Horrible Pitching, Well...Almost

Only the Pirates can manage 7 runs and lose. 18 hits....in ONE GAME!? Something is obviously wrong when numbers creep towards the vente mark. That's Spanish for 20, for all of those who didn't attend and bilingual classes. Tyler Yates, has officially clocked himself out for the rest of the season. His ERA was one of the best out of the bullpen, that being a sub 3.30. Now, it's ballooned to a staggering 4.86. It's higher than Sean Burnett's, how is that possible?! Somehow, the Pirates managed 4 runs off of Dan Harren's illegal pitching delivery, but it's never enough, is it? Haren threw 97 pitches in the ball game and 71 of them counted for strikes. Crazy. It doesn't matter, Tyler Yates blew it and so did the Pirates. Game 2 was over before it even started. Brandon Webb took the mound and got his 16th victory and basically took the Cy Young award by the balls. But come one, he does pitch in the NL West....then again, they are all "professionals". That last part pertains to everyone, except Manny Ramirez, because we all know that isn't true.

And finally, how about Jeff Karsten's? Shuts down the Cubs and now almost gets a perfect game in his second game with the Bucco's. He went 7.2 before giving up a double to Chris Young. What a shame too, becuase the Pirates needed something to show for their trades. (That was sarcasm by the way.) He's obviously not a flashy pitcher (4 strike outs), and could him being new, with no scouting report have to do with his success? No one's figured it out and let's hope they never do. The Buc's needed some serious pitching when all of their trades went down and they've found something in Karstens. Meanwhile, Craig Hansen (from Boston), has given up a run in each of his first two outings with the Pirates. He carried a 5+ ERA when he walked into PNC, and he continues to struggle in the NL. Word is that he needs some work on his mechanics and location, but on the other hand he has some nasty stuff. Lord knows we hope that's true.

Newly Acquired:

TJ Beam - Called up. Meh, nothing special. He owns a 4.27 ERA and an enormous 6 foot 7 inch frame. He's never been consistent, at least not yet.

Denny Bautista - Picked up on waivers from Detroit. This guys has been solid for the most part lately and I don't see it ending. He's starting to pick his spots and hit them and besides his blow up of 4 earned runs against Milwaukee, this guy has been reliable 95% of the time. Solid move by the organization.

Jason Davis - Called up. Davis (who was in the bullpen for most of his tenure) has now been placed into the 5th spot of the starting rotation, since Gorzelany has forgotten what a strike is and Dumatrait still hurt. Davis has worked 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and striking out 3. It's one of those deals where you hope the best for the kid and hope everything works out. It can't get any worse, being 30th in pitching oughta tell you that.

Andy LaRoche - Acquired from the Dodgers, hasn't done anything besides a 2 run homer in Chicago and a base hit earlier. It's one of those deals where time will tell. He hasn't been in the big's long and there's talk that he's one of the best prospects to make a name for himself.

Scott Pearce - Called up, when Xavier Nady was traded and was declared the everyday starter by John Russell. He's been hanging around with a few hits here and there, but nothing consistent. I like where things are headed, but like all things they need time. Everyone is surely not going to come right in and be the Tampa Bay Rays.

Brandon Moss - Acquired from Boston and has been swinging a very good bat. He had a game tying home run in Chicago and has 3 RBI's to go with his .298 average. I really like this pick up by the Pirates and with Karstens, I think things are in go mode for the next 3-5 years.

Jeff Karstens - Acquired from the Yankees and here's your run down. ERA = 0.00. Enough said. This guy was a 19th rounder by the Yank's back in 2003!

Next up - In Philadelphia for a series against the Phillies. Jason Davis is scheduled to start Sunday.