Paul Maholm Pitches Three-Hitter As Pirates Destroy Cubs, 10-0
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 28, 2011 4:08 PM EDT
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PrintThis was that rare day when everything went right. The Pirates' starter again had an easy game against an offense that looked totally lifeless. In this case, that starter was Paul Maholm, and the Pirates' offense decided to make up for the total lack of run support with a bunch of power, much of it to the opposite field.
Maholm allowed three hits - two singles and one double - and no walks, and he never even had a particularly difficult inning, getting through most of them with about 10 pitches.
The Pirates scored two runs in the fourth on a clutch two-run single by Steve Pearce and then a three-run bomb by Ronny Cedeno. That drove starter Randy Wells from the game, and then the Pirates had some fun against James Russell - Lyle Overbay hit a solo homer to lead off the sixth, and then Chris Snyder hit another later in the inning. Scott Maine then came on to pitch the seventh, and after a Jose Tabata walk, Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run, no-doubt opposite-field homer to make the score 9-0. Tabata and Garrett Jones then had back-to-back doubles to lead off the ninth against John Grabow to make it 10-0. (Nice to see Jones hit the ball hard against a lefty.)
Pearce left the game with right calf soreness. With Pedro Alvarez still on the shelf, Pearce hopefully won't be gone long.
This could well be the worst series the Cubs will have all year, and it's probably not fair to draw any rash conclusions, but ... wow. Last week I wrote about the possibility of them getting back into the NL Central race. Now, it's hard to imagine it. They'll get a bump when Geovany Soto comes back, but their offense has looked lackluster. I know we haven't seen top relievers like Carlos Marmol or Sean Marshall yet, but their bullpen looks horrible. Their rotation is a mess, as the fact that they started Doug Davis yesterday indicates.
UPDATE: Gorillagogo points out in the comments that Maholm threw 91 pitches, 66 of which were strikes. So, in the entire game, he only threw 25 balls. He was in complete control.
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What an all around fantastic game for the Bucs today. I don’t ever recall seeing Maholm look so completely in control. He only threw 25 balls the entire game. To put that in perspective, he faced 30 hitters. If Wood or Cedeno comes up with Barney’s 2 out infield hit in the 9th, he’d have finished the game with less than 90 pitches. Just complete and total domination from Paul today.
Conversely, from the Cubs' POV:
Wells, working on a pitch count of 80-90, needed 11 pitches to retire leadoff man Jose Tabata and threw 24 pitches in the first inning. He threw 25 more in the second and needed 55 pitches to get through the Pirates’ order once.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 28, 2011 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Searage: Sargeant of Arms, Pitch-burgh
by white angus on May 28, 2011 4:34 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
I'm seriously jealous of that facial hair.
I wish I could do something half that cool.
There is no love in the World. There's only pain.
by IAPiratesFan on May 28, 2011 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Not enticing enough to me
Sure, he’s had a good season so far, but I don’t think that the Pirates can afford to spend so much on an older stop gap kind of player with limited upside. I’m guessing some people here would say it’d be similar to a pitching equivalent of signing Lyle Overbay.
Why can't the Pirates afford Maholm?
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2011 5:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
We're definitely entering a new era...
of contract and talent evaluation, though. Previously, it was a pretty simple equation veteran approaching free agency or big arbitration pump = trade for prospects. Now they have to weigh the Rule 5 logjam, vs whether they can be competitive in 12 instead of 13, vs whether any of the kids give them a better chance to win the said veteran, vs can the trade address a need more than just restocking the minors.
and we have something like $13 million in salary commitments for next year. We will have to spend money somewhere. We aren’t going to get a top FA and the class doesn’t seem to have much depth at all.
Im open for keeping Maholm if they let Ohlie go. Not like his salary demands will be outragous but at best right now he comes back and is our #5, or he is a long relief swing man. Personally, Ive liked the job Karstens has done and wouldnt mind seeing him back in long relief next year too.
Keeping that in mind, we head into 2012 with a rotation of Correia, Maholm, Morton, McDonald and (Lincoln, Owens, Wilson, FA?) and I wouldnt think it a bad thing. Then by the deadline in 2012 we can see to deal Correia and Maholm.
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!
How much will Karstens get?
I’m not sure Neal will want a $3m long-relief man. Maybe Crotta or Lincoln takes that job next year.
I’m guessing some people here would say it’d be similar to a pitching equivalent of signing Lyle Overbay.
Some might, but I’m not one of them. Maholm is better than the guy who’d take his job if we let him walk, while Overbay wasn’t any better than the 1B options we already had in place.
no offense Vlad, but you kinda said the same thing about Duke being replaced by Correia
and Overbay was better than the options we already had at 1B. thats not saying Overbay is this awesome player, it just shows us how bad we were at first base. thats all.
by white angus on May 29, 2011 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions
no offense Vlad, but you kinda said the same thing about Duke being replaced by Correia
Sure, no offense taken. Correia has pitched very well so far this year. But the fact that we got lucky once doesn’t necessarily imply that we’ll be able to do it again.
and Overbay was better than the options we already had at 1B
If so, then why didn’t the projections agree, and why have almost all of them outplayed him so far this year in the real-world games?
Wasn't luck, Vlad
Correia’s peripherals were better than Duke’s, but you were hung up on Correia’s underperformance at Petco, so you wouldn’t accept that. Also, I think you were married to being the contrarian on Duke, but that’s psychoanalysis.
As for Overbay, just to be clear, the offensive projections had him, Pearce, and Jones all at ±102 ERA+. Pearce is right on projection, Overbay is 12 points low, and Jones is 19 points high. I’m sure you were mostly assuming that Jones would show his 2009 form again, right? He’s on pace for another 20+ HRs, btw.
As I said the other day, Overbay’s offensive falloff isn’t shocking, given his age (although he could certainly end the season at 102 ERA+); it’s his inability to catch throws at 1B. A loss of range at 31, sure, but a loss of catching thrown balls?
BTW, has anyone noticed lately that Overbay’s #2 similar player at B-R is Kevin Young? Heaven help us all.
"... I think you were married to being the contrarian on Duke, but that’s psychoanalysis."
.
…sometimes an off-speed pitch is just an off-speed pitch.
.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 29, 2011 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Wasn’t luck, Vlad
What wasn’t? That a pitcher of quality happened to be available as a FA, in relatively low demand, and willing to sign with us for Duke-type money? Of course it was luck.
The decision to sign him looks good at this point, but it involved capitalizing on an opportunity, and the existence of that opportunity wasn’t something that was under our control. The FO didn’t pull a lever in the Situation Room and force the Padres to cut Correia loose. They saw an opening, and they took it. If it hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have been able to take it, no matter how much they might have wanted to do so (see the SS situation for an example of the other side of that particular coin).
Correia’s peripherals were better than Duke’s
Some were, and some weren’t. Up until 2011, for example, Correia had generally posted much higher walk rates than Duke had. Similarly, Correia’s higher career flyball rate suggested a higher HR rate going forward than Duke’s. Duke’s hit rate was higher, but that was mostly a function of park and defensive effects – of the two, Duke actually had the (slightly) lower LD%, both for 2010 and for their careers as a whole.
I’m sure you were mostly assuming that Jones would show his 2009 form again, right?
I was assuming that since we had four internal candidates who all projected to hit just as well as Overbay, give or take a point or two of OPS+, the odds were good that at least one of them would end up outhitting him in 2011. Which, big surprise, three of them have. Similarly, I said that the defensive difference between Overbay and the best defensive 1B among those players (i.e. Pearce) was being greatly overstated. Guess what? It was!
A loss of range at 31, sure, but a loss of catching thrown balls?
Getting old is a bitch. You don’t just get slower and weaker. Your flexibility and eyesight also start slipping (to name two possible causes).
Yes, Vlad...
What wasn’t? That a pitcher of quality happened to be available as a FA, in relatively low demand, and willing to sign with us for Duke-type money? Of course it was luck.
I’m sure that, if I go back to your posts from the time of the signing, they’ll be mostly about how lucky the Pirates were that he was available and willing to sign, and not that he was a shitty shitty pitcher who was 220% likely to be worse than Duke and why O why is NH making such a stupid move that will never, in a million years, work out.
Vlad, I like you a lot, despite everything. You’re one of the best, smartest posters here. But boy, when you dig into a position, you never admit that it was a shit position from Day One, no matter what. Occasional humility wouldn’t hurt you in the least.
Overbay has hit better than guys like Morneau and Lee. Its still early. Now, his defense has been most frustrating.
by Adam Reynolds on May 29, 2011 2:54 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Party was awesome.
My aunt had the game turned on when I got there and there was about 5 or 6 Cubs fans there. The Pirates were up 2-0. Then Cedeno hit a three run homer. Everyone left the living room at that point, but me.
I left when McCutchen made it 9-0. Came back and watched the 9th a while later.
Quote my cousin: “Pirates are lucky, they’ve won a World Series lately. Sure it was 6 years before I was born, but sh*t, that’s something.”
There is no love in the World. There's only pain.
That’s right, Barry. Watching the Pirates play in Wrigley Field in recent years on TV, I’ve seen some of those suffering fans wearing t-shirts ripping the Bucs. It always seemed strange to me a club with only two world titles and a 102 year drought would spawn fans going to that trouble. Unbelievable.
Also surprising were the comments of the FOX Detroit Network anchor before the start of the Tigers-Pirates series. Remember the nonsense about the world ending? Well, the anchor made a crack about being stuck in Pittsburgh if that happened. Amazing.
by SteelStealth on May 28, 2011 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions
That's especially funny
considering half the city of Detroit looks like the rapture happened about 10 years ago.
by MarkInDallas on May 28, 2011 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions
If there’s one city that shouldn’t make fun of any other city, it would be Detroit. Closely followed by Philadelphia.
"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto
by blackjackfishtaco on May 28, 2011 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Detroit
Is eerily similar to Pittsburgh, with 30-40 years separating the two.
by Romain El 82 on May 28, 2011 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions
30 years ago, Pittsburgh was a failing industrial town. Of course, that stigma still attaches itself to the area, despite the fact that the only industry I see in town is US Steel out by Kennywood.
Thank you Ned Colletti.
Pittsburgh in 1981 wasn’t as bad as Detroit is now. I was ten then, and I remember the steel mills closing and the whole Denominational Ministry Strategy/DMX demonstrations, but you never had huge parts of the city falling to ruins the way Detroit is. Detroit is in bad shape.
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on May 29, 2011 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions
Youtube Detroit Ghetto
Check out the Detroit Ghetto tours. You will be shocked…at least I was…it’s borderline apocalyptic…
Well, Detroit is roughly 3 times as large
So the recovery time may be increased, but yeah Detroit is in worse shape. They just need to find something to be great at to recover (like healthcare, education, and art for Pittsburgh).
Also, Detroit has been run terribly for literally 30 years…so that doesn’t bode well at all.
by Romain El 82 on May 29, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions
i dont see the comparison, per se
detroits economy was always driven by the car industry and still is. yet pittsburgh swtiched gears and has rebuilt itself from within.
despite pittsburgh’s struggles in the 70s, no one has ever had the joke:
“at least we dont live in pittsburgh”
What drove the cities
for Detroit (cars) and Pittsburgh (steel) both failed them. Pittsburgh has recovered while Detroit hasn’t.
by Romain El 82 on May 29, 2011 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Pittsburgh's industry in 1981 that no one talked about ...
Research & Development – In 1981, Pittsburgh is/was home to huge R&D facilities for Alcoa, Gulf Oil, US Steel, Westinghouse Electric and others. With the exception of the steel industry in the Mon Valley, most of the rest of Pittsburgh was in decent shape.
Not even close.
Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?
http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained
As someone who was born there and lived there
I think you may be about 10 years too late in your estimate
by Romain El 82 on May 28, 2011 11:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Some notes
The win was the left-hander’s first since April 25, even though Maholm had given up only 12 earned runs in his five starts since then. … The Pirates had scored 13 runs for him in his first 10 starts…
AND [emphasis mine]:
With the win, the Pirates sealed their seventh road series win of the season. Pittsburgh won that many road series combined in 2009 and 2010.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
Paulie twirled a beaut!
Yes, the Cubs are stinky.
All the more reason we should be knocking them down and stomping their windpipes.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 28, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Pittsburgh won that many road series combined in 2009 and 2010.
lmfao, that’s insane
by Elektrostal_Kid on May 28, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Has there been any more word on why Pearce was taken out?
They were saying strained calf on the radio and post game but I haven’t heard anything specific since.
yep
I’d like to have some news about his injury too… if possible
by Elektrostal_Kid on May 28, 2011 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
No news -
Jen L. has something about in the link I put on the Beimel thread, but it doesn’t give any further news.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 28, 2011 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
with Pearce's luck...
Wood will break out against the Mets and have like 5 straight multi-hit games…
This might be bad for Pearce
but would be good for the Pirates. Pearce should be getting more playing time at first if he’s not injured, in my opinion.
I wonder if Harrison will be called up now.
by MarkInDallas on May 28, 2011 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions
5 for 5 Today
3 Doubles.
Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?
http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained
Looks like Pearce won't hit the DL, so...probably not yet
Santa Roberto Clemente
Ora Pro Nobis
FireRickReilly
Harrison played SS tonight, too
9th error, BTW
by white angus on May 29, 2011 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions
The Cubs still aren't very impressive.
Obviously Castro is extremely good, but they probably don’t have enough talent overall.
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2011 6:23 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
This
is about as good a string of pitching by us as I can remember. In the last seven games, we’ve given up two runs or fewer over nine innings (we did have the game we lost 4-2 in 11 innings), and three runs or fewer in the last nine games.
I was there for a little payback
I was at Wrigley today for Paul Maholm’s 10-0 gem. Congratulations to him and the Pirates.
This kind of makes up for when I was at Wrigley on Aug. 14, 2009 when the Cubs scored 10 in the second on their way to a 17-2 win. Coincidently, Randy Wells of the Cubs started both of those games.
In today’s game, Maholm through 1 fewer pitch in 9 innings than Wells did in 4.
Complete Games
Our staff is going nuts this year. We have 4 in less than 1/3 of a season. The last two years combined we had 6. Just 15 dating back to 2006
The Cubs are awful. It’s Hendry’s fault for sinking crazy dollars into Soriano, Zambrano, Fukudome, and Pena. That’s more than our entire payroll, I believe, and I wouldn’t want a single one of them on the Pirates.
They’re a generally managed disaster.
No jinx no jinx no jinx.
Agreed
Pena is only one-year not so not THAT bad, but I wouldn’t want any of Soriano or Zambrano.
Pena is a small step above Overbay for 5M more.
No jinx no jinx no jinx.
by Suffering Buc on May 28, 2011 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions
They also have Aramis for $14.6M, and he’s doing nothing. And our old pal John Grabow gets a handsome cheque.
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2011 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions
That said, they are done with Pena, Ramirez, and Fukudome, and Grabow next season, so they could sign someone like Pujols.
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2011 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Maholm throws a complete game in 91 pitches.
Tonight…Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals (5-0, 2.71 ERA) throws 48 pitches…in the first inning. And is down 6-0 at Coors.
Just wanted to post that the cubs fans on bleed cubby blue thought that Brandon Wood was a defensive replacement, in the bottom of the 4th. Basically they thought it was the Pirates saying, we are up 5-0 and there is no way the cubs can beat that. I didn’t have the heart to tell em that it was a injury replacement. Out of the 5 stages of loss, i think the cubbies are way past denial and into depression.
Sorta OT...but not...
Zach Duke made his 1st start for the D-Backs tonight…7 innings of 3 hit shutout ball…AND hit a 3 run HR.
I'll still love Duke for his call-up year...
…but yeah…Him and Vogelsong. SALE THE TEAM
Santa Roberto Clemente
Ora Pro Nobis
FireRickReilly
I wish all former players the best!
But god I hope they play like total crap against us!
by Joey Mooney on May 28, 2011 11:47 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
It’s fun reading Bleed Cubbie Blue go apeshit over the fact that the Cubs might have to acquire prospects this summer.
“That would make us like the Pirates!”
Yeah, a team that’s kicking your ass the past year and a half. Wonder why that’s happening?
Thank you Ned Colletti.
by ryebr3ad on May 28, 2011 11:49 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
haha did you read the recap of fridays game there, they made several references to Correia being “average” and how if they cant hit an “average pitcher” than they must really suck
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!
They are also upset to be losing to the lowly Pittsburgh fucking Pirates and making fun of a fanshot about about Cedeno’s recent improvement.
I’m really hoping for the sweep tomorrow.
Maybe...
They should be upset with the way they spend so much money for no results. It might not be cool to say this as a Pirates fan, but at least we aren’t paying all that money to get shelled!
As for Correia being an average pitcher; I’ll take 5 average pitchers like Correia any day of the week. The dude is consistent & gives the Buccos a chance to win every time he takes the ball.
It's our job to make fun of PT99
Circle the wagons around our own, I say.
Makes sense
Soriano plays LF about as well as Martha Wash would.
by maguro on May 29, 2011 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This:
.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 29, 2011 7:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm totally snagging this.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 29, 2011 7:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Say this for the Cubs' fans -
They make some great photoshops…
.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on May 29, 2011 7:53 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Very nice --- set as my background, at least for a few days anyway
Nobody hurt a tackler like Zonk did.
by rintintinsoldier on May 29, 2011 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions
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