Pirates Get the Breaks and Roll Over Astros 6-2



Brock Holt - Welcome to Team Zoltan


It was bound to happen.  Regardless of what some people say the Pirates have a decent ball club and I didn't think they would ever get swept by the Astros.  I'm sure Pirate fans were excited to see the win last night (all be it a late finish because of a rain delay), but the Pirates got alot of help from the lowly Astros.  Errors were floating around the Houston club, and at critical times.  Garrett Jones' groundball that the shortstop boots...scores a couple.  The pop fly that the Astros' infielder dropped...scores a run.  Good ball clubs don't make those mistakes.  Nonetheless, it was good to see Andrew McCutchen go 4-4 and newcomer Brock Holt (what a name that is...sounds like an old WWF wrestler) joined McCutcheon in the 4-4 club last night.  The biggest difference in this club last night was Wandy Rodriguez.  I tweeted last night that its about time that the Wandy Rodriguez that used to stifle the Pirates showed up in the Buccos uniform.  Lets keep this in perspective, they beat the Astros.  Now they need to do that again today and keep it going against the Cubs.

The most annoying thing for me about this team is that they never seem to put it all together.  What do I mean by that?  Lets take a look at the pitching staff.  At the beginning of the year AJ Burnett was solid but it was pretty clear that James McDonald was the ace in the hole.  McDonald had total command over the game and dominated in the first half.  Some say that he should have been named as a potential starter for the All-Star game (you didn't hear that from me).  We all know what happened after the break with J-Mac, but that is when AJ Burnett decided to kick it into second gear and carry the club on his back.   AJ and J-Mac both have cooled off (you can't get much colder than James McDonald) but maybe its Wandy's turn to step up.  The same can be said for the offensive production on the team.  We all know "Cutch" was the stud of MLB for June and July, but when he cooled off Neil Walker picked up the slack.  Walker gets hurt and Garrett "F'n" Jones starts to take over.  You start to see what I'm talking about here.  My biggest issue is that this team hasn't contributed together almost all season.  When "Cutch" was hitting .379, Pedro Alvarez was hitting a paltry .198. 

If this team could put all the pieces of the puzzle together there is no reason they couldn't climb right back up the Wild Card standings and make a serious push.  Consistency is what I'd like to see more of...both pitching and hitting.  I don't need Cutch to get back up above .350 (although that would be nice), but I'd like to see more hitters in the lineup batting near or over the .300 mark.  The most consistent teams will be the contenders and the Pirates don't have to look far for one of the most consistent teams in baseball...the Cincinnati Reds.  Solid pitching + Solid hitting = a Winning / Contending Ball Club.  Lets hope the rest of this Astros and the Cubs series helps the Pirates sort out that equation.