bats to come from behind.
Wow.
The last time I can remember off the top of my head we did that was July 3, 2005, where we came back down 8-2 in the 7th scoring nine runs in our last three at bats to win at Milwaukee. Snell gave up 5 runs in one inning of work that day.
One of the best games in a long, long time. Too bad it only catapaulted us to 12.5 games out. Ughh… reality bites. But the win over LaRussa is platinum. What a way to go out on the break no matter what happens Sunday.
– original post below –
When I saw Herrera’s first three pitches it was obvious his game was going to be a disaster – he had only one average-to-plus pitch in his arsenol. His fastball was below average to poor, his changeup was below average, his command below average, and his arm action was below average.
Four of the twenty-seven batters he faced had walked, four of them struck out, and the remaining nineteen enjoyed a 57% hit rate with 36% of those going for extra bases, and six runs were plated in 4.1 innings of work.
Simply put, Herrerra makes Matt Morris look like a Cy Young candidate.
Even though Herrera was in way over his head, his defense didn’t help him much either (but he did save at least one run with his own glove, figure that one out). Ground balls just under Rivas’ glove a few times, a ground ball just past Wilson, a double to center McLouth didn’t handle that ended up being a triple and no error called, another fly to center that went off the wall that McLouth misplayed (too close to the wall) and, luckily, Bay was there backing him up holding the batter to a double, a home run to left a few seats in that you just had to wonder if Bay could have gloved if he hadn’t jumped too early, and a Rivas tag of Pujols at second where he was called safe – but was actually out.
So no, it wasn’t all Herrera’s doing – some unluckiness found him as well. But make no mistake about it, he’s marginal material at best.
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Jay Bay – two yardballs. His first multi-homer game of the year. Crank. It. Up. Dude.
And what about McLouth? Another belt high offering, another home run. This one in the 9th with two on bringing us within a run. Whoa baby. Greg Brown is calling the game on MLB.tv as if the Pirates are winning the 7th game of the World Series. Good stuff.
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Third inning and yet another Tony LaRussa pitcher throws at the head of a player: Wellmeyer at Luis Rivas. Did we retaliate by hitting a Cardinal? No, we swung the bats.
10th inning after Bay’s little grounder tied the game, Russell had to pull Nady and inserted Michaels in right, put Doumit at first, Chavez catching, and Denny Bautista on the mound.
Three pitches later, Glaus hit a towering 2-0 heater thrown into his breadbasket over the left field fence.
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Freddy Sanchez: 174 for his last 667 for a .261 batting average. That’s from July 1, 2007.
Ouch.
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Ryan Doumit: 8 for his last 35 for a .229 batting average. He’s now caught 15 of the last 17 games, the most in his career (over 17 games). He’s running on fumes as you’ve probably noticed the last few days where he doesn’t even run out routine type outs anymore.
But none of the 8 were as large as his 9th inning single Saturday night.
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Tom Gorzelanny at Indy: 3 IP, 40 pitches thrown, 4 hits and 1 runs allowed.
Kudos to Neal Huntington for shutting him down in Pittsburgh and limiting his pitches at Indy. A tick late in my book, but better now than never.
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Andrew McCutchen will start in left and leadoff in Sunday’s Futures Game. The pre-game show starts at 11:30 AM. It’s a game you have to watch.
Filed under: Archives
Some observations since I finally got to see a game thanks to the free trial of mlb.tv:
McLouth didnt misplay the one ball that hit off the wall. It actually hit the corner of the pad where it goes into the cage. Caused the ball to take a hard ricochet out. Nice to see Bay backing up though. He might not have done that last year.
Herrera looked bad. I almost didnt mind seeing him walk people because any time he did throw anything resembling a strike it was crushed.
The bullpen is worked. I havent looked at any numbers so I\’m just talking off the top of my head, but I feel like Yates is on pace to approach Salomon Torres territory as far as appearances are concered.
It is refreshing to see Gorzo being handled like that. They just need to be proactive in communicating with him.
Great to hear Greg Brown tonight. Makes me long for the days when games mean something.
Michael, I disagree, McLouth should have been there to catch that ball off the wall. He watched it hit the wall, a good centerfielder would have been there and been able to make a jump to at least have a chance to catch it. He is not a premier centerfielder, he is serviceable at best. His bat plays him up. I am really impressed with his bat. He would probably make a good Leftfielder at PNC with a true center fielder in center, like Cutch. I think McLouth is an outfielder without a position, he hits like a centerfielder, but plays like a corner guy. I know he is raking this year, but do you really expect him to keep it up year after year, I don\’t. And where have all the stolen bases gone? It seems like he see himself as a power hitter now and doesn\’t have to steal bases. But last year he stole like out of in limited at bats. What happened to that. If you project that to full time at bats, he should be stealing around 40 He is on pace for 18. I like McLouth, but I am extremely worried this will be his career year.
Edit on m post above. I tried to say last year McLouth stole 22 bases in 24 attempts. This year, he seems to be reluctant to run, despite many more chances on base. Maybe he feels like he is a power hitter now. But how many hr’s has he hit that weren’t over the short Clemente wall? I also am not convinced he is a true CF. His jumps and range are limited. He might be best served as a LF in PNC.
Ok, get ready for a ramble, because here I go. And I have some ideas about the major probs with the Bucs. First of all, we have zero pitching, ZERO. We need to make some deals, asap, for some pitching. As much as I\’ve ripped Jake for hoping to get Kershaw from the Dodgers, I agree, that is the kind of pitching we need to shoot for. Kershaw is probably a little ridiculous to hope for, and that is why I ripped Jake for mentioning it. But could we get Max Scherzer from Arizona? He was brought up earlier in the year, and I wasted my #1 waiver priority on him in fantasy baseball, only to see the D-backs lose confidence in him, send him to the pen, and then eventually send him back to AAA. He could be, at least, a solid # 2-3 starter(probably an ace) in the Burgh with a huge power arm and tons of K\’s. And he seems to have lost a little luster with the D-backs. Lets send Bay to Arizone for Scherzer and Emilio Benifacio, a SS/2b that could maybe turn into a starting middle infielder. I\’d also like to see us send Wilson to the Dodgers for Chin-Lung Hu and McDonald. Hu could be our staring SS, a defensive whiz who could save us tons of runs a year, but probably not do much with the bat. But McDonald could turn into perhaps a number 3 guy, with a ceiling as an ace, and a floor as a bullpen guy. Then lets send Nady to the Braves for Wade Davis. He could be a solid starter. Another guy with a ceiling as a #1-2, and floor as a 4-5 or long relier guy. With Lincoln coming up and possibly Scheppers, if signed, we might have a decent rotation with Snell and Maholm and Gorzo in about 2010. We should be able to put something together as a starting rotation out of all those guys. With Capps and Moskos in the back end of the bullpen.
I’m sorry, I meant send Nady to the Rays for Wade Davis, not the Braves.
Ok, here is my optimal 25 man roster for the Bucs in 2010. Starting 5, 1-Max Scherzer(acquired in trade of Bay to Arizona). 2_Bucs Decide to spend some money for a veteran pitcher, such as John Lackey, or other free agents of his caliber, and they are willing to come to the Bucs, realizing the potential of the young club. 3-Paul Maholm (continues to be unspectacular, but consistent enough), 4-Brad Lincoln (progresses through Bucs minor leagues to reach potential), 5. Tanner Scheppers (shows Bucs why he was considered a top 10 pick before his injury in college, and rewards them for taking a chance on him in the second round and giving him some money). Bullpen- Closer-Ian Snell (moves to the Pen because he really only has two major league pitches(fastball, slider), and excels by ramping up his fastball to 94-96 with short periods of work, and adds some bite to his slider by not holding anything back to save his arm for multiple innings. Set up men-LHP Daniel Moskos, RHP Matt Capps. Middle Relief- John Grabow (sticks around longer than expected, but still is valuable in the pen), ?-Vet acquired in trade, off waivers, or in free-agency (too hard to predict), ?-Vet (again, too hard to predict, but someone who is unheralded, but serviceable in middle relief, could be multiple guys called up and down from AAA), Long Relief-Tom Gorzelanny (never becomes a front line starter, but has value in long relief situations, as an inning eater who wont give up too much), Duke Welker (waiting in the wings to become a starter, but still to young, so gets experience as a long relief man), Starting Eight and batting order, 1-Shelby Ford-2b (progresses through system with high batting average and on base percentage, and also some speed), Andrew McCutchen-CF (comes up in 09, and shows flashes of superior base-stealing ability and superior defense and arm in CF, hitting for average, and show a little power, builds on all and becomes star in 2010, 3-Nate McLouth-LF (hits 20-25 hrs and steals 20-25 bases while showing good D in LF), 4-Ryan Doumit-Catcher (25 hrs, .280 average if healthy), 5 Pedro Alvarez-3b (first taste of MLB, hits 35 hrs and .275 with 110 RBI), 6-Steven Pearce-1b (20 hrs, 80 RBI, lower average than expected), 7-Neil Walker-RF (his cannon arm in RF proves valuable and D is average for corner outfielder, but his bat lack all year, hits around .250 with 15 hrs and 60 RBI), 8-Chin Lung-Hu-SS. (all D, no offense guy, has a lot of sac-bunts, a .250 average, and 35 RBI, but saves the club 30-40 runs with spectacular D). Bench-Catcher-? (defensive minded catcher to fill in for Doumit on off days), OF-Jamie Romak (right-handed power threat off the bench can also fill in at LF and RF for days off for starters), OF- Nyjer Morgan (only worth is as a CF when Cutch needs a break and as a late inning base-stealing threat), INF-Emilio Benifacio (acquired from D-Backs in Bay Trade, plays both SS and 2b well enough to warrent some spot starts and has a lot of speed to steal some bases when needed), Brian Bixler (same as Benifacio). So there is my optimal lineup, considering the best of progression and without making too many guesses on trades. I think I actually may have listed 26. But, dam, is it hard to try to project all this. So cut me some slack.
Wow Deal, do all of your personalities post here? Just kidding.
Jake You were right on the money I was sitting in left field and I saw Mclouth miss read the ball of the bat two times and then he made a catch I didnt think he was goin to get to the call on Puljols at second was horribile he slid wide of the bag with his hands pulled in to avoid the tag Rivas gets him right on the shoulder and he is called safe horrible call Umpire is right behind the play and cant get the call right I was in left field and I thought how can I see that and the ump right on top of the play misses that.What a game THANK YOU Nephew I was about to leave that game when it was 9-3 in the seventh but it was his first buccos game he wanted to stay and got wittness probally one of the most outstanding comebacks in Pirate history.THANKS Bay hooked him up with a ball that ment alot to my nephew.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-whitley1308jul13,0,7829839.column
Hey Jake,
Might be interested in this since you had brought this up a couple of week\’s back. As an Orlando resident, it would be nice to see though highly unlikely. I am a Bucco fan but my ties would be comprimised if this ever tanspired. I\’d love to hear your take on this article.
Jake Matt Hauge continues to kill it at Hickory in 9 games he is hitting .375 with 5 home runs and 11 rbis his defense does need some work with 5errors but i really like this kids bat if he can clean it up defesively this kid could do some things.
My bad Jake those stats are through 16 games not 9 and his ops 1.176. OHH and good to see Brad Lincoln have a good outing he went 6 2/3 giving up only 4 hits and 0 runs and 7ks and 2 BBs.
Hope Cutch has a huge game today and shows the Pirates why he needs to be up in Pittsburgh. Cant wait for it to get started.
dang deal – I think I need to start a deadline thread to let everyone post their comments. Some good stuff there. How about this, late next week I’ll post a feature story on “who do you want” asking fans to name their three best trade scenarios and reasons why they feel that way. Be thinking about it.
chris – that’s a very kewl feel-good story. Kudos to Bay too.
Justin – I don’t see the Rays leaving the Tampa/St. Pete area anytime soon.
Chris – Hauge is having fun – we’ll see if he continues it up the ladder.
Jake, sounds like a good idea. Sorry for all the rambling. I was bored, and stuck at home, and couldn’t sleep. And erad, that’s funny, but no, my other 3 personalities don’t like baseball. Hahaha
I unfortunately left the game last night after the 7th. I never leave games early until last night. I was tired and live an hour away. I did listen to the ending on the radio and it ended right when I got back to Wheeling. This team does show heart, at times. Last year they hardly ever did.
I have to disagree about Brown. I listened to Lanny on the radio and his Michaels\’ HR call. I also heard Brown\’s on Sportscenter. My brother in law and I even joked on Bay\’s 1st inning HR that Brown probably didn\’t get excited until it was in the fans glove. Many times a get excited at the crack of the bat on TV and think it could be gone and Brown just says fly ball and then get crazy after the ball is gone. His call was good last night, but it was after the ball was over the fence. Lanny gave me the go ball get out of here. Brown needs to build it up more and be more of a homer. I love listening to Walk. He always brings up a baseball tip that I have never heard and explains the intricacies of the game. He and Lanny together are great. Wehner is getting better and Blassis a classic.
Deal – Not a bad projection in your lineup. I don\’t think Capps will still be here if Snell is closing. I do agree that Snell may need to move to that role. I don\’t disagree with Jake that Capps could be better suited at starting. I have read that Scherzer is projectable as a closer.
Jake – What is the forum for and do you still check in? I haven\’t seen you post for a long time, unless you have a secret name.
Jack, Bay, and Marte to BoSOx for Lowrie, Masterson, and Bowden. Lugo gone for 4-6 weeks.
Jake what have you heard about Lowrie?
We need to DFA Osoria. Where is the accountability Huntington and Coonelly are always talking about.
Also paulcnewmie, that does seem like a pretty good trade but I would ask for more. Maybe Bowden, Lowrie, Anderson, and Tejeda. Better yet I would ask for Buckholz and Lowrie. That would be a hell of a trade.