Sep 07 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:05 p.m. Sunday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Above is the part of AT&T Park that few get to see on TV, the back of the Levi's Landing wall that separates the ballpark from the bike trail that runs behind it and then, of course, McCovey Cove.
Some on the visitors' side might call it LaRoche's Landing, as the first baseman launched a Tim Lincecum fastball into the drink last year. He is the only Pirates player to get a ball wet here.
Four hours till first pitch ...
Game: Pirates (60-81) vs. San Francisco Giants (61-80), 4:05 p.m., AT&T Park.
Radio: WPGB-FM (104.7).
Pitching: RHP Jeff Karstens (2-4, 3.62) vs. LHP Jonathan Sanchez (8-10, 4.50).
What to watch: Karstens could use some good karma. Since those two opening victories, he is 0-4 in four starts, and the Pirates have been outscored, 28-4, in those games.
First-pitch weather: 76 degrees, still perfect.
Pirates' lineup: 1. Nate McLouth CF. 2. Freddy Sanchez 2B. 3. Doug Mientkiewicz 1B. 4. Jason Michaels LF. 5. Steve Pearce RF. 6. Andy LaRoche 3B. 7. Robinzon Diaz C. 8. Brian Bixler SS. 9. Karstens.
Giants' lineup: 1. Randy Winn CF. 2. Emmanuel Burriss SS. 3. Nate Schierholtz RF. 4. Pablo Sandoval C. 5. Scott McClain 3B. 6. Fred Lewis LF. 7. Travis Ishikawa 1B. 8. Eugenio Velez 2B. 9. Sanchez.
UPDATE 1:50 p.m.: Not really much to update. Team is watching Brett Favre pick apart the Dolphins on the big screen while waiting for BP to start. And Gary Varsho, as always, is buzzing all over the place meeting with people as if preparing for Game 7 of the World Series.
4:07 p.m.: First pitch by Jonathan Sanchez to Nate McLouth on maybe the nicest day for any game covered all year. Air seems so clean. ... Broken-maple groundout starts it off.
4:10 p.m. Freddy Sanchez drills a single to left. He is swinging very, very well. These are not bloops for the most part. He went 4 for 5 last night, and his only out was a screamer to short.
4:14 p.m.: Scouting director Greg Smith and a few other guys with untucked dress shirts -- red flag for scouts -- are seated just behind home plate. Smith has been here all weekend. Yet another set of eyes on the whole process. ... So many extra people here. It's like roving Bradenton.
4:18 p.m.: Below is Jeff Karstens' first pitch, en route to a swinging strikeout of Randy Winn.
4:24 p.m.: Somewhere across the country, the Steelers win. But who cares about that?
4:35 p.m.: Man alive, Brian Bixler fails to make contact an awful lot for someone who hits .280 in Class AAA. Men at the corners, one out, all he needs to do is put his bat on the ball. He failed to come close on two swings, then looked at strike three. ... Karstens' comebacker ends the inning.
4:46 p.m.: Robinzon Diaz already has his first career hit, first career steal, and now he just threw out Scott McClain for a CS to end the second. Diaz comes with a decent defensive reputation, but the throw was nothing special. Not nearly as strong as Raul Chavez and off to the shortstop side. Bixler made a good swipe.
4:50 p.m.: Scary moment for the Pirates. McLouth was just hit on the right pinky finger by a Sanchez fastball. ... Not only does he stay in the game, but he steals second and takes third on a missed catch at second. The steal is his 20th, making McLouth a 20-20 guy. He is the first to 20-20 since Jason Bay had 32 home runs, 21 steals in 2005. McLouth has 24 home runs.
4:53 p.m.: Jason Michaels' infield single scores McLouth. One out, 1-0. Michaels threw his helmet about 50 feet after his K in the first. The helmet stayed on this time.
5 p.m.: Diaz's squibber to Eugenio Velez is muffed but scored a single. Always careful about small sample sizes, but Velez has been just terrible at second base the whole series. Two runs score, as Michaels alertly bolts all the way home from second on the muff. ... Diaz's first RBI. ... Bixler Ks yet again.
5:10 p.m.: Jonathan Sanchez out after three. That qualifies as seriously "ouchy." So does his pitch count of 78.
5:14 p.m.: McLouth sure is hitting some monstrous doubles. This one in the fourth banked near the 421-foot mark of the fence in right-center and scored Karstens all the way from first. 4-0 now. ... Some of the more cynical types among the San Francisco corps in the press box are buzzing about a Karstens no-hitter already.
5:19 p.m. Sacrifice fly by Michaels to track in left scores McLouth. Helmet holds again. 5-0 through 3 1/2.
5:24 p.m.: Take that, cynics: Emmanuel Burriss' soft single through the left side ends the no-hitter with one out in the fourth. This after Karstens' error allowed Randy Winn to reach. And now bases are loaded after Bixler lost a popup in shallow left. Bases loaded, nobody out.
5:27 p.m.: Rough day for McLouth, forced to exit because of a nasty gash above his left eye. Pablo Sandoval lined a ball into shallow center. McLouth dived to get it but came up short, and the ball bounced up hard into his sunglasses and popped out the lens. Blood immediately came streaming out, as McLouth rolled over on the grass. He was just helped off the field and replaced by Nyjer Morgan. Oh, and all three runners scored on the play, as the ricochet threw everything out whack. 5-3 now.
5:35 p.m.: Six consecutive hits now, including RBIs by Fred Lewis and Travis Ishikawa, and it is 5-5. Second time on this trip the Pirates have blown a five-run lead. They blew a three-run lead last night, of course.
5:36 p.m.: Ugly, ugly, uglier still. With men at second and third, Pearce fails to catch a looping liner in right. Another run comes, and so does John Russell with the hook for Karstens.
Sep 07 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 1:50 a.m. Sunday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Before getting on with the standard potential-day-of-82 dreariness, here is an explanation for that crazy play some of you might have seen -- or heard -- last night during the Giants' half of the fourth ...
Bengie Molina is on second, Scott McClain on first, nobody out. Aaron Rowand hits a liner to Luis Cruz at short, but Cruz, almost volleyball-style, bats it down with what appeared to be just a missed catch. The ball is in front of him, and he picks up and flips to Freddy Sanchez at second.
OK, deep breath ...
Molina has his foot back on second before Sanchez gets the ball. McClain has yet to arrive. Sanchez steps on the bag, then tags Molina. Second base umpire Tom Hallion, the crew chief, signals an out. He hesitates, then motions to Molina that he is the out. Molina looks mystified for a moment but heads to the dugout. About 30 seconds later, Hallion also calls out McClain.
Bruce Bochy comes out to argue, but not all that much.
What in the world was that?
If Sanchez steps on the bag first, that forces out McClain but it removes the force for Molina, who clearly should have been allowed in that circumstance to keep his bag. If Sanchez does the reverse, then there is a double play. (If he thinks quickly enough, maybe even a triple play with a relay to first.)
The craziest part: A pool reporter interviewed Hallion afterward, and his explanation was that Bochy argued about the wrong facet. Bochy argued that Cruz dropped the ball intentionally. Hallion: "I said, 'Bruce, there's no way he intentionally dropped that." Thus, Hallion continued, there was no umpire conference that might have gotten the matter resolved correctly. More Hallion: "If Bruce came out and said, 'Tom, he's on second base, and that removes the force,' I would have gotten all four guys together and said, 'This is what they are saying. Does anybody have him on the bag?' And, if they did, then yeah, we would have brought Bengie back to second. There would have been only one out."
So, to summarize, the crew chief did not feel he had the authority on his own to summon his fellow umpires to discuss a call that clearly gave him trouble. He needed Bochy to deliver the correct plea.
And you wonder why managers get tossed.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
Giants 7, Pirates 6: Paul Maholm pitched well enough that No. 81 looked like it would be staved off another day, but Denny Bautista and John Grabow did not fare nearly as well. Freddy Sanchez had four hits, and Nate McLouth hit the longest double to right field anyone will ever see.
Notebook: Bradenton will be an open house next spring, says Neal Huntington. Also here, nothing new on Doug Mientkiewicz's contract status, and the club works to correct Nyjer Morgan's oversliding issues.
Letters to the editor: One fan is disappointed with Frank Coonelly and Huntington.
And from other realms ...
The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea offers the latest chapter in the ultra-cool story of Scott McClain. Also, while Pedro Alvarez awaits an arbitration hearing, this Giants prospect, drafted in June, is about to play for the big team.
This opinion piece by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt on -- you guessed it -- the scoring call in Pittsburgh seems predicated on the idea that Bob Webb's call was of the "homer" variety. This is a much stronger charge to make than simply saying the scorer got the wrong call, and those who know Webb will vigorously protest this charge.
So long, Spikes.
In the blogosphere, the Bleacher Report falls in love with our city. (Link courtesy Bucs Dugout.) ... DraftInfo asks ESPN's Keith Law to look ahead to the 2009 draft, which I am told will be pitching-rich, unlike this past one.
Sep 06 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 5:05 p.m. Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Above is the statue of Juan Marichal and his inimitable high leg kick that greets fans at the right-field entrance.
The real Marichal was in the house last night, watching from just behind the Pirates' dugout. Each time he stood up to go back to the concourse, the folks seated nearby would applaud.
Made me think about what a shame it is that Dontrelle Willis' career has taken such a step backward. Baseball could use more pitchers with personality coming through in their deliveries, easily identifiable types such as Tim Lincecum.
Four hours till first pitch ...
Game: Pirates (60-80) vs. San Francisco Giants (60-80), 9:05 p.m., AT&T Park.
Radio: WPGB-FM (104.7).
Pitching: LHP Paul Maholm (8-8, 3.81) vs. RHP Matt Cain (8-11, 3.69).
What to watch (or listen to or read or imagine): Freddy Sanchez, a career .315 hitter against San Francisco, is 4 for 9 with three doubles and a walk vs. Cain.
First-pitch weather: 75 degrees, still perfect. Except, of course, for that whole stadium-falling-on-your-head thing.
Pirates' lineup: 1. Nyjer Morgan LF. 2. Freddy Sanchez 2B. 3. Nate McLouth CF. 4. Ryan Doumit C. 5. Adam LaRoche 1B. 6. Brandon Moss RF. 7. Andy LaRoche 3B. 8. Luis Cruz SS. 9. Maholm.
Giants' lineup: 1. Randy Winn LF. 2. Ivan Ochoa 2B. 3. Rich Auriliia 3B. 4. Bengie Molina C. 5. Scott McClain 1B. 6. Aaron Rowand CF. 7. Nate Schierholtz RF. 8. Emmanuel Burriss SS. 9. Cain.
UPDATE 7:08 p.m.: Not much new. Jack Wilson still is not throwing. Still no timetable. There are about 1,000 guys in uniform now, so it is not easy to track everyone. I swear, I still am not sure I have seen Robinzon Diaz with my own eyes. ... Ross Ohlendorf threw a side session, which obviously is no big deal, either, except that I snapped a photo of it with the Levi's Landing wall in the background ...
Sep 06 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 2:37 a.m. Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO -- No, I never felt a thing.
I would say that had to do with being really diligent on the job, but the fact is I picked up my blue pen to score Zach Duke retiring Emmanuel Burris on a soft grounder just to the right of the mound, then put the pen down and kept typing something else. Others in the press box -- all of them, apparently, real San Francisco people -- did feel it and were able to describe it in detail.
Who knows? Maybe I would be better identifying floods than these people.
There was one other experience on the job with an earthquake, but this one I was aware of: It came while covering the Penguins' trip to Japan in 2000, at the 40-story hotel in which the team was staying. I was on the 24th floor, and my walls were doing the squeaking, loud enough to wake me from a nap. Like last night, though, it was not until I got down to the lobby that I learned of the quake.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
Pirates 7, Giants 0: Details on the earthquake, as well as that of Duke's terrific evening. Say what you want about the Giants' offense -- and there were plenty of ugly at-bats on the home side -- someone still has to throw the strikes, and Duke definitely did that. (In this video link, by the way, you can see the earthquake play in the sixth inning. Watch for the comebacker.)
Notebook: The Latin American signing class is finished with a Mexican pitcher and some unprecedented -- but hardly overwhelming -- spending in this critical area.
Chat: The transcript from yesterday.
And from other realms ...
The San Francisco Chronicle covers the quake. The one last night. Not the one the video shows from the 1989 World Series.
The Chroni
cle's Henry Schulman reaches back centuries for an explanation as to why the Giants regularly get "Punked by Pittsburgh."
The Blue Jays have won six in a row, and Jose Bautista has contributed enough that Toronto management is considering him for the starting third base job next year.
No one will have the Spikes to kick around after tonight. All done for all of the Pirates' affiliates after this duel with the Muckdogs.
In the blogosphere, Pat at Van Slyke breaks down the pitch-tracking of Ross Ohlendorf's debut. ... Dave Harrison at Trade Winds makes the case that Scott Boras' pushing Pedro Alvarez is costing Alvarez money in the long run. ... Michael at Hyzdu passes out some minor league awards.
Sep 05 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 6:15 p.m. Friday
SAN FRANCISCO -- No games on TV the entire weekend. Seriously. Same thing with the one Paul Meyer covered yesterday in Cincinnati, meaning it will be four in a row.
Can anyone remember the last time something like that happened when all four games were on the road?
Not a criticism here. For all I know, FSN's ratings are awful and most folks might have tuned out after the Yankees series, or the trades, or the 10-game losing streak. But it is worth mentioning.
Four hour
s till first pitch ...
Game: Pirates (59-80) vs. San Francisco Giants (60-79), 10:15 p.m., AT&T Park.
Radio: WPGB-FM (104.7).
Pitching: LHP Zach Duke (4-13, 5.14) vs. RHP Kevin Correia (3-7, 5.35).
What to watch (or listen to or just imagine): The Brothers LaRoche vs. Correia. Lifetime combined, Adam (4 for 8 with three doubles) and Andy (1 for 3 with a double) are 5 for 11 with four doubles against Correia.
First-pitch weather: 65 degrees and clear, about 20 degrees lower than it will be most of the afternoon. Only in the Bay.
Pirates' lineup: 1. Nyjer Morgan LF. 2. Freddy Sanchez 2B. 3. Nate McLouth CF. 4. Ryan Doumit C. 5. Adam LaRoche 1B. 6. Brandon Moss RF. 7. Andy LaRoche 3B. 8. Brian Bixler SS. 9. Duke.
Giants' lineup: 1. Randy Winn LF. 2. Nate Schierholtz RF. 3. Rich Auriliia 3B. 4. Bengie Molina C. 5. Pablo Sandoval 1B. 6. Aaron Rowand CF. 7. Emmanuel Burriss SS. 8. Eugenio Velez 2B. 9. Correia.
UPDATE 6:40 p.m.: Two Pirates prospects in Venezuela were part of 12 suspensions -- 50 games each for use of Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid -- given out by Major League Baseball today. Those were first baseman Kelly Aponte and pitcher Julio Joves.
8:07 p.m.: Jack Wilson's finger is not much better. He still is unable to throw, still does not have a date to resume doing so. ... Sanchez obviously is well enough to go, but there is no hard-and-fast setup for how often he will play. "He's not going to play every single day," John Russell said. ... I asked Russell if he plans to treat games against contenders differently than ... well, games like this one. "We'll play the same guys in Cincinnati that we'll play here or anywhere or else. We're going to try to win every night." Russell's predecessor, Jim Tracy, made a strong point last year of wanting to use his best lineups against contenders in September.
8:43 p.m.: The Giants -- whoever these guys are -- work out under pristine skies with pristine air. As one usher just said to a customer, "Beautiful night for baseball." It is very much that.
10:35 p.m.: Not going to have time for a live blog tonight, with the story due right at the final out, but I do want to point out that Brian Bixler achieved the impossible with his diving stop to end the first inning: He guaranteed that this game somehow will get at least one highlight on "SportsCenter" tonight. He ranged well to his left, reached up with his glove to time it perfectly with the last hop, then rolled over on the grass and flipped to Sanchez for the force at second. Excellent play.
Sep 05 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:45 p.m. Friday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Really, nothing like it anywhere in the world. There are only two cities in the United States I ever recommend that non-Pittsburghers visit, and this is one of them. (Don't overthink the other.) Every inch of it has such character, such life.
Above is a simple snapshot of the skyline from the view from the top floor of my Second Street hotel, looking up Montgomery.
Oh, and remember: Chat in 40 minutes.
3:36 p.m., getting out of the hotel: Above is the Powell-Hyde car, just off the Market Street turnaround, the main entry point in the downtown area. It takes about a half-hour in line to get on this time of day. Costs $3.50 per ride. Well worth it. The guy in the back is the brakeman. If you stand on his little yellow square, you will be upbraided big-time. Same thing if you try to get on the car at something other than a designated station. ... I passed this time. Just too hot outside.
Quite a climb: And this, above, is where that car is about to head. Look all the way to the top of Powell Street. Yes, that really is the street. Coffee, food, hotels and all sorts of stuff line this street, with majestic Union Square slightly up and to the right.
The Morgans: So, I'm taking these pictures, looking every bit the tourist, when someone shouts out my name. Turns out to be your left fielder and his dad, Carl Morgan. This is their territory. It was in the Bay Area that Nyjer began his hockey career, of all things, and grew up dreaming of skating for the Sharks. ... The only person happier to be here today than me is this guy. ... Oh, and if the resemblance looks uncanny between these two, you should hear them talk. Like the same person.
Sep 05 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 6 a.m. Friday
SAN FRANCISCO -- All one needs to do is walk about these magnificently sloped, swarming streets to see the traditional SF cap on heads everywhere. Even the full jersey. Even in a year about as dismal as any team is having in the National League. And there is no visible distinction for who wears them: Young and old, male and female, race, nationality, the homeless, the high-fashion crowd (no kidding) ... just amazing.
I spend only three days a year here and am no sociologist, so I will not pretend to know what this means. But, in my years of covering many sports in many places, I have not seen any single franchise with a fan base so diverse.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
Reds 8, Pirates 6: Paul Meyer describes from Cincinnati the latest labors of Tom Gorzelanny, this after Meyer correctly predicted in this blog that a failure to add on to that early lead would prove costly. The only add-on was Nate McLouth's eighth-inning home run.
Notebook: Dave LaRoche lives a father's dream with two boys on the same major league team. Also, Jack Wilson describes his injury as "stupid."
Chat: We can talk today at 1:30 p.m. from my 18th-story perch in the heart of town. Here is the transcript.
Opinion: If anyone missed it yesterday, general columnist Brian O'Neill, once and forever our own Geek, explains why official scorer Bob Webb was predictably unruffled by the CC Sabathia one-hitter.
PHOTO: Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated
And from other realms ...
Irrelevant baseball still can make for some compelling stories, as the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman proved in this piece I enjoyed over a coffee on Market Street last night.
As State College gets to its final two nights, Chase D'Arnaud, the Pirates' fourth-round draft pick in June, is named team MVP.
Here is Baseball America's list of minor league statistical leaders, which has almost no Pirates presence on it beyond Jim Negrych.
Colleague Dan Gigler passes along this link to an Associated Press travel piece on the Strip.
In the blogosphere, Charlie Wilmoth takes an informed stance on a column in the Centre Daily Times that, essentially, making the Pirates' minor league affiliates more competitive by using the Dave Littlefield approach of stocking them with journeymen.
Sep 04 2008
By Paul Meyer
CINCINNATI -- Again, the weather is hot and really, really humid today. The forecast calls for rain later today, but a look at the radar shows the rain is a lot closer than "later today.'' Might be a long afternoon.
Here are the lineups:
PIRATES
McLouth, CF
Gomez, 2B
Mientkiewicz, 1B
Michaels, LF
LaRoche, 3B
Pearce, RF
Cruz, SS
Chavez, C
Gorzelanny, LHP
REDS
Dickerson, CF
Keppinger, SS
Phillips, 2B
Votto, 1B
Encarnacion, 3B
Bruce, RF
Hanigan, C
Castillo, LF
Fogg, RHP
More stuff later, including pitching coach Jeff Andrews' take on Ross Ohlendorf's start Wednesday night. Remember, no television today.
Here's Andrews' summation:
"He did his homework before the game because he hadn't seen these hitters. I thought he really did well. He used his strength, which is his fastball. He made them speed up [their bats]. He attacked inside on both sides of the plate. He used his breaking ball ahead on the count well. He knew where to go with the breaking ball. His changeup is very usable. With the velocity he has on his fastball and using it inside, I think it's going to be a nice pitch for him.''
Andrews declined to discuss this subject, but there was speculation that one reason Ohlendorf's fastball velocity didn't reach 97 or 98 miles per hour had to do with the difference in radar guns at the major and minor league levels. And there were wide variances on pitch speeds posted on the scoreboard for pitchers from both teams Wednesday night.
Ohlendorf is scheduled to start again Tuesday night in Houston, then make his home debut Sept. 15 against Los Angeles.
12:48 p.m. The Pirates in the first inning came perilously close to not cashing in much on a great opportunity against Josh Fogg. They loaded the bases with no outs, but Jason Michaels popped to short center field. Andy LaRoche did get a run home with a weak ground ball to third base. Fogg went 2-2 on Steve Pearce, who then lined a two-run single into center field. 3-0 Pirates going to the bottom of the first.
1:15 p.m. Chris Gomez, who singled and scored in the first inning, hit a two-run home in the second -- 5-0 Pirates. Gomez's first home run since April 14, 2007 (a grand slam against Kansas City) scored Raul Chavez, who's now 5 for 6 lifetime against Fogg.
1:36 p.m. Pearce just made a spectacular "no-play'' in right field in the third inning. Jeff Keppinger hit a foul fly on which Pearce almost made a leaping catch against the wall. He had the ball in his glove, but it popped loose and brushed the wall before Pearce caught it barehanded.
What did count was Fogg's leadoff double against Tom Gorzelanny in the third. Fogg was just 2 for 21 as he stepped in and hadn't had an extra base hit since Aug. 24, 2006. But Fogg drove a ball far over a shallow playing Pirate outfield in right-center field. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Keppinger's sacrifice fly.
Gorzelanny's really battling his command today. Seems as if he totally loses it for three or four pitches, then gets it back together for three or four pitches. At any rate, he just escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third by striking out Jay Bruce, who homered in the second inning.
Fogg is out of the game. He strained his right groin while scoring on that sacrifice fly. Rookie right-hander Ramon Ramirez is on in Fogg's stead.
2:10 p.m. Gorzelanny is out of the game. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings, walked two, allowed seven hits and three runs. A solid single by Ramirez -- his first major league hit -- helped the Reds score a run in the fourth inning. Jason Davis got the last out, keeping runners at second and third.
Gorzelanny looked a lot like he did July 4 in Milwaukee -- the day before the Pirates sent him to Indianapolis. He threw 82 pitches -- only 48 for strikes. He's made three starts since returning from that exile, and two of them have been awful. In 15 1/3 innings in these three starts, he's allowed 18 hits, seven walks and 12 runs -- all earned. You begin to wonder if the Pirates might give him one more start and if that doesn't go well just shut him down for the rest of the season.
2:20 p.m. This game is becoming dangerous for the Pirates. Yeah, they're ahead 5-3, but their offense has gone south, which is not good. When a team gets a big early lead and doesn't add on, it sets itself up to get beat. The Pirates haven't had a hit since Gomez's home run, and Cincinnati pitching has retired 10 consecutive batters.
More bad news for Pirate fans? Joey Votto just drove Davis' first pitch of the bottom of the fifth into the center field seats. It's 5-4.
2:52 p.m. Reds just tied the game, 5-5, in the sixth. This game has had the feeling of the Reds being ahead since Bruce cut the Pirate LEAD to 5-1 in the second inning.
3:02 p.m. Pirates went down in order again in the seventh inning. That's 16 straight batters set down by the Reds. The game is tied, but like I said before, it sure feels as if the Reds are AHEAD, 5-5.
3:14 p.m. Nate McLouth emphatically ended that streak of offensive futility by the Pirates by leading off the eighth inning with his 24th home run, a shot deep into the right-center field seats. 6-5 Pirates.
3:30 p.m. Craig Hansen continues to have control problems. Brought in to protect that 6-5 lead, the right-hander walked the first batter he faced, Wilkin Castillo, and yielded a bunt hit to pinch-hitter Corey Patterson, who was up to sacrifice. After Chris Dickerson sacrificed the runners to second and third, Hansen threw a 2-0 pitch to the backstop, allowing Castillo to third and Patterson to reach third. After Hansen walked Keppinger, T.J. Beam relieved. In 10 1/3 innings with the Pirates, Hansen has walked 14 batters.
Beam just continued this stretch of shoddy relief pitching by hitting Brandon Phillips with a 1-2 pitch, loading the bases. Votto's single to right on an 0-1 pitch enabled Cincinnati to finally take the lead. Bases still loaded. Encarnacion's sacrifice fly to center made it 8-6. Looks like we won't see Matt Capps on the mound today. Inning over. Pirates, ahead 5-0 after the top of the second, go to the ninth behind by that 8-6 count.
3:52 p.m. Game over. Pirates put runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth, but Brandon Moss ended with a sharp ground-out to first base. Pretty ugly pitching by the Pirates allowed the could-have-folded Reds to hang in there and then realize, "Gee, we can win this thing!''
Sep 04 2008
By Paul Meyer
CINCINNATI -- This will be short and sweet. It's just past midnight here and still warm and humid. I thought Ohlendorf was just fine Wednesday night. He only walked one, which helped him. And that ''play'' by Andy LaRoche on that pop fly in the sixth added a seventh hit to his total. He allowed three earned runs in six innings, which is a quality start, so there's that. The interesting thing was that we didn't see that vaunted, blow-them-away fastball, which resulted in Ohlendorf striking out just two. He said he felt great warming up and thought he would throw hard. I think what happened is that he got into the game -- this WAS his first big league start after all and he was pitching for a new team -- and was at least subconsciously trying too hard to throw hard. His first pitch of the game -- a fastball -- was just 88 miles per hour. Sometimes when a guy tries to throw too hard, he tenses up and doesn't throw hard at all. I look for a much better fastball from Ohlendorf in his next start in Houston.
You might remember Nyjer Morgan fouled out bunting in the seventh inning, bunting foul on what was the third strike. Morgan didn't realize that. He said he couldn't hear the umpire call the first strike, so he figured it was a ball. After what he thought WAS the first strike, he noticed Cincinnati third baseman Edwin Encarnacion back off and move back. That gave Morgan the idea to bunt. However, there were already two strikes. When he did bunt and fouled it back, he was out. It was a good idea to bunt with Encarnacion playing back with one strike. With two real strikes? Not so good. A definite mistake.
John Grabow really struggled with his control in the eighth inning -- "He was yanking everything,'' manager John Russell said -- but he did get the Pirates out of that inning by striking out Andy Phillips with the bases loaded. Then Matt Capps pitched a perfect ninth -- "A guy we dearly missed,'' Russell said -- and all was well that ended well.
A 12:35 game Thursday. Tom Gorzelanny against Josh Fogg. No Pittsburgh television. We'll have the lineups for you in, let's see, 11 hours or so.
Good evening all.
Sep 03 2008
By Paul Meyer
CINCINNATI -- Major League Baseball's Scoring Review Committee announced today that it upholds official scorer Bob Webb's "hit'' call on Andy LaRoche's roller in the fifth inning last Sunday. The Milwaukee Brewers contended strongly that the play should have been ruled an error, which as it turned out would have meant CC Sabathia pitched a no-hitter.
The committee reviewed a DVD of the play submitted by the Brewers and decided the judgment of the scorer was not "clearly erroneous,'' which is the standard set forth in Official Scoring Rule 10.01 (a). That meant it did not meet the criteria for MLB reversal of the "hit'' call made instantaneously by Webb.
"Bob Webb is a 20-year veteran scorer who is held in high regard,'' said Phyllis Merhige, MLB's Senior Vice President for Club Relations. "This play is a reminder of the difficult decisions that official scorers face.''
Going to be another hot one here. Forecast high is 93 degrees, and the humidity is off the charts.
Tonight's game should be a hot one, too.
Pirate fans watching on television will get their first look at Ross Ohlendorf as a starter. The right-hander throws his fastball routinely in the mid-90-mph range and can ramp it up to the high 90s. That means his fastball velocity will be higher than the temperature today, which is no mean feat. Word of caution: However Ohlendorf pitches tonight, don't rule him in or out of the Pirate rotation for next season. This is just his first step. He won't finish the journey until next March. So don't go nuts if he pitches well; don't get down if he doesn't.
Reds fans will be interested in the game, too, because Edinson Volquez starts for their heros. Volquez, a right-hander, is 16-5 with a 3.04 earned run average. With six starts left, he has a chance to be the Reds' first 20-game winner since left-hander Danny Jackson, who was 23-8 with a 2.73 earned run average in 1988. That season, Jackson, who later pitched for the Pirates, had 15 complete games, including six shutouts. Sounds as if that would have been good enough for Jackson to have won the Cy Young award, right? Well, in a normal season, yes. However, that was the year the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser, who also was 23-8 with 15 complete games, pitched eight shutouts and had that record streak of 59 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. His earned run average was 2.26.
The Reds, who are 16 games under .500 overall, are 18-9 when Volquez starts. In 22 of his 27 starts, he's yielded three earned runs or less. What's remarkable about Volquez is that he's allowed only four home runs in 82 innings at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. In Tuesday night's game, the Pirates and Reds combined to hit three home runs in the first two innings here.
Volquez in three starts against the Pirates this season has allowed no home runs in 17 innings. They've managed four runs against him.
The Ohlendorf-Volquez matchup is as interesting a matchup as one could hope for in this September series between two teams going nowhere but Florida in February.
Lineups and other stuff later.
LINEUPS
Pirates
Morgan, LF
Sanchez, 2B
McLouth, CF
Doumit, C
Adam LaRoche, 1B
Moss, RF
Andy LaRoche, 3B
Bixler, SS
Ohlendorf, RHP
Reds
Dickerson, LF
Keppinger, SS
Phillips, 2B
Votto, 1B
Encarnacion, 3B
Bruce, RF
Patterson, CF
Bako, C
Volquez, RHP
You'll note that Freddy Sanchez is in the Pirate lineup tonight. He had a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test on his right shoulder Tuesday in Pittsburgh before driving to Cincinnati. Sanchez had planned to have the MRI when the season ended but decided to have it done early to get it out of the way. He's fine but will probably miss other games this month because when he has to make some long relay throws his shoulder flares up. "We'll monitor it,'' manager John Russell said. "If it gets ouchy, we'll probably sit him down.''
Jack Wilson is still out with that bruised right index finger. The soonest he'll return is Friday night in San Francisco.
Former major league pitcher Dave LaRoche is here after finishing his season as pitching coach for Class AA New Hampshire. "It's really exciting,'' he said of being around two of his sons. "It brings back a lot of the old days of just being together as a family.''
Sep 02 2008
By Paul Meyer
CINCINNATI -- It is HOT here. Currently the temperature is 93 degrees and the "feels-like'' temperature is 96. Very unusual.
Jack Wilson is out of the lineup because of his injured right index finger and might miss all three games here. Freddy Sanchez, who's healthy, also is not starting. Interestingly, Luis Cruz is starting at shortstop -- not Brian Bixler. Perhaps the Pirates want to take a good look at Cruz in case they trade Wilson this offseason. "Shortstop is probably his best position,'' manager John Russell said of Cruz. "There's some value there.'' Bixler might have fallen into being regarded as more of a second baseman and for sure as more of utility player at the major league level.
Zach Duke, who was originally scheduled to start Wednesday night, has been pushed back two days and will start Friday night in San Francisco. Ross Ohlendorf will start Wednesday night and he'll have five September starts to begin making his case for a spot in next season's rotation. Ohlendorf throws his fastball in the 95-96 mile per hour range.
The Pirates don't plan to announce this, but manager Trent Jewett and hitting instructor Hensley Meulens won't return to Class AAA Indianapolis next season.
LINEUPS
Pirates
Morgan, LF
Cruz, SS
McLouth, CF
Doumit, C
Adam LaRoche, 1B
Moss, RF
Andy LaRoche, 3B
Rivas, 2B
Snell, RHP
Cincinnati
Dickerson, LF
Keppinger, SS
Phillips, 2B
Votto, 1B
Encarnacion, 3B
Bruce, RF
Hanigan, C
Patterson, CF
Harang, RHP
Sep 02 2008
By Paul Meyer
CINCINNATI -- Pirate fans won't have to wait long to get their first look at Ross Ohlendorf in the team's starting rotation. The right-hander will make his first major league start Wednesday night against Cincinnati.
Ohlendorf, 26, acquired from the New York Yankees in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade in July, was 4-3 with a 3.47 earned run average in seven starts for Class AAA Indianapolis. Ohlendorf has made 31 relief appearances in the major leagues, the most recent outing June 27 for the Yankees against the Mets.
Lifetime in the big leagues, Ohlendorf is 1-1 with a 6.02 earned run average.
The Reds' scheduled starter Wednesday night is right-hander Edinson Volquez (16-5, 3.04).
To make room on the 40-man roster for infielder Luis Cruz, the Pirates released right-handed pitcher Ty Taubenheim.
Right-hander Aaron Harang will start for the Reds tonight. Josh Fogg is scheduled to start for Cincinnati Thursday afternoon.
Sep 02 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:30 a.m. Tuesday
Maybe it could be a healthy thing for the Pirates, I was thinking a couple days ago, that Frank Coonelly, Neal Huntington and John Russell and all the other people new to management experience something like this 10-game losing streak.
Something that is so very Pirates.
Something that so very deeply underscores why people here feel about the franchise as they do.
Not sure why, but that crossed my mind.
Anyway, I will be off the next three days. Paul Meyer will cover the club for the series in Cincinnati, and I will catch up Friday in San Francisco, when we will do a live chat from out there.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
Main story: The annual minor league review focuses on Kyle Stark's break-a-few-eggs approach to overhauling a system. Also in there is a top-10 prospects list I compiled with some feedback from the Pirates. (Interactive, too. Click each player's name to go to his official page.)
Opinion: Columnist Ron Cook wonders why Pedro Alvarez does not simply live up to his word.
Other news: A total of 10 players will get called up today. Can anyone remember the last time the Pirates called up so many for September?
Chat: Pushed back to Friday from San Francisco. No Q&A in the interim.
And from other realms ...
The Associated Press reports that the Brewers' GM would like to change the scoring system. Also, Jim Leyland thinks it was an error.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel interviews an official scorer at Miller Park who disagrees with Bob Webb but acknowledges that "my opinion about what happens in Pittsburgh doesn't matter."
John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times opines that Alvarez's image is taking a beating in our town.
A handy tool for the coming series (and all year): Hal McCoy's blog at the Dayton Daily News.
In Astro-land, the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice suggests that we all owe Ed Wade an apology. He might be right.
Hapless, I say! (Thanks to Alexandre in Brazil.)
Daniel McCutchen and Chris Duffy send out Indianapolis on a winning note.
Altoona's players came out of a cornfield for the finale at BCB. Oh, and the Curve won, too.
So did Lynchburg.
So did Hickory. Just imagine how much differently that minor league review up there would have read if these teams had played like this all year.
In the blogosphere, Jolly Roger notes that the Pirates were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs ... well, sometime recently. I can honestly attest that is something I have yet to track on this beat. Too focused on the tragic number 82.
Sep 01 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:30 a.m. Monday
A few leftover thoughts on the CC Sabathia not-really-a-no-hitter from yesterday:
> Never thought I would fill out a scorecard in which a team finished the game with 26 official at-bats. That was the Pirates' total, including three walks and two runners erased by double plays.
> One widely expressed view in the past few hours seems to be that Bob Webb's scoring decision being made in haste somehow was bad. I will leave my specific view of the play itself out of this, but I will say that this line of thinking is illogical. You want the scorer, who is watching the game live and in person, to react to the full breadth of the play, and part of that is a feel for whether the play requires the "above-ordinary" effort Webb described. Replay is still available, and Webb ended up -- just an inning or so later -- going to a nearby monitor and examining things from every angle. But no video gives the feel -- the ball, the pitcher, the runner and how they come together -- like seeing it live.
> Before we go any further, here is a good replay, kind of similar to Webb's perspective. If you hit the pause button at the precise point Sabathia turns his head toward first base -- a good place to presume he had some grip on the ball -- that might give you the best idea as to whether or not the play could be made. Andy LaRoche is about 60 percent of the way there.
> Adam LaRoche is slow. Not Andy. Andy's speed is OK for a third baseman.
> It is beyond flawed to assume that a pitcher working with a "1" under the "H" column in the scoreboard is pitching with the same pressure as someone pitching with a "0." If Sabathia were to have gotten after-the-fact credit for a no-hitter when he pitched five full innings of that burden being lifted, it probably would need to go into a special category.
> Webb has scored games in Pittsburgh for 20 years. Generally speaking, one does not keep duty like that in any line of work by operating without impeccable knowledge and integrity.
> If Sabathia gloved the ball -- as he and several Pirates pointed out -- he makes the play. His decision to not use his glove probably should be factored into the play. If so, that might make the strongest case possible in favor of an error.
> And this, too: He had the ball about a foot off the ground, by my estimation, before dropping it. Should the "above-ordinary" aspect of the play be judged from that point onward? Or as a whole?
PHOTO: CC Sabathia, above right, Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Linkage to the general coverage ...
Game story: The appeal does not look favorable for the unhappy Brewers. And neither does the precedent, relevant or not, that no one-hitter has been transformed into a no-hitter by a scoring reversal. ... Oh, and the club has lost 10 in a row. Only the second time for that in the past 40 years.
Column: Gene Collier writes that Sabathia is huge in more ways than one.
Notebook: Frank Coonelly had his say in the Sunday paper, and Scott Boras comes right back on the same subject. ... Also in there, expect Luis Cruz to be a callup when those are announced tomorrow, something that would have seemed unthinkable even a month ago. Ross Ohlendorf, T.J. Beam and Craig Hansen are locks, and expect Brian Bixler, Steve Pearce and a catcher, too.
Poll: What else? Hit or no hit?
And from other realms ...
Alan Robinson of the Associated Press polled the press box and produced a 6-2 vote in favor of a hit.
The AP took this terrific shot of Prince Fielder and Sabathia simulating a no-hitter celebration ...
Poor Tom Haudricourt had a 7 p.m. flight to catch, but he still had time to file a detailed examination of the day for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Also, check the reader poll on that page to see how the other side feels.
ESPN has a poll, too.
Video of Ned Yost's animated news conference, as well as Sabathia speaking on the field.
ESPN's Rob Neyer thinks it was an error, but he also thinks Yost should be fined for his comments about Webb. (Insider account needed.)
Nice night for Chris Duffy, who apparently will be left out of the September mix.
Jonel Pacheco, 25, was named Altoona's MVP. But never mind that: Jose Tabata went deep again.
In the blogosphere, Bucs Dugout takes the neat position that there should be no errors. Ever. ... A Brewers blog called Right Field Bleachers takes the position that it should be a no-hitter, but it incorrectly notes that errors cannot be changed to hits. ... Bucs Trade Winds links to the audio of the Baseball Prospectus/Kevin Goldstein interview regarding Alvarez.
Aug 31 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic | 5:09 p.m. Sunday
Was it a no-hitter or not?
Officially, the answer is no, the Pirates were limited to one hit by CC Sabathia - a fifth-inning single by Andy LaRoche - in losing their 10th in a row, 7-0, to the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon at PNC Park.
The Brewers, with the view that the single should have been ruled an error, immediately asked Major League Baseball to review the decision of official scorer Bob Webb. A formal appeal, with a DVD of the play in question, will be filed tomorrow.
"That's a joke," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "The scorekeeper absolutely denied Major League Baseball a no-hitter. He threw a hit up on the board before LaRoche had even hit the bag. It's sad. That's sad. I'm upset. I can see if it was borderline, that it could have gone either way. That wasn't even close."
Yost continued, "If you know baseball at all, you know that's a play that has to be made and is made all the time. He rushed it. That's a stinkin' no-hitter that we all got cheated out of. I'm upset. That was my first no-hitter. I could have told my grandkids about it."
"It is what it is," Sabathia said. "Just lookin' at the replay, I think I would have had him."
This was the play: LaRoche squibbed a 2-2 slider - off a check-swing -- to the left of the mound. Sabathia got there quickly and tried to barehand the ball but dropped it and never made a throw. Within seconds, Webb announced to the press box that it was a single.
Webb's decision, which he explained right after the game, was that it would have taken an "above-ordinary" play for Sabathia to get LaRoche.
"The way the ball came off the bat, it was spinning, and it went to the left of the mound with a left-handed pitcher going to get it. It's a difficult play," Webb said. "The definition requires that standard effort is required, and that would have taken more than an ordinary effort. The runner was well down the line."
Even if MLB disagrees with Webb on his scoring decision, the final call is his. MLB can review and recommend, but Webb still has to change his mind, and he gave no indication of doing that.
LaRoche, who saw a replay, said, "I'm sure they'll change it to an error. I mean, I obviously didn't hit it very hard, so it really doesn't deserve a hit."
Other Pirates players said that, if Sabathia had tried to make the play with his glove rather than the bare hand, he might have had LaRoche.
Pirates manager John Russell, asked if he thought the play should be ruled an error, flatly replied, "No."
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