Pirates Blow Another Lead Giving Up the Long Ball

The Pirates have prided themselves on staying relevant due to hitting Home Runs.  They are in the top 10 in MLB when it comes to HRs, but a statistic that is going in the wrong direction is the number of home runs allowed by the Pirates' pitching staff.  Wandy Rodriguez took the mound yesterday in an attempt to prove his worth since being acquired via trade from the Astros.  The Pirates didn't get a glimpse of that yesterday afternoon.  Rodriguez has yet to show the Pittsburgh faithful the strikeout capabilities that made him a great pickup before the trade deadline.  Not only is he not striking batters out, but he is missing his spots on alot of pitches.  One of those pitches was to Will Nieves (Catcher for the Diamondbacks) with a 3-2 lead over the D'Backs.  The Pirates had just clawed their way back and were in the 6th inning with a runner on first when Wandy hung a breaking pitch that was sent over the wall for a 2-run HR and the D'Backs never surrendered that lead.  Rodriguez's starts have been solid except for a couple pitches here and there.  Think back to the Cincinnati game where he gave up an inside the park HR (which should have been an out if Marte played the wall better) and had the pitcher hit a 2-run HR off him.  Besides that...a good outing.

Lets not get silly here and think that the entire blame falls on Wandy's shoulders for the loss.  At one point 16 Pirates batters were retired without a hit.  When you are fighting for a division title, that is unacceptable.  What makes these losses sting even more is the fact that the Reds have hit a major slump and the Pirates haven't capitalized on them, like they should have.  They blew two leads in the losses to the D'Backs.  I realize they were 5.5 games out of 1st and are now only 2.5, but they could be only a .5 game out of first if they played to their potential.  Another factor that bothers me is how obvious that Clint Hurdle hasn't found a lineup that "suits his fancy".  I applauded his move yesterday to sit Barajas and Alvarez...neither of them could hit water if they fell out of a boat.  However, he hasn't found someone to step up.  Pirates faithful are waiting for Josh Harrison to take control of that position at third, but that hasn't happened yet.  I do feel Michael McKenry has earned a spot on the every day roster. 

Hope is on the horizon as the San Diego Padres come to town and the Buccos have James McDonald and AJ Burnett lined up to pitch the next two nights at PNC Park.  If all goes as planned (and with McDonald you never really know) the Pirates should be looking at two wins coming up...lets just hope the Reds continue to slip.