This was a game I started watching and I had to leave after the first 4 innings as my son was ill. I came back just in time to see Bayliss issue a walk to the lead-off batter in the 15th and I pretty much felt the game was over at that point. A couple of batters later, Ausmus hit a sac fly to bring home Biggio and the Astros won yet again.
Has Chacon’s team ever won with him starting against the Astros? Ever?
How about Nady and Bautista’s combined night? 2-13 with 10 individual men left on base. Yikes. That sure is a lot of no clutch at bats.
Kudos to the Pirates pen for holding down the fort. They pitched about 9 innings and allowed just a few hits and two earned runs (plus the inherited runner Sharpless allowed to score).
Torres took the knock for a blown save but he got the groundballs he wanted. Taveras simply beat out the throw and Scott’s single was a seeing eye grounder up the middle. Hard to blame Torres for that type of outcome.
Instead, I look at one play as the difference maker in this game.. a little fly ball by Everett hit to Bay at medium range depth in left and Bay didn’t charge the ball to get a good throw off, and Huff scored easily from 3B. To me that was an advancing runner that our left fielder should be able to make routine plays at home on. Bay rarely – if ever – is able to throw anyone out on that and it has cost us more than a few games this year. Those are the types of allowed runs we need to reduce in 2007 to have any chance at all.
Now don’t get me wrong – if Sharpless hadn’t thrown the wild pitch and Paulino had done a better job blocking the ball, Huff might still have been at 2B anyway. So there were several failure points during the Everett at bat.. not just Bay’s. And, if Chacon hadn’t hit Huff to begin with..
– Tidbits –
The org shut down Ian Snell due to ‘forearm numbness’. Any kind of numbness in the arm is a red flag so we hope Ian is ok. Unofficially, we have heard that it is tightness in the right elbow that has Snell shut down.
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Nady doesn’t have a walk off winning hit in his career yet. He certainly had his chance in the 11th with the bases loaded but grounded out meekly to 3B.
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Did anyone else see Wheeler’s Ape Man imitation on the mound when Garner went to the mound to tell him to intentionally walk Sanchez and Bay? He pounded his chest and said something like I can get him.. I can get him.
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The Cardinals are on the verge of breaking the 1934 New York Giants and 1938 Pittsburgh Pirates shared record for the largest division lead in September that failed to win.
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Nice to see Phil Garner investing some more bucks in the Pittsburgh area — a second downtown Marriott. This time a Residence Inn planning to open in 2008.
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The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Dusty Baker will be fired after Sunday’s last game for the Cubs.
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The Pirates have lost the first two Florida Instructional League games Monday and Tuesday.. 4-1 and 6-5, from what I was told today. The Pirates played the Phillies Wednesday, the Rays Thursday (1:00) and Saturday (10:00) in St. Petersburg, and Friday travel to Tampa to play the Yankees (1:00).
For some reason, trying to get a roster and schedule from the Pirates is like asking Bush to open the doors to Fort Knox. I have been told that Burnett and Vogelsong are not on the roster, which is no surprise, that Lincoln, JVB, and Bullington are all still rehabbing, and that the Altoona boys are now with the team.
BTW, I have had a lot of hits on the website lately from one area in Japan so I wonder if someone is scouting Vogelsong? Good luck to Ry as he is a great guy.
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Oh Freddy.. just one more 3 for 4 or a couple of 2 for 4 games. Almost, but not quite..
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