Final Score: Pirates 4 Phillies 8
Why The Pirates Lost: The bullpen completely collapsed. Here are the horrific numbers. In 4 innings of “work,” they gave up 7 runs on 5 hits. They walked 5 and struck out 2. The bullpen turned a 3-1 Pirate lead into an 8-3 deficit in just 2 innings. Ryan Borucki faced 3 batters, walking 2 and hitting another, forcing in 2 runs. The Phillies scored 4 runs on 1 hit, and that should have been an error. Tommy (Please DFA Today) Pham got a late jump on a blooper. He ran like he had 2 bricks in his back pocket. Despite all that, he got to the ball. He had it in his glove and then dropped it. It was probably ruled a hit because IKF was out there trying to make the catch. It distracted Pham, but there really is no excuse for not making that play. Joey Wentz got touched up for 3 runs the next inning, and the game was over. Alexander Canario, who is swinging a hot bat, hit a 3-run homer to give the Pirates that 3-1 lead they squandered. Maybe the Mets weren’t so smart after all. Also, the crow I will be eating tonight will be grilled. Given the opportunity, Canario is making the most of it.
Key Moment Of The Game: Colin Holderman came in the bottom of the 6th. He faced the minimum batters thanks to a double play ball after giving up a single. He came out for his 2nd inning of work in the 7th. This is not the norm for Holderman, but I admit I was all for it. He got the first out of the inning. Then he walked the next batter. His recent bad luck continued with the Pham fiasco. That’s when Borucki came in and decided to give the Phillies the game rather than have them earn it. After 3 batters, the Pirates brought in 32-year-old Tanner (I Have Never Pitched Well In The Majors) Rainey. He walked in another run. You may be wondering why the Pirates used essentially the B squad out of the bullpen. They had just come off a day of rest. They are probably anticipating the Mlodzinski start tonight. It is a mystery why they don’t bring up all those good to great arms they have in AAA. Oh well. They still need one more win.
Next Game: This evening, Phillies in Philadelphia. The Pirates need to salvage one more win to go 4 and 5 on this tough 9-game stretch. It looks like Spence Horwitz will be activated today. My hope, but not my expectation, is that Tommy Pham will be DFA’d. It will be interesting to see who the Pirates let go. The other big expectation is when will the Pirates break the 4-run barrier. This is what it is like to be a Pirates fan. Forget about wins and losses. Please DFA this player and please score more than 4 runs. We are bursting with anticipation.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 