June 2008

Indy Stars key in win over Rays

Yup - Jason Bay is still the leader of this now offensive Pirate ball club. The former All-Star has found his stroke once more. Bay lifted the Buccos to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday Night, smacking a walk-off shot to center off reliever Jason Hammel. 

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As if it was a September game, Triple-A pitchers made their mark on a huge win for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Making his first start as a Pirate, Ty Taubenheim did an excellent job  over six innings, holding the Rays to two runs. Taubenheim walked three and struck out four, but an RBI ground-rule double in the fifth was a huge momentum builder for the 'rats.

TJ Beam, after being demoted just a couple of nights ago, returned to Pittsburgh and pitched two flawless innings of relief. He committed an error, but struck out two in a bounce-back appearance from his previous two.

John Van Benschoten picked up his second MLB win after pitching a perfect 13th. JvB is the likely choice to pitch on Wednesday for John Russell's crew with starters Ian Snell and Phil Dumatrait still out. With multiple injury hits to the Bucs' pitching staff, tonight's affair was of great importance as these trio of minor leaguers pitched very effectively for the team's 38th win. 

Damaso Marte was the barer of a bad break in the eighth. After a clutch pinch-hit RBI double from Doug Mientkiewicz, Marte yielded a bomb to Johnny Gomes that tied the game up at three. The homer came after fourteen pitches as Gomes battled against the Pirates left-handed set-up man. 

At 38-42, the Bucs look to take the rubber match tomorrow in their last Interleague series,  though they still have the make-up of Thursday's contest to finish against the New York Yankees (rescheduled for July 10th). After being outscored 20-5 the previous two games, the Bucs did a much better job tonight, giving fans a small ounce of hope that .500 is still... a possibility. 

Rays shine a new light in Pittsburgh

Yes, yes, yes... we all know how good the Tampa Bay Rays REALLY are. I was one of many saying that back in May, these guys were a fluke and would be many games under five-hundred come June. However, with four days until July, the Nouth Florida team is 48-31 and 1 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox. Who would have thunk it?

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After tonight's 10-5 loss to Scott Kazmir and the young Rays, I was in a less depressive state then I very well could have been. The Bucs fell to six games under .500, but the "ray of hope" Tampa Bay has been shining on the lower teams of baseball has just now hit the state of the 'Burgh. As if it was some sort of Jesus Christ blessed touch, I feel as if the Bucs know that the near future is not entirely bleak.

Though their minor league system is completely gutted with as many holes as the last Pirates of the Caribbean film, the Pirates know they have the pieces to maybe not be a championship team, but a team capable of competing in a very long process of rebuilding. Nate McLouth and Matt Capps are the two kinds of players that Pittsburgh needs to build off of if they want to reflect the ball club built now in Florida.

Jimmy Barthmaier couldn't have made his rookie debut at a worse time. Barthmaier surrendered seven runs over two and a third innings on Friday night, as the Buccos head to 4-8 in Interleague play. As I stated earlier this month, this Interleague set is going to be huge in determining the rest of the Pirates' season.

For those of you who are doing so, please don't forget to VOTE PIRATES as the voting process for the 2008 All-Star Game is quickly ending. Vote McLouth and Xavier Nady into New York, as both outfielders without a doubt deserve spots on the NL rosters. I'd like to see Catcher Ryan Doumit make the roster as well, but its highly unlikely with with the amount of time he's played this year.

In Honor of Shawn A. Chacon

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Shawn Chacon's Houston Astros Career
February 20, 2008 - June 26, 2008
Oh, and how it ended with a bang...
or should I say a choke.

Pirates Baseball blogging will return shortly.

33-36, Lose Series in Baltimore



I usually, as my readers know,  just do game blogs for these here Buccos. But, after a lovely evening at work, I come home to find not only another hideous seesaw loss to the Baltimore Orioles, (hold on, the Baltimore Orioles everybody), but also find and read an article about the ELUSIVE .500 mark the Pittsburgh Pirates have set for themselves after... hmmm... not being at or above that point in 16 long, long years. For those faint at heart, I am going to rant, I am going to rumble - I am pissed off.

To begin with, veteran 1B Doug Mientkiewicz (whose last name absolutely kills me) had "a lot" to say on the subject. Now, Mient is a World Champion with the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and is a veteran, but what he said in this article bugs the bajesus out of me. And I quote:

"If our record is 81-81 [at the end of the year], if anybody's satisfied with that, they shouldn't be in the room to begin with..."

Obviously Doug hasn't been with the organization long enough to know the pain and tortures of, well, The 'Burgh. But, he knows its history well enough to know that a .500 mark at the end of the year would not only please fans but have them excited and ready to come out to the ball park the following season, knowing that they will see a decent ball club. Reminder: I am a fan ranting here, but also a baseball analysis that hopes to enter a MLB front office once I become of age. I honestly look at this with a strong perspective.

Since I don't want to write too much, I will say this. I am not a player; I really don't know exactly (though Doug is "convinced" they play to win... I am being sarcastic, don't worry) what the Pirates mindsets are before and after every game. However, I do know that for the fans, or again at least for me, if they went out there every day trying just to be a .500 ball club ... I would be a happy camper.

And that's the .500 rant... woohoo! Seriously folks, I love the Pirates and I love baseball. There comes a point though in a blogger's path when he just has to sit down and start ranting. For those Pirate fans that feel me, please leave some feedback.

Because remember ladies and gentlemen, .500 or no .500, it will always be The 'Burgh Blues.

Without capitalization, Bucs hold on

How did the Pirates pull this one off? Multiple times in the game, Pittsburgh had the bases loaded with less than two outs and weren't able to capitalize. Much of the underachieving was thanks to Adam LaRoche and Jose Bautista, who refused to slap the ball anywhere out of the infield to bring in a run. Luckily, the Bucs held on to beat the Washington Nationals.

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Adam LaRoche has become a huge disappointment to the state of the 'Burgh. Last year, LaRoche started very slowly but ended up having a very solid year (21 HR, 88 RBI). He ended up leading the Bucs in every major offensive category in 2007. This season, though, has lead to an even worst start for the first baseman. LaRoche is hitting .213 into mid-June, and with names like Steve Pearce hovering in Triple-A, Adam needs to get rolling.

Ian Snell (3-6) arguably threw his best start since picking up his last victory in April. Snell went six innings, giving up just a single run on six hits. He was in control of every one of his pitches, striking out six Nationals and brought a dominant A-game that we had not seen in quite sometime. Three walks show that Ian's control isn't completely there, but this was an important win and an important start for the staff ace. 

Ryan Doumit, in his return from a thumb injury, has torn up Washington over the past two nights. Doumit has smacked three homeruns and has hit an astonishing five extra-base hits in eight at-bats. Doumit was supposed to back up Ronny Paulino for the entire 2008 campaign, but after a terrific spring, John Russell's choice of starting the switch-hitter behind the dish has paid off greatly. 

Tomorrow, in an 12:35 ET start, Tom Gorzelanny (4-5) looks to put up some strong innings as Snell did tonight against the Nats. Gorzy's 6.83 ERA tells it all - something just isn't going right for the lefty. With enough control issues to write a book on, Tom will hopefully settle down and pitch as well as he did in his last start against Arizona.

Thank God for Baseball

My apologies for not blogging in several days. I have been consumed with teenager "tidbits" and other social events. With the summer upon us, only my camp counseling will be stopping me from telling the world about JBehr and Pirates baseball.

I have gone through many typical teenage emotional roller-coaster rides over the past few weeks, including a stressful finals schedule that had me standing on the edge of a cliff. I have to say that without something like baseball to take my mind off the craziness, I would've been a complete wreck. Every person has to have something that can diverge ones attention away from anything that is causing great pain or at least great stress. For me, well, thats watching the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Well, as much "Buccos Baseball" as I have missed over the past month, I can best sum up what has been missed with this - it has been a month where our two top starters (Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny) have brought their C-, D games while the back end of our rotation (Phil Dumatrait, Zack Duke, Paul Maholm) have brought their B+ games while fortunately being helped by an ongoing vicious offense. Who knew Dumatrait, a former Cincinnati Red, would be turning into an ace by default, leading the club's rotation with an ERA of 3.44. It has just become one of those seasons.

After beginning June 5-4, the Pirates sit now nine games behind the forty-win Chicago Cubs in a division consisting of five thirty-game winners. At 31-33, us 'Burghers are more than "joyous" with the .484 winning percentage we currently hold. Tomorrow begins a three game series with Washington, and ... uh ... dare I say it - if the Bucs can't get to .500 against the Nationals, then the god I am thanking now is one of harsh rule.
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