Pirates Break Losing Streak As Charlie Morton Pitches Eight Shutout Innings Against Giants
by Charlie Wilmoth on Aug 9, 2011 1:05 AM EDT
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It's finally over, as Charlie Morton pitched eight shutout innings to lead the Pirates to a much-needed 5-0 victory. Morton wasn't exactly dominant (he walked three and allowed six hits, and it seemed like their two men on pretty much the entire time he was pitching), but his stuff was sharp, and he had a number of really nice moments, including an excellent inside pitch to strike out lefty Aubrey Huff in the eighth. I was a little alarmed that Clint Hurdle let him pitch to Huff and Pablo Sandoval at all in that inning, since they were hitting lefty and Morton's pitch count was climbing (he left after 115 pitches). But Morton got through it in style. He hasn't allowed a run in two straight starts now.
The Pirates' offense wrangled three doubles and a triple (the triple was by Derrek Lee, whose travel time from home to third was longer than that of a puddle-jumper flight from Pittsburgh to Dulles), but the bulk of their offense came from singles that weren't hit especially hard. The strikeouts and walks continued to be eye-popping, as they have so often recently - they whiffed 13 times and walked twice. But hey, I'll take 12 hits any way I can get them, especially when they help end a 10-game losing streak.
Also, the gamethread was a lot of fun tonight, so props to everyone for that.
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God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...
charlie i haz an issue with your write up.
Also, the gamethread was a lot of fun tonight, so props to everyone for that.
this was supposed to be a secret. now all the idiots shall return tomorrow night
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 1:09 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I was there tonight.
But don’t worry, I probably won’t be here tomorrow night.
So onto my love rocket, climb, Inside tank of fuel is not fuel, but love.
so is this like yelling
hey moron in a crowded room to see who looks? lol
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 1:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Haha
+1 for the puddle jumper analogy.
That big gust of wind that just rustled the leaves outside your window? Probably me breathing a sigh of relief. The bats look rough in a lot of places, but 5 runs is 5 runs. Pedro looked excellent and clueless in consecutive at-bats, which continues to confuse me, but his defense looked pretty good tonight. Hopefully we can get Tabs back soon, Cutch looks uncomfortable in the leadoff after batting 3rd for a while.
So do I feel comfortable going forward to start a winning streak? Not with the way the offense looked, but if they can continue to strikeout 13 times and score 5 runs… fine I suppose.
That being said, a win feel really freaking good.
The glare of the spotlight is harsh, and the pressure that success breeds immense. We revere our heroes, but expect much. And criticism can come as easily as praise.
Twitter: @shanecglass
well in all honesty
id rather have a dude with runners on then hit into a dp.
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions
Alvarez appears to me
to be overthinking his ABs. He’s got to get comfortable in his skin again.
I think he’ll be fine.
My heros have always been Steelers...
feel like the monkey is off our backs and we can start playin baseball again
also guys i had a good time in the gamethread. im super glad i decided to join in the fun
twitter.com/iandavidjackson
Ditto
My first game thread in what feels like forever, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
The glare of the spotlight is harsh, and the pressure that success breeds immense. We revere our heroes, but expect much. And criticism can come as easily as praise.
Twitter: @shanecglass
Last year...
The Pirates had lost 100 games before they got their 55th win. Just gotta keep it going against the Giants with the Brewers coming up this weekend.
So onto my love rocket, climb, Inside tank of fuel is not fuel, but love.
the one thing i took away from the game
other then the numerous chuckles at the game thread, was that morton never got rattled. in his starts leading up the the AS break and in the philly series where his one start was atrocious he seemed to get rattled. that didn’t happen tonight, great performance by ground chuck
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
Sorry I missed the thread
but I’m glad I caught the game. Very nice change of pace after the past couple of weeks.
"Throw strikes, but don't give him anything good to hit."
Meh — wish I could have been around more for the thread. Oh well, I got part of my game project finished tonight, so the hard work paid off.
Thank you Ned Colletti.
by ryebr3ad on Aug 9, 2011 1:30 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
glad to see charlie pitch well
it is very encouraging to see him pitch well, again. happy to see the streak end. Now let’s start a new streak, a winning one, tomorrow! LET’S GO BUCS
Thank God! Finally!
How is it the Pirates can lose 4 straight to a bum team like the Padres, then beat the team that won the World Series last year? It just doesn’t make any sense. I never have felt such relief over a win all season. Now, Buccos, let’s buckle down and climb back outta this slump. Get A “W” tomorrow, whaddaya say? Let’s Go, Buccos!
I know you guys are upset about the 13 K's but I LOVED it
The Giants were doing a promo where if their pitchers get 13 K’s, one section gets free bratwurst. Guess whose section got one free package of great-tasting Johnsonville bratwurst in the flavor of their choice? This guy.
"WHITESNAKE! DOKKEN! NIGHT RANGER!" -- Ronny Cedeño
haha nice
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 2:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Some fan you are
Nice to see that the promise of free sausage can sway you to ROOT for Pirates’ failure.
Hope your weiners taste good, you traitor ;)
by Bishop1973 on Aug 9, 2011 6:29 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
is it innapropriate to mention that theres always free sausage in san francisco?
by white angus on Aug 9, 2011 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
ahahahahaha
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions
MEAT
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 9:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Jones I believe is the big deal...
He is in one of his hot streaks and this guy is one of the best hitters in the league when he’s hot. If we can only get Pedro going…
by Joey Mooney on Aug 9, 2011 7:30 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
pedro jones and ludwick going...bad things for opposing pitchers
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Heh.
I was on the gamethread early, then about a 1/2 hour before the game, I stretched out on the couch with a cold brewski, and woke up about 4 am.
Good to hear that, going forward, the threads will be relatively jerk-free.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
Is it possible that your missing the game is why the Pirates won? lol You don’t want to mess with a winning streak ya know. Even if it is a streak of just one game…..
Motion for cocktailsfor2 to fall asleep on the couch with a cold brewski before every game and then wake up at 4 am: all in favor?
Damn right.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions
/signed
hence forth CF2 is banned from game threads…finally!
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
After you...
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
banning me
would be bad, cause when im on meh meds, im a great guy….im just not on them all the time
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions
You bastards!
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Actually,
I left the screens for the gamethread and mlb.com open on my ’puter, so I was, in fact, there.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
screenshot or it never happened
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions
No kidding about the Jerks.
The tone on the blog has been awful recently and i have stopped visiting it lately. At the game tonight and tomorrow! Go bucs.
Just want to take credit here
Clearly Charlie’s improved performance in his last 2 starts has been inspired by the hissy fit I threw after his abysmal start 10 days ago.
You’re welcome.
hehe forgot to break out one of my favorites last night
this is how i feel after winning
Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott
by C Shint on Aug 9, 2011 10:51 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
What do we do after Presley and Tabata get healthy?
You’ve got to assume that both of them our going to be back pretty soon, so what do we do? I know we all kind of assumed that Ludwick was more going to be a 4th outfield (upgrade over Diaz) but he’s been hot lately and Jones has been the hottest hitter on our team over this down period. You’ve got to assume that Tabata is a lock to play everyday and I don’t know, I sense some kind of platoon between Presley, Ludwick and Jones, and Jones and Lee (Jones and Lee at first base of course)
What say you guys?
That sounds about right
Jones is streaky, so he may be cool by the time Presley comes back, which would simplify things a bit. Cutch is probably due for a night off or two (although I guess he rested Sunday, which I question).
Jones, in the month of August: wOBA .589. Only 10 games, but still: that’s a video game number.
Huh
To protect the quad, or do they like Presley’s defense that much more?
Have we heard anything about Alex lately? And I know Jose’s had, what, 4 rehab starts now? He’s gotta be close.
IMO,
Tabata has the better arm, thus playing RF.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Aug 9, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions
Also
Something I read somewhere had Hurdle inferring that Jose had a desire to play RF. He does have a Roberto tattoo.
yes, Clemente is Tabs hero.
when he was traded to the Pirates, he said he always wanted to play RF just like #21. the trade also got him to really work on his game and he has not been the “trouble” guy that he was in NY since.
you sir are correct, http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110808&content_id=22941660¬ebook_id=22942208&vkey=notebook_pit&c_id=pit
Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott
12 for 27, 4 2B, 3 HR, 4 BB.
.444/.516/.926
How the hell could we have lost 7 games while he did that?
OK, maybe because Walker has wOBA’d .256, Cutch .295, Pedro .273.
Lee has been .494 (!) and Ludwick a respectable, if not good, .311.
we lost
because the grounds crews are still looking for balls hit out by the cubs and pads
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Sit down, everybody
Brandon Wood has played like a league-average MLBer for us. 200 PAs, .303 wOBA, 0.8 WAR, which translates to about 2.5 WAR for a full season, which would be a league-average player.
I know that this has been commented on in general, but his little hot streak over the past 10 days has put him over the top. Obviously, he could stop hitting tonight and end the season looking more like the Brandon Wood of old, but as of right now… he’s a legit ballplayer. Great pickup.
Also: not at all clear that the Pirates should be playing Cedeno over him, even aside from the recent spate of errors.
there is little doubt in my mind
that Ronny is the better defender.
However, I think Wood has primarily played as a 3B with the Angels for quite a while, so maybe he is still working the rust off? If Wood can OPS around .700 consistently, I’d make him starting SS. However, it’s not clear yet whether this is still the NL getting familiar with him, or whether he has made legit improvements— I’d certainly retain Ronny next year.
Clearly on defense
But I think that Ronny has simply reached his offensive level, and it’s quite bad. combine that with his “focus” issues, and I really don’t feel comfortable running him out there 155 times.
That said, if he’s cheap enough, I don’t have a problem keeping him. Goodness knows that Wood could regress (although his pedigree suggests that his current performance could be legit), and Ronny, playing at a 2011 level, has some value. I think d’Arnaud is not ready for prime time, although I could be convinced that he could profitably split time with Wood in 2012.
The other question is whether Wood could play 3B well enough to justify moving Pedro to 1B.
3MM for Ronny option in 2012
Is cheap enough for me that I think they should pick it up. Its gives them one more year to season d’Arnuad, Mercer, Holt, Cunningham, etc. and see what they have past the 2012 season.
Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott
if Wood shows that hes truly turned a corner to be "meh" instead of "gag"...
then he should be looked at seriously as the SS in 2012. more affordable than Ronny, plus his D has been more than adequate at 3 positions.
then again, d’arnaud could also throw a wrench in that plan
Absolutely!
I don’t want to keep posting my “Since May 31st” updates on him as I feel like I’ve done on almost every thread for a week now but his numbers and his approach are looking pretty good. Think about this, the Pirates struck out 13 times last night and not one of them was by Brandon Wood who came to bat 4 times…
Maybe he returns to earth and goes back to being the worst hitter in the past century but maybe he is putting things together, making the necessary adjustments and can pull turn into a decent ballplayer.
by KentuckyPirate on Aug 9, 2011 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
.250 with decent OBP and defense, with his above average power, Wood might be a fixture in the Burgh
his swing is still atrocious, but we’ve seen the power recently. its legit
no one doubts that he has legit power
but, like Pedro, the concern is that if he strikes out too often, then the power wont get a chance.
During his 2 month "hot streak"
His K% is down to 21.5% (Petey’s K rates were 30.8% in 2010 and 31.7% in 2011)and his BB rate is up to 8.9% (it’s hard to believe it but Brandon Wood is walking at an ABOVE AVERAGE rate). Yes it’s a small sample size but it’s 20 more PA’s than Jose Bautista had in his Sept ’09 stretch that saved his job in Toronto…
by KentuckyPirate on Aug 9, 2011 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions
keeping him around is a no-brainer, imo
the question is, do you keep him as a backup or starter? Do you cut Ronny loose?
Ronny is a safe bet
he’s probably in the bottom 3rd of starting SS in the big leagues, but we can expect him to produce about 1-1.5 WAR over a full season.
At somewhere between 3-5M, it has value. I m wondering if we may be able to trade him for a reliever or two in the offseason, although probably not, unless someone has an injury.
If we have Ronny and Wood on the 25 man, that’s actually a decent UT option for the bench. Otherwise, you have Ciriaco or D’Arnaud.
i wouldnt say Ronny is a safe bet
with his increased salary next season, i think the team will go with Wood and/or d’Arnaud unless Wood completely tanks the last 6 weeks of the season.
You don't cut Ronny loose until someone better is ready...
that may be Wood but I’d be more inclined to keep Cedeno and Wood until D’Arnaud or Mercer is ready next season then let the best of the three battle it out. At least with Cedeno you know what you are going to get. As frustrating as he is he is a .5- 1 WAR SS with good defense and terrible offense. Wood may provide enough offense to make up for the drop off in defense or this could be a career year for him and he could return to Angels form. Again, if D’Arnaud or Mercer steps up in AAA you can bring them up in June and make a more informed decision on Wood or Cedeno next year.
#FreeJoelHanrahan!
#AndAlltheBuntsAreStillBad!
And honestly...
no one is more ready for Cedeno to move on than me. Every time that…person…slides head first into first I want to punch a hole in my wall.
#FreeJoelHanrahan!
#AndAlltheBuntsAreStillBad!
I'm with you, Kentucky
I threw a number of those type of comments into game threads myself. (And probably got a bit too testy after Vlad dissed him in a thread once…) I’m very pleased to see this development. I think he’s a keeper.
I would just like to point out
that Veras apparently is perfectly qualified to “close” with a five-run lead but couldn’t possibly be trusted with a three-run lead.
Heard this yesterday
Apparently the Pirates’ worst inning (by runs allowed) is the 8th. Which suggests that we really do have a setup man problem, and makes me a bit more sympathetic to Hurdle’s reluctance to burn Hanny in the 8th. He simply can’t trust anyone else anymore. Which still should lead to using Hanny in those high leverage situations, but Hurdle is looking at his BP and thinking, “OK, Joel gets us through the 8th, that just means we lose in the 9th”.
WHYG, Evan Meek?
I was at the game last night
and our Pirates sure didn’t look like a team on a 10 game losing streak. There were few balls hard hit off Morton. Sadly, I had a lot of trouble seeing who was up during batting practice, as there were some shots hit halfway into the bleachers by some of our Bucs. One more funny thing happened during BP. No-Relation was shagging balls in the outfield, and is quite adept at hacky-sack with a baseball. It was a little annoying to see the “ball vultures”, roaming the stands, ready to run over anyone getting in their way towards getting a BP ball. I’m betting that happens during BP in all parks. ATT Park is an awesome place to see a good ballgame!
Time to climb back into contention, my matey’s!!!
"ready to run over anyone"
Heh, my dad once told me about a guy he worked with who had season tickets for the Penguins behind the goal. The guy was bragging on how many pucks came his way and my dad said, “Tell me, Bill, what do you do with 100 hockey pucks?”
Huge win last night, the Bucs seem to be the kind of team which
plays to the level of the opposition. They don’t have the experience yet to maintain the type of consistency some other contenders have. Tough to say how many more wins this road trip will yield, I would be more than happy with a 3-3 mark.
Beginning of the year if someone told me about the high number of injuries, and this club would still be only four games shy of .500 on August 9th, I wouldn’t have believed them.
well to be honest
during that home stand there is only one or two games they were competitive in. the rest of them it was like bp. it was just a skid, nothing more nothing less. i do think they play to their competition sometimes, but this 10 game streak was not any of that, they were just bad….really bad. when they went on that tear in june and july they showed consistency but there was also a decent amount of luck involved. now they can build on that since they know what it takes to win series’s consistently and what it takes to sweep.
" Lord Stanley, scratch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Aug 9, 2011 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
True but
don’t let all the blowouts distract you from the 5 or so winnable games that we dropped starting with the Atlanta series. 3 extra inning losses to the Braves & Phils, plus the execrable loss when Hurdle refused to use Hanny in the 8th. The Weds loss to the Cubs was 1-0, and the Monday was only 5-3. IOW, they went 0-5 in one-run games during the skid; if we win just 2 of those, we’re at .500 right now (incidentally, we’re now at 15-15 in one-run games, which is what every team does over the long run; ultimately, it was just regression with a vengeance).
We’d still be out of the race, but there’s nothing you can do when the best team in the division runs away and hides – their last 19 games have been split between contenders (D-Backs, Giants, Cards) and scrubs (‘stros X 2, Cubs); they went 14-5. Granted, we could have taken care of business against the Pads and Cubs, but to have matched the Brewers over that stretch, we would have had to basically sweep those two while going 7-5 against the Reds, Cards, Braves, & Phils. That just wasn’t ever going to happen.
Speaking of 1-run games and regression
The Brewers are due for it big time: they’re 24-15 in one-run games. They’re also 5 games ahead of their xW-L. IOW, if they had gone a normal .500 in 1-run games, they’d be 60-55, and within reach.
I’d like to think that this means they’ll lose 9 of their remaining 10 games vs. the Pirates by a single run each. The other one will be Pirates 20, Brewers 0.
there's a meth joke there somewhere
but I’m not up to finding it (and making it relevant)
by BlindSquirrel on Aug 9, 2011 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions
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