June 17, 2008
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:59 pm
This week on the podcast, the Crack Technical Staff and I have a lot of catching up to do. We discuss our trip to Victory Field tonight, and how the Columbus Clippers are now a Nationals affiliate that employ Ray Olmedo. We discuss the trade rumors around Ken Griffey, the injuries affecting the Cardinals, the .500 play of the Pirates, and the shocking interest of MLB in instant replay (it’s technology that’s only twice as old as my son!)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
June 13, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:14 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Nationals (26-42) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Pirates (33-34) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | 7 | 11 | 0 |
W: Gorzelanny (5-5)
L: Bergmann (1-4)
S: Marte (1)
Boxscore
Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit hit a two-run home run in the first inning to start Pittsburgh on the right track as they sought to win the series from the Nationals.
And they did, thanks to his 3 for 3 day, along with some help from the bullpen when things got scary in the 6th. The win moves the Pirates back to within one game of .500.
They’ll attempt to achieve long-desired mediocrity today when inter-league play begins again. This time, the Pirates travel to take on the Orioles. Phil Dumatrait goes against Brian Burres at 7:05pm EDT.
June 12, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:10 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Nationals (26-41) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Pirates (32-34) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 3 | 10 | 0 |
W: Snell (3-6)
L: Lannan (4-7)
S: Capps (16)
Boxscore
The Pirates won thanks to a great start from Ian Snell and a gutsy performance from close Matt Capps. The win brings Pittsburgh back to 2 games below .500.
Capps had been used on three consecutive nights–blowing the save and losing the game the previous day–and was told by manager John Russell that he wouldn’t be pitching. Capps disagreed and requested to be considered.
Whether it was a good decision or not is hard to say. Obviously, the Pirates won, but how will Capps rebound later? Four consecutive appearances rarely turn out as a good thing for pitchers, but then again, Capps was hitting the mid-90s with his fastball. We’ll see. He’s one of the few bright spots on the Pirates team, and I’d hate to see him broken just to get a win here and there. However, since it is the Pirates, maybe that’s worth quite a bit, since they do usually only get a win here and there.
An afternoon game wraps up the series today as Jason Bergmann starts against Tom Gorzelanny at 12:35pm EDT.
June 11, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:33 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Nationals (26-40) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 1 |
| Pirates (31-34) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
W: Hanrahan (2-2)
L: Capps (0-1)
S: Rauch (13)
Boxscore
The Pirates took an early lead and seemed to have things well in hand. Of course, this is the Pirates. Even though they’re playing a team worse than them in the Nationals, failure lurks around every corner.
Starter Paul Maholm allowed the Nationals to tie it, but the Pirates came back. Perhaps they were thinking they should win this one because they once had a 3-0 lead. But no, Matt Capps came in to blow the save.
If there’s any consolation, Pittsburgh continued to stay out of last place. There’s always a silver lining.
A tough loss in a game they needed to win if they wanted to reach .500. They try again tonight at 7:05pm EDT when John Lannan starts against Ian Snell.
June 10, 2008
By
Zeldink
Posted at 8:57 am
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|
| Diamondbacks (34-30) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Pirates (31-33) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 5 | 7 | 0 |
W: Duke (4-4)
L: Johnson (4-3)
S: Capps (15)
Boxscore
The past week or so has seen an increase in the benches clearing in baseball. And I, for one, say it’s about time. I find it highly entertaining to see all these millionaire athletes doing their best WWF wrestler impersonations. I don’t know why baseball has cracked down so hard on these over the years. I mean, hardly anyone ever gets hurt.
At any rate, the Pirates and Diamondbacks didn’t have a brawl, but they did all leave their dugouts after Randy Johnson and Doug Mientkiewicz yelled at each other. Mientkiewicz apparently had the gall, the gall, to ask for time. A little thing, really, but it rattled Johnson, who had been cruising to that point. And based on that, the Pirates pushed a run across to take the lead and never really looked back.
The Pirates are two games under .500 and have an excellent chance at getting to or above it when the Nationals come to town. Tim Redding starts against Paul Maholm at 7:10pm EDT.
