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On location: Braves 7, Pirates 3 196
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS Getting ready for the first pitch … Game: Pirates (64-60) vs. Atlanta Braves (63-60), 7:05 p.m., PNC Park Pitchers: RHP Vance Worley (5-2, 2.51) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (12-6, 3.66) TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan Online: Live box score / Multimedia / Official media notes Related
LETS GO BUCS. Home game means time to break the losing streak.
Seinfeld on baseball: Baseball is a two-day sport. You have the day of the game and the day after. Each game is big. If you win, you’re happy that day and the next day. If you lose, you’re bumming for two days. (ESPN.COM)
Our bumming is on 6 days and counting….
PIRATES LINEUP (Pedro at 1B):
Polanco RF
JHay SS
Walker 2B
Martin C
Pedro 1B
Marte CF
Snider LF
Morel 3B
Worley P
Cutch: “I expect to play tomorrow”.
to me this lineup speaks volumes:
1) Pedro inability to be trusted at 3B
2) Ike is nearly unplayable at this point
Braves Lineup
RF: Jason Heyward
SS: Andrelton Simmons
1B: Freddie Freeman
LF: Justin Upton
3B: Chris Johnson
2B: Tommy La Stella
C: Gerald Laird
CF: Emilio Bonifacio
SP: Ervin Santana
Pedro is playing 1B
I never thought Pedro would be at 1st Base as a Pirate. He has above average hands, and his range, especially to his right, was improving. And his strong arm was his greatest asset.
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Of course, I never thought I’d see a Major Leaguer wear his hat OVER his ears. Vulcan!!
JayHay wears it the same way.
JHay is definitely an alien!
John Belushi rallies the Pirates (or at least the blog):
If you recall, last Monday someone posted the official (I think) Pirates rally video. Tonight, we had to dig a little deeper.
I always loved the “Animal House” rally video. They need to bring it back. Of course it may be lost on the young Pirates but what the heck.
All this falderal about the lineup. It’s the pitching stupid.
Move of PA to first two years late.
Better late than never.
Better late than never
My opinion, I think the Pirates Managment is just attempting to get Pedro in a position to be traded…. but get something back in return!!!
If he wasn’t a 1st round pick, he would be cut by now.
wrong. He hit 31 homers last year!! Cut? Seriously? Is this Skip Bayless or Stephen A Smith posting anonymously?
Need I remind you how long it took for Pirates to say goodbye to Steve Blass?
I’ve never been a fan of Pedro since he entered the league. Poor work ethic, etc.
I’d rather have a player that hits 275 and 10HR than Pedro at 235 average and 30 HR.
btw, I just described Josh Harrison.
36, actually.
Let’s not have a repeat of yesterday, Buccos roster!
Why are you less engaging on Twitter? You just retweet your own articles and never discuss anything with anyone. It’s been kind of disappointing.
Alas, there’s only one of me, my friend. All my energies are going into this site, where I have 2,500-plus paid subscribers. I’d hope that’s easy to understand. … We’d love to have you along! It’s $1.50 a month!
Do it, Yonder Over! It is totally worth it.
1. We probably shouldn’t be grousing about the lineup, since it’s mostly the lineup that has won as much as the. Bucs have won.
2. We definitely should have been grousing about the pitching options, although the starters have come through.
3. …
To play advocate, what do we do if Pedro settles in at first base, starts raking the ball again, and is a crucial part of our line up? He has one more year of arbitration eligibility, if I am not mistaken. Trade in the off season? Wait until the deadline? And…GO!
Good problem to have. There’s money to pay him for whatever he produces, or he can be traded high. One way or another, it’s a win.
I think Pedro is a goner in the off-season regardless of what he does at 1B.
Pirates just hoping to get something in return.
Even if his fielding at 1B is acceptable, he still isn’t hitting for crap. Liability in the lineup… defense and offense.
3. I still think when Cutch went down they should’ve immediately paid for Byrd. The infield subs wouldn’t have seemed so lame.
4. Hopefully Axford is a solution. Stolmy on the DL is certainly one.
As Lucky predicted yesterday, 11 innings was apparently too much for 24/7.
Hit 2,500 subscriptions today. A quarter of the way to the full-YEAR goal of 10K, and we’re not even a month old yet. Thank you so much!
Congrats, DK!
+++++++
That’s awesome! And thank you for the content – best money I have spent in a while. Keep up the good work!
Great news – will be interesting to see how growth goes as we move into college football, regular season NFL and hockey
Heck with Twitter. Go for 10,000 plus.
Oh, we’re going. Believe me. This is a spectacular start.
Congrats, Dejan. Glad to be part of the family!
Congrats, DK. Looks like you’ll be keeping Starbucks in the black!
DK: Can you explain what “socialpolling_verb” reflects? Saw it following 4-5 posts by others commenting on your morning column.
I have had that pop up after I posted a few comments too. I was wondering the same thing. Great question.
socialpolling_verb
Let’s hope it’s code for amazingly intelligent comments, Carlos.
All of my intelligent comments are edited out by socialpolling_verb. So please forgive my other comments.
Well, that was fast!
OK – I’m out already.
Boom goes the dynamite! That sound you hear is the season being flushed down the toilet.
4 pitches 2-0. Not the best start.
Okay. What time does the Vanimal start pitching?
Oh good grief. I can’t stand to see this carnage.
The bad: 2 HRs already.
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The good: No plays at 1B yet.
So this is going well.
Ugly defense – not a good thing for a “pitch to contact” pitcher
Pitch count not a problem, at least. Not yet, anyway.
Pedro fields the ball hit to 3rd and a real major league 2nd baseman starts a double play on Walkers screwup. Inning should be over. This bad defense-errors are not the only measure that matters has killed the Bucs all season
As I mentioned on the column thread this morning, Neil Walker is statistically the worst 2B in MLB. http://sabr.org/sdi/2014-08-03#NL2B
Wow….I’m no professional, but I’m speechless. You have any pertinent adjective that adequately describes this, DK?
The pitcher who has pitched well prior to this is no longer pitching well. I don’t connect starting pitching and momentum/slumps. Sorry.
That was far deeper than I was implying. I was referring to the immediate product at hand….as in wow…what a Horrible inning….or…wow what a terrible start.
Or…unfortunate…that Vance fell completely off the tracks. Regardless of the word….this is NOT the start the Bucs needed tonight.
Got to disagree DK – Worley did exactly the right thing – got two very catchable ground balls and should have been in the dugout. I know it is not sexy and doesn’t get page views but the Buc pitchers have been let down by poor defense all year Walker – 1st base – CF
Doesn’t get page views? Really? That’s where you want to take a routine discussion about baseball?
Let me know now, so I know not to take seriously anything you post from this point forward. Thanks.
Sucks
Pray for rain.
This is getting disheartening… Anyone here at the game? Shoulders slumped over and heads down already?
I’m here. Head and shoulder status quo, though.
I don’t know what is worse, the team or Walk’s excuses on the radio.
They get paid to make excuses.
That was not a great throw, but isn’t that one on El Toro?
Error definitely on Walker. Each night it’s someone else. Clearly this team needs to relax and “play” a game. Everyone way too uptight since Cutch went out.
After the close up replay the throw was WAY wide. I couldn’t tell at first.
Talk about imploding. Man oh man…and I hope this doesn’t come up as “socialpolling_verb”.
Implosion….excellent choice of word, Barb!
Well maybe we can some of those runs back.
Only a 6-run deficit. Only.
Okay. 8 more innings. 54-0 not insurmountable.
Not sure if it’s the same fans, but Pedro gets cheered coming to the plate with two runners aboard, booed when he Ks. Such an odd relationship. Always has been.
Look at the bright side, he doesn’t have any errors!!
Great start pa on offense and defense.
It’s the pitching stupid.
I agree Milo….we really need better pitching…
Nope – it is the fielding – Worley deserved better
Time to switch to watching Little League World Series.
The Pirates have averaged 4.23 runs per game while Andrew McCutchen has been out (NL average is 3.96). And they’ve lost 8 out of 13.
I thought Morton was on the DL. What’s he doing in a Vanimal outfit?
Martay Partay. One batter too late.
Marte lasers a ball into seats above R-C. Seriously tagged that. He’ll make anyone pay for pitching him on outer part of plate. It’s 6-1. Anyone else feel like Pirates are afraid to trust him in key middle spots in order?
Has any player in history with 40+ steals batted so low in a lineup?
Every time I watch Angel Hernandez work the plate I wonder how someone so incredibly inept can rise to the top of their profession.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/big-league-stew/umpire–angel-hernandez-does-not-belong-in-the-big-leagues–—-duane-kuiper-164749453.html
Thanks for that Bob, I hadn’t seen it before. I have a lot of respect for Kuiper (and Amy G of course) & I think it carries a lot of weight coming from him.
Hernandez is a joke. That strike zone tonight was a joke. A ball in the dirt is a strike? The umps in the LLWS often expand the zone to keep the game moving and Angels is bigger than any o f those.
Walker crushes 17th homer into Allegheny River on bounce, and it’s 6-2. Swear I thought that had chance on the fly when it left bat.
Walker’s river ball was 35th in PNC history, by 24 players, but first of his career. Estimated at 432 feet. Needed about another 25.
If I don’t comment anymore after this, it’s because Pedro is killing me and, well, I’m dead.
I apologize for nit-picking, but it appears that Pedro is taking his foot off of the base early on putouts at first. Hopefully, the ump does not decide to pull a technicality and call somebody safe.
Funny you say that, I thought same thing…I seem to be agreeing with every post you make, lol
He did it the 1st putout of the game he had. I’m watching on an iPad in Tucson and saw it!
He also needs to learn that his territory is more limited at first saw at least two routine grounders to walker that Pedro tried to get to causing the pitcher to be late on the break to the bag. Pedro still in the learning process at first. But hey it is such an easy switch right?
If there one-inning mulligans in baseball, Worley would pitching a gem tonight, and Charlie Morton would win the Cy Young.
But what’s Charlie’s xFIP ?
Nope He IS pitching a gem – it is the defense that sucks!
Would have been nice to actually hear what Marte had to say…that was embarassing Gaby
I must have missed it – what was said (or allegedly said)?
Root was interviewing Cutch in the dugout…right when Walker jacked one out…and Gaby kept throwing sunflower seeds at him the entire interview, so Cutch ended up not paying attention, giving stupid answers, etc, really dumb
Which would be OK if Gaby could hit, right? Then it’s hilarious.
Ha ha, maybe, we used to have a term in the military “funny once” and “funny never”…that was “funny once”
Cannot wait for day he’s gone. A dolt.
Gaby is embarrassing in many ways.
Down this many runs and in a losing streak and he thinks this is appropriate and funny
I’d DFA HIM TONIGHT
I’m with you, LL. His game face is goofball.
and I agree with you again
To ve fair to Gabby he his not the first to pull this prank. It seems to be an ongoing theme in that dugout. Wish it would stop.
Martay Partay II. Only 3 more HRs to go to tie this game up.
When Marte shortens his swing and uses leverage the result is amazing.
Total kick: Blast Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe’ into your QC15s while watching live baseball. Makes even a Brent Morel at-bat wildly entertaining.
Are the Bose worth it? I have been considering them.
Life-altering purchase. Especially if you travel. Honestly can’t live without them.
As someone who flies for a living, trust me Bose noise canceling headsets are sooooo worth it.
Thanks for the recommendation DK. I travel enough to justify the purchase. Again congrats on the successful launch!
Thanks!
Socialpolling_Worley.
Socialpolling_funny.
That only happens when you post too often, or rapid-fire.
Hear that Carlos “Speedy Gonzales” Danger? Slow down.
280 characters + speed bumps.
I didn’t think I posted rapid fire. But I will try to take at least a few deep breaths before posting. Might help eliminate socialpolling_regret.
First extra base hit by a Pirate pitcher in over 2 years (Erik Bedard).
Tying run is in the on deck circle.
Swung at ball 4.
Just keep getting one an inning.
Is the Braves bullpen any good or do we have a chance of coming back? Is it me or does the Braves pitcher just look he doesn’t give a crap while those HRs were going out.
Two words: Craig Kimbrel.
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Don’t want to see him with a Braves lead.
He’s about the only one I know about. Your right, lights out.
Vance Worley’s tribute to Charlie Morton is really quite stirring.
Catchable ball to 3rd – DP ball to walker
1st inning should have been over at 2-0.
Worley deserves a special commendation for hanging on and saving the bullpen.
When are you very smart folks going to realize that half of the defense is AWFUL.
Socialpolling_troll
Blass is a true citizen of Pittsburgh.
I have been tied up on phone calls half listening. Surprised At the comeback so far.
In case you missed it, the Pirates have already allowed 10 more unearned runs than they did the entire 2013 season.
I really give it to Worley, he easily could’ve thrown in the towel after 1st inning
It’s almost like Santana is stubbornly refusing to accept that he CAN’T beat Marte on outer part of plate. Stupid bravado.
Morel–another superstar find by Neal.
Gotta love Andrew Lambo trolling the entire process by slugging his second homer of the game just now for Indy. Good for him. Terrific kid.
Shamefully stuck in AAA.
Read somewhere we are all familiar with that Hurdle and Neal are impressed with the box scores but the AAA coaches are telling them that all the weaknesses Lambo had are still there. No improvment. He crushed AAA last year was finally called up and stunk. Stunk in spring. Hasnt improved projects to still stink at the big club level. Ive learbed through free matt hague and free lambo part I that I should just trust the club on these things. They are rigjt more than me.
i agree about the pitching problem, but what on earth is Morel doing in a ML uniform?
I think Morel even wonders what he’s doing here
He’s Morel Less picking up a free paycheck.
Stinks.
Amen.
He looked like he was looking for a cab after that AB
Blass says “that was….uh….bad”
Disagree. Cabs are for major leaguers. He must have been looking for a bus.
And in response to that DP disaster by Ike….I would like to say…. @&@%#%#-#+@(@(@-@%%$@\@&@%!!!
Lambo hitting .300 plus at Indy…
DFA both Davis and Sanchez and bring up Lambo and McGuiness
mmmm Guiness
Wow wasn’t someone talking about base running gaffes. 2nd and 3rd nobody out and they get squat.
again
The power hitting first baseman can’t pull the ball – it was not a base running error – it was Ike Davis being Ike Davis
That’s one theory, I might like to think a major leaguer with the play in front of them wouldn’t get doubled off there.
So wait, LL doesn’t like Ike Davis?
Ok. I have given you the benefit of the doubt. But do you EVER have anything positive to say? Is there any player on this team you do like? Do you really think it is all as simple as dfaing half the roster and calling up either guys who have proven to be bums to replace guys who have had at least some historical success or to swing a deal when it takes two to tango? We get it you hate Gabby and Ike and Walker at least as a asecond baseman. But please give it a rest. Maybe post a simple go bucs or something
Can someone explain how the Bucs hit back-to-back doubles and didn’t score a run?
So, I’m thinking that at least when dude strikes out looking while trying to walk, Polanco will still get up. Little did I know, weak half-swing flare to third. Presto! Double play. Inning no more.
Know that Snider has delivered recently but there have been 3-4 instances in past 2 weeks where he had no clue about the game situation, including twice firing a ball to the infield after the third out.
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That liner gets through and he’ll have no problem scoring. Inexcusable.
Blass just told hilarious story about Sanguillen catching him, said they were so in sync that he’d throw before Sangy gave him a sign. He said Sangy would say “we don’t need no singles (he meant signals), I’ll catch whatever you throw”. I loved Sanguillen man
This losing streak is making me think back to August 2011 and 2012. I am still optimistic until the end, but just had to say that.
Emilio Bonafacio & James Russell were traded for a 21 year old single A “power hitting” DH that has 5 home runs.
New avatar?
For Roberto’s birthday.
Nothing but respect for that Milo!
I predict Axford beans someone
Plea to Kevin Hayes: Make it the Pens. Will hand wash your car for one year.
Alright, busted. Son will.
Why is Morel playing 3B?
Frankly, why is he on the roster?
Why is Pedro batting 5th?
Wait a minute, we got a dude named Frankly?
Stinks.
Surely we have a better player than that?
LMAO…. good one.
Stop calling me Shirley.
Yeah we should bring that guy, Shirley Frankly up
Team’s making me looney
Any reference to Airplane = awesome. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
Man, this ump’s strikezone is all over the place today
Worst umpire in baseball.
“We are satisfied with the makeup of the team/roster. We felt the best move was no move.”
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Remember this line, and who said it.
And why.
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All the extra revenue this year, and the only addition, after ST was Davis, at 2.5 million.
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Don’t be an apologist, really look at this.
Good time for a Clendenon HR Gaby
Man Morel make Pedro look like Ted Williams. Talk about out of his league.
Blass just broke the secret code…you’re supposed to win and then win again…quick let me write that down
Okay. Now what? Collapse III. Wait, Cutch is coming back. That will free up Martinez/Nix to do, well, whatever it is they do.
@Dejan_Kovacevic: Because I don’t really have any rules, I’m writing another column tonight about this Pirates bench. Trust me, it won’t be what you expect.
column was there and the poof!, it wasn’t
If we’re going to roll dice on bench players, can we at least toss in a couple having somewhat of a minor league pedigree?
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Socialpolling_Lambo.
Can he hit a big league breaking ball yet?
Once Cutch comes back tomorrow Lambo would be the 5th outfielder. They are dwad set at trying Petey at first. So another lefty first baseman would be over kill.
Lambo is better served in AAA playing every day.
How ’bout we find out and maybe give him just a few more at bats ?
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We already know Alvarez can’t and he’s got a huge sample size.