RECAP - Pirates 3 / Cardinals 4 (14 Innings)

"Cutch's" HR Went For Naught in
14 Inning Debacle

Pittsburgh Pirates - 3
St. Louis Cardinals - 4 (14 Innings)

WP - Freeman
LP - Jared Hughes

This might be the toughest RECAP that I've written since I started.  Sure, I've missed a few days, and some of that might have been out of the putrid play in Denver, but THIS...THIS loss was something that is only comparable to a few losses I've experienced in my lifetime.  I'll try not to get ahead of myself here.  Let me actually recap the game, and not just rant about my personal frustrations.  The Pirates could not have asked for a better start to the game.  Andrew McCutchen hits a 2 run Home Run in the 1st inning as the Bucco Bats work Cardinals ace, Adam Wainwright, to over 30 pitches in the 1st inning.  Add a Jordy Mercer solo HR in the 2nd inning and you have yourself a 3-0 score.  Charlie "Ground Chuck" Morton pitched extremely well, but got into some trouble in the 6th inning.  Morton went into "damage control" while giving up 2 earned runs.  He still gave the "Shark Tank" a one run lead before exiting the game.

Lets just assume you didn't watch, listen to, or see highlights of the game.  You'd read this and think the Pirates hit the ball well and played a pretty solid game.  FALSE.  The hitting was PUTRID.  Not so much the amount of hits, but the lack of timely hits.  My HS baseball coach always used to say "It isn't about the number of hits, but WHEN you get the hits."  When your starting pitcher has more hits than Garrett Jones, Russell Martin, Starling Marte, and newly acquired Andrew Lambo COMBINED...that tells you how bad the hitting was.  Oh, and yes, you read that correctly...in a 14 inning game Charlie Morton (1 for 2) had more hits than those players COMBINED!!  If it weren't for McCutchen, Walker, and Mercer I shudder to think what this team's offensive output would have been last night.  The Pirates squandered several "sacrifice" situations with a runner on 3rd with 1 out or less.  They squandered chances with runners in scoring position (RISP) over, and over, and over again.  Absolutely horrible situational hitting.

Right when you thought that the Pirates were about to notch another "ugly" 1 run win that they've become so famous for this season...all hell breaks loose.  This is worth me breaking it down for everyone out there to relive again.  Melancon in for the save.  1st batter - GB to Neil Walker. 1 Out.  2nd batter - Lazy fly ball to LF.  Marte under it...WHAT THE F--K he dropped the ball!  Not only did he drop the ball, but Cardinals hitter, Descalso, was hustling on the play and gets to 2nd.  3rd batter - Strike Out...2 Outs.  4th batter - Beltran gets a free pass.  5th batter - Craig singles in Descalso and Beltran gets thrown out between 2nd and 3rd to end the inning.  From there, things went from bad to worse.

In extra frames, the Pirates squandered 2 opportunities with RISP, but none so great as the chance they had in the 13th.  "Cutch" singles and gets to 2nd on a wild pitch.  Pedro Alvarez legs out and infield single (no I wasn't drunk when typing this...it actually happened!).  There you have it. Runners on the corners with NO OUTS.  With the infield in, Russell Martin hits a GB to short and McCutchen reads the play and stays on third.  The SS dives for the stop and throws out Martin at first allowing Pedro to advance to 2nd.  Let me stop here and explain why I agree with McCutchen not going home on contact.  As a base runner in that situation you have to check the odds.  There weren't any outs, and Martin's groundball was hit fairly sharp and even though the SS had to dive, he made the play cleanly.  With the infield in, it would have been a tough play, but do you really want to throw away an opportunity of the go-ahead run on third base by being overly aggressive??  I agreed with McCutchen staying put.  After all, good teams still find a way to get him home.  I said GOOD TEAMS.  Clint Barmes gets intentionally walked to load the bases, and "J-Hay" hits into the ever popular 5-3 inning ending double play.  When that happened...I checked out.  To angry to sleep.  Too frustrated to watch anymore. 

Turns out, the Cardinals got a base hit in the bottom of the 14th and won the first of 3 in St. Louis.  There are people who are saying "its only one game" and there are others who are touting "here comes the next collapse".  Last night's loss was tough for everyone, but I can't say what impact this will have on the team.  What I do know is that how this team responds tonight and tomorrow will say alot about this Pirates team and their ability to contend within the division.  If you ask me, I'd put money on Francisco Liriano taking the mound tonight...call it a "Hurdle Hunch".   Lord knows I can't go through another outing like last nights...

8/14/13 - Pirates @ Cardinals - 8:00pm - Liriano vs. Miller - ESPN
8/15/13 - Pirates @ Cardinals - 1:45pm - Burnett vs. Lynn - MLB Network
8/16/13 - Pirates vs. Diamondbacks - 7:05pm - Cole vs. McCarthy
8/17/13 - Pirates vs. Diamondbacks - 4:05pm - Locke vs. Cahill - FOX