Pirates Get Homers From Pedro Alvarez, Derrek Lee In Win
by Charlie Wilmoth on Sep 21, 2011 1:48 AM EDT
Email
Print
The Pirates held on for a rare win, a 5-3 showing against the Diamondbacks that actually featured a Pedro Alvarez homer - just his fourth of the season. The Alvarez homer came in the second, when the Bucs were already up 1-0, and went about ten rows deep into right field.
The Pirates went up 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI double by Ryan Doumit. The Diamondbacks got a run back in the seventh, but Derrek Lee hit a two-run bomb in the top of the eighth to make it 5-1. Arizona scored two off Jose Veras in the bottom of the inning, but that was all, and the Pirates held on.
Charlie Morton struck out five and walked three while allowing three hits in six innings.
The Bucs are now 69-86.
87 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Yes!
I’ll take it in a heartbeat after that disaster last year.
All the more annoying
that Karstens was screwed out of his 10th win the night before. Meaningless, as you say, but they both deserved a little boost.
Gave me something to watch
the night before I only caught a few minutes, each time I turned to the game it seemed like Luddy was striking out, great acquisition that he was
I can't be the only one, can I?
Driving home from the bar where I caught the end of this one, listening to Neverett’s game wrapup, I was reminded (again) why he can make me scream at the car radio:
“McCutchen would strike out, but Derrek Lee would hit a home run …”
All through the sumary. Is there some broadcasting law he breaks if he speaks in the past tense? Why can’t he just say,
“McCutchen struck out, but Derrek Lee hit a home run …”?
Anybody know what that’s about? Dtoddwin? Anybody?
I’ve noticed that particular “convention” more and more, both in written and spoken accounts of things like baseball games. Not that I read many of them, but game accounts at MiLB.com are often written that way. It’s awkward and irritating.
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
Come to think of it,
that’s true. I wonder if that’s some J-school trend now, because I edit the writing of stringers (usually youngish college-age guys) who cover ballgames for us and some of them insist on writing that way. I don’t know which is more annoying, that or the AP’s recent decision to have everything written in present tense. Quotes are attributed as “Smith says” and actions are rendered as “Congress has passed …” rather than “Congress passed …”
Why can’t everyone just write the way I want them to?
One of my pet peeves is the relentless use of the present tense to describe events in the past. It’s bad enough that students can’t tell their tenses apart, but then you hear it, for example, in supposedly learned historical documentaries…“Abraham Lincoln goes to the theater this night…” “…LBJ, knowing that the war is a hopeless quagmire, decides to…” “…Not caring that he is about to usher in a generation of hopeless despair in Pittsburgh, Francisco Cabrera steps up to the plate…”
I guess it’s supposed to make the moment more Immediate, or something, but it just sounds forced and kind of silly to me.
by brooklynpirate on Sep 21, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m just happy if they can maintain the same tense throughout the whole article.
Put on your dancin' shoes.
hah, victories where we can take them
I worked in my college’s writing center for a few years (I was an English major), which meant that I got to proofread students’ essays and reports before they were submitted. Absolutely unthinkable how many of them couldn’t even write a coherent sentence, much less compose a logical essay. And not to sound arrogant, but this was at a supposedly “selective” college — I wasn’t going to Greendale or anything.
I teach writing at a supposedly semi-selective college. Coherent sentences are rare treasures indeed…
by brooklynpirate on Sep 21, 2011 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Ho-Boy, is THIS season OVER!
When the most important thing on a Pirates thread is the sorry state of student grammar and composition skills, it’s obvious this season was over for Buccos fans a LONG time ago. Gawd! And tonight they stunk up the joint again with another loss. Enjoy that one game winning streak.
Yeah.
Because threads never change topics in the middle!
Talk Pirates, or don’t talk at all!
.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 22, 2011 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions
It's a fallen world, bucdaddy
Actually, I struggle with this in writing restaurant reviews. On the one hand, I’m describing a discrete event in the past (my meal); on the other, what I’m describing (recipes) continue to exist in the present. I’ve actually never checked to see whether my editor does anything to clean things up, whether by enforcing consistency or my being more rigorous about which tense applies to which part of my text.
I'd think present tense for describing a meal . . .
since me as the consumer hopes that the kitchen is consistent, and I want to know that the Panang Curry will still be spicy for me in the future, and wasn’t just spicy one time for you the reviewer. But yeah, that’s a tricky one.
Oh, is this the pet peeve forum?
If so, where do we stand on the ubiquitous use of “amongst”
It's deprecated amongst the commenters at BD.
I wish people understood the differences between insure, ensure, and assure.
My nomination is
the use of disinterested when in fact uninterested is meant.
by WestCoastBuc on Sep 21, 2011 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Affect / effect
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 21, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions
less when fewer is the correct choice
like fingernails on a blackboard
nice 1 more win for a 70 win season, it seems so long ago that we were able to do that
Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott
72-89 in 2004
and that was the second best record since PNC Park opened. The 2003 team went 75-87, and that is the best mark the Bucs have managed during the PNC era.
Since the losing streak began in 1993, the 1997 second place club with 79 wins came the closest to ending the streak. The 1999 team won 78 games, and finished in third place that year.
by SteelStealth on Sep 21, 2011 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Agreed, this team needs to keep competing
and and I hope we see a strong performance in the final homestand of the year versus the Reds.
by SteelStealth on Sep 21, 2011 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
I remember it well
All the Littlefield acolytes were crowing that he had the team headed in the right direction. Of course, in their defense, his trade of Giles to SD had netted a ROY and what looked like the start of a brilliant career for Ollie Perez.
Not to mention Craig Wilson and Rob Mackowiac hadn’t yet stepped off the cliff.
That was the beginning
of the annual cycle of promising rookie SP who would go on to never match his first year. Duke, Snell, Gorzo…
You want depressing?
Our “false dawn” season was only 72 wins. Most clubs have a misleading .500 season that leads them to make strategic errors, but for us, it took only .444.
Thing is
If you look at that group of players, there was clearly .500 talent, but between injuries and when players had up and down years, they never came close. One year, they’d hit competently, but the fielding was AWOL. The next, they’d get 100 decent starts, but nobody hit except Bay. The year they fielded well, the pitching imploded.
Not saying they were, in fact, the ’27 Yanks; just saying that, if things had gone right one year (not all career years, just everyone healthy and productive at once), that group could certainly have broken the Streak.
I blame Jack Wilson’s appendix.
kip wells wasn't following a rookie season
but boy did he go downhill quickly (except against phils).
4 chances to do that between now and Sunday
because the Pirates sure as hell will not beat Milwaukee.
Don't be so sure.
If the Brewers have clinched the playoffs by the end of the weekend, (highly likely with their Magic Number at 3), do you think there is any chance the Pirates see Greinke, Gallardo or Marcum next week? What about giving Fielder, Braun and Weeks a couple of days off to rest before the playoffs?
The Pirates may be facing their second-stringers in the series, so while they aren’t sexy wins, they are wins nonetheless.
It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.
What about giving Fielder, Braun and Weeks a couple of days off to rest before the playoffs?
For them, facing the Pirates is the equivalent of taking BP.
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
True....
…but I hardly think the Brewers, knowing this is their last go-round with Portly Prince, want to have him pulling a hamstring while he takes yet another HR trot after lighting up some hapless Bucco pitcher.
It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.
The late E the exception
Pedro looked like a major leaguer last night. His play in the field was excellent. He even expended some energy. Now if the dude would just smile once…
by ImmaculatePerception on Sep 21, 2011 10:40 AM EDT reply actions
he needs to get his fat butt
in shape and get that swagger back for 2012
seriously? we're still talking about his weight?
look at his picture above and tell me just how fat he looks to you…
the only fat on pedro is his wallet.
boom.
by white angus on Sep 21, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
i think Pedro's problem at 3B was that he was always "the man" with the stick, from little league up through college...
he didnt work on his fielding as much as his BP. pretty much the same thing as guys in the NBA who can score 20pts a night yet give up 25.
below is a picture of Pedro in college...
now compare it to the current pics of Pedro, including the one in the story above. his waist looks smaller NOW, yet his upper body thicker NOW.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2008/writers/melissa_segura/06/04/segura.alvarez/Alvarezatbat2.jpg
His butt IS huge, but it’s not because he’s fat. Some people just have big butts and thick legs – it’s how they’re built.
Insert link to Sir Mix-a-Lot video here.
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 22, 2011 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions
If I'm not mistaken
That call was actually reversed and they gave Blumquist a bunt single. Doesn’t make the play a whole lot better, but makes it look nicer I suppose.
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.
Perspectives become reality.
Twitter: @shanecglass
Pedro looks tired. Pedro needs some rest.
Because being injured for two months, showing up to camp overweight, and playing completely terrible and uninspired baseball for an entire year would make me physically tired. And all that guessing on pitches, having no idea what is happening at the plate, and repeatedly striking out on pitches two feet off the plate in the dirt would make me mentally tired, too.
Depression can make you tired.
It isn’t hard to imagine a season like Pedro’s 2011 making him depressed.
It depressed me, and I was just watching – I didn’t have to live it.
I actually kind of agree with this
I guess there was a whole thread on the Winter League situation, but my take is that, if the guy feels like he needs a total break, let him take it.
But he’d better come back more effective.
My question is...
Even if that is Pedro’s gut instinct, 1) when has he last struggled like this and is the “break” approach the option he took, 2) his performance has been terrible all year, I don’t see how he was mentally tired in the beginning of year.
What was wrong was:
- Plate discipline
- Pitch recognition
- Pitcher approach recognition
- Too much variability in defensive performance (although his arm is stellar)
- A terrible, terrible swing that just got worse (NH, “trying to pull everything”)
The wedding adds something to this
Just got married, and planning for that shindig was hell. I’m not sure where his wife is from, but doing things like that while traveling has to be much worse. I can see how his off season last year wasn’t much of an off season.
by Wizard of Woz on Sep 22, 2011 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Because being injured for two months,
this is true
showing up to camp overweight,
this is false
and playing completely terrible and uninspired baseball
this is true.
SERIOUSLY I don’t understand why we can’t collectively move past the “Pedro is fat” meme. There are so many valid reasons to be upset with what he’s done or not done this year, but conditioning, by all reasonable accounts, is not one of them. He’s a big dude, that’s all.
Is NH to blame?
Didn’t he say something about PA’s weight either just before or right at the start of ST
Derrek Lee is hitting .342
as a Pirate, with six homers, and 16 rbi in 21 games. Lee missed around 20 games due to injury, which was unfortunate. Ryan Ludwick on the other hand, has been a disappointment.
I’m not suggesting whether or not Lee should return in 2012, but I wasn’t aware of his numbers with Pittsburgh until today.
Tough call on the Lee situation. He may be a Type-B free agent, which might make a qualify offer attractive with respect to the possible draft pick compensation.
Then again, if can repeat this 2011 performance, he’s likely to out-perform Hague or Jones (not sure on Jones, just threw him in there as a potential 1B option). Downside is that Hague could be a low cost replacement, with what I would assume would be a lower likelihood of “collapse” in the words of BP. That money COULD be spent elsewhere – where else, not sure, and why somewhere else different than a position of power we need to sure up – not sure on that either.
Lee didnt want to come to Pitt in the first place, and was audibly upset when traded here.
its going to take some money to get him to sign with us in 2012
by white angus on Sep 21, 2011 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Ludwick as a Pirate so far in 100 ABs
.230/.336/.310 646 OPS 1 HR 8 RBI 16bb/32k
Compared that to Lyle Overpaid
(391 ABs) .227/.300/.349 649 OPS 8 HR 37 RBI 36bb/77k
I don’t think it’s worth a possible compensation pick if we offer arb to Ludwick
Lee on the other hand is a absolute must to offer arb. Not counting on him accepting the offer.
It’s funny, even struggling with the Pads, Lud’s K rate was about what it’s always been, around one every four ABs. He comes to the Pirates and presto!, he striking out once every three ABs. What is it about the Pirate uni that turns all these guys into human windmills?
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
Alvarez
The look on Walker’s face tells it all. Where the hell has that been all year? Why is the rest of the team acting like it was such a big deal? Oh yeah, probably because of how infrequently it has happened this year.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bucs Dugout
Related FanShots on Bucs Dugout
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
