RECAP - Pirates - 10 / Giants - 5

"I'm 1 for my last 22!! WooHoo!!" - Garrett Jones

Pittsburgh Pirates - 10
San Francisco Giants - 5

WP - Jean Mar Gomez
LP - Moscoso

The Pittsburgh Pirates notched their 75th win of the season in the series opener in San Francisco against the World Series Champion Giants.  The game started off as well as you can imagine, and in typical Pirates fashion.  3 singles leads to a run and the next thing you know the Pirates squander a bases loaded opportunity courtesy of a Pedro strikeout (Surprise Surprise!) and a Russell Martin double play ground ball.  The Pirates showed up in the Bay area ready to swing the lumber early and often.  Notching 10 runs off 13 hits...not too shabby, and for once the players contributing weren't named McCutchen, Walker, or Marte.  No, contributions from players like Garrett Jones, Jose "Kissy Neck" Tabata, and Jordy Mercer sparked the Pirates offense and spawned a 7 run 5th inning that essentially put this game out of reach.  Tabata's 3-4 night with 3 RBIs highlighted the Pirates offense, but you know I can't write a recap without mentioning the team's MVP, and a candidate for the NL MVP...Andrew McCutchen.  "Cutch" went 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored (yawwwwn) boosting his BA (Batting Average to the baseball challenged) to a season high .321.  The Big Bull got in on the mix besides striking out, by going 2-5 with 2 RBIs, and the Bucco long ball was in full affect with a Gerrit Jones BOMB into McCovey Cove, and a Jordy Mercer rope that literally left the yard as fast as I've ever seen.  All good signs for the Pirates offense.

With all good things comes bad things as well.  Jeff Locke took the mound last night and it was hardly a "comeback" outing like myself and most of Buc Nation expected.  Locke's stat line leaves alot to be desired, and it puts the Pirates in an awkward position going into the stretch run.  Locke's stat line - 4 innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 4, and struck out 3.  In 4 innings, Locke threw 73 pitches, and 41 of those were strikes.  This stat line tells the story of the start even if you didn't stay up till the wee hours of the morning.  Locke again struggled with his control and the main knack on him, in my opinion, is that he isn't able to get ahead of hitters without serving up a 90mph fastball grooved down the middle.  If I were the pitching coach (thats pretty funny to think about), I would have Locke work on throwing his off speed pitches for strikes to keep batters off balance.  Look at what Francisco Liriano accomplishes on the mound.  His off speed pitches set up his fastball (which typically tops out at 94mph), and that is something Locke has to improve on.  Get ahead of batters, and then you throw the off speed stuff and low fastballs to get your outs.  

One thing that Hurdle proved last night is that he has a very short leash on Locke.  Jean Mar Gomez pitched 3 flawless innings not even giving up a hit, Jared Hughes tried to blow his opportunity, and then Tony Watson mopped up.  Some fans are clamoring for Gomez to return to the starting lineup, but I don't think there is a need for that just yet.  What I'd like to see is this: When September 1st rolls around and MLB allows teams to expand their rosters I would bring up Cumpton from Indy and give Locke a start off.  That would give him over a week to stay fresh, and I'd do the same thing for Gerrit Cole.  Cumpton has proven he can handle "the show" at least for a spot start here and there, so why not use him to benefit the club?  Whether that happens or not, has yet to be seen.  All I know is that the Pirates have won 75 games, are still leading their division, and Pirates fans everywhere are finally getting to see meaningful baseball this late in the season. 

8/23/13 - Pirates @ Giants - Morton vs. Bumgarner - 10:15pm EST
8/24/13 - Pirates @ Giants - Liriano vs. Lincecum - 9:05pm EST
8/25/13 - Pirates @ Giants - Burnett vs. Vogelsong - 4:05pm EST