Pirates 2, Nationals 1: Bucs Win Fifth in a Row

by Charlie on May 20, 2009 10:31 PM EDT Comment 22 comments

Paul Maholm struck out seven Nationals Wednesday night.

The Pirates won their fifth straight game tonight in a squeaker against the Nationals, who still can't depend on their bullpen. It was a pitching duel between Paul Maholm and John Lannan, with Maholm striking out seven batters through six innings. Maholm threw a ton of pitches, though, and had to come out of the game with a pitch count of 114. (Fortunately, John Russell stopped there, or else we'd probably be looking at a near-guaranteed loss in five days.)

That left the last three innings to the Bucs' depleted bullpen, and Jesse Chavez and John Grabow carried the seventh and eighth. With a 1-1 score in the top of the ninth, the Pirates loaded the bases with a series of singles against Joel Hanrahan. Hanrahan's fastball touched 97 tonight and he managed to get two outs without any runs scoring, but for some reason he threw several consecutive sliders in the dirt against Adam LaRoche, and one got away from catcher Wil Nieves. Freddy Sanchez scampered home for the go-ahead run.

If not for the Nationals' bullpen, I'm not sure where the Pirates would be--Nats relievers have taken all three losses for the series, despite strong starts from Lannan and particularly Ross Detwiler. The only Nats reliever who has pitched so far this series and not been scored upon is Ron Villone.

Matt Capps pitched the bottom of the ninth and, fortunately, got the save--he got Nieves to ground into a double play, then got Josh Willingham on a long flyout to center.

The Pirates left eight runners in scoring position with two outs, which partially explains how they only scored twice despite reaching base fifteen times. Sanchez had two hits and Andy LaRoche had three, all singles. It's safe to say that Andy is in decent shape, by the way--his season line is now a respectable .278 AVG / .350 OBP / .405 SLG. Now all he needs is a string of extra base hits to transform his season from a year out of Joe Randa's career to something a bit better.

Anyway, the Pirates are suddenly two games below .500 again. That's not great, but it's not all gloom and doom either. It's easy to lose perspective after watching an eight-game losing streak.

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It's nice to know...

that as bad as things are with us they are worse with someone else. The Nats have gotten some decent starting pitching but their bullpen is horrendous. I thought we had the worst pen coming in but I was wrong. The Nats offense is decent and the one big thing that I learned from this series is the value of defense. I knew that a lot of the improvements in the pitching staff this year was a direct correlation to the improved defense. But after watching how awful the Nats defended in this series I’m starting to believe that defense is more important than offense. I guess it’s six in one and half a dozen in the other because a run prevented = a run created. All I know is it is much more enjoyable watching our starters throw into the 6th and 7th innings giving our team a chance to win than it is having to put together 5 and 6 run ralleys in late innings just to get back in games.

by Slick1 on May 20, 2009 10:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Chavez

i like what i am seeing. from him..he’s really been the most consistent member of the bullpen. he was really dialing up the fastball tonight….

by jsn4219 on May 20, 2009 10:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed...

he’s looked really good and has made it evident what NH saw in him during spring training. A he was a Dave Littlefield acquisition interestingly enough. One of the few that has worked out so far.

by Slick1 on May 20, 2009 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know how much credit I’d give NH. The Pirates all but said outright that Chavez only made the team because Meek was sick. And last year, Chavez kept getting passed over while one AAA pitcher after another got pummeled.

by Charlie on May 20, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The thing I like most about him is that he pitches with a quiet confidence.

He’s sure of himself, and that leads me to believe he’s more than just a flash in the pan.

by Suffering Buc on May 20, 2009 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll bet half the bullpens in MLB get put together by accident every year.

by WTM on May 20, 2009 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, that’s true. Relievers are also judged so strongly on their last 25 innings that a lot of what we perceive as success and failure is probably just noise anyway.

That said, I do like Chavez.

by Charlie on May 20, 2009 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I get your point...

but Bootcheck had a much better spring than Chavez. I was convinved at one point that he was going to be the man over Chavez.

by Slick1 on May 20, 2009 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oddly, although Bootcheck’s ERA at Indy is 4.91, he has a 1.25 WHIP and 12.76 K/9.

by WTM on May 21, 2009 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I’m not a huge Bootcheck fan, but I’m not sure putting him on the team would’ve been a terrible move.

by Charlie on May 21, 2009 12:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heat

Saw on Buster Olney’s blog that ESPN Research put Flood Gates at #9 on the list of top average fastball speed. He averaged 95.49 over 150 fastballs, according to his stats.

It’s incredible that Justin Verlander made the list at #13. 572 fastballs at an average speed of 95.35. How does his arm not fall off?

by CptnAwesome on May 20, 2009 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He does throw really hard for a starter. If I recall, though, at the beginning of last year he was down around 92.

by Charlie on May 20, 2009 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And wow—69 strikeouts in 50.1 innings? Are you kidding me?

by Charlie on May 20, 2009 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I dropped him off my keeper league fantasy team after last year in favor of guys like Jay Bruce (not too shabby), David Ortiz (ehh, even though my league scores walks), and Max Scherzer. Verlander’s fastball velocity had been steadily dropping for years, and his peripherals didn’t support his 2007 season, so I thought 2008 was a sign of things to come. And then suddenly he turns into Jake Peavy.

by shayborg on May 21, 2009 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I didn’t keep him either. Traded Jon Papelbon a couple years ago to get him, too.

by Charlie on May 21, 2009 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let’s hope Snell pitches a lot of innings tomorrow to give the bullpen some rest before heading to Chicago

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on May 20, 2009 11:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Let’s not give Russell any ideas.

by WTM on May 21, 2009 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh. Good point. Although judging from his conduct, I don’t think Russell visits this blog or if he does, he just looks at the pictures.

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on May 21, 2009 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

about verlander....

His strikeouts this year are insane. You are right Charlie, last year his average fastball speed dove to 92.×. It was his lowest average speed in his entire career. However, so far this year his average speed is back up above 95 and so far this is the hardest he has thrown yet. This guy is a horse.

by SkeedTom on May 21, 2009 12:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Im pumped about Andy. He’s hit well since the 0-18. Even if it is against the Rockies and Nats. Once we see more power we can all breathe easier. HIs BL double and homer were good signs. I like to joke with my friend that it’s Stockholm syndrome where you start to fall for the people that are holding you hostage. Moss and Delwyn coming on strong too

McLouth is The Trouth

by GTrain on May 21, 2009 6:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Paul Maholm

Would it be fair to say that Paul Maholm has “arrived?” I mean, he has been consistently good this season plus more than half of the previous one. It’s a shame he does not get those wins he so much deserves.

by Pirate in Montana on May 21, 2009 11:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs