Cardinals 2, Pirates 1: St. Louis 1-Hits Bucs

by Charlie on Apr 9, 2009 4:14 PM EDT Comment 16 comments

I saw about half of this game. It wasn't the worst the Pirates have ever played, but the cracks in the roster are already beginning to show, which is to be expected. First, Andy LaRoche was on the bench for the second consecutive day. (Adam LaRoche was out too, but he's sick.)

Then there was the decision to bring in Sean Burnett against a righty (UPDATE: the righty was a pinch-hitter--my fault) with two on and no outs in a 1-1 game. Burnett, who's a complete cipher (and actually, that description might be generous), wasn't an optimal choice there--actually, if you're willing to be even a little bit adventurous with your bullpen, Matt Capps would have been a great choice, but even if he weren't available, I'd prefer John Grabow, Tyler Yates and Jesse Chavez in that situation. Still, it's hard to be too tough on John Russell, if only because the choices are so uninspiring and there are two pitchers in the bullpen (Craig Hansen and Donnie Veal) who can't be trusted at all.

Then there was the fact that the Pirates were being no-hit into the seventh inning by Chris Carpenter. The Bucs still had a 1-0 lead because they were able to get a run without a hit, on a walk, a fielder's choice, an error, and another fielder's choice. Ross Ohlendorf kept runs off the board, but his performance wasn't exactly inspiring--he wasn't throwing terribly hard, he allowed a bunch of fly balls, and he only had one strikeout.

The Cardinals took a two run lead in the seventh on singles by Yadier Molina and Brian Barden. It should have been a much less complex inning--Freddy Sanchez let what should have been a double play get by him. Brandon Moss and Ryan Doumit ended what could have been a disastrous inning by nailing Molina at home. After that, though, the Pirates went quietly, and ended the game with a flyout by Craig Monroe. Anytime Craig Monroe is allowed to end a 2-1 game, well, your roster isn't deep enough.

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Honestly, against a RHB...

…I’d probably take either Hansen or Veal over Burnett. He’s just totally helpless against them.

by Vlad on Apr 9, 2009 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

Where "totally helpless" =

.328/.442/.537 last year, and .305/.386/.476 for his career.

While ghastly, that’s not quite as bad as I’d remembered.

by Vlad on Apr 9, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Burnett

To be fair, a lefty was due up when Burnett entered the game. Of course, everybody knew LaRussa would send in a righty to pinch hit.

by bolton on Apr 9, 2009 5:33 PM EDT reply actions

Oops. My fault.

by Charlie on Apr 9, 2009 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Completely unrelated, but...

I just tuned in to the Dodgers-Padres game, and Ronald Belisario just came in and struck out the side, including Adrian Gonzalez on 3 pitches. His last pitch against Edgar Gonzalez came in at 96. He was mediocre at best in AA last year… What did this guy take in the offseason?

by shayborg on Apr 9, 2009 5:38 PM EDT reply actions

He Didn't Take Anything

He just got lucky when the Pirates released him.

I saw him pitch one inning of the Padres’ home opener and he was quite impressive then also.

Just may be another talent evaluation problem.

by thegunner on Apr 9, 2009 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure.

I was joking about his taking something in the offseason, but it’s amazing to me that a guy who couldn’t get AA hitters out one year suddenly looks dominant in the majors the next. He was a little more hittable in his second inning today, so there’s that.

by shayborg on Apr 9, 2009 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

In LA, they were saying...

…that he learned a new pitch.

Personally, I’m skeptical, but good for him if he can make it.

by Vlad on Apr 10, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

The Sox-Rays game today was great fun

my first time at Fenway Park, and the two teams were very talented. It also turned out to be a pretty close game in the end.

Anyway, it’s nice to see Ross O keep the line reasonable, but it’s unfortunate to hear of his lack of command. Eh, two and two isn’t a bad start.

by Suffering Buc on Apr 9, 2009 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

Pedro

3-4 with a double and homer, 4 rbi tonight.

by Hitman Easler on Apr 9, 2009 9:28 PM EDT reply actions

Alvarez? COOL.

"Gimme an 'F' ! " - Country Joe MacDonald

by cocktailsfor2 on Apr 9, 2009 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions

The recap says Ohlie also had 10 groundouts. Sounds okay to me.

"Gimme an 'F' ! " - Country Joe MacDonald

by cocktailsfor2 on Apr 9, 2009 10:04 PM EDT reply actions

10 flyballs. Seven grounders.

by Charlie on Apr 10, 2009 4:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Ohlendorf

I got a different view of Ohlendorf’s performance since I am in Pittsburgh and therefore had to watch the gamecast online. His control was really good even though he did not throw very hard. There were even some ridiculous ball calls. I mean there were pitches over the heart of the plate called a balls. My guess is that Ohlendorf cannot control his pitches when he throws hard. We will see how that plays out.

by kjcity520 on Apr 9, 2009 11:53 PM EDT reply actions

You cant complain about command

when you look at his line. He did what he had to do and that is eat innings and keep it close. We just happened to run into a former Cy Young winner who looks to have regained some of his previous form. Nothing more, nothing less.

I am more concerned about our defense. It is early, but it seems like we are making 1-2 errors per game. I would just chalk it up to being early though. 3 or our 4 starting pitchers look great and our pen didnt get beat up. It is only one series, but it looks as if the Pirates will not be out classed this year if they continue to get good inning from their SP.

BTW – what is up with LaRoche being sick the same time every year? If I remember correctly, he was sick during the first series last year in Houston. Never have I heard this excuse more than for LaRoche. You are paid millions of dollars – soldier through the flu. We all do in our jobs everyday and you play a game so suck it up. I am tired of these excuses in the early part of the season for him!

by vanslyke on Apr 10, 2009 8:29 AM EDT reply actions

Ohlie

It’s pretty hard to complain about the performance, flyballs or not. Half his hits came in the 7th, when, if we had a decent bullpen, he wouldn’t have come back out in such a tight game. If you turn a couple of those earlier flyballs into doubles or HR’s, he’s still only giving up a couple runs.

I know people around here haven’t been too high on him, but at least he looks like a decent back of the rotation starter, and better than he did last year, when he got hammered AND gave up walks. He’s probably never going to win the Cy Young, but he’s decent and still has a little upside. We know he can get his velocity higher, and any steps forward he can take with his command or the mental aspects could greatly improve his game.

I’m just glad he can eat a couple innings while keeping his ERA under 10.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Apr 10, 2009 1:04 PM EDT reply actions