Harang Shuts Down Bucs

Everywhere you look Aaron Harang continues to get referenced as a sleeper pitcher that doesnt get the respect he deserves. Baseball writers continue to emphasize that because he isnt in a sexy market, most fans don't know who, or how good, he really is. However, i think its fair to say that hitters in the National League know who Aaron Harang is, and more importantly, they know how good he has been.

Harang, who led the NL in K's and W's last year and is 14-3 this year threw a complete game shutout against the Pirates last night, allowing 2 hits, and striking out eight. Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips homered in the 8-0 win, handing the Pirates just their second loss in the their last eight games.

Bay and Kata had the Pirate hits. Ian Snell was roughed up to the tune of 7 runs in 5 and a third.

For at least the second time this year, Ian Snell was involved in some sort of a dispute with a teammate or member of the coaching staff. This one was a short argument with Chacon in the clubhouse before the game, and neither player would specify after the game.

Notes:

- Snell is the 377th pitcher against which Griffey has homered

-Thanks to Jason Bay's double, Pittsburgh kept alive a club-record streak of 88 consecutive games with at least one extra-base hit

-Jack Wilson should be available today

-King Salomon had a shot in his arm, literally, yesterday. He might pitch again in 07

-Sean Burnett also got an injection yesterday. He still might need surgery that could cost him 2008

-Duke Welker will not be shut down for 07 after all and should make one more start for State College before instructional league

-Zach Duke will start Saturday for AAA Indy

Doubleheader sweep!

The Bucs keep winning, and keep hitting. Freddy Sanchez uses a grand slam in the first game to help secure a win, while Adam LaRoche knocks home the game-winner in the nightcap to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Reds.

I've badmouthed him plenty of times before, but I'm willing to learn from mistakes. Is it possible that I simply didn't give Paul Maholm enough time to adjust to the majors? Now don't get me wrong, I know Maholm is no ace. He's not going to be our No. 1 or No. 2 starter. At best he could fill in at the third spot, but I'm really not starting to mind the thought of him at the back end of a rotation. He's been in some tough situations thus far in his young career and it's quite possible that things will only look up for him. He is still very young.

The only bad thing about the day is (and I can't believe I'm going to type this) that the Cubs beat the Brewers, so we weren't able to gain an extra game in the standings. Since the Bucs are only 8.5 games out of a division lead somehow, it got me thinking. I wonder if any team has battled for the next year's No. 1 draft pick and a division championship in the same season?

Think about it...

One bad week and the Bucs could be very close to the worst record in the majors.

However, one good week and they are 3-4 games out of first place.

No matter what, this recent surge certainly has made the final month or so of baseball in Pittsburgh interesting. I know I'm excited.

In the Minors

Indy: Game One, 7-0 Win vs. Columbus
Bixler, Ryan and Morgan each had a hit.
Eldred was 3-for-3 with a two-run homerun
JVB went seven strong, allowing four hits, one walk and struck out five.

Game Two, 3-0 loss vs. Columbus
Morgan, Cutch and Pearce had a hit
Morgan tripled
Davidson worked an inning, allowing an unearned run, walking two.
Sharpless gave up a run in two innings.

Altoona: 3-0 Win vs. Reading
Bowers had three hits, Boeve had two, including a two-run bomb
Munoz threw seven shutout innings, allowing five hits, striking out two
Munoz is now 11-5 with a 3.82 ERA
Petersen saved his 26th game with a scoreless ninth

Elsewhere:
Pachecho hit his 25th homerun for Hickory

Maybe, Just Maybe

Dave Littlefield is smarter than both you and I.

Maybe.

For it was the majority of opinion of Pirates Nation that turning down a deal for Jack Wilson that included Jair Jurrjens was a mistake, especially considering Jurrjens status as a top prospect in the Tigers system, and especially including the Pirates diluted minor league system, ESPECIALLY pitchers and even more, a deal that was rumored to include another prospect in addition to Jurrjens.

Throw in Jurrjens major league debut, and his subsequent start after that, and well, it was yet another bonehead move by Davey L.

But then, Jurrjens left his latest start with an arm injury, and was immediately placed on the DL, with those close to the situation saying the details were bad, possibly very bad.

Did Dave and his scouts do their homework? Was Jurrjens an injury waiting to happen, so the Pirates needed to get more for him so when Jurrjens broke down, there were more prospects to point to?

Possibly, consider this from the MLB.com story of Jurrjens injury:

Jurrjens has had shoulder problems before, most recently a strain that forced him onto the DL at Double-A Erie near the end of last season. That pain, he explained, was lower in his shoulder, around the lat area. This recent pain, by comparison, is around the back of the shoulder.

It turns out Jurrjens injury might not be that severe, but that's moot. The question is, did Dave get it right?

Playing the Matchups

Jim Tracy loves to play matchups.

Sunday, he played one that lost the Pirates the ball game. In the bottom of the eighth Marte got Lee to groundout, but gave up a double to lefty Luke Scott. Tracy hooked Marte for Chacon, to bring the righty-righty for Wigginton. Right handers were hitting .226 against Chacon, but Wiggy was 3-for-9 in his career off Shawn with 3 RBI's.


It didnt take long before Wiggy went deep to left and the Astros had the lead back.

Brad Lidge walked a guy in the ninth but struck out two straight. Game.


McLouth had two hits, LaRoche two hits and two RBI and Freddy went deep for number 10.


Armas went five and a third giving up three earned. Marte and Chacon each allowed an earned run in two-thirds of an inning.

-Josh Phelps continues to get fielding practice at every position on the field besides the bump
-Danny Moskos is NOT hurt
Cutch had a hit in four at bats in Indy, while Walker didnt hit in his pinch hit appearance.

Bullington allowed 11 hits and didnt make it out of the sixth.

The Streak Continues, Bucs Win

Jose Bautista homered twice and Matt Morris put up a quality start as the Pirates won for the seventh time in their last eight, and continued their hard to figure out dominance of the Astros.

Rookie Troy Patton, making his ml debut, wasn't bad, but he wasn't great, specifically with his changeup and Bautista welcomed him to the bigs with two bombs to that short porch in left, one of a change over the middle of the dish in the fourth. Oh and Josh Phelps hit another home run off the bench. It's starting to become hard to ignore the numbers he has put up in his short time with the Bucs.

Morris, in his short time with the Bucs, has been quite the roller coaster. After a first few starts that were anything but special, he has ripped off two straight quality starts. Against the Astros he allowed one run on four hits over six innings, including inducing Lance Berkman into a huge double play with the bases loaded.

-Paulino had three hits, Bautista had three RBI
-Wilson left the game with a shin injury that looked worse than I think it was. Ty Wigginton caught Jack with a spike during a breakup slide on a DP, however, I think Jack just got cut up a little and should have a good bruise but no real damage
-Torres hit the DL retro to Aug 22nd
-Maholm will bump up a day and throw game 2 on Tuesday vs. the Reds

In Indy, N. Morgan had two hits, Cutch was 0 for 3, Pearce had a hit, Walker was 0 for 4 and Sharpless gave up a run in one inning.

Wandy Rodriguez vs. Tony Armas on Sunday

I have a fantasy football draft at noon. If I get first pick I am taking Danny Moskos, since he isn't busy with game action anymore or anything.

Lineup Posted

The lineup's posted for Tonight's game vs. Houston

CF McLouth
SS Wilson
2B Sanchez
1B LaRoche
RF Bautista
C Paulino
3B Castillo
LF Kata
SP Morris

Jason Bay gets the night off

Romulo Sanchez Gets Call

The Pirates have placed King Salomon on the DL and have called up Romulo Sanchez, a reliever from AA Altoona.

Sanchez, a 23-year-old right-hander, had a 2.81 ERA in 40 appearances out of a setup role with the Curve, with 52 strikeouts and 17 walks.

Torres will be back in Pittsburgh Monday for a doctor's visit.

We're back!

...yeah, yeah -- we know. So Matt and I have been out of the game for quite some time now and we're itching to get back. The work world has gotten to us both, but we've still managed to follow the Bucs this whole time. We're still fans -- don't think we've jump shipped yet.

Anyways, we're coming back with a little help and we're going to try and have some more writers with us. If you're interested in being a writer of this blog, E-mail us at buccowire@gmail.com.

In the meantime...let me get to some thoughts.

- It took an injury to Chris Duffy and a trade of Rajai Davis to get Nate McLouth regular time in the outfield? That is crazy. McLouth was always the better prospect out of the three and should have been given the chance before. I'm glad to see he's taking this opportunity and running with it.

- Matt Morris? Awesome, haha. I don't even need to say anything here. Remember when he won 20 games in a season? That seems like forever ago.

- So I would have taken the Jack Wilson trade straight up for Jair Jurrjens if that was offered... but DL wouldn't. Heck he wouldn't even do it with a couple of other players added to it. His inability to trade is simply remarkable.

- Steven Pearce has put together quite an impressive season. And I'm glad to see the rest of the prospects moved up to AAA.

- Daniel Moskos? Wow. He can't even dominate the rookie or short-season leagues. This oughtta be good.

...that's all I got for now. Check later for more updates and continue to come back regularly. Hopefully we can successfully pick this back up. And again, if you have any interest in writing, E-mail us at buccowire@gmail.com

Bullpen Blowup -- Bucs Lose

Box Score -- Recap

Couple things:

1. Jim Tracy looks as though he is going to lose it when it comes to this bullpen. And I mean, lose it.

2. Great punch from the middle of the lineup today. LaRoche, Bay and Sanchez go 6-for-12, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 2HR.

3. Another great start from Tommy G. 6.2, 7 hits, 3 earned. He tired a little, but he game them a chance to win.

4. The Dodgers bullpen pitched three shutout innings and allowed just one hit. King Salomon allowed four hits in one-third of an inning.

5. Heres Ryan Doumit since May 19th.

4-for-32, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 0 doubles, 0 homeruns.

Avg dropped from .375 to .310

6. The Pirates have a dismal nine pinch-hits this season in 72 at-bats, which calculates to a concerning .125 average for anyone who really wants to know.

No Zach Attack -- Bucs Lose

Boxscore -- Recap

Maybe Zach Duke will figure it out soon.

Maybe he won't.

Maybe the Pirates can contend in the Central in 2007.

Maybe they can't.

One things for sure though, if Zach Duke keeps this up, it's going to be mighty hard to accomplish the ladder.

Duke allowed five runs in six innings, including the game-winning homerun by Russell Martin the fifth inning. Sir Duke allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out just three, raising his season ERA to 5.73 and lowering his record to 2-6.

Jose Bautista continued to look comfortable in the lead off spot going 2-for-4 and Jason Bay stayed white hot with a 2-for-3 night, including his 9th homerun of the year. Chris Duffy tripled home two runs to tie the game at 4 before Martin's homerun.

The Pirates continued the trend of leaving runners on base with 14 Friday Night.

Before the game, the Pirates announced that Matt Capps will take over as the closer full-time from here on out and that King Salomon will revert back to a set-up role.

Kuo vs. Snell Saturday night @ 7:05pm

A week's worth of stars and dogs

Okay, I said I wouldn't slack. But I'm working my tail off and I now manage a baseball team for my boss in a summer league where I'm from. Plus I took a vacation to Ocean City last weekend, so give me a break. Here's the updated list of stars and dogs.

I'm glad to see that the Pirates are still hovering around the .500 mark and an actual first-place spot in the division standings.

5-3 loss to the Cards:
1 dog - Ian Snell (Three home runs. Not a good start.)
2 dogs - Matt Capps (Gives the Bucs' one run in the eighth right back.)
3 dogs - Ryan Doumit (0-for-4 with four left one base.)

3-1 loss to the Cards:
Three guys will split the six total dogs. The 5-6-7 hitters did nothing.
A combined 0-for-10 for Bay, Nady, Paulino. Two dogs each.

10-4 win against the Reds:
1 star - Paul Maholm (A decent start for once.)
2 stars - Xavier Nady (2-for-5, with a home run.)
3 stars - Jason Bay (2-for-3, with a home run.)

9-5 win against the Reds:
1 star - Xavier Nady (2-for-5, with 3 RBIs.)
2 stars - Adam LaRoche (2-for-4, with 2 RBIs.)
3 stars - Jason Bay (3-for-4, with 3 RBIs.)

14-10 win against the Reds:
1 star - Zach Duke (Not a great game, but gets a win.)
2 stars - Jason Bay (3-for-5, with 3 RBIs and a home run.)
3 stars - Freddy Sanchez (2-for-3, with 4 RBIs.)

4-0 loss to the Reds:
1 dog - Ian Snell (Couldn't outduel Kyle Lohse?)
2 dogs - Chris Duffy (0-for-4 in that two hole. Why's he there?)
3 dogs - Jose Bautista (Left two on in scoring position with two outs.)

4-1 win against the Padres:
1 star - Salomon Torres (12th save.)
2 stars - Jason Bay (THE hottest hitter that week.)
3 stars - Tom Gorzelanny (Another solid start.)

9-0 loss to the Padres:
1 dog - Jonah Bayliss (He's got to go.)
2 dogs - Paul Maholm (Ugh.)
3 dogs - Adam LaRoche (0-for-4 with three Ks.)

Who was that? -- Bucs Win Opener

Recap -- Box Score

Was that the 2007 Pirates out there Tuesday night?

No, really, THE 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates?

With clutch hitting, solid fielding, a great effort from the SP and a door shutting bullpen?

Wierd.

Tommy Gunn went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 4.

Jason Bay went 2-for-4 with his 8th homerun. Adam LaRoche had three hits and an RBI.

Fast Freddy and X had the other Pirate RBI's.

Matt Capps, John Grabow andKing Salomon worked scorelessly through the 8th and 9th.

Notes: Ryan Freel didn't catch that ball in center. Who cares?

Paul Maholm vs. Chris Young, Wednesday Night, 7:05pm

Bucs Get Healthy -- Win Series

You could have dreamed up a scenario for how the series against the Reds could go.

Your dream couldn't have been much different than the way it actually played out.

3 wins. One loss.

An offensive barrage. A solid outing from the struggling Maholm. An improvement from Zach Duke. Never mind the shutout in game 4 and the struggling bullpen. I won't bring it up if you don't.

5.5 games back. Only six games under. Poised for a run?

Housekeeping Time...

-Jason Bay was named NL Player of the week...(he was also player of the week on my NL Only Fantasy Keeper team)

-Don't count on Chris Duffy returning to the lead off spot anytime soon...

-Hey Brian Rogers, see you later. Welcome to the majors Josh Sharpless!

-Ryan Doumit should return to the lineup full time on Wednesday against Chris Young

-Some idiot wastes the Pirates mailbag writers' time asking if Adam LaRoche is a fixture here

Break Out -- Bucs Win Opener

Box Score -- Recap

It took some at-bats against David Weathers to get it going, but the offense finally found it's groove Friday night in Cincy. The Pirates managed more hits in two innings against the Reds bullpen then they did against Aaron Harang over his eight strong innings.

It got ugly quickly for Weathers after he finished the ninth unscathed.

In the tenth, here's how it went down.

- J. Wilson singled to left
- N. McLouth hit for J. Bayliss
- N. McLouth reached on fielder's choice, J. Wilson to second
- J. Bautista singled to left, J. Wilson to third, N. McLouth to second
- C. Duffy hit sacrifice fly to right, J. Wilson scored, N. McLouth to third
- F. Sanchez ground rule double to deep center, N. McLouth scored, J. Bautista to third
- A. LaRoche intentionally walked
- J. Bay hit by pitch, J. Bautista scored, F. Sanchez to third, A. LaRoche to second

Weathers hit the showers. His ERA before the game was 2.08

After the game, it was 4.30. Ouch.

Brad "Poached" Salmon came in and allowed a three-run double to Paulino and an RBI single by Xavier Nady. King Salomon did not look sharp at all allowing two meaningless runs in the bottom of the ninth, but at least we aren't relying on Mike Gonzo to close in 2007.

Paul Maholm went seven innings allowing 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks with 6 strikeouts.

Jason Bay was 2-for-3 with his 6th homerun.

Nady hit his 6th homerun as well to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Looking forward -- Bucs Swept

I'll be honest, I think the Steelers will be rebuilding this year.
I don't think it will be a playoff year. That is my first thought.
It's just going to be a big transition year and I see them as a possible 9-7 team.

The Penguins, however, this season is going to be something special.
They get most of their guns back, hopefully resigning Roberts and Recchi.
They should add Letang from Juniors.
They could sign Paul Kariya, Brandon Shanahan, or Kimmo Timonen.

They could easily be one of the top 3 teams in the East. It could be a cup year.
Training camp can not come soon enough, right?

What's that? This is a Pirates blog? Oh.

Hmmm.

They aren't very good.
They got swept today.
They are eight games under .500
Their number 2 got hurt today
None of their players can hit
They are afraid to promote their top prospects
They are afraid to do anything different.

Bucs stars

I'm getting bad at this, and I promise to keep up. Work and school have been killing me. As are the Buccos. You know things are bad when Matt starts puking and using the same image he's used once before for a recap.

That being said, let me at least update the site a little in terms of records, stats, dogs and stars.

Bucs 7-2 over Marlins:
1 star - Jason Bay (Scored two of the runs.)
2 stars - Ronny Paulino (1-for-3 with 3 RBIs.)
3 stars - Shawn Chacon (Saved Armas big time.)

Bucs 11-5 over the Dbacks:
1 star - Ian Snell (Not his best, but another win.)
2 stars - Xavier Nady (2-for-4, 3 RBIs.)
3 stars - Adam LaRoche (This is just long overdue.)

Bucs 9-8 loss to Dbacks:
1 dog - Marty McLeary (.1 innings, 1 run. Blown save.)
2 dogs - John Grabow (Four runs in .2 innings. Wow.)
3 dogs - Matt Capps (2 runs in 1 inning for the loss. Bad day for the pen.)

Bucs 5-2 loss to Dbacks:
1 dog - Freddy Sanchez (0-for-4. Set no tables.)
2 dogs - Adam LaRoche (0-for-4. Back to the grind.)
3 dogs - Paul Maholm (One good start all year.)

Bucs 9-4 loss to Cards:
1 dog - Jason Bay (Eight left on base.)
2 dogs - Adam LaRoche (Still on the grind.)
3 dogs - Zach Duke (11 hits in 4.2 innings. Ugh.)

Where Can I Puke? -- Bucs Lose

It's amazing how much Tuesday night's game resembled the overall story of the 2007 Pirates.

Consider...

1. The Pirates are among the bottom 4 teams in MLB in AVG and RBI's

(The Pirates had the bases loaded in the 1st inning with one out and got one run. The Pirates had the bases loaded in the 2nd inning with one out and got no runs. They had the bases loaded in the fourth with one out and got one run on zero hits. Overall, the Pirates managed nine hits and loaded the bases three separate times off Adam Wainwright and yet only managed two runs. Then there was the circus that was the eighth inning. The Pirates load the bases again, this time with nobody out. Jack Wilson pops out foul to the catcher. One out. Nate McLouth takes two fastballs for strikes and strikes out looking. Two outs. Bautista walks, one run in. Freddy reaches on an error, two runs in. Bay strikes out. If there are three guys that you would want up with the bases loaded, you would choose Bautista, Freddy and Bay. Freddy, who had three hits that didn't drive in any runs, couldn't muster a big hit when it mattered and Bay continued to show that if you threw him all off-speed, every pitch, he would hit about .198.)

2. Adam LaRoche continues on his way to Major League Bust of the Year

(LaRoche hit in the first inning with runners at 1st and 2nd and walked. He hit again in the 2nd with the bases loaded and struck out. Once again, in the fourth, LaRoche hit with the bases loaded and, again, he struck out.)

3. Zach Duke gave up 5 earned runs in 4.2 innings on ELEVEN HITS.

(Duke of course, led the league in hits allowed last year and is on pace to do it again this year. The Pirates continue to maintain that he has the most talent of any starter on the club, and when trade talks are rumored, he is consistently labeled "untouchable" despite unflattering major league numbers.)

4. The Pirates made two errors in the field and a few mental ones that won't show up.

(Albert Pujols out-hustled Jason Bay and got to third on a single to left, something that should never happen. You can blame Bautista, and rightfully so, but Bay didn't hustle and was caught flat footed by a hustling Pujols. Eckstein reaches on a bunt single when LaRoche and Chacon run into each other on the way to the bag.)

I heard/read in a few different places the idea of "remembering" Saturday night's game.

As in, remember it as the night the Pirates season went to crap.

As in, remember when the Pirates lost that game in New York to the Yankees on the bad call.

They were like 30-30 coming in, went 30-60 after that game. Sorta like that.

That idea is starting to look solid.

But what do I know? The Pirates could run off 5 wins in a row and turn this thing around.

Which side of the coin do you think is more likely?

--Note-- I will almost never complain about umpiring when I write but the work done behind the plate tonight was a joke. To think these guys are supposed to be professionals, it really makes you wonder sometimes. The calls certainly had nothing to do with the Pirates losing, and that is not what I am trying to imply, but there were some blatantly terrible strike/ball calls.

A No Good Weekend -- Bucs Lose Series

Alan and I were no good this weekend.

Neither were the Pirates.

Sorry for the lack of recaps. Neither of us had much access to a computer.
Besides, if I had to write a recap for Saturday nights game, I might have killed myself.

Seriously.

I didn't see a single minute of the game, and it wasn't until this morning that I got to read the recap. Wow. Six runs in one inning, and the Pirates LOSE. The always popular bullpen implosion and the offense didn't have enough juice to bring it home late in the game.

Sunday was more of the same for the over matched Pirate offense.
Big Unit vs. this offense = 10 strikeouts and Unit's first ever win at PNC Park.

Tracy continues to try and find the right lineup combo, today it featured Freddy leading off with Bautista batting 2nd, moving Bay up to third. No dice as far as more hits go.

Pirate fans should continue to worry about Maholm, who struggled again on Sunday. He is now 2-6, and frankly, just isn't throwing well. Right now the Pirates have three slots in the rotation in which they never know what they are going to get and it could get worse this week as they try and find a fifth starter.

It won't be Marty McLeary, despite Tracy saying his name was in the mix.

It is expected to be Shawn Chacon, but it could very well be Bullington or JVB. It almost certainly won't be Sean Burnett, at least I wouldn't think so. The only other possibility would be to move Chacon into the rotation and bring one of the young guys up to fill Chacon's spot in the bullpen. The Pirates could then use one of the pitchers in the manner that the Dodgers are currently using Chad Billingsley.

Win some, you lose some

...and this is how it goes for Buccos. It's beginning to look like we win with Snell and Gorzelanny and hope for the best with the rest. The latest sub-par pitching effort -- former first round draft pick Paul Maholm.

A lot of interesting tidbits in today's Pirates PG Notebook:

- Doumit has gained confidence. This only helps the Pirates. It took them long enough to promote him back up, and now with him hitting, he has got to stay in the lineup, whether it is catcher, first base or right field. Just keep him in there!

- Tracy praises Jose Castillo. Go figure. I still like Jose and think he has a ton of talent. But what does he think the Pirates could get for him in a trade? Seriously? What has he ever done besides underachieve on a consistent basis?

- I've been watching this one and waiting for a while now. Matt Peterson, who the Pirates got in the trade from the Mets for Kris Benson way back when, was just promoted to AAA Indianapolis. Peterson was a highly-regarded prospect with pretty good stuff, but then just lost it all. He hit batters, walked batters and allowed a ton of runs. This year he was moved to the closer's role in AA. He has seven saves and a 0.98 ERA there. Keep an eye out on him.

- Bryan Bullington won again. He is now 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Neil Walker went 4-for-4 and hit his fifth home run of the season. Andrew McCutchen went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI but struck out in all three of his other at-bats. I'm beginning to worry a little with him.

Stars and Dogs of last two games:

1 Star - Freddy Sanchez (4-for-5 with 2 RBIs.)
2 Stars - Ronny Paulino (1-for-1, a HR and 3 walks. Getting better at the plate.)
3 Stars - Tom Gorzelanny (Very nice.)

1 Dog - Marty McLeary (Two runs in one inning. Get off this team.)
2 Dogs - Jonah Bayliss (Two runs and three walks in two innings. Ugh.)
3 Dogs - Paul Maholm (He's not that good. At all.)