By Dejan
Kovacevic | 11:40 a.m. Wednesday
PHOENIX - Dirty Doug vs. Big Unit, and they left this one off your TV schedule?
That happened last time, too, right?
Sure did. That was the afternoon of June 9 at PNC Park, when Ryan Doumit declared afterward, "We weren't going to get pushed around in our own house. Especially by Randy Johnson."
Oh, it IS on TV? Well, never mind. I will do some live-blogging this afternoon, anyway.
Getting ready ...
Game: Pirates (51-62) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (59-54), 3:40 p.m., Chase Field.
TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7).
Pitching: RHP Jeff Karstens (1-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Randy Johnson (9-7, 4.35).
What to watch: Thinking left-on-left might keep Mientkiewicz out of the lineup? Think again. He has six career plate appearances against Johnson, two singles and two walks. Besides, how would that look?
Weather: What time is that flight again?
Pirates' lineup: 1. Chris Gomez 3B. 2. Mientkiewicz. 3. Freddy Sanchez 2B. 4. Jason Michaels CF. 5. Brandon Moss LF. 6. Steve Pearce RF. 7. Raul Chavez C. 8. Jack Wilson SS. 9. Karstens.
Diamondbacks' lineup: 1. Stephen Drew SS. 2. Orlando Hudson 2B. 3. Conor Jackson LF. 4. Chad Tracy 1B. 5. Mark Reynolds 3B. 6. Chris Young CF. 7. Alex Romero RF. 8. Chris Snyder C. 9. Johnson.
UPDATE 1:35 p.m.: Mientkiewicz will play and bat second.
2:21 p.m., pregame stuff: Nate McLouth is getting his first day off since July 4. No kidding. Ryan Doumit off for the first time since July 27. Obviously, John Russell's plan is to get them back-to-back days off and be fresh for Philadelphia. ... Ian Snell is feeling better. Adam LaRoche ran again. Jason Davis did a really long side session. ... Place wound slightly tighter than usual for a day game.
3:01 p.m.: I see some discussion below about Jose Bautista. Do not over-think it. The Pirates see him as a utility player, and it is possible they have seen him that way for quite a while but had no one else to play third base until now. Remember, this is a semi-young player who was being platooned at his own position with Mientkiewicz, who never had played there and who has trouble making throws across the diamond. It will take some doing, one would think, to shift that thinking. And that goes on Bautista's end, too. He sees himself as a starter and wants a chance.
3:32 p.m.: No Superfan today. Maybe she has a job.
3:39 p.m.: Unit takes mound. Worlds tremble.
3:41 p.m.: There goes Chris Gomez, groundout. Here comes Doug, not exactly trembling.
3:42 p.m.: Doug stepped out before first pitch. Classic.
3:44 p.m.: There was an 0-2 pitch right by his head, followed immediately by a groundout. It was purposeful, too, as catcher. Chris Snyder actually stood up during the delivery.
3:53 p.m.: Karstens will need to do better to hang around in this game. He just finished with two outs crushed to the track. Orlando Hudston's ball to the 413-foot mark in center was one of the loudest outs you will ever hear.
4:12 p.m.: There goes the no-hitter ... for either pitcher. And it was Karstens getting his first major league hit, going the other way with a line-drive single.
4:13 p.m.: Man, this place is quiet. Seriously. When they do the between-innings music, it is such a contrast that it jolts you back in your seat. And there probably are 21,000 here. ... Doug will lead off the fourth.
4:19 p.m.: Karstens is settling, and doing so nicely. Just froze Alex Romero with a 91-mph fastball -- very confident-looking -- that did not cause Raul Chavez to move his mitt a millimeter. Might explain why, when I talked to Karstens in Chicago the other day after what most everyone else saw as a good outing, all he could talk about was being disappointed in the four walks.
4:23 p.m
.: Here we go again. Doug's second AB.
4:24 p.m.: Two pitches, groundout. Maybe both guys just showed up to play.
4:25 p.m.: Impressive home run by Freddy Sanchez. Johnson threw an 0-2 fastball 90 mph over the outside corner, and Sanchez got full extension to pull it deep into the home bullpen beyond left. Estimated 372 feet. Eighth home for him. 1-0.
4:36 p.m.: One thing about Karstens -- and that one thing would be higher than Arizona's hit total through four innings -- that the Pirates probably will like even when he does not pitch well: This kid appears to have no fear. He is throwing all four pitches for strikes, and it appears he could not care less that they are hit hard or not. Just gets outs. A very jarring sight after much of the other pitching all of us have watched this summer.
4:38 p.m.: Am I the only one who thinks Steve Pearce looks overmatched at this level? He is now 3 for 13 with five strikeouts, and a couple of those strikeouts have been grisly.
4:48 p.m.: Talk about a charmed life. Two more balls to the track in the very deep center here, but still perfect through five innings. ... Yes, perfect.
4:56 p.m.: Mientkiewicz rifles a single through the box in his third and what surely will be final at-bat against Johnson on the day. Edge: Mientkiewicz.
5:06 p.m.: Six innings now. This is starting to get serious.
5:11 p.m.: There have been no perfect games in the Pirates' 122 years, though Harvey Haddix memorably threw 12 perfect innings May 26, 1959, before losing in the 13th. There have been seven no-hitters, none since Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon's combined gem July 12, 1997.
5:19 p.m.: Seven in the books: Karstens rifles through the top of Arizona's order, getting Drew to pop up, striking out Hudson on high heat after the count went full and getting Jackson to fly out.
5:21 p.m.: There goes Jack Wilson, giving Arizona ideas by trying -- and failing -- to get down a bunt single to start the eighth. For the record, Drew briefly squared up to bunt with the first offering of the seventh.
5:24 p.m.: OK, really, one last time for Doug and Unit. And Doug again gets the better of him with a double into the right corner. Game, set, match: Mientkiewicz. That was the hit that knocked Johnson out of the game. 2-0, Pirates. Best of all for the Pirates, Karstens is back in the dugout rather than on the basepaths.
5:28 p.m.: Every player in the Pirates' dugout, just below here, is on the top step. But that is not the thing: Most of the ones who are not playing have not moved from their specific spot at the top step. That includes John Russell.
5:32 p.m.: Six more outs to go, beginning with the heart of the order. And these are the guys who have been hitting the ball to the tracks: Tracy, Reynolds and Young. If Karstens gets through these three ...
5:34 p.m.: The infielders are way more nervous than Karstens. You should see these guys fidgeting. Interesting, too, that Russell has better defensive guys on the bench, but that would be a huge no-no to be changing anything now.
5:36 p.m.: Told you they were nervous. Gomez barely got that ball across the infield for the second out.
5:37 p.m.: There it goes. Chris Young doubles into the left-field corner with two outs in the eighth. Perfect game, no-hitter gone. Mientkiewicz gathers everyone on the mound to settle Karstens.
5:38 p.m.: Romero grounds out, so Karstens will have to settle simply for one of the best games pitched in franchise history if he can get through the ninth. ... Oh, and the dugout guys finally moved. Some of them even got near Karstens. ... Zero recognition from the Arizona crowd for Karstens.
5:43 p.m.: The big sombrero for Pearce: Four swinging strikeouts. Moss has fared little better just ahead of him with three Ks.
5:45 p.m.: Anyone anticipating giddy excitement from Karstens after this will be disappointed. He is quiet as they come. All business. ... Someone on the PA system just advised the crowd to make some noise.
5:52 p.m.: Augie Ojedo drew a full-count walk to lead off the Arizona ninth, with Karstens flying open on a couple pitches. Tony Clark, another pinch-hitter, just grounded into a 1-6-3 double play. One wonders if Karstens needed that to stay in the game. It was his 106th pitch, and the game is on the line.
5:55 p.m.: Drew singles, but Hudson is robbed of a hit by a diving Mientkiewicz -- who else? -- to finish the two-hit shutout for Karstens. It is his first major league shutout, his second as a professional. He struck out four, walked one and threw 72 of 113 pitches for strikes. Not bad. More from the clubhouse in a bit. ... Oh, and Pirates win, 2-0.
Posted
Aug 06 2008, 11:40 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic