Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: An Amazing Outing

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Another anemic offensive performance. Five members of the starting lineup did not get a hit. The Pirates were able to get 7 hits and 4 walks but not much production. Bryan Reynolds hit a home run after a Cruz dribbling infield hit. The rest of the hits and walks produced 1 run. They were 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. Hayes, Triolo, and Pham hit one ball out of the infield and did not get a hit. Carmen Mlodzinski had his typical start, going less than 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. His ERA is still above 6. The bullpen gave up the rest of the runs. Chase Shugart had one of the most interesting and worst outings of the year.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning. They had scored the run in the top of the 4th. They had the bases loaded with one out. They had a chance to break the game open. Jared (Why Do I Keep Starting) Triolo grounded into a double play to end the inning. Ryan Borucki got the first out in the 6th. Chase Shugart entered the game. To be fair, Shugart has pitched very well this year for a 28-year-old who has never pitched in the majors before. He threw 6 pitches to Nolan Arenado before walking him. The 6th pitch he threw to Wilson Contreras was hit 111 MPH into the seats, and the Cardinals led 4-3. His first pitch to Nolan Gorman was a strike. Shugart’s next 4 pitches were hit for a single, single, single, and a double. The Cardinals stretched the lead to 6-3. In 11 pitches, he had given up 4 runs on 5 hits. He did not retire a batter. Efficiency at its worst. The Pirates put some traffic on the base paths in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. As usual, they left all of the runners on base and did not score a run. Oneil Cruz had 4 walks a couple of games ago. They may have been the worst thing for him. He has struck out 3 times in the last 2 games. Each time was on a called third strike right down the middle of the plate.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Paul Skenes goes tonight for the Pirates. Skenes is not having a Cy Young season so far. He is going up against the one team that has given more problems than any other team in the league. I, for one, will be watching his velocity. It would be nice to see him shut down the Cardinals. It would be nice to see the young players start. It would be nice to see some young players come up from AAA. It would be nice to see the Pirate organization care about winning games. Can they at least send Triolo down? Please, pretty, pretty please. I would even go 3 games without saying anything negative about Derek The Shadow Shelton.

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Pirates Morning Report: Wow! It’s Hard To Believe

Final Score: Pirates 0 Padres 4

Why The Pirates Lost: Let’s just go in chronological order. Another lousy lineup. Young players wasting on the bench. Andrew Heaney getting racked up for 4 runs on 8 hits. He walked 4 and struck out 3. He threw 100 pitches. He did all of this in just 3 and 2/3 innings of work. The offense was even more inept. They could not score a run despite getting 8 hits and walking twice. Striking out 12 times does not help. Cruz had a horrible game. In the 2nd inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes got picked off 2nd base for the last out of the inning. In the bottom of the 6th, they had 2nd and 3rd with one out and could not score. In the bottom of the 7th, Matt Gorski hit a triple with one out. Jared (I Don’t Really Understand Baseball) Jones hit a ball in the only place that would not score a run. He hit it to third base, and Machado threw out Gorski at the plate. Mercifully, Andrew McCutchen struck out to end the game. If he would have gotten on base, we would have seen Alexander Canario with a batting average of .132 pinch-hitting for Henry Davis with an average of .143. Why I would not know. I guess Shelton’s brain was on fire. In the last 21 innings against the Padres, the Pirates scored 1 run. They achieved this on 14 hits, 10 walks, and one hit batter. This may be the worst performing team the Pirates have had this century.

Key Moments Of The Game: Heaney had given up only one run in the first inning despite loading the bases. In the top of the 2nd, Elias Diaz hit a solo home run to start the inning. Brandon Lockridge doubled. Fernando Tatis popped out. Luis Arraez hit a soft line drive that just made it past the infield grass. Triolo did not know how to field it properly. Once he finally got the ball on one hop, he did not know what to do with it. By the time he threw to first, Arraez was safe. It was the key play of the game. Manny Machado struck out. This would have been the third out if Triolo understood baseball. This allowed Xander Bogaerts to double in the 3rd and 4th runs of the game. You knew that this lineup was not going to score 4 runs. The second inning was not over and the game was over. The Padres coasted the rest of the way, just trying to avoid injury. It was an easy series sweep for them. One of the Padres players was overheard saying, “Man, we thought the Rockies were bad, but this is unbelievable.”

Next Game: Tonight Cardinals in St. Louis. I have seen worse Pirate teams in my lifetime, but none that are this lackadaisical or so unfundamentally sound. Their performance on the field is marked by an alarming number of baserunning blunders, leaving fans shaking their heads in disbelief. They throw the ball everywhere but where they should, resulting in countless mental and physical errors. To make matters worse, they have no knowledge of the strike zone. They swing wildly at pitches that are clearly out of reach. They can’t score even when a team is conceding them a run, showcasing a baffling inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Management can’t even create a legitimate 5-man starting. They are the third-worst team in baseball. The White Sox are gaining ground. This only amplifies the Pirates’ incompetence. I was pessimistic when the season started, but I did not see them being this bad. They seem to be doing nothing to right the ship, maintaining a level of mediocrity that is hard to comprehend. At least Tommy Pham has reset. I don’t even know what that means, but I’m happy for him. This season is a disgrace to baseball. The franchise with so much potential is at the bottom of a pit that they may never get out.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Tale Of Two Teams

Final Score: Pirates 1 Padres 2

Why The Pirates Lost: The Padres moved to 21-11. The Pirates fell to 12-22. The Padres have a manager. The Pirates do not. The Padres play the best players that are available. The Pirates do not. Matt Gorski, who was brought up on April 24th, has had 13 plate appearances in 9 games. Liovar Peguero, brought up May 2, has yet to make an appearance. The Padres play heads-up hustling baseball. The Pirates do not. The Padres position their players properly. The Pirates do not. The Padres can win games when they are having an off day. The Pirates can’t win games on one of their better days. In a game where the Pirates had 6 hits and 8 walks, they only scored one run. They left 10 men on base. This wasted another excellent start by Bailey (It’s Shelton’s) Falter. Falter has had his ups and downs this year, but when he is on, he is one tough pitcher. He gave up a Manny Machado home run and one other hit over 7 innings. The Padres only had 3 hits for the game but made them pay off for a 2-1 victory.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates were leading 1-0 going into the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Oneil Cruz. They made two quick outs to start the inning. Enmanuel Valdez singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Ke’Bryan Hayes lined a single to center field. Valdez, who is not the fleetest runner, was thrown out at the plate by 6 feet. Why he was sent only the Shadow knows. The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs. Alexander Canario, with his .132 batting average, struck out. What a shock. He swung at a pitch that went over the inside third of the left-hand batting box. The score was tied 1-1 going into the top of the ninth. Fernando Tatis Jr. took over the inning. David Bednar got ahead of Tatis 0-2 on two splitters that were low. He threw a third splitter that was right down the middle, thigh-high. That was some nice pitch sequencing plus terrible location. Tatis drilled it 107 MPH into left field between short and third. By the time Alexander (I Swing At Everything) Canario lumbered over to get the ball, Tatis had a hustling double. Luis Arraez grounded out weakly to third, not advancing Tatis. Tatis stole third by getting such a big jump there was no throw. Bednar struck out Machado. On the first pitch to Xander Bogaerts, it bounced about 6 feet away from Joey Bart. Without hesitation, Tatis scored to give the Padres the lead 2-1. In the bottom of the 9th, Oneil Cruz walked for the 4th time in the game with one out. Bryan Reynolds lined out to Machado, who easily doubled off the clueless Cruz.

Next Game: This afternoon, Padres in Pittsburgh. No matter what happens today, the home stand has been a disaster. You can’t sugarcoat this one. After having a nice West Coast trip, the Pirates have really laid an egg at home. Maybe we will get to see the young players today. Isiah Kiner-Falefa went on the IL yesterday. I am sure the Pirates will play the injury card, rationalizing this horrible record. Every team has injuries. The difference is that other teams replace the player with the best player available. The Pirates play the worst players on the team. I will write again. The Pirates have the players; they just don’t play them.

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Pirates Morning Report: Routine Loss

Final Score: Pirates 4 Padres 9

Why The Pirates Lost: It was strictly routine. Another lousy starting lineup. No Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the 2nd straight game. He is batting .280. Meanwhile, Jared Triolo and Alexander Canario started. They each did get a hit to raise their batting averages to .170 and .118. Even though they did score 4 runs, the Pirate offense was 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. One of their runs was a gift from Dylan Cease. They only had 7 hits to go along with 5 walks. They made 2 errors and generally were sloppy in the field. The pitching was even worse. Mitch Keller went 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. The bullpen continued the good work in the final 4 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits. Colin Holderman was the best. In the 9th inning, he gave up a run without giving up a hit. He walked the first batter. He hit the second batter. A bunt moved them to second and third. A sacrifice fly made it 9-4. It was just another routine blowout loss for the Pirates. Manager Shelton must be furious because they can no longer be competitive. He set the bar very low for the Pirates after the first series of the year. They can’t reach that anymore.

Key Moment Of The Game: The poor lineup that Shelton brought out to home plate. The Pirates had just tied the game in the bottom of the 4th. Keller got the first out in the top of the 5th. He fell apart after that. In the span of 13 pitches, Keller gave up a single, a double, a single, and a single. Before you could say Mitch Keller is an average Major League pitcher, the Padres took the lead 5-2. Surprisingly, the Pirates pecked away with single runs in the 5th and 6th against the vaunted Padre bullpen. The score remained 5-4 going to the 8th inning. After one out, Caleb Ferguson replaced Chase Shugart. He gave up two singles in 5 pitches. The runner from first advanced to third on a throwing error by Jared (I Thought It Was A Home Run) Triolo. Ferguson struck out the next batter, and it looked like he would keep the game close. It was not to be. He gave up 2 more singles, and it was 8-4 Padres in the blink of an eye. The Pirates went quietly away the last 2 innings. Another loss was in the books.

Next Game: This afternoon, Padres in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 1-3 on the home stand with 2 games remaining. I guess we won’t be seeing the good lineup anymore. In the last 2 games, there were 5 batting averages under .170. It is amazing. The Pirates have the players. They just do not play them. You have to wonder, will they ever put Liover Peguero in the starting lineup? Matt Gorsky has seen limited action. The Pirates have very bad players that are playing. Losing is not a mystery.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes 2025

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cubs 8

Why The Pirates Lost: I will say it. Paul Skenes is not the pitcher he was in 2024. When he first came up, his fastball regularly touched 100 MPH. He had one fastball yesterday that was clocked at 99.6. He threw 25 four-seam fastballs. The vast majority of them were right around 98 MPH. He had two as low as 96 and one at 95. He is not the first Pirate pitcher to go through this. Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz, and Jared Jones all had decreases in velocity the longer they pitched for the Pirates. In just 5 innings of work, Skenes threw 86 pitches, with 37 out of the strike zone. He walked 4, including 3 in a row in the 3rd inning. In the top of the 5th, he gave up 3 solo home runs. Two of the pitches were right down the middle, letter high. The third one was belt high over the outer third of the plate. I know his ERA is still under 3, but where is the velocity and, more importantly, where is the command? The Pirates started 3 players with batting averages of .163 or less. The 100 club, even though they did not light it up, did not do too bad considering they can’t hit. They went 2 for 9 with a walk. They scored 2 runs but had no RBIs. The entire team had 5 hits. The bullpen got ripped open for 5 runs over the last 4 innings. It was another disappointing but surprising blowout loss.

Key Moment Of The Game: Even though he struggled for 4 innings, Skenes had shut out the Cubs with 1 hit and 4 walks. Then the bombs started coming. One out, Dansby Swanson, 102 MPH, 392 ft. home run. Two outs, Kyle Tucker, 103 MPH, 395 ft. home run. Next batter, Seiya Suzuki, 104 MPH, 392 ft. home run. Before you could say what’s wrong with Paul Skenes, the score was 3-2 Cubs. Suzuki hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 7th. The Pirates squeaked out a run in the bottom of the 8th. The score was 5-3 Cubs going to the top of the 9th. In came Hunter (Please Don’t Put Me In Meaningful Situations) Stratton. He did not disappoint, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in one inning of “work.” The game was over.

Next Game: Tonight Padres in Pittsburgh. The San Diego Padres come to town to start a weekend 3-game series. The Pirate starting pitchers are set. The .100 club is anticipating playing in all 3 games. Can the Pirates win one game of the series? Pham, Canario, Davis, and Triolo are guaranteeing a 3-game sweep. They are ready to break out. Derek Shelton just knows it. It is supposed to rain a lot this weekend. We can only pray.

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Pirate Morning Report: An Amazing Win

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cubs 3

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates scored 3 of their 4 runs after 2 were out. They were able to survive a disastrous 5th inning. They managed to survive Tommy Pham making 5 outs in 4 at-bats. They overcame another Carmen Mlodzinski start. This time he managed to pitch 4 innings while giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He struck out 4 and walked 1. The Pirates were 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs were 1 for 6. After the 5th inning, the Pirates’ bullpen was solid, with David Bednar picking up the save. Over the last 4 innings, the bullpen only gave up 2 hits and did not walk a batter. After being outscored 26 to 6 in their last 3 games, the Pirates pulled out the close one. With Paul Skenes pitching today, they have an excellent chance of taking this series.

Key Moments Of The Game: This game had many big moments. The Pirates scored in the 1st with a big 2-out single by Ke’Bryan Hayes. In the bottom of the 4th, the Pirates loaded the bases with no one out. Thank God Tommy Pham struck out and did not hit into a double play. Jared Triolo hit a fly ball to mid-center field. Joey Bart tried to score but was ruled out at the plate. Replay reversed the call and the Pirates had their second run. The Pirates got away with sending two batters up in a row with batting averages below .180. In the top of the 5th, Mlodzinski gave up a single and a walk to start the inning. Shelton brought in Ryan Borucki. Ian Happ was the next hitter, who is a switch hitter. He hits .229 left-handed and .361 batting right-handed. Why bring in a left-handed pitcher to face Happ? I know Kyle Tucker is on deck but he hits left handed pitching just fine. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Happ hit a ground ball single up the middle to make the score 2-1. Thanks to two wild pitches and a ground out, the Cubs took the lead 3-2 without getting a hit. The score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the 7th. IKF reached base on an error by the third baseman, with one out. Cruz struck out for out no.2. Bryan Reynolds singled to left, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Andrew McCutchen hit a 92 MPH ground ball up the middle. Dansby Swanson deflected it out to short right-center field. This allowed Reynolds to score all the way from 1st base. This was a fortunate break for the Pirates, giving them a fortunate win. The bullpen protected the lead, snapping an embarrassing 3-game losing streak.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Pittsburgh. As mentioned before, Paul Skenes will start today. He will probably have to endure a very poor starting lineup. I am willing to put up with Henry Davis catching today if Tommy Pham is not in the starting lineup. The Cubs pitcher, Colin Rea, is right-handed, so it is possible that Pham may not start. The Pirates had a lot of lucky breaks in yesterday’s win. Despite all my criticism of Pirate management, the Pirates have not had a lot of good fortune this season. Maybe yesterday’s game will turn that around. Just like a .500 Californian road trip, a series win today will be a surprise after the 9-0 shellacking in the first game of the series.

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Pirates Morning Report: Morning Report And Pirates Felled

I did not get to see the 9-0 shellacking the Pirates took last night thanks to a power outage that lasted from 5:30 PM to 2:00 AM. I never like to write about a game that I did not see. The box score tells a story. For the third straight game, the Pirate pitching staff got blasted. Andrew Heaney had his first bad outing. He went 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and walking 3. One unique thing about the game is that the Pirate staff did not strike out a batter. The bullpen, with the exception of Kyle Nicolas, pretty much stunk. In 3 innings of work, they gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk. For the game, the Cubs hit 4 home runs, 1 triple, and 3 doubles. Seiya Suzuki missed hitting for the cycle by not getting a single. The sad total read 9 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks. The Pirates could not score even though they did collect 7 hits to go along with 3 walks. They only struck out 6 times. They were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base. They did load the bases in the bottom of the 5th. Bryan Reynolds took 2 of 3 strikes to end the inning. In the bottom of the 6th, they had 1st and 3rd and one out. This time it was Matt Gorski who took all 3 strikes. He is quickly adapting to the Pirate philosophy of not swinging at strikes. It looks like I did not miss much. Tonight they go at it again with you-know-who starting again. Why? PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME WHY? Maybe I will get lucky and we will lose power tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: Off Day Thoughts

The Pirates were off yesterday, but the Pirate management team does not consider these rest days. After all, the Pirates have to travel, and as we all know, this can be exhausting for people in their mid-20s. The Pirates stand at 11-18 right now. They are in last place, 6 games out of first place. Baseball Reference has listed their chance of making the playoffs at 0.2%. Quite frankly, I feel that is optimistic. Most of the Pirates’ problems have been on offense. Surprisingly, they have played pretty good defense. They are currently ranked 14th in Defensive Efficiency, which is in the top half of the league. The pitching has been good, giving up an average of 4.43 runs per game. This places them 15th in the league. In any important offensive statistic, the Pirates ranked as high as 23rd and as low as 28th.

Here is one interesting fact about the Pirates offense. The Pirates have 4 players: Joey Bart, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, and Enmanuel Valdez that have OPS+ over 100. This means they are all above league-average hitters. Cruz leads the way with an impressive OPS+ of 154. Until they had recent slumps, Bryan Reynolds and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were above league average. At the present moment, these are the 6 best Pirate hitters. They have not seen the most action. In fact, McCutchen, Bart, and Valdez are 7th, 8th, and 9th in plate appearances, respectively. Who is ahead of them? Of course, Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier. They have OPS+ of 41 and 79. Tommy Pham has come to the plate 11 more times than McCutchen. He has come to the plate 24 more times than Valdez. Frazier has come to the plate only 5 fewer times than Pham. This dynamic duo has combined for a batting average of .216 and has slugged .273. The third member of this hitting trifecta is Ke’Bryan Hayes. His OPS+ is at 73. He carries the robust average of .235 and is slugging a whopping .306. The excuse for playing him is his great glove, but he is playing a corner infield spot that is usually reserved for a big bat. The only reason Frazier and Pham are playing is so management can justify signing them. They do not care that these two are basically out machines. Pham has even batted leadoff. It’s not really like the Pirates don’t have players that can hit. They are just not given the opportunity to hit.

For the next 18 games, with the exception of the Cardinals, the Pirates are going to play teams that are over .500 or made the playoffs last year. They have 9 games at home and 9 games on the road. The only way this team is going to make any headway during this time is by playing the best players. That means we should not see much of the following players: Tommy Pham, Adam Frazier, Henry Davis, Alexander Canario, and Jared Triolo. Triolo playing against left-handed pitching is ok. I would rather give Valdez a shot at left-handed pitching than see Frazier on the field. The starting lineups on this last road trip, with the exception of Frazier and Pham, were pretty solid. We have to get rid of the exceptions if the Pirates have any chance of salvaging this season.

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Pirates Morning Report: Dodger Blowout In Game 3

Final Score: Pirates 2 Dodgers 9

Why The Pirates Lost: It was the Dodgers being the Dodgers. They lit up Pirate pitching for 9 runs on 14 hits. They had 5 walks and only struck out 3 times. It was an awesome offensive show: two home runs and one double. They scored in 4 of the 8 innings they batted. This is what made Derek Shelton’s decisions on Saturday night so bad. The top of the bullpen did not even need to be used yesterday. On Saturday, the Pirates had a legitimate chance to win the game. Shelton did not use his top bullpen guys in a tie ballgame. Holderman pitched yesterday. This should have been his first appearance since coming off the IL. He should not have appeared Saturday night in the bottom of the 8th in a 4-4 tie. Even though they hit two home runs in the top of the 1st, you knew the game was over by the bottom of the second inning. The Pirate offense digressed as this series went on. Yesterday, they went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. They struck out 12 times, stopping their single-digit strikeout streak.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had 2 home runs in the top of the first. Andrew McCutchen and Enmanuel Valdez hit the home runs. This allowed them to take a 2-0 lead. Just like in the previous game, the Dodgers fought back in the bottom of the inning. This time they did it with a vengeance. Barry Falter walked Shohei Ohtani, which was almost the smartest thing he did. The next 5 batters did not hit a ball under 94 MPH. After the dust cleared, the Dodgers had taken the lead 4-2. They had a runner on 1st base with one out. Max Muncy grounded into a double play on the first weakly hit ball of the inning. The Dodgers just kept adding on with one in the second. They scored 3 in the 5th and 1 in the 6th to build the 9-2 lead. The Pirates ended the road trip 3-3, which is a miracle in itself.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Cubs in Pittsburgh. The Pirates open a 6-game homestand. They will play 3 with the Cubs and 3 with the Padres. They have not announced Tuesday’s starting pitcher. That could be scary. Again, the Pirates bring up someone and then do not play him. Matt Gorski has not been in the starting lineup for the last 3 games. The man he would have played for is hitting .184 with an on-base percentage of .265. The league average is .314. He is only 49 points worse than the league average. But please do not start Gorski. Just let him develop on the bench while a washed-up player plays. Pirate thinking at its best.

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Pirates Morning Report: Shelton Loses Another One.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Dodgers 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Why do you bring in a guy in the bottom of the 8th of a 4-4 game who just came off the IL? This pitcher was not pitching well before he went on the IL. You are playing the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Your team is playing well. You won the first game of the series. Your bullpen has not been overly stressed thanks to some great starting pitching. Welcome to that hollow space between Derek Shelton’s ears. In walks Colin Holderman to the bottom of the 8th when there were many other options. The results were horrendous. He gave up a home run, a double, and a walk. He was pulled, but it was too late; the damage had been done. Joey Wentz came in and promptly gave up a 3-run homer to pinch hitter Enrique Hernandez. The game was essentially over. All of this wasted a pretty good performance by the Pirates. Adam Frazier did have a bad throwing error that allowed the Dodgers to take a 2-1 lead in the 1st. The offense had an acceptable game, scoring 4 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. They did have 9 strikeouts, their highest total of the road trip. They were in this game until Derek Shelton decided to lose it.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was the ability of the Dodgers to break back in the bottom of the inning that the Pirates took the lead. Oneil Cruz hit his 4th leadoff homer of the season, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the 1st, the Dodgers scored 2 runs. The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the 5th when Oneil Cruz singled in 2 runs. Tommy Pham, who is starting to hit a little bit, almost had a baserunning gaffe. He stopped at 3rd base for some unknown reason but went home when the throw went to 2nd. In the bottom of the 5th, the Dodgers tied the score. Freddie Freeman got the big 2-out hit. The Pirates took the lead 4-3 in the top of the 7th. They had the bases loaded and no one out but could only muster one run. In the bottom of the 7th, the Dodgers tied it 4-4. The Pirate players put in a solid effort. Unfortunately, their effort was wasted by one of the worst managers in baseball, Derek “The Shadow” Shelton.

Next Game: This afternoon (Thank God) Dodgers in Los Angeles. The late-night baseball is over for a while. Barry Falter goes against Tyler Glasnow. The Pirate lineup should be a doozy today. I will not even speculate. They are off on Monday. I wonder if Shelton even knows that. Holderman has said that he is ready to go since he only threw 14 pitches. Shelton said, “That’s great, there’s not much on the line anyway. Just a series win against the Dodgers on the road.”