2 out of 3 from the Cardinals on the road?
I'll take it.
--------------------
[Wednesday Loss]
[Thursday Win]
------------
Wednesday was another shot at .500, and once again it would not happen.
Paul Maholm's numbers looked terrible in this game. Ignore that. He deserved a heck of a lot more than what he got, from the offense, defense, and simply luck.
Paul gave up 11 hits in 6 innings. I'd say maybe 3 of them were legit. The Cards had more bloops, swinging bunts, infield hits, and slow rollers that seeped through the infield than I've ever seen. Maholm actually did a nice job weaving his way out of jams to limit damage. He made some nice pitches and looked better than he has all season on the road.
------
Of course, it wouldn't really matter. Todd Wellemeyer pitched really well for the Cards, and they brought the gloves out, too. Ankiel robbed LaRoche of a homer in the 2nd, and that gave St. Louis the momentum they needed to cruise to a win.
-----------------------
So, it was up to Ian Snell to bring the Bucs a series win in the.........
RUBBER MATCH!
That's the first one we've had in a while.
And it was a good one. Nate hit a homer in the 1st for a quick 1-0 lead. It wouldn't stand up.
Ian Snell was really terrible yet again. Just 4 innings and 11 hits, and these weren't all garbage hits. The Bucs were in a 5-1 hole when I turned on the game.
They responded with a 3-run 5th inning, keyed by an RBI from Gomez and two from Jason Michaels (hitting 3rd again.....). With Michaels' bouncer past third, it was quickly a one-run game.
--
The Pirates would miss some chances in the next few innings, where they kept getting men on base and kept failing to hit with 2 outs.
In the 8th, though, they wouldn't have to wait for 2 outs.
The Cards brought in Isringhausen, who personally removed himself from the closers role earlier this year (5 blown saves). He walked Dougie Malphabet. Paulino singled. Gomez quickly put down a bad bunt, and St. Louis had an easy out at 3rd. Instead, Izzy threw it into the outfield to let the Pirates tie the game.
Next up?
Pinch-hitter Jason Bay, initially given the day off.
People were wondering if it would have been better to use Bay in a pinch hit situation earlier in the game.
Look like JR got it right. Bay lifted one into the bullpen to amazingly give the Pirates a 8-5 lead.
Isringhausen was booed off the mound. 6th blown save of the year, and it's only mid-May.
-----
Bay gets ripped on when he looks bad (which he does, often) but how many of his homers this year have been super-clutch?
----------
The Pirates would tack on 3 more in the 9th, keyed by a Raul Chavez double in his first ML at-bat. Good for him.
---
John Grabow got the win. He pitched 0.2 perfect innings, but the pitch-count was in the single-digits. He moves to 3-1.
---
Check out the [video highlights].
--
The Bucs move to 20-21, back to being one game away. 5 games back in the Central, and we've caught up to Milwaukee.
--------
A solid series.
--------------------
[Wednesday Loss]
[Thursday Win]
------------
Wednesday was another shot at .500, and once again it would not happen.
Paul Maholm's numbers looked terrible in this game. Ignore that. He deserved a heck of a lot more than what he got, from the offense, defense, and simply luck.
Paul gave up 11 hits in 6 innings. I'd say maybe 3 of them were legit. The Cards had more bloops, swinging bunts, infield hits, and slow rollers that seeped through the infield than I've ever seen. Maholm actually did a nice job weaving his way out of jams to limit damage. He made some nice pitches and looked better than he has all season on the road.
------
Of course, it wouldn't really matter. Todd Wellemeyer pitched really well for the Cards, and they brought the gloves out, too. Ankiel robbed LaRoche of a homer in the 2nd, and that gave St. Louis the momentum they needed to cruise to a win.
-----------------------
So, it was up to Ian Snell to bring the Bucs a series win in the.........
RUBBER MATCH!
That's the first one we've had in a while.
And it was a good one. Nate hit a homer in the 1st for a quick 1-0 lead. It wouldn't stand up.
Ian Snell was really terrible yet again. Just 4 innings and 11 hits, and these weren't all garbage hits. The Bucs were in a 5-1 hole when I turned on the game.
They responded with a 3-run 5th inning, keyed by an RBI from Gomez and two from Jason Michaels (hitting 3rd again.....). With Michaels' bouncer past third, it was quickly a one-run game.
--
The Pirates would miss some chances in the next few innings, where they kept getting men on base and kept failing to hit with 2 outs.
In the 8th, though, they wouldn't have to wait for 2 outs.
The Cards brought in Isringhausen, who personally removed himself from the closers role earlier this year (5 blown saves). He walked Dougie Malphabet. Paulino singled. Gomez quickly put down a bad bunt, and St. Louis had an easy out at 3rd. Instead, Izzy threw it into the outfield to let the Pirates tie the game.
Next up?
Pinch-hitter Jason Bay, initially given the day off.
People were wondering if it would have been better to use Bay in a pinch hit situation earlier in the game.
Look like JR got it right. Bay lifted one into the bullpen to amazingly give the Pirates a 8-5 lead.
Isringhausen was booed off the mound. 6th blown save of the year, and it's only mid-May.
-----
Bay gets ripped on when he looks bad (which he does, often) but how many of his homers this year have been super-clutch?
----------
The Pirates would tack on 3 more in the 9th, keyed by a Raul Chavez double in his first ML at-bat. Good for him.
---
John Grabow got the win. He pitched 0.2 perfect innings, but the pitch-count was in the single-digits. He moves to 3-1.
---
Check out the [video highlights].
--
The Bucs move to 20-21, back to being one game away. 5 games back in the Central, and we've caught up to Milwaukee.
--------
A solid series.
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