Pirates 8, Rockies 4: Bucs Record 12 Hits, Beat Colorado

by Charlie Wilmoth on May 1, 2011 9:05 PM EDT

It's always nice to win two of three on the road, especially against one of the league's better teams. The Pirates pulled off an 8-4 win over the Rockies Sunday thanks in part to a four-run second inning (which featured a two-out, two-run triple by newcomer Xavier Paul). The Bucs also scored four runs in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Charlie Morton, an RBI single by Andrew McCutchen, and a two-run single by Garrett Jones.

Charlie Morton picked up the win despite allowing five walks, recalling his first couple starts of the season, when he got good results despite walking lots of batters and striking out very few. Only 56 of his 104 pitches were for strikes.

There was a moment in the sixth when it looked like the Rockies might get back into the game after being down 8-2 - Morton allowed a single to Seth Smith and a walk to Chris Iannetta, and then Clint Hurdle replaced Morton with Mike Crotta, who allowed a walk to Jonathan Herrera (who's always more than happy to take a walk, especially if a Pirates pitcher is on the hill) and a double to Dexter Fowler. What can one say? Crotta is a rookie, and not a highly-touted one at that, and he hasn't been especially reliable this year. (And neither have the umps who have called strikes and balls for him.)

So the Pirates brought in Joe Beimel, who stranded the two remaining runners and then pitched a scoreless seventh for good measure. And then Jose Veras came in and was lethal, as always. And then it was Joel Hanrahan - lethal. We're lucky the Pirates have these guys. Veras now has 19 strikeouts and three walks in 11.1 innings and a WHIP of 0.88. If he can keep up anything like this, he'll be easily the best Pirates minor-league signing since - what? Garrett Jones in 2009? Salomon Torres in 2001? Hopefully, the Pirates will have something to show for the acquisition next year, whether that's Veras himself or something nifty in a trade - if he keeps this up, he'll make a nice target for some contender seeking a setup man.

Offensively, the Pirates did have seven walks today, but they also had 11 strikeouts, raising their total for the year to 237 in 28 games. That projects to 1,371 for the whole season, which would be the second-most in history, behind the 2010 Diamondbacks. That's not worrisome in itself - a good 2010 Rays team had 1,292 strikeouts. But it would be a lot easier to take if so many of the Pirates' hitters weren't young, and if the strikeouts weren't coming from players like Pedro Alvarez who are struggling. Cptn Awesome joked in Sunday's gamethread that "Watching Pedro flail at that second strike just made me realize how awful it must have been for my parents watching me play Little League." Alvarez reached base three times today and only struck out once, but obviously, the strikeouts for players like him and Neil Walker remain important to monitor going forward.

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Possibly Useless Factoid of the Day

the pirates have alternated wins and losses in every game since losing to the marlins on april 21, scoring 37 runs and giving up 35 over that span.

by theatrain on May 1, 2011 9:28 PM EDT reply actions

Whooo!

I noticed that late last night looking at Baseball-Reference.com. I thought well, I guess today is the day to win. Yep, I guess we’ll go 1-2 at San Diego….

There is no love in the World. There's only pain.

by IAPiratesFan on May 1, 2011 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Mike Crotta

When he starts an inning: 7IP 7H 4K 0BB 2R 1HR 2.57 ERA 1.00 WHIP
When he doesn’t start an inning: 3IP 6H 3K 4BB 3R 1HR 9.00 ERA 3.33 WHIP

It’s might be too small to draw a conclusion but his early struggles could just be him adjusting to the role of RP.

by Mr. E on May 1, 2011 11:21 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I went looking for information like that but I got distracted – I wondered what percentage of inherited runners Crotta had allowed to score.

by Charlie Wilmoth on May 1, 2011 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions

The ump wasn't calling low strikes today

Crotta really isn’t capable of getting people out if he’s not getting that call…he’s pretty one dimensional.

by maguro on May 1, 2011 11:30 PM EDT reply actions

this

Morton was wild today, but he also got squeezed on an awful lot of low strikes

Redeemed.

by escroll on May 1, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I often wonder how many of you guys who say this are watching the actual game or just the pitchfx/gameday. Not insulting, just that I think a combination needs to be used to get any real insight.

by Mr. E on May 2, 2011 4:06 AM EDT up reply actions

I was watching the game

And thought at the time that the ump wasn’t calling low strikes. I only look at pitchfx if something seems a little off during the game.

And I wonder what the purpose of a snide little remark like that really is…I notice you didn’t offer an opinion of your own. If you think the strike zone was OK, why not just say so?

by maguro on May 2, 2011 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Sorry

I didn’t mean it that way at all but I know some people can only watch on gameday so I just have no way of knowing who is who.
I didn’t really notice the ump good or bad but I was a little distracted during the game so I have no opinion.

by Mr. E on May 2, 2011 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I watched the entire game

and checked Pitchf/x periodically when I thought a call was bad. The Crotta walk was egregious. In the rest of the game, I was sometimes right, sometimes wrong about a call, and the Pirates had some of those calls go their way as well.

I’m not pretending to have some immense insight, but I’m not crazy when I say that there were quite a few borderline strike/ball calls right around the knees that were almost all called as balls. You can argue about whether it was ‘fair’ to Morton or not, or whether I’m just saying he got ‘squeezed’ because I’m a homer. But it wasn’t a no knowledge comment.

And I understand you’re not trying to jump on me or anyone in particular. Just thought I’d clarify :)

Redeemed.

by escroll on May 2, 2011 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

i watched the game. morton didnt have the same movement on his pitches like the game before.

im thinking the thin air maybe helped hinder the movement or even the curve? then again, the thick humidity in florida didnt help him either.

eh, im just gonna leave it as a bad day at the office for charlie

by white angus on May 2, 2011 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I was thinking about trying to research this more carefully

but probably won’t have time. But my gut, just from watching the games so far, is that a lot of these Ks are connected to the increased plate patience. I noticed Cutch, in his big slump, getting into a ton of 0-2 counts by pitchers gunning straight down the middle on 0-0 and 0-1, leaving him in a hole and swinging at breaking balls way out. Same for Tabata.

Walker seems to just be kind of strikeout prone in general, at least when he’s asked to hit cleanup; and Pedro obviously has flailed at a lot of stuff, though again, I’ve seen him get in an awful lot of 0-2 counts by staring at pitches down the middle early on. Then, he’s looks lost.

Disclaimer: I might be totally wrong about this, it’s just an impression. More information welcomed.

Redeemed.

by escroll on May 1, 2011 11:33 PM EDT reply actions

sorry

it might be better to say ‘increased willingness as a team to take pitches.’ Haven’t looked it up yet, but Pirates hitters certainly seem to be taking many more pitches, and drawing many more walks this season than last.

Redeemed.

by escroll on May 1, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I wasn’t kidding. I guess the kernel of “hey, my parents put up with a lot of bullshit to make me happy,” has always been there, but it is all slowly clicking as I grow older. Certain events trigger it, like flashbacks in a movie caused by certain events. That AB seemed to do it.

Anyway, thanking my mom for that has become the sum of my Mother’s Day Card. It’s the most heartfelt think I could think of.

by CptnAwesome on May 2, 2011 1:03 PM EDT reply actions