Last night the guys in the row behind me at the game were full of baseball chatter. It was great. One of them observed, for example, as Stephen Drew had two strikes on him in his third at bat, that the hits he had in his first two at bats both came with two strikes. He promptly collected his third two-strike hit a second later. Anyway, one of these guys pointed out, as the 8th inning started, with Jason Grilli on the mound and the Pirates leading by 1, that the Bucs hadn't lost a game all year that they led after 7 innings. His buddy immediately responded that this was "not the best time to make light of that fact."
To be clear, I don't believe that this man's comment had anything to do with the outcome of the game. In fact, I would think that thousands of people over the last month have pointed out that the Pirates haven't lost a game all season that they led after 7 innings. The bullpen's perfect late inning record has been discussed, printed, tweeted, blogged, displayed on TV, and mentioned by fans at the stadium and at home on their couch, and none of those other times did it cause Jason Grilli to blow the game in the 8th inning like he did last night.
The point is it's just one game. Jeff Karstens was not sharp, and yes the bullpen totally blew it. But assuming this doesn't become a trend, it's really no big deal. Travis Snider got 3 hits, although he struggled defensively. Starling Marte crushed a homerun to center field. He ain't no lead off hitter, that's for sure. Andrew McCutcheon raised his average to .372 and drove in 2 runs. That's a whole lot of production from the outfield.
Next I have a real treat for you. A caller to 93.7 the Fan asked why the Pirates don't try to steal more bases. Sigh. It reminded me of the greatest sports sound clip of all time, Earl Weaver giving his profanity laden philosophy on team speed. It's so good. Check it out. If you enjoy that, here's a whole bunch of them!
you're right that its only one game. but, given that it is now increasingly likely that the buccos will finish above .500, our attention should turn to the playoffs(?!?!!?) (Did I really just type that?) Anyway, I am sure we agree it would be better to avoid the one-game playoff situation. Given the great baseball that the Reds have been playing, it is imperative that the Pirates win when Cinci wins, and doesn't lose when the Reds win. They of course will fail in both of these scenarios from time to time, which points to how hard it is going to be for them to overtake the Reds. They need to take advantage of those rare instances when the Reds lose. That they didn't, in a home game where they had a late lead, is a shame. Oh well. The fact that they are only 3.5 out in mid-August is crazy enough on its own, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I wholeheartedly agree that winning the division should remain the goal, I am trying to maintain tempered expectations.
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