Month: April 2024

Posted on

Unwind Slowly

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

Now that I’m retired there are not any real demanding days. I will have really busy days, but there are differences when the busyness is something you want to do rather than something you have to do. A demanding day is often caused by demanding people. When I was that hard working veterinarian leaving the house at 7:30 and coming home at 9PM, which I did 3 days per week, I learned that unwinding is time related. There was no question that some of those long days were tougher than others. It boils down to listening to your body. You can sit down, drink whatever you want, zone out, but the time to go to sleep will be quite variable. When I got home at 9PM, I might get to bed as early as 10:30 but sometimes it might be 12 to 12:30 before I would go to bed. Not ideal when you are getting up at 5am to jog 2 miles before going to work. This was still better than forcing the issue and laying awake in bed for 60 to 90 minutes. When I would go to bed, I would fall asleep in less than 10 minutes. It only took me 15 years to learn this. It’s not how you unwind, but it is how long you unwind, that will make the next day a little more bearable.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: At Least They Made A Game Of It

Final Score: Pirates 2 Red Sox 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Just more of the same as the Pirate offense was as anemic as ever. They did get 9 hits and 3 walks but could only produce 2 runs which was not enough. They were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. Mitch Keller pitched pretty well but had a hard luck 1st inning and then gave up the gopher ball in the 6th to do himself in. The Pirates fell to 11-10 but they at least made a game of it.

Key Moments Of The Game: This game boiled down to 2 half innings, the bottom of the 5th and the top of the 6th. It was 2-1 going into the bottom of the 5th. Keller seemed to be breezing along after the tough luck 1st where he gave up 2 runs. Michael Taylor started off the inning with a sharp single to right field. Edward Olivares hit a sinking liner that the Red Sox left fielder made a diving catch. Reynolds followed with a single to left field. Ke’Bryan Hayes walked to load the bases with one out. Suwinski took a strike, took a ball, swung at a strike but then swung at two balls outside the strike zone, fouling one and missing one to strike out. Joey Bart took the first 3 pitches one being a called strike. He fouled off the next pitch,which was a strike and missed the next pitch in the zone to end the inning with no runs scoring. In the top of the sixth after one out Keller walked a batter on 6 pitches. On the first pitch Masataka Yoshida knocked it in the seats and the Red Sox quickly had a 4-1 lead that the Pirates really never threatened to overcome.

Next Game: This afternoon, Red Sox in Pittsburgh. Martin Perez will take the mound today looking to end the 5 game losing streak. Even though he struck out in a big situation it would be nice to see Joey Bart start two games in a row. More importantly the offense has to come out of this funk they are in now. Can we stop this streak at 5? Only the Shelton knows for sure.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: The Struggles Continue

Final Score: Pirates 1 Red Sox 8

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates have now lost 4 in a row. In 36 innings of baseball the Pirates have scored runs in only 4 innings, for a total of 6 runs. You could have Sandy Koufax and Warren Spahn pitching for you and probably would have lost 3 of 4. Unfortunately for the Pirates they didn’t have anybody close to those guys. Quinn Priester started for the Pirates and continues to have big problems at the Major League level. In 4 and 1/3 innings he gave up 5 runs on 7 hits, including 3 home runs, walking 1, while striking out 2. One of the runs were unearned but the error was made by Priester, which begs the question, should the run be unearned when the pitcher makes the error? Roansy Contreras had a rough outing giving up 3 runs in 2 innings including, what else, a home run. The Pirates are now 11-9 and have been out scored 17- 2 in the last 2 games.

The Key Moment Of The Game: You would have to say it was the very 1st inning when Priester gave up the 2 home runs. Even though it was only two runs you just knew that last night was not going to be the game when he turned things around. I think it is way too early to give up on this guy (remember Glasnow) but he has been super bad, with almost all of his outings averaging a run per inning. He will probably get a couple more opportunities with Gonzales on the shelf. If he can get that one strong start he may be on his way, but right now that looks like one big if.

Next Game: This afternoon, Red Sox in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller takes the mound today but it is the Pirate offense that needs to find itself if the Pirates are going to turn this thing around. But get this, they are going up against a pitcher named Kutter (I Kid You Not) Crawford who at the start of the year was a below average pitcher with a record of 9-15 and an ERA of 4.58. This year he has pitched 21 innings and given up just 1 run, for an ERA of 0.42. Looks like the perfect set up for these goofy Pirates to break out of their slump.

Posted on

Jot

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.

First is how lousy these writing prompts are. I was looking forward to this one because the Pirates were off yesterday so there was no game to write about. I am working on a couple of golf articles, one on putting grips and the other on the dastardly golf ball that the USGA wants to change, but neither one is ready yet. Then the word jot caught my eye. The definition of jot is to write briefly or hurriedly. This makes the writing prompt seem even worse. Then I looked up the definition of prompt, which is to move to action. Today’s prompt by definition wants us to write something quickly and keep it short. I am out in California right now visiting grandkids, watching lots of grandkids sports and having a great time. It’s early in the morning and another beautiful day is about to begin. Even a lousy writing prompt can’t spoil that. I hope everyone else is lucky enough to have a wonderful day.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Going From 8 To 1.5 Runs Per Game

Final Score: Pirates 1 Mets 9

Why The Pirates Lost: The offense continues to implode. They even seemed to get worse as the game wore on. They only had 5 hits, all singles, and the last 13 batters went down in order. On a positive note,the only one I might add, Oneil Cruz had 2 hits. Henry Davis still can’t make a tag at the plate and Bednar got tuned up in 2/3 innings of work. Barry Falter pitched ok with the new standard for Pirates starters, 5 innings and 78 pitches. Hunter (I love grooving pitches) Stratton won the game for the Mets giving up 4 runs in one inning of work. The Mets are looking to get Stratton in a trade so he can pitch batting practice for them. The Pirates are 11-8 and have fallen to 3rd place.

Key Moment Of The Game: Even though Falter pitched ok, the Mets had the break back inning after the Pirates took a 1-0 lead. They did a similar thing in the first game of the series. This time it was Starling Marte who hit a 2 run homer to quickly put the Mets up 2-1. At the time you did not know, that the Pirates bats would become totally inept, although you should have.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Red Sox in Pittsburgh. At the moment no starting pitcher has been named for either team. The Pirates are hoping to trade Stratton to the Red Sox if the Mets deal falls through. I have heard that the Pirates are willing to let Stratton go for 30 rosin bags. Any long baseball season is going to be full of ups and downs, with the Pirates hitting a down time right now. They were 2-5 on this road trip. They now are going to play the Red Sox 3 games and the Brewers 4, all at home. A 4-3 home stand is a minimum but 5-2 would be nice. One final note, the Morning Report will be coming from San Diego for the next week, so it will be more like a mid morning report at times.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Offense Sleeps Through Another One

Final Score: Pirates 1 Mets 3

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirate offense essentially slept through another game. They scored 1 run on five hits, with 4 walks while striking out 13 times. Everybody struck out a least once except for Connor Joe. The offense was 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left 7 men on base. The Pirates out hit the Mets 5 to 4, but the Mets got 3 of their hits in one inning when they scored 3 runs in the 7th to take the lead 3-1. Jared Jones pitched a solid 5 innings only giving up 1 hit striking out 7, walking no one on only 59 pitches. The Pirates would not let him pitch any further for whatever reason. Luis Ortiz came on in the 6th and pitched a clean 6th inning but then all hell broke loose in the 7th.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 7th Mets came alive and the Pirates helped along the way. After getting one out on a ground ball. Ortiz walked Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso followed with a base hit up the middle to put runners on first and third with one out. Joey Wendle doubled to tie the game, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. It looked like the Pirates were going to get out of the inning when the next batter hit a weak fly ball to left and Bryan Reynolds threw the ball into the infield instead of the dugout on 25 hops. Then Shelton took Ortiz out and brought in Jose Hernandez, who promptly balked the go ahead run in. He then gave up a double so the Mets would have an insurance run. The way the Pirates have been looking at the plate, you knew that the 2 runs would hold up. The Pirates went 6 up and 6 down in the 8th and 9th, just to show everyone how pathetic they are right now.

Next Game: This afternoon Mets in New York. Barry Falter will take the hill to salvage one game of this series and have a 3-4 road trip. Other than the last game in Philadelphia the Pirates have really lacked any power whatsoever. They are 16th in home runs at the present moment in all of baseball. Let’s hope we can go 3-4 on this road trip. Any time a club is doing this bad at the plate they are usually breaking the basic rule of hitting. Swing at strikes and take balls. The Pirates are doing the opposite, especially not swinging at strikes. Some of these balls are right down the middle and the Pirates batters are just staring at them. Are you watching this coaches, because if your not, the Mets will be getting the brooms out

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Rough Trip From Philadelphia to New York.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Mets 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Oniel Cruz’s at bats summed up this lost. He struck out 3 times, He took 6 strikes, and all 3 swings were out of the strike zone. On his last at bat, again he took a strike, swung at a pitch out of the strike zone, but did manage to hit a ball to right field to end the game. Rowdy Tellez had one excellent at bat to start the top of the 8th. He took a strike, swung at a ball and took a called 3rd strike. Both pitches were well inside the strike zone, far from borderline. Even though they managed 3 runs the offense really stunk out the joint. They only got 3 hits. They walked 7 times but struck out 10. On the defensive side of the ball Henry Davis and Connor Joe excelled. Davis had trouble catching anything and made a lousy effort on a tag play at the plate. Just to go along with the offensive philosophy of the night, he took 3 called strikes in the top of the 9th, with all of them well within the strike zone. Connor Joe caught a ball and just had to toss it into the infield to keep the runners from moving up, but threw in the dirt toward the dugout, allowing the second Met run to score. The Pirates were ahead going into the bottom of the 6th and completely collapsed. The pitching staff gave up 3 runs in the 6th and 3 runs in the 8th as the Pirates lost 6-3 to send their record to 11-6. There can only be one explanation for such an all-round poorly played game. That trip from Philadelphia to New York must have been brutal with the time change and all. If it would have been possible, I am sure that Shelton would have rested anybody that played Sunday, after such a brutal travel day. This was by far their worst game of the year.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the sixth. Martin Perez had danced through some raindrops but was cruising along pretty well. Then the Mets opened the inning with 2 singles. Perez got Pete Alonzo to pop up in the infield one out. One more single loaded the bases and the Pirates started to crumble from bus lag. Perez walked in the first run. Then a pop up to short right field that Connor Joe managed to catch but then crapped his pants and threw the ball at the same time allowing the second run to score. Shelton then removed Perez in favor of Hunter (I Like To Throw The Ball Right Down The Middle In High Leverage Situations) Stratton. This type of pitching resulted in a double and the score was tied 3-3. Just for good measure he hit the next batter but did manage to get the third out, FINALLY. Then came the Henry Davis show in the bottom of the 8th that sealed the deal for Mets. Aroldis Chapman started the 8th and struck out the first batter. Then Jeff McNeil struck out on a ball low and away that was ruled a wild pitch, but Henry Davis made a half ass swipe at the ball and literally scooted the ball further to the left to allow McNeil to reach first base. It was the key play of the game. Chapman walked the next batter and both he and McNeil stole 2nd and 3rd. A double by Harrison Bader gave the Mets a 5-3 lead. They added another run thanks to the Davis I don’t know how to tag play.

Next Game: Tonight, the Mets in New York. Hopefully the Pirates will be well rested after such an exhausting trip. Jared Jones will take the hill for the Pirates’. The road trip stands at 2-3. I know it has been exhausting for me, just watching them play the way they did last night. I have nothing more to write except I hope there are better days ahead.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Final Score: Pirates 9 Phillies 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense got well today hitting 3 home runs and scoring 9 runs. They touched up the Phillies ace Zack Wheeler for 5 runs in just 5+ innings of work. The offense wound up having quite a line, scoring 9 runs on 10 hits, walking 6 times and striking out a whopping 15 times. Oneil Cruz and Michael Taylor led the way striking out 4 times each. The other odd thing was that the top of the order went 0 for 10 with 6 strikeouts. The 3 through 6 hitters picked up the slack, going 8 for 17 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s. Mitch Keller pitched not a great but solid 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 8 hits walking no one and striking out 4. Trea Turner was his nemesis hitting a home run and knocking in the other run with a 2 out single. Through 5 innings this was the tight pitching duel that was expected. Despite having an error, the Pirate defense had one of their better games turning 3 double plays and making numerous good plays in both the infield and the outfield.

Key Moment Of The Game: Through 5 innings the Phillies were leading 2-1 and Zack Wheeler was mowing them down. In the top of the 6th, Ke’Bryan Hayes reached first base on an error by the Phillies 3rd baseman when a routine ground ball went right under his glove. Then Rowdy Tellez walked. McCutchen blooped a ball into centerfield and the Pirates had the bases loaded with no outs. Up stepped Jack Suwinski who had not gotten a hit in about his last 12 at bats. On the second pitch, he laced one 106+ MPH into the right field stands for a grand slam and the Pirates suddenly were ahead 5-2, knocking Wheeler out of the box. Later in the same inning Joey Bart launched one into the left field seats and the Pirates now led 6-2. The Pirates added one in the 8th, and McCutchen hit his 300th home run with a man on in the 9th to make the final 9-2. The bullpen pitched a stress free final 2 innings and the Pirates are 11-5.

Next Game: Tonight, the Mets in New York. Martin Perez will start for the Pirates and has had a great start to the season with an ERA of 1.89. The Pirates continue to surprise. When you think they are forfeiting a game by letting Bailey Falter start his 2nd game he essentially pitches a no hitter for 6 innings and the Pirates win. When the Phillies send their ace to the mound to face the slumping Pirate bats, they score 9 runs and hit 3 home runs. These are surprises I can deal with all year. The road trip is 2-2 and now 3-4 seems very realistic.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Losing The Game Of Walks

Final Score: Pirates 3 Phillies 4

Why The Pirates Lost: For one of the few times this year the bullpen failed miserably. The offense was just plain offensive. Oneil Cruz did hit a 2-run homer to drive in 2 runs which at the time gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead in the top of the 5th with no one out. Bryan Reynolds walked and from that point on in the last 5 innings of the game, the Pirates sent 16 men to the plate getting one walk, erased on a double play and a single, striking out 7 times. To say they did not threaten the rest of the game would be an understatement. They were able to get 5 walks, but the Pirate staff outdid them by giving up 7. Chapman for the second straight game had control issues and this time it cost them the lead. Marco Gonzales got the quality start string going again by going 6 innings giving up 2 runs, on 6 hits, walking 3 while striking out 5. There is no question the bats have been in a funk and the pitching, while very good, has not been good enough to overcome it most of the time. The Pirates fell to 10-5 and remain in 2nd place.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 9th with the game tied 3-3, Jose Hernandez quickly got ahead of Kyle Schwarber 0-2 but then threw a slider belt high toward the outside of the plate and Schwarber pulled it into right field for a base hit. Hernandez battled Trea Turner after falling behind 3-0 to get the count to 3-2, but after one foul ball, walked him to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Even though he struck out Bryce Harper, his first pitch, ruled a wild pitch, got away from Henry Davis and the Phillies had runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one out. Roansy Contreras was brought on and after an intentional walk, the struggling Nick Castellanos, who had already driven in one run, lifted a fly ball over the drawn in outfield to win the game. It was the second tough loss within the last 7 days, and we will see if this team can bounce back.

Next game: This afternoon, the Phillies in Philadelphia. The Phillies will be sending out their big boy Zack Wheeler to the mound. Despite having an ERA of 1.89 he is 0-2. We can only hope that trend continues. This does not seem like it is going to be the day that the sick Pirate offense is going to get well. But then I thought starting Bailey Falter was like forfeiting the game. Mitch Keller will have to have his best start of the year if the Pirates are going to gain a split in the series. The road trip is now 1-2 with 3-4 seemingly slipping away.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: The Phillies Giving A Helping Hand.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Phillies 2

Why The Pirates Won: Thanks to the powers to be, it was a game the Pirates could not have lost, even if they tried. As we all know, thanks to Greg Brown, the Pirates are trying to win games. The Phillies, not the Pirates, had a big hand in the Pirates ability to score. In the 2nd inning the pitcher, Christopher Sanchez was totally responsible for the Pirates 1st run. A walk, an error by Sanchez on a routine come backer to the mound, and two more walks accounted for the run. In the top of the of the 4th Pirates got two good hits to put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Henry Davis struck out. Connor Joe hit a ground ball just to the right of Trea Turner, but as he went to field it, he slipped and fell with the ball hopping right over him into left field to make the score 2-0. In the top of 7th with runners on 1st and 3rd with one out, Ke’Bryan Hayes took a called third strike, but the Phillies catcher J. T. Realmuto was crossed up on the pitch, got hit in wrist and the ball got away allowing in the 3rd Pirate run. It wasn’t until the top of the 8th that the Pirates were able to score runs without the help of the Phillies. The Pirates went single, double, single to score 2 runs and stretch their lead to 5-1. Overall, the offense scored 5 runs on 9 hits and 5 walks. It was nice to see Henry Davis have a good game with 2 hits and a walk, scoring 2 runs and driving in a pair. Barry Falter pitched well again giving up 1 run on 4hits but only went 5 innings for some unknown reason, so the quality start streak ended at 7. He had thrown only 71 pitches. The bullpen did fine but did have one scary moment.

Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the bottom of the 8th the Pirates held a 5-1 lead. Josh Fleming got the first out easy enough but then walked the next batter and gave up a single to the next. In came Aroldis Chapman. Bryce Harper hit a low liner to right field that Bryan Reynolds made a diving catch. To make things interesting Chapman walked the next 2 batters to make the score 5-2. That brought up Brandon Marsh who Chapman struck out looking with the bases loaded and the threat was over. Bednar pitched a clean 9th that you knew he would in this game that the Pirates were destined to win. The Pirates improved to 10 and 4 remaining in 2nd place. Last night things went their way in a big way.

Next Game: This afternoon, Phillies in Philadelphia. Marco Gonzales takes the hill for the Pirates. It’s hard to believe that the Phillies generosity will extend to another game but who knows. The bats really did not come alive last night but a win is a win is a win. The Pirates will take them any way they can get them. The rotation continues to be strong and let’s hope we can ride that into some wins, until the offense can get rolling again. The only negative from last night was that Bryce Harper may be coming out of his hitting funk. That could lead to a bad weekend for the Pirates. Road trip 1-1, acceptable road trip 3-4.