Month: April 2025

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Pirates Morning Report: Offensive Incompetence Equals Victory

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 1 in 13 innings

Why The Pirates Won: It was hard to tell. Did the Pirates have great pitching, or were the Cardinals just as bad as the Pirates offensively? Keller did have a solid 7 and 1/3 innings, giving up 0 runs on 4 hits. The bullpen was just as good, going 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 0 earned runs on just 3 hits. Neither team scored a run in the first 9 innings. The Pirates did not get a hit until the 7th inning. The Pirates had only 5 hits for the game. They did receive 9 walks. Both teams struck out 10 times. Both third base coaches made terrible decisions sending runners home. The Cardinal third base coach was worse since there was nobody out when their runner was thrown out. Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th inning with a runner on second and no outs. The game mercifully ended in the 13th with a 2-1 Pirate victory.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the top of the 8th, the game was still scoreless. The Cardinals had 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Wilson Contreras hit a high pop-up just in front of home plate. Joey Bart could not really locate the ball. Endy Rodriguez came crashing in from 1st base. Bart and he had a horrible collision, and the ball pop-out onto the ground just in front of home plate. The runner on second was running all the way. Ke’Bryan Hayes managed to pick up the ball and tag him out at home. A strange but decisive play that kept the game scoreless. Tommy (I Only Get Big Hits In Extra Innings) Pham got a 2-out single in the bottom of the 12th. This tied the game at 1-1. The Pirates received their 8th and 9th walks to start the bottom of the 13th to load the bases. Andrew McCutchen had a rough 0 for 6 game. He hit a rocket right at the shortstop. The shortstop bobbled it just enough to prevent a double play. The Cardinals might have gotten the runner going to third, but the catcher looked the wrong way. Joey Bart came through with a deep fly ball single on a 3-2 count. The Pirates had an ugly victory, but it was their first series win of the year.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, the Reds in Cincinnati. Barry Falter will be looking to have a bounce-back start like Keller had yesterday. Only the Shadow knows who will be playing on Friday night. Tsung-Che Cheng started yesterday. I was right that Adam Frazier was still at 2B. Cheng had what I thought were two pretty good at-bats. Then, the Red Sox reject pinch-hit for him for some unknown reason. For some unknown reason, Derek Shelton is still managing this team. Maybe the Reds will play as badly as the Cardinals did and we can win another series.

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Pirates Morning Report: Lineup Card Mysteries

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Paul Skenes proved to be human. Maybe he was just disgusted when he looked at the starting lineup. There were 3 players who should not have been playing; Adam Frazier, Tommy Pham, and Emmanuel Valdez. They went 1 for 9 with 4 strikeouts. The team struck out 9 times, with 5 being called third strikes. They went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Through 8 innings, they only had 3 hits. They had Jack Suwinski with a .231 on-base average lead off. Joey Bart was 2 for 4 the night before and did not start last night. The same for Andrew McCutchen. Paul Skenes was discouraged. He knew this lineup practically had no chance of scoring any runs. As a result, he had his first truly bad outing of his career. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings. He did strike out 7 and walked 1. Maybe Skenes was a little hesitant to really cut it loose in cold weather. His fastball rarely touched 99 MPH. Most of the time, it sat around 97 to 98 MPH. Management basically lost this game before it even started.

Key Moments Of The Game: Derek Shelton took out the lineup card. Skenes retired the first 6 batters he faced, striking out 3. The Cardinals got to him in the third inning. Two singles and a triple made the score 2-0 with one out. Skenes struck out the next batter. It looked like he might get out of the inning with only the two runs. Brendan Donovan hit a 94 MPH splinker into left field, driving in the 3rd run of the inning. This run seemed to have added significance, considering the Pirate lineup. They touched up Skenes for 2 more runs in the 6th. Shelton put his better players in, but it was too late. The Pirate “winning streak” ended at 2, thanks to a horrible lineup card.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller is hoping for a bounce-back start today. I can hardly imagine what this lineup will be like. They may rest Cruz depending on how his hand is. I am fine with that. They should start Tsung-Che Cheng today and move IKF over to 2nd. They will probably sit IKF, and Frazier will still be there. Supposedly, they are going with McCutchen in right field. Bryan Reynolds continues to have problems with a triceps condition. This keeps him from playing right field. Remember when they were talking about Reynolds seeing some action at first base? What about now? Even though he did not catch the whole game, they will probably sit Rodriguez. Not all teams follow this “rule” of not catching a day game after a night game. Maybe the Pirates will find a way to get Pham, Suwinski, and Canario in the game at the same time. Suwinski leads this group with a batting average of .130. The Pirates have a halfway decent team. They just don’t get to play.

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Pirates Morning Report: Are They Ready To Turn It Around?

Final Score: Pirates 8 Cardinals 4

Why The Pirates Won: By far their best offensive game and their best game all around. The Pirates finally did something right by piggybacking Carmen Mlodzinski and Thomas Harrington. Harrington did get touched up a little bit. Still, it was a better outing than his first one. Sometimes, it is difficult pitching with a big lead. The bottom line is that the Cardinals really never threatened to make a game of it. The Pirates managed to keep the real bullpen out of the game. Hopefully, this is something they will continue to do in the rotation. With the Pirates, you never know. The offense won this game. The Pirates scored 8 runs on 10 hits. They struck out only 7 times for the game. The Pirates were 4 for 4 with runners in scoring position. They only left 4 men on base. The big contributors were McCutchen, Rodriguez, Bart, and IKF. They had 2 hits each. As a group, they drove in 6 runs and scored 6 runs. It was the second win in a row for these much-maligned Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: For the first time this year, the Pirates struck early. Joey Bart hit a home run in the 1st. The Pirates scored 3 runs in the 2nd on 4 hits. IKF delivered the big blow with a two-run single. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a 2-out hit to drive in IKF. Before you could say, “baby, it’s cold outside,” the Pirates had a 4-0 lead. When the Cardinals cut the lead to 4-2, Harrington had his best inning in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates added 4 more runs where no runner was wasted. McCutchen, Bart, and Cruz had the RBIs. The Cardinals picked up a couple more runs to make the final 8-4. By far, the best game of the year for the Pirates.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Weather may be a factor tonight, but if they play, Paul Skenes will get his third start of the year. Can the Pirates turn this thing around? A better question, will management let them turn this around? In my view, a lineup has been established. These are the 7 guys that should be playing every day. Reynolds should play when he is able. Bart, Rodriguez, IKF, Hayes, Cruz, and McCutchen should also play daily. It is time to give Tsung-Che Cheng a shot at short. Move IKF over to 2nd base. Play musical chairs with Suwinski, Pham, and Canario until one of them shows some signs of life. Right now, Pham seems to be perking up a little bit. Whoever is in there, please bat them 8th or 9th. Do not lead off with them or put them in the middle of the order. Management did their first smart thing last night with the piggyback start. They put McCutchen near the top of the order. They scored 8 runs. Do I need to repeat myself? I am almost afraid to see the lineup tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Shocking Win

Final Score: Pirates 5 Yankees 4 in 11 innings.

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates won despite themselves. Until the walk-off hit by Tommy Pham, the Pirates had gone 0 for 20. The bullpen blew a three-run lead in the top of the 9th. Jared Triolo would have replaced Isiah Kiner-Falefa if he had not developed back spasms. IKF went on to go 1 for 3 with a big RBI and a run scored. Once IKF was inserted into the starting lineup, a goofy lineup became less goofy. Andrew Heaney probably pitched the best game he will pitch all year. Against this potent Yankee offense, he gave up just 1 run on 5 hits. He went 7 innings, striking out 10 and walking one. He finished strong, giving up one hit in his last 3 innings of work. The bullpen redeemed itself by holding the Yankees scoreless for the two extra innings. The Pirates came up with a shocking win. Not bad considering Derek Shelton only wants them to be competitive.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates managed to score 3 of their 4 runs after 2 were out. Bryan Reynolds had a big 2-out double in the bottom of the 3rd to drive in 2 runs. In the bottom of the 4th, the Red Sox reject got a one-out triple. Tommy Pham hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1. Adam Frazier singled. Isiah (Thank God For Back Spasms) Kiner-Falefa hit a double to drive Frazier in to make the score 4-1. The Pirates held the lead until the 9th. Ryan Borucki did not get his first major league save, giving up 3 runs in the top of the 9th. Tommy (I Am Batting .100 Now) Pham got the walk-off hit. Miraculously, the Pirates salvaged the final game of the series. They improved their record to 3-7, which is 2 games better than I thought it would be.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are going with the Carmen Mlodzinski game again. Maybe it will work out. Frankly, it does not make any sense. This guy was solid in the bullpen. As predicted, Holderman went on the IL. Hopefully, it will be for 500 days. This bullpen obviously needs help. Management refuses to give them any. Will Thomas Harrington ever pitch again? He is not scheduled, at least for this series. Please tell me who makes these decisions. I still can’t believe they won yesterday. Can’t wait to see who gets “rested” today. Will Cutch be capable of playing 2 games in a row with that old decrepit body of his? These are the questions Derek (The Shadow) Shelton ponders while we sleep at night.

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Pirates Morning Report: Massacre Number Two

Final Score: Pirates 4 Yankees 10

Why The Pirates Lost: Yes, the Yankee bats are hot and blasted the Pirates pitching for 10 runs on 14 hits. They have done that to every team they have played so far. It was the Pirates’ offense that really outdid themselves yesterday. They did score 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th. The last 5 innings were truly remarkable. Thanks to two double plays, the Pirates sent only 16 men to the plate, one over the minimum. They got 1 hit and 2 walks. They only hit one ball to the outfield. Seven of the last nine outs were by strikeouts. They did all of this against 4 relievers. None of them had an ERA under 5. Again, another goofy lineup with their best hitter, Andrew McCutchen, on the bench.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the bottom of the 4th, the Pirates took the lead 4-2. The Pirates took advantage of 3 walks. Doubles by Ke’Bryan Hayes and the Red Sox reject gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Endy Rodriguez grounded out to score the 4th run. This glimmer of hope was short-lived. In the top of the 5th, the Yankees, in just 13 pitches, made the score 5-4. Double, single, and boom, home run. A walk and a single later, Bailey Falter was pulled. In came Colin (Why Am I Not In Indianapolis) Holderman. In another 12 pitches, it was 8-4. Holderman hit a batter and struck out the next hitter. He gave up a bases-clearing double to the next hitter, Anthony Volpe. The game was over. To say the Pirates never threatened to make a game of it is an understatement.

Next Massacre: This afternoon, Yankees in Pittsburgh. Andrew Heaney goes for the Pirates today. Prediction: the Yankees will have 5 runs by the third inning. Maybe there will be a merciful God, and the game will be called off due to weather. It will be rescheduled in June of 2028. Again, the only thing to anticipate will be the crazy lineup the Pirates will put on the field. Will McCutchen not be in the lineup again? Hayes had a good game yesterday. Time to give him a rest. The Red Sox reject doubled and knocked in two runs. He needs a rest. Let’s make sure Pham and Suwinski are in there. They are batting .077 and .150, respectively. If by some miracle it is a competitive game after 6, put Holderman in.

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Pirates Morning Report: Total Team Loss

Final Score: Pirates 4 Yankees 9

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates could not hit, field, or pitch. They were terrible at every phase of the game. The offense did get 3 hits in one inning for the first time all season. It happened with the score 9-1. The offense struck out 11 times, but only 4 were called 3rd strikes, so some progress was made. The pitching was the worst part of the Pirate game yesterday. Mitch Keller had just about as bad of a start as you could have. In 3 and 2/3 innings, he gave up 7 runs on 8 hits. He walked 4, hit 2 batters, and struck out 4. It took him 97 pitches to get through this mess of an outing. The Yankees scored runs 3 through 7 after there were 2 outs and nobody on. Aaron Judge hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 7th. This made the score 9-1 at the time. It was another lackadaisical performance by the Pirates. The topper was IKF getting picked off first base with the score 7-1 Yankees. They did not cost the Pirates anything, but there were two booted balls in the outfield. The Pirates could not get past the 4-run barrier after 8 games. Tommy Pham left the game because of illness. The fans at the game knew exactly how he felt. Watching the Pirates play baseball really makes you want to puke.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the 3rd inning, the first two Yankee batters were quickly retired. This also happened in the 4th inning. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th, and boy was it ever ugly. In the 3rd, Keller hit the first batter. Then the next 3 hitters all singled. This drove in 2 runs. In the 4th, after two outs, it was even worse. Keller gave up a single, hit a batter, and allowed another single. After that, he issued another walk. The score was 5-1 with the bases loaded. Then Joey Wentz came in to put the icing on the cake. He hit the first batter he faced to force in a run. He walked the next batter to force in another run. This painstaking, grueling set of events put the Yankees ahead 7-1, and the game was over. The Pirates could not have looked worse in front of their home fans.

Next Massacre: This afternoon, Yankees in Pittsburgh. Barry Falter goes for the Pirates. It looks like a certainty that the Pirates will lose the next two games, as their performance has been dismal and uninspired. They looked so overmatched today against a Yankees team that appeared to be in mid-season form, showing confidence and skill at every position. There appears no end in sight to this terrible way the Pirates play baseball, and the frustration from fans is palpable. All of this just makes you wonder, what the hell did they do down in Florida for 6 weeks? Did they train or simply lounge under the sun? This team’s lack of baseball awareness is mind-boggling; fundamental mistakes are rampant, and mental errors seem to happen every inning. The only thing to look forward to is the goofy lineup the Pirates might come up with next. They might be experimenting with bizarre strategies that leave fans scratching their heads. Maybe the Pirates are going to start letting the pitcher bat. Their position players aren’t producing. The current state of the team is not just disappointing. It is also bewildering. Supporters are left to ponder the future of a franchise that once held such promise.

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Pirates Morning Report: Home Opener Thoughts.

The home opener is today. Although only 7 games have been played, fans are more disheartened than ever. I feel as long as Derek Shelton is leading this team that things are not going to get better. It is not so much that the Pirates are 2-5, but how bad they have looked doing it. Missing cutoff men. Base running blunders. Bad throws. Very poor at-bats. Very odd starting lineups and batting orders. Will any moves be made? They made two moves. First, bringing up Thomas Harrington was a good move. Second, optioning David Bednar to AAA was not a good move. Let’s take a look at some of the good, the bad, and the ugly as the Pirates open up at home.

Yes, there is some good news even on the offensive side of the ball. Granted, all of this is a very small sample size. I still think it is good to look at some positive numbers with all the pessimism around. Oneil Cruz, IKF, and Andrew McCutchen are all hitting well above league average. Paul Skenes has been his brilliant self. The other three starters all did well. The waiver bullpen has not been that bad. The Marlins may not be as bad as we thought they were. After getting blown out by the Mets in the first game of the series, they won the next game. They lost a heartbreaker in the rubber match 6-5 in 10 innings.

The bad. There is plenty of that to go around. It is a very fine line between the bad and the ugly, but I will do my best. Management could be blamed for a lot of the early problems. Earlier, I mentioned that McCutchen has been one of the bright spots at the plate. Bryan Reynolds has an arm problem. The Pirates believed the best way to deal with it was to DH Reynolds. They decided to sit McCutchen. The results were not good. Reynolds was 2 for 13 as a DH. Most thought there was something wrong with McCutchen. The Pirates eventually cleared things up. David Bednar and Colin Holderman have not been good since the start of the season. Bednar was sent to AAA to get right. I am not sure he is going to get right facing a bunch of AAA batters. In my opinion, putting him in more low-leverage situations would have been much better. The Pirates will have plenty of those situations. If the Pirates are thinking like that, then they should send Holderman down too. The big concern here is that the Pirates have looked lackadaisical and uninterested for all 7 games.

The ugly. That can be summed up by two players: Ji Hwan Bae and Tommy Pham. Bae, who I had such high hopes for, looks totally lost out there. Bae has not had many opportunities, and I don’t blame the Pirates for that. When he pinch-ran for McCutchen, he did not know what the hell to do. Lack of opportunity is not Pham’s problem, but maybe it should be. Pham has appeared in all 7 games. He has had 27 plate appearances. Here is the ugly slash line: .087/.222/.130 for a 4 OPS+. Believe it or not, he is not the worst. There are 3 Pirates with negative OPS+ who will stay nameless because I am so kind. Despite Pham’s numbers, he has been the leadoff man and once batted cleanup. Finally, the Pirates have had some truly ugly lineup cards. The starting lineups make absolutely no sense. The Pirates spend a lot of money on the analytics department. It is by far the biggest waste of money in the organization. Either that or nobody listens to them. It is the home opener today against the New York Yankees, the most storied franchise in baseball. Will we see some more changes in the team makeup before the first pitch? Who knows? Only The Shadow Shelton knows for sure. Maybe

Right after I finished this, the Pirates did make a move. They sent Ji Hwan Bae back to AAA and activated Alexander Canario, who they just acquired from the Mets. There has been a lot of positive vibe from this acquisition. A lot of people are thinking Joey Bart II. In my view, that is wishful thinking. Still, I do not see how this guy could be worse than Bae or Pham. That could be a positive. I was happy to see Jason Delay get traded to the Braves. Maybe he will get a better opportunity there. Regardless, let’s hope the Pirates can be competitive against the Yankees. Even if they lose all three games, Shelton will be happy.

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Pirates Morning Report: Stop The Presses The Pirates Won

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rays 2

Why The Pirates Won: God only knows. They still had a goofy lineup. Tommy Pham batted cleanup, go figure. They still could not score more than 4 runs. They have not gotten more than 2 hits an inning. They had only 8 hits for the game. They got key hits from Adam Frazier and Endy Rodriguez. Both of them did not play in the game before. Oneil Cruz hit a solo home run. He also hit a big sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th. These actions gave the Pirates a 2-run cushion going into the bottom of the 9th. It did not hurt that Paul Skenes was his normal brilliant self. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 1 unearned run and 3 hits. He “only” struck out six but walked no one. The bullpen was shaky as usual. They were able to protect the lead despite walking a couple of batters during the last two innings. Dennis Santana picked up the save. The Pirates did salvage something from the Rays series. They will go into the home opener 2-5. The Yankees are quaking in their boots.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Going into the top of the 9th, the Pirates held a slim 3-2 lead. The inning opened with Isiah Kiner-Falefa getting hit by a pitch. Adam Frazier blooped a single to center. Bryan Reynolds grounded into a force out at second, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Oneil Cruz, battling all the way, worked the count to 3-2 after falling behind 1-2. On the 8th pitch of the at-bat, he lifted a high fly ball to deep centerfield. This scored the runner on 3rd base, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead. It was a cushion that made the 9th easier for Santana. The Pirates managed to put the Rays away to win 4-2.

Next Game: Friday, the home opener against the New York Yankees, game time 4:12. The Pirates will not be 1-9 Sunday night. It is really going to be tough waiting to see what the home opener starting lineup will be. You have to wonder how long the Pirates are going to go with Tommy Pham. Even though he got a hit his last at bat the same thing could be said of Jack Suwinski. He has struck out 6 of his last 8 at bats. It was finally revealed yesterday that Bryan Reynolds is dealing with an arm issue. This is the reason he is the DH. Maybe they should rest him entirely because he is not hitting. With the day off will the Pirates make any moves. Bae possibly gone. Will they make some bullpen moves? I can think of many. In my view the Pirates will do nothing which is their normal. An injury could change things. The home opener should be at the very least an interesting day.

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Pirates Morning Report: Shutout Number 1

Final Score: Pirates 0 Rays 7

Why The Pirates Lost: You can’t win if you don’t score. Another bizarre starting lineup. No McCutchen, no Rodriguez. Jack Suwinski leading off. The Red Sox reject playing 1st base again. He played 119 games for the Boston Red Sox and none of them at 1st base. Makes perfect sense to play him at first base his first two games with the Pirates. Moving Tommy Pham and his .095 batting average right into the heart of the lineup, batting 5th. No wonder Joey Bart did not see any good pitches to hit. The Pirates had 9 singles in the game. The Pirates have never had more than 2 hits in an inning after 57 innings of play. The Yankees started a game with 3 home runs. They struck out 15 times. They drew no walks for the 2nd straight game. The Rays pitchers are just throwing the ball over the plate. They did manage to hit 15 balls over 90 MPH. Thomas Harrington made his major league debut last night. Let’s hope his performance was due to first game jitters. It was not pretty. He threw 90 pitches in 4 innings. He gave up 6 runs on 7 hits. Noted for his control of all his pitches, he walked 4, striking out 2. The Rays only struck out 4 times for the game. They walked 6 times while collecting 10 hits. They had 3 extra-base hits, including a home run. The Pirate bullpen proved when the game is not on the line, they do okay. In 4 innings of work, they gave up 1 run on 3 hits. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Rays do not hand out gift runs.

The Key Moment Of The Game: For the second straight game, it was when Shelton handed in the lineup card. Even one of the umpires reportedly said, “Are you sure about this?” The Rays took over the game in the bottom of the 1st, and it was over before it started. The Pirates’ record fell to 1-5. Even with Skenes pitching, all you can hope for today is that the game will go into extra innings scoreless. Losing 9 of their first 10 games still looms as a distinct possibility.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rays in Tampa. Paul Skenes goes today for the Pirates. What goofy lineup are the Pirates going to come up with today? Maybe they will put Oneil Cruz back at shortstop and move Ke’Bryan Hayes to 1st. In the opening game of the series, Endy Rodriguez got his first hit of the season. He hit the ball hard in his other 2 at-bats. He scored the only run of the game. His reward? You’re not playing today, son. What kind of thinking is this? That is the only good thing about this start. Shelton may be gone sooner rather than later. I hope the players at least make him happy today and have a competitive loss.

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Even Competitive

Final Score: Pirates 1 Rays 6

Why The Pirates Lost: After the Marlins series, Derek (The Shadow) Shelton shared his thoughts. He stated that the Pirates were competitive in every game. It was like that was something extraordinary against one of the worst teams in baseball. Their competitiveness ended last night. The offense can only be described as amazing. The Pirates scored one run on 4 hits. They struck out 10 times and did not draw one walk. They hit only 10 balls over 90 MPH, and 7 of them were ground balls. At the end of the night, 7 of the 9 starters had batting averages of .200 or less. This offensive machine is led by Endy Rodriguez .083, Tommy (I Come Cheap) Pham .118, and Ke’Bryan Hayes .125. To be fair to the Pirates, they did play a major league team last night. The Rays racked up Pirate pitching for 6 runs on 10 hits. They did strike out 10 times also but were able to draw 5 walks. What about those competitive Marlins? They lost to the Mets last night 10-4. The Mets scored 4 fewer runs than the Pirates did for the entire series.

Key Moment Of The Game: When the Pirates decided to solve their rotation problem by making Carmen Mlodzinski a starter. They could have chosen a couple of younger players who are starters. Another bad idea by the Pirates just to save money in the long term. Mlodzinski hung in there for three innings. However, he got hit hard in the bottom of the 4th. He gave up 4 runs. Shelton finally took him out. The bullpen gave up a couple of more runs, which is not shocking. The Pirates are 1-4 now and seem in total disarray. This season could be over by April 15th. The Pirates have two more with the Rays and then the Yankees come to town. It is very possible the Pirates could be 1-9 by Sunday.

Next Game: Tonight, Rays in Tampa. Tonight is supposed to be a bullpen game to give Paul Skenes an extra day of rest. Skenes reportedly has said he would like at least 6 more days of rest. He would like to pitch next on April 7th against the Cardinals. How many runs do you think the Rays will score tonight? Which bullpen guy is going to have to take the big beating? Shelton is probably losing sleep over that one. A couple of years back, he allowed a young reliever to throw 48 pitches in one inning before he got the first out. He wound up throwing 55 pitches and finally finished the inning. Shelton said he felt bad about not taking him out. He lost a night’s sleep over it. He would not admit that he fell asleep between pitches 8 and 43. Let’s be real here. We are talking about a small sample size in the big scheme of things. Even so, this has been one scary start to the season.