Author: vet4golfing51

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Pirates Morning Report: DUJ Gets The Save

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 1

Why The Pirates Won: Another great starting pitching performance, this time by Mitch Keller. He pitched 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 7 and walking 2. The foul ball home run made things tense for a moment. I always like the fact that the home crowd boos a call that goes against them, even though it is obviously correct. The Pirates offense put up 4 runs again, with Carlos Santana providing a home run and an RBI double. Bryan Reynolds got a double and an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in the other run on a beautiful push bunt up the first base line. The bullpen was strong again and Pirates swept the Boston Red Sox right in Fenway Park.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was the bottom of the 9th when DUJ took the mound. I could feel the dread going through my body. The first batter got a base hit and now you knew that this was going to be a disastrous inning. Then two pitches later DUJ induced a double play ball, that Castro and Bae executed nicely and quickly 2 were down. One pitch later a big lazy pop up ended the game and the Pirates are 4-2. DUJ did the job for the 2nd consecutive time, on only 5 pitches. If this guy is getting outs, then maybe this really is going to be our year. It makes you wonder when Robert Stephenson is ready to come back who will be sent down. I always figured it would be good old DUJ. Now I wonder if it could be Crowe or De Jong. They have been conspicuous by their absence. Their next outing could be critical if they are going to stay in Pittsburgh. Like in a lot of cases the mysterious injury could crop up too.

Next Game: Tomorrow afternoon, White Sox, Opening Day in Pittsburgh. Rich Hill will take the hill (can’t help myself), for the Pirates home opener. Let’s hope that he makes a comeback start much like Keller did last night. The Pirates now sit at 4-2 and you would have to call this a very successful road trip. I know it is early, but this team seems to have a different vibe to it already. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali, this team may SHOCK THE WORLD!

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played at Mt. Lebanon Score 77 Greens In Reg. 7 Putt 30

The Good: Really not much. The weirdest part of the round was that I hit some good shots off of some really odd lies. Made some nice short game moves on the last 2 holes to save pars. Think I am a little golfed out. Played 3 consecutive days and was really tired for the early 7:20 tee time. Did make some really tough 3 to 4 foot putts.

The Bad: My longer putts were horrible. The greens were a little slow but that is no excuse. I never hit a good putt over 10 feet. My iron game was a little better but not enough to call it good.

Luck Of The Round: Did have some bad breaks. Hit a real good drive on 3 but wound up with the ball way of above my feet because it did not roll all the way down into a grass bunker. But I hit a really good shot about 15 feet right of the pin but the putt was lousy. Looking forward to a non golf day tomorrow

Next Round: Most likely finish up on Saturday. I’m taking a nap.

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Pirates Morning Report: Contreras Gets First Starter Win

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 1

Why The Pirates Won: Roansy Contreras pitched a solid 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 1 run on just 3 hits, one walk, while striking out 2. The best performance of the year so far. Of course, he didn’t have much competition. The Pirate bats had just enough firepower to push across 4 runs with Ji Hwan Bae hitting a 2-run homer and Bryan Reynolds hitting a solo shot. He drove in a nice insurance run in the 7th with a single after Tyler (That May Be More Surprising Than Delay’s Home Run), Heineman stole 2nd. Again, the bullpen was solid giving up 0 runs on 1 hit. Last night’s win insured the Pirates of a .500 road trip.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirate bats were quiet over the first 1 and 2/3 innings with Cruz getting a walk and then 5 straight outs. Canaan Smith-Njigba struck out but the pitch went right off the catcher’s shin guard to the backstop. Smith-Njigba made it to first on the passed ball. Ji Hwan Bae followed with an opposite field home run right over the Green Monster to give the Pirates a 2-1. Later in the bottom of the 8th inning Bae made a great leaping catch in left centerfield to record the second out of the inning. Another great 9th by Bednar and the Pirates are 3-2.

Next Game: Today, Red Sox in Boston. Mitch Keller goes on the mound today and hopefully will give a better performance than he did on opening day. A sweep in Boston would be nice but the Pirates will have a least a .500 road trip and that is exactly what was needed. A win today will be a really nice bonus to take to Opening Day on Friday. Go Bucs!

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played Highland Spring Score 78 Greens In Reg: 6 Putts: 28

The Good: My driving and putting saved the day. The highlight of the round was an eagle on the par 5 13th hole. After a beautiful drive that cut the dogleg I hit a low bullet of a 3 wood off a downhill lie to the middle of the green about 40 feet short of the pin. Of course, I made the eagle putt but more on that later. The eagle gave me the shot in the arm, to post a 1 under 36 on the back nine. What is interesting, is up until I started this blog, I had yet to break 80 in about 10 previous rounds. I had strung some 9-hole rounds together, that were under 80, but never on an 18 hole course, until the last 3 rounds.

The Bad: This round did not look like a round that was going to be under 80. I started bogey, bogey double bogey then got it up and down twice to save pars. Did not hit a green until the 6th hole and that was the only one I hit on my way to 7 over 42. The culprit was some horrendous iron play. Double yuk! Once again, really good putting saved the round. The last iron shot of the day a gap wedge up hill from 95 yards away was a quality shot and hopefully I can continue that feel on the next round. Let’s face it 6 greens in regulation is not going to cut in the long run.

Luck Of The Round: Naturally the eagle putt was the fortunate shot of the day. It was about 40 feet in length and was uphill for about 25 feet and then slightly downhill the last 15 feet. These kinds of putts, up and down, are very hard to judge the speed. Since an eagle putt is a rare occurrence, I was not going to be short. I thought it wasn’t that hard as I saw it start up the hill but when I heard it bang into the flag, I knew it would have gone 8-10 feet past if it had not hit the pin. Not any bad luck during the round, as my putting was even bad at the start of the round. The putts were so bad, that lip outs were not a factor. On the last 8 holes, The putter found new life, as I had only 12 putts.

Next Round: Finishing up a 9 hole round at Mt. Lebanon from March 30, tomorrow.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Nail Biting Win

Final Score: Pirates 7 Red Sox 6

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense woke up much faster than Rip Van Winkle did as they blasted 3 home runs, one by Jason ( I Can’t Believe I Did It), Delay, and 2 by Bryan ( You Better Get Your Shit Together And Sign Me To A Long Term Deal) Reynolds. Canaan Smith-Njigba had 2 RBI’s and Jack Suwinski and Ke’Bryan Hayes knocked in the other runs with some clutch hits. Hayes’s batting average is soaring over .100 now. Johan Oviedo gave up 5 runs in the first but was not helped by some shoddy defense. He battled until the 5th inning and then was removed with 2 men on base. Dauri Moreta wiggled out of that jam. Then in the 6th you thought all was lost when DUJ was brought in with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.

Key Moment Of The Game: I will admit DUJ did alright. He gave up a cheap broken bat bloop which made the score 7-6 and struck out the next batter. He pitched a clean 7th inning and so far, a good start for DUJ. Colin Holderman survived a scratch hit and a walk to pitch a tense scoreless 8th. Another swinging bunt hit in the 9th made it interesting for David Bednar, but Bullet Bednar struck out the final two batters to preserve another one run hard fought win for the young Bucco’s.

Next Game: Tonight, Red Sox in Boston. Tonight, Roansy Contreras makes his 2023 debut finally. It will be a challenge, just ask Oviedo. It was nice to see the Bucco’s bounce back from the two losses in Cincinnati. The bats came alive last night, but Austin Hedges is still 0 for April.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played South Park Score 76 Green In Reg: 9 Putts: 29

The Good: Played really solidly the first 9 with 8 pars and a bogey on 9. Then I birdied the 10th hole but then faltered with double bogey and 2 bogies for 76. The putter saved the back nine from being worse. I made 3 really nice par saves on the back but did miss a 10 foot birdie putt on 17. Drove the ball well again today.

The Bad: Some bad iron play and again poor club selection led to some horrible shots and tough up and downs. The short game was mediocre at best and at times had trouble concentrating. The pace of play was slow but no excuse, that is just part of golf.

Luck Of The Round: Got a big break on the 4th hole when my second shot was headed for the woods but hit a tree and came out, so I had a clear shot. Really no bad breaks today.

Next Round: Tomorrow Highland Springs Golf Course.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bats Take A Nap

Final Score: Pirates 1 Red 3

Why The Pirates Loss: The bats continue to nap. The first 6 batters made outs which meant the Pirates had made 21 outs in a row over the last 7 innings. The Pirates only run came on Bryan Reynolds 1st home run of the season and they could only muster 5 other hits, 4 of them singles. They went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates have scored 8 runs in 3 games, but 3 of those were gifts from the Reds on walks and a wild pitch. They have had 19hits but there have been a lot of swinging bunts and bloopers. They were fortunate to get the opening win but 1-2 sounds a lot better than 0-3. Vince Velasquez pitch very similar to his predecessors, giving up home runs and could not get past the 5th inning. He only walked one and struck out 3. Another only ok performance by a Pirate starter. The bullpen pitched shutout ball over the last 4 and a third innings, but Will Crowe really needed some leather to keep the Reds from scoring. DUJ was able to throw a scoreless inning even though he gave up a rocket shot double.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates started the top of the 8th with 2 fluky hits by Castro and Cruz, which gave them 1st and 2nd with no outs. Reynolds hit a fly to right that got Castro to third. McCutchen then hit a pop up to short right field that could not bring Castro home and Santana ended an 0-4 day by grounding out to 1st, with no runs scoring, essentially ending the game.

Next Game: Tonight, Red Sox in Boston. Johan Oviedo will start tonight in Bean Town, and we will see how the young right-hander is able to handle the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Hopefully the Pirates bats will perk up. Ke’Bryan Hayes is hitting below 100. I know it is early but that is not a good sign that he has figured anything out at the plate. The Pirates for some reason always seem to get off to a slow start batting. It just looks like something they are going to have to push through. Hedges is still 0 for April.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Beaver Valley Golf Course Score: 78 Green In Reg. 8 Putts 31

The Good: Drove the ball very well and the putter was ok even though I had two three putt greens. Did a lot of visualization this round that worked really well. Hit some good chips early then went into problem. Ball striking was particularly good after the 8th hole. Made 2 birdies on the 10th and the 12th hole which led to an even par round on the back nine.

The Bad: After getting off to a good start went into a bad stretch of holes 4 through 8 where I 3 putted for a double bogey and hit some very poor chips that resulted in 2 more bogeys. For the 5 hole stretch I was 5 over par. Picked the wrong club a few times that did not help the cause.

Luck Of The Round: Had a lot of putts that came really close today but just would not find the hole. Had some lip outs and burnt edges or the round could have been even better. Did not really get any real good breaks or bad breaks through the green.

Next Round: Tomorrow at South Park.

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Pirates Morning Report: Giving Up The Gopher Ball.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Rich Hill and Chase De Jong could not keep the ball in the park, which accounted for all 6 of the Reds runs. For whatever reason Hill and De Jong could not keep the ball down. They threw some pitches that were unbelievably high. Hill settled down after the first to pitch pretty well, but he gave up 3 runs in the first with 2 of them scoring on a Kevin Newman home run no less. It will probably be his only home run of the season. The Pirate bats seemed to be clicking during the first 4 innings when they got their 2 runs and 7 hits. Then they never got a hit in the last 5 innings and went down quietly to their first defeat.

Key Moment Of The Game: When Chase De Jong came into the game with the score 3-2 Reds in the bottom of the 6th, he just seemed out of sorts. It was like he had not warmed up enough on this cold day. He walked Wil Myers on four pitches, none of which were over 92 MPH and were not even close to the strike zone. He then gives up a single to Tyler Stephenson to put runners on 1st and 3rd. The Pirates almost got a break when Wil Myers tried to go from first to third, but Ji Hwan Bae’s throw was just enough offline that Myers barely beat it on a bang-bang play. Again, De Jong fell behind Jake Fraley 3-0, got one strike, then grooved a slider that was put out of the park and the game was essentially over. I wrote before that De Jong’s performance would be a key to the Pirates success, and this one was an F.

Next Game: Today, the Reds in Cincinnati. The puzzling pick up, Vince Velasquez will take the hill today and we will see if the Pirates found something that no one else had seen. Austen Hedges did not get a hit on April 1 and I’m not fooling. Probably won’t get a chance tomorrow as Delay is likely to start. The suspense continues, will Austen Hedges get a hit in April?

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Golf Diary

Just a brief post that will introduce Golf Diary. Beginning tomorrow I am going to blog every round I play during the handicap season which in Western Pa. runs until around November 15. It will follow the format of the Pirate Morning Report being brief, concise, and certainly will not be a blow-by-blow account of any of my rounds. It will say where the round took place, my score, greens in regulation, and putts. The next segment will be about what was good about the round and then what was bad about the round. This will be followed by the luck of the round. Then I will finish up with where I think the next round will be. Along the way I will throw in what this warped mind is working on concerning his game and odd things that happen during the round. I have already played 15 rounds this year and have come up with 3 swing ideas that have already been abandoned. I have been playing more 9 hole rounds of late and will not discuss those until I string two of them together. This week is looking pretty good weather wise and I should be able to play between 3 to 5 rounds. The summer games begin tomorrow.