The gauntlet

by steve_z on Jul 17, 2011 7:20 PM EDT

We know the schedule for the rest of the month is brutal, and the record the Pirates compile during this will likely determine whether or not the team will contend in August and September.

July Schedule

Date	Opponent	Pitt Pitcher	Opp Pitcher
18th	Cincinnati	McDonald	Willis
19th	Cincinnati	Morton	Leake
20th	Cincinnati	Karstens	Cueto
22nd	St. Louis	Maholm	Carpenter
23rd	St. Louis	Correia	Garcia
24th	St. Louis
25th	Atlanta
26th	Atlanta
27th	Atlanta
28th	Atlanta
29th	Philadelphia
30th	Philadelphia
31st	Philadelphia

I would like to see the Pirates compile a 6-7 or 7-6 record. That, I believe, is a realistic expectation. The starting staff will be the key variable, as it has all season.

Insert cliche:

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

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Willis signing autographs during RedsFest 2011... at least he doesnt have to do celebrity fit club again.

by white angus on Jul 17, 2011 7:34 PM EDT reply actions

No way that's Dontrelle.

Is that Renteria?

by H2O on Jul 17, 2011 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions

maaaaaan, thats Willis.

where u been???

by white angus on Jul 17, 2011 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Because the Cincy area

is tops for Hillbilly Heroin. Givin’ his history, I bet he’s there for the Oxy.

"I choose to gamble with my life

Twice the risk, four times the prize

Nothing knocks me over"

by lighthouse913 on Jul 18, 2011 1:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Pirates will sweep a series

Im thinking reds or Phillies but I feel an un expecting sweep coming. I expect Morton to tear up after his rest too.

by Joey Mooney on Jul 17, 2011 8:16 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

What’chu talkin bout white angus??

by str8cashyo on Jul 17, 2011 8:42 PM EDT reply actions

AHHH!

This is quite Scary to me

by BrandoCalrissian on Jul 17, 2011 8:50 PM EDT reply actions

I like our chances to take two of three from Cincy

With the way we’ve played against the Reds paired with how bad Leake has been + we all know Willis’ story. Cueto will be tough, but Karstens should keep us in the game.

This stretch will let us know what these Pirates are made of. Got to keep winning series.

by NOLABUCCO on Jul 17, 2011 9:55 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Win Cincy, win St.L, split ATL and lose PHI and I'd be happy.

"What do we have here?"
"We're going to Saint Croix."
"We are? Oh, goody. I'm so happy."
"Well, I hope you're happy for us, because it's just Carrie and me."
"I see. Once again I humiliate myself by assuming that I'm a member of this family."
-Arthur and Doug, bantering about the Heffernan's vacation plans

by Jon Ross on Jul 17, 2011 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

Extrapolating the Braves and Phillies starters

I think we’ll be seeing Messrs. Hanson, Jurrjens, Lee and Halladay. No big deal.

by CW on Jul 17, 2011 10:12 PM EDT reply actions

ugh

hanson,jj,lee,holiday one after the other…talk about murder

" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009

by oldtimehockey09 on Jul 18, 2011 4:41 AM EDT up reply actions

i'd have to agree with 7-6

but i think the biggest hurdle will be atlanta.

by bbautista24 on Jul 17, 2011 10:51 PM EDT reply actions

(Insert Clint Hurdle Joke here)

by Matt Morriz on Jul 18, 2011 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Do they have a Plan for Getting Opposing Pitchers Out

Willis and Leake are respectable hitters. IIRC, STL pitchers always seem to hit against us. It’s almost like Hurdle and Co. don’t prepare for getting the opposing pitchers out. It’s bad enough that our 1-8 and benches are inferior to these 4 teams, if the pitchers go deep into games and get on-base, this stretch will be a disaster.

by Central*Scrutinizer on Jul 17, 2011 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

Opposing pitchers batting

This year the opposing pitchers haven’t been getting on base with regularity that they were last year. The manager last year was John Russell and he had no plan at all.

by Neil the real deal Walker on Jul 18, 2011 3:32 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Throw strikes and dare the pitchers to hit them.

by BobDH on Jul 18, 2011 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Bold.

I like it.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Jul 18, 2011 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions

it would work 90% of the time

by theatrain on Jul 18, 2011 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions

If it works 90% of the time

then the opposing pitchers would be hitting .100. I can deal with that.

by Wizard of Woz on Jul 18, 2011 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Honestly, I hope we're spending our time with other things

Unless if we are talking about an insanely good hitting pitcher (which Mike Leake might qualify as, Dontrelle has been away for awhile so I have no clue with him) I would rather have us take our time working on other things. St. Louis pitchers tend to get incredibly lucky against us, it’s not like they our skilled hitting pitchers to the point where they become dangerous. As someone said, throw strikes, dare them to swing at it.

In somewhat related news to pitchers batting, our we simply neglecting Paul Maholm and his woeful bunting skills? I’d like to believe that coaches are taking a little bit of time to work with him on this, but he seems to not be getting better at it. It’s one of those little things that I would love to see change.

by Zach Buccos on Jul 18, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Maholm is a RH batter but previous management made him bat lefty to protect his arm (because pitchers get hit all the time). I.E. He will never be good with the bat in the majors.

by Mr. E on Jul 18, 2011 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

i wonder why previous management didnt turn Lincoln around.

cuz that would have been stew-pihd

by white angus on Jul 18, 2011 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

It might have even been two management’s ago. Was Maholm a Bonifay pick? Either way I think it’s def stupid. Ask Bonds for his elbow pad if need be

by Mr. E on Jul 18, 2011 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

No, he's a Littlefield guy.

Everything that guy just said is bullshit . . .thank you

by Scranton on Jul 18, 2011 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I think 6-7 is what I am hoping realistically.

But 5-8 keeps popping up in my mind. I guess neither would be too bad if 4 of the wins come against Cincy/St. Louis.

Everything that guy just said is bullshit . . .thank you

by Scranton on Jul 18, 2011 9:51 AM EDT reply actions

meh

we’ll win all those series… Atlanta might end up being a tie, being 4 game

by BurgherKing on Jul 18, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

If you only look forward to next Sunday

Mil 4 at Ariz, 3 at San Fran
St Lo 3 at Mets 3 at Pit
Cinci 3 at Pit 3 home for Atl
Pit home for Cinci home for St Lo

If the Pirates take care of business at home one week from now I suspect I’ll have a big grin plastered on my face. After that not as pretty a picture but this coming week has promise.

No jinx, no jinx, no jinx.

by MDBuc on Jul 18, 2011 10:21 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah I agree but why Jmac before Morton?

Jmac has struggled to go late in games… Morton looked good in his last start…

by Joey Mooney on Jul 18, 2011 10:24 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

he's not

ElectricStuff is tonight, followed by JMac. It was supposedly just a typo. According to Twitter, sorry I don’t know how to link yet.

"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"

by CAGGS on Jul 18, 2011 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions

You know, it's not inconceivable the Bucs could sweep the Reds

If they beat up on Dontrelle Willis (which they should), Morton continues his ownership of their roster and Karstens keeps pitching like he has….a sweep of the Reds is very possible when you think about it.

Date to circle: Morton’s start in Atlanta.

Kamerion Wimbley is the truth

by Raybin on Jul 18, 2011 11:06 AM EDT reply actions

no jinx no jinx no jinx !!

by Garrett122 on Jul 18, 2011 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Hhahahahah, forgot to add that....

Kamerion Wimbley is the truth

by Raybin on Jul 18, 2011 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions

The schedule throughout August is even tougher.

We get a short respite after these 13 games, but then ther’s a 20 game stretch which is just as bad if not worse.

by MarkInDallas on Jul 18, 2011 11:17 AM EDT reply actions

Right

if winning the Division requires 90 wins, the Pirates would need to win games at a 60% rate for the rest of the year to reach that total. The Brewers clearly are going all in and the Cards may also be a better team than their record now indicates, so the 90 win will do it belief is a realistic assumption to make.

s.zielinski

by steve_z on Jul 18, 2011 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions

The Brewers and Cardinals would also need to win at a 60% rate to reach 90 wins . . .

and, through nearly 100 games, they have not demonstrated that they can do that. I think 87 wins takes the division. That’s a .551 winning percentage here on out, which would require the Pirates to win more often than they have been. That’s going to be tough since the schedule seems to be a little more difficult.

I’m guessing 82 wins.

Everything that guy just said is bullshit . . .thank you

by Scranton on Jul 18, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I only see a six game stretch

in August that looks particularly tough. On the road to San Fran followed by on the road to Milwaukee. If these Pirates can get it going at home (as I suspect they can) that schedule doesn’t look so bad.

by MDBuc on Jul 18, 2011 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Bring 'em on.

Gotta beat the best to be the best.

Let’s find out where we stand. Worst that can happen is yinzer types all caught up in being five games over .500 find out how much more we really need to do to reach the top.

by bucdaddy on Jul 18, 2011 12:24 PM EDT reply actions

Before people look at the schedule and think we are gonna struggle, I would like to remind people we swept the reds convincingly at their place and beat the cards 2-3 with prince Albert in the lineup. We will really find out who is the team to beat after this stretch.

by Yung-Han on Jul 18, 2011 2:07 PM EDT reply actions