Before I get into today's entry, I just want to give a quick shout-out to a couple of fellow Buccos fans who have been gracious enough to comment here at 3r5t1b. Because of this, I feel I should show them some love. Thanks to pittstop and JB, both loyal Buccos fanatics who share the same joy and anguish (mostly anguish) as I do when it comes to viewing, dissecting, analyzing, and criticizing our favorite baseball team. Check out JB's blog if you have a chance by clicking the hypertext on his name. Keep up the good work, JB, and thanks again to my Pittsburgh brothers for adding to the blog with your comments and insight.

Also, I'd like to apologize to my three or four readers out there for not being more diligent with the blog. Things are really hectic right now and gladly, I have more work on my plate than I can really handle. It bothers me that I have to put the blog on the back burner, but with three freelance projects, a full-time contract, and playing in baseball and softball leagues, my days and nights are usually jam-packed. If I miss a Buccos game live, I hit the Tivo. If I don't have time to watch the entire Tivo'd broadcast, I watch in on fast-forward and read about it the next day so I stay current with the Pirates' exploits. If I'm stuck at work, I watch it on my computer via MLB.tv. I do what I can to make sure I'm always informed about the team in real time, but I've definitely let the blog slip. Again, my apologies.

Sputtering Near .500

As you can tell, this bothers me. We just can't seem to get over the hump. The past couple of weeks have seen the Pirates inch close and fall back numerous times. It's not like .500 equals a World Series ring. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather make the playoffs and win a World Series and I'm sure the guys in the Pirates' dugout would too, but this has got to be as frustrating for them as it is for us fans. Currently, the Pirates sit at 25-28 on the year and 4-6 in their past 10 games. Upon closer examination we find that, over the past 12 games since taking two of three from the Cardinals May 13-15, the Bucs have fumbled away several chances to reach .500. Take for instance a tough 4-3 loss in Chicago on May 18 to the Cubs after splitting the first two games of the series. In what has been a microcosm of the starting pitching, Phil Dumatrait walked seven (yes, SEVEN) hitters in just 4 2/3 innings of work. Four of those free passes came around to score, accounting for all four of the Cubs' runs that afternoon. And yes, of course Adam LaRoche hit a meaningless late-inning homer that made the game close. That's when he does his best work.

The Best Outfield in Baseball

In terms of hitting, no doubt about it, the Bucs are the best. Check out this great article from Wednesday's Post-Gazette by "The Stats Geek" Brian O'Neill. Now that Bay is mashing the ball, the trio of JBay, X-Man and Nate Mac are the most productive (in terms of offense) outfield in all of Major League Baseball.

A familiar sight of late: Jason Bay going deep.

Where Art Thou, Gorzo and Snell?

Coming into this season, I thought the last two guys on the roster who would have question marks next to their names would be the young and talented duo of starters Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny. I thought for sure that these guys would build upon their successes from last year and anchor the rotation while keeping the bullpen well-rested at least two out of every five days. In fact, quite the opposite has been true. It's hard to gauge who has stunk more and why. Gorzo had an injury in spring training, but swore it wasn't bothering him. Snell started the season strong at 2-0, but has been garbage in his past six starts. I really don't know what to say...neither of them has been a stopper. In fact, through the month of May, Zach Duke has been the team's most consistent starter. The same Zach Duke who has been the most punished starting pitcher in all of MLB the past two seasons in terms of hits allowed and opponent's batting average. There is still plenty of time for Gorzo and Snell to get right and the Pirates will certainly need them to win some games if the team is going to crack .500, but right now things look dire. Both guys are struggling with their control and sadly, it looks like they're both fighting themselves when they pitch. I expected as much out of Snell -- he's always had that type of attitude -- but I'm surprised by Gorzo's temper and self-inflicted pressure. If these guys get back to throwing strikes, there is no telling how far the team will go, but for the time being, both hurlers are struggling mightily.

"Maybe if I don't look at him he'll walk right past me and I can stay in the game. Yeah, that's it! He can't see me! I'm invisible! Just keep looking forward and hold VERY still..."

 
 

The Bucs arrived in St. Louis on Tuesday sitting at 18-20, two games below what has become a magical and mystical number for Pirates fans across the country, .500. We look at .500 as vindication and validation, release and respect. It's as if just being mediocre is good enough for our favorite team, but consider this: The Pirates have endured 15 straight losing seasons, one off the Major League record. I know the players are sick of it and the fans, well, we are beyond sick. We're disgusted, dejected, and downright displeased.

So after the Pirates' 10-inning, 8-4 win that put the team only one game under .500 early in the season, it was hard not to be excited for last night's game. But Todd Wellemeyer pitched a great game, limiting the Bucs to one run over seven innings and the Cards won, 5-1. Rick Ankiel made a tremendous catch on what would have been an Adam LaRoche homer in the 2nd and the Bucs never threatened again.

So we're at 19-21, still close to .500 and it's still early. Today's 1:15 contest against the Cards features Bucco ace Ian Snell against Joel Pinero for St. Louis. Even though that number doesn't mean much to most teams, for the Pirates, hitting that .500 target is something they can't let slip away.

 
Adam LaRoche "Riverdances" across the plate for a run during the Pirates' three-game sweep of the lowly San Francisco Gigantes.

The Bucs started their streak by laying the beat stick to Los Gigantes de San Francisco during a three-game set May 6-8. It's hard to get excited, as a fan, by the prospects of your team beating up on possibly the worst team in the N.L., but then you remember you're a Pirates fan and you scold yourself for taking precious wins for granted. The Pirates returned home after a rough series in Washington where they lost three of four and pitching coach Jeff Andrews issued a challenge to his starting pitchers. Apparently, the guys got the message and during the six-game winning streak, the starters put up a microscopic ERA of 1.33.


Recently inserted into the rotation, lefty Phil Dumatrait picked up his first career win against the Giants, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Bucs played well in every facet of the game during the sweep of Los Gigantes. I was most pleased with the starting pitching. Zach Duke pitched very well and got a ton of run support in the first game of the series as he earned his first win since June 12 of last year. I couldn't have been happier for Duke and I'm certainly glad the Pirates didn't give up on him after equally rough 2006 and 2007 seasons. I blame former manager Jim Tracy and his pitching coach Jim Colborn for causing Duke's regression from his phenomenal rookie year of 2005. They screwed with the guy's mechanics after an 8-2, 1.81 ERA season. Why? To justify their jobs? Whatever the reason, it's taken Duke this long to get back on track.

 Zach Duke has pitched well this season and has improved a little bit with every start. Duke finally got in the win column for the first time since last June with a victory against the Giants.

Riding a modest three-game winning streak and displaying sustained success in all three phases of the game (pitching, hitting, defense), the Pirates welcomed the Bravos of Atlanta for a four-game, wraparound series at the end of last week. The Bucs jumped out of the gate on Friday night with an exciting 3-2 win behind Ian Snell's solid start and Freddy Sanchez's 9th inning heroics. Sanchez, moved by manager John Russell to the leadoff spot at the start of the homestand, knocked in all three runs, including the game-winner on a chopper up the middle in the final inning. Timely hitting, great starting pitching, solid bullpen work and good managing equals the recipe for success and the Bucs followed that formula to a "t."


Sanchez celebrates with the X-Man and JBay after his game-winning single in the bottom of the 9th during Friday's win over the Braves. Sanchez knocked in all three Pirate runs on the evening.

After the series-opening win, the Pirates took the next contest from Atlanta, a 5-2 victory on Saturday that featured a great start by Tom Gorzelanny and timely hitting by Jason Bay and Ronny Paulino. Sunday's game was rained out, but the Monday doubleheader started off on the right note with a 5-0 blanking of the Braves behind yet another quality start by Zach Duke and more offensive fireworks from Sanchez. But the winning streak was halted in the second game thanks to a wretched start by the now-demoted John Van Benschoten as the Braves won easily, 8-1.

Adam "Boom Boom" LaRoche celebrates his Game 1 homer with Ryan Doumit. LaRoche has been mildly better in May proving that, indeed, he couldn't get any worse.

Two transactions of note...

The Pirates sent Van Benschoten back to Indianapolis and promoted reliever Marino Salas, a 26 year-old righty who came over in the off-season trade that sent Salomon Torres to Milwaukee. Salas will be with the club tonight in St. Louis.

The Buccos also traded for Cleveland outfielder Jason Michaels. The terms of the deal seemed to benefit the Pirates as they gave up nothing but cash and a player to be named later to land Michaels, a 32 year-old veteran and career .277 hitter. Michaels' numbers aren't staggering by any stretch, but by all accounts he is a quality character and a positive presence in the locker room. Michaels made the most of his first start as he went 3/4 with two runs scored in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Braves.

I would be remiss if I DIDN'T mention this...

Nate Mac continues to punish the ball. It's obvious that McLouth's breakout season is no fluke. Counting tonight's dinger against the Cardinals, McLouth now has 10 home runs on the young season. Here are Nate Mac's stats to date:

.305AVG/10HR/31RBI/.997OPS

Those are definitely All-Star caliber numbers and while his average has dropped a bit since being moved to the No. 2 hole in the lineup, Nate Mac continues to be the Pirates' biggest offensive force.

Don't let his boyish looks fool you, Nate Mac will choke the **** out of you!


The Final Thought...

Jack Wilson experienced a setback in his rehab assignment as he tries to recover from the strain calf he suffered during the first Braves series, all the way back on April 3. The Pirates have certainly missed Wilson, especially in the field, and now they're back to Bixler at short. While Bixler has played decently over the past four games, I'm obviously still not sold on him as Wilson's replacement now or our shortstop of the future. It seems as if Wilson is hurt much worse than the Pirates have let on, perhaps trying to keep teams interested in Wilson if a mid-season deal for him is possible. Wilson is finally set to join Altoona for his first round of rehab games. Get well soon, Jack!

As I wrote on Monday, the Bucs were in town this week. I had tickets for all three games, but Monday's rainout pushed the opener back to August 11th. I picked up those tickets (and all the others) at Will Call on Tuesday when my wife and I went to Shea on a freezing, windy evening to see the Pirates lose in 11 to the Mets, 5-4. We both should have dressed in parkas as the wind was relentless. We were in the Loge Reserved section of left field and it was a veritable wind tunnel from the time we arrived for Bucco BP until we left in the 8th inning, the Pirates trailing 4-3. Yeah, I know, we left early...but we were frozen. By the time we got home, the temperature was around 40 degrees, sustained winds at 20+mph and a frost advisory on...not exactly baseball weather.

Elements aside, we saw a decent game featuring each team's respective ace. For the Mets, Johan Santana was on the hill and the Bucs trotted out Ian Snell. Neither starter was dominant and neither factored in the decision, but it's always fun to see guys with such remarkable talent, especially Santana, go out and pitch.

Santana fires a pitch against the the Bucs on Tuesday night. The Venezuelan lefty went 5 2/3 innings, struck out seven and racked up two hits on the night.

Overall, the two keys were Freddy Sanchez botching what was a tailor-made double play ball in the 5th that would have ended the inning and the Pirates' failure on two occasions with the bases loaded. Of course I could blame recently-recalled righty John Van Benschoten for his terrible 11th inning that ultimately led to the loss, but the Pirates were given many chances to break the game open and they could not, YET AGAIN, deliver a clutch hit. The Bucs were a pathetic 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position on the night.

In the sixth, Adam "Don't call me clutch" LaRoche popped up on a check swing with the bases loaded to end the inning. In the 7th, Jose Bautista was called out at the plate after trying to score when a ball popped away from catcher Raul Cassanova. I was initially very upset with Bautista's "aggressiveness," but after I saw the replay at home, I'm convinced home plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt blew the call. The 8th was even more painful when the Bucs loaded the bases with one out and scored only one run, on a bases-loaded walk to LaRoche, before Ronny Paulino popped out to end the threat.

Bautista reacts after being nailed at home plate. Though he's as slow as molasses in January, he may have been victimized by a bad call.

The Bucs did battle back to tie it in the 9th of closer Billy Wagner, but in the 11th, Van Benschoten fell apart. Johnny V was ahead of Endy Chavez 0-2 and threw a fat fastball, belt-high down the middle, that Chavez ripped into centerfield. Van Benschoten then balked Chavez to second. After that it was just a matter of time before the heart of the Mets order, specifically third baseman David Wright, finished off the game. Wright's long single with the bases loaded over a drawn-in outfield proved to be the game-winner.

On the positive side of things, Nate Mac hit an absolute bomb off of Santana to lead off the game. It was Nate Mac's only hit of the night, but it was a shot and a statement all at once. Mark these words: Nate McLouth will be in the Top 10 of most major offensive categories at the end of the season INCLUDING home runs. Bold prediction or predictable homeresque bluster? I guess only time will tell.

Wednesday brought an afternoon matinee at Shea and thankfully, the weather was much better. Following Mother Nature's lead, the Pirates brought a sun-shiny *** kicking to the Mets as they pounded the Amazins, 13-1.

The Bucs celebrate a 13-1 win over the Mets at Shea on Wednesday afternoon. The Bucs put up their season-high 13 without a home run.

For once, it was nice to see a team other than the Pirates engage in a bit of "Pirates baseball." The Mets were atrocious in every facet of the game. Oliver Perez couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, giving up seven runs on only two hits, but surrendering five walks in only 1 2/3 innings.

I swore I'd seen this out of Perez before...it's kind of fuzzy in my mind...no, wait...there it is...oh yeah! There it is!

Tom Gorzelanny was also a bit wild, walking five, but Gorzo continued to pitch his way out of self-inflicted jams and put up five innings of shutout ball before leaving with a minor back injury.

The offense was decent, but not as great as you might think with a "13" on the scoreboard. The Bucs were helped by terrible pitching and even worse fielding. The Mets committed three errors, but at least two other mental errors and played with absolutely no effort after going down 7-0 in the 2nd inning. I can't feel anything but happiness when I see another team implode and melt down in front of my eyes. I've seen my own team do it so many times that, as manager Willie Randolph said of his team after the game, "In 162 games, you're going to have stinkers like that." Ain't that the truth, Willie?

Angel Pagan did his best Brant Brown impersonation and actually committed two gaffes on this play.

The highlight of this game was the apparent decision by manager John Russell to go with veteran Chris Gomez at shortstop until Jack Wilson comes back off the DL. Gomez started the night before at SS and played well and he hasn't been out of the lineup in the three games since. I can't believe how much the Pirates miss Wilson right now, but Gomez is certainly the only guy in that dugout who at least gives the Pirates a legitimate option at a very important position. Brian Bixler is certainly not the answer and I don't want to see Luis Rivas taking ground balls at shortstop for as long as he happens to wear a Pirates uniform which I hope is not a terribly long time.

Chris Gomez, code name "Stop Gap."