Pirates Bats Match the Horrendous Performance of Pitching Staff in 3-0 Loss

Even AJ Burnett Couldn't Right the Bucco Ship

The Pirates hitters decided to send the Bucco faithful to "Def-Con 4" after last night's 2-hit debacle to the San Diego Padres.  Maybe they didn't want the pitching staff to get the brunt of the abuse from fans and media and wanted to take some of the blame themselves?  Whatever the reason, the Pirates have lost 3 in a row and are now even further behind (4.5 Games) the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central race and further behind the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card race.  The trend of letting opponents score run(s) in the first inning continued to the point where even AJ Burnett wasn't able to shake his way through the first without giving up a run.  Putting the bats behind the 8-ball so early in the game is detrimental to this team.  They have put up runs in a big way at times, but as was on display Saturday night, they can also lay eggs.

I shouldn't say AJ Burnett was to blame for this loss.  He pitched well, striking out 10, and only walked 2 batters, but those two walks came on consecutive batters, the latter leading to walking in a run.  The Pirates, and manager Clint Hurdle, now have a very difficult task at hand, and it doesn't have anything to do with the San Diego Padres.  They have to put their heads down, and find a way to win game 3 of the series to gain some kind of momentum.  The Pirates have been a resilient bunch this season and are certainly capable of winning game three to spring board them back to their high level of play, but this is where having a solid manager means alot.  The manager that can connect with his team and get them motivated to go out and play their hearts out is the manager that can get their team out of their funk.  Clint Hurdle is that guy for the Pirates.  The players have all stated that he is the perfect manager for this team, and I trust that he will get them through this rough patch.

All in all, and I know this is difficult for Pirates fans, you have to have faith in this team.  One bad series is not going to ruin the season just yet.  The season is starting to reach the final stretch, but as a fan-base we can't give up on these players.  Attendance shows that we (as fans) have not given up as last night's attendance at PNC Park was the 3rd largest crowd in PNC Park history with 39,485 people in attendance, but just as Bon Jovi said in the late 80s/early 90s...KEEP THE FAITH!