A Really Bad Stretch for the Pirates

Back on April 26, I wrote THIS ARTICLE about the then 16-7 Pittsburgh Pirates that highlighted the fact that they were about to enter a critical eighteen game stretch wherein twelve of those games would be against upper echelon, by record at least, MLB teams: three each against the Dodgers, Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  

Here is what followed:

• Won 2 of three from Los Angeles.  Good.
• Won the first two games of a three game series with the Nationals.  The score of that second game was 16-1, and it pushed the Pirates' record to 20-9, second only the the Rays in all of MLB.
• They lost the third game of that series to the Nats and then the slide began.
• 0-3 against the Rays.
• 0-3 against the Blue Jays.
• 1-2 against the Rockies.
• 1-2 against the Orioles

Not only did they go 2-11 over the course of this streak, but it wasn't until the eleventh game after that 16-1 win over the Nats that the Pirates scored their 17th run of that streak.  Eleven games to score more runs than they did in that blowout of Washington.

In the only games that they won, 2-0 over the Rockies and 2-0 over the Orioles, were behind a complete game shutout and seven shutout innings pitched by Mitch Keller.  In the entire month of May, Keller has been the only, and I mean THE ONLY bright spot on the team.  The team has been exposed to be very weak offensively, and while they are still stealing bases at a high clip, they are still prone to jaw dropping gaffes on the base paths.  In one of the games, the Bucs had three runners thrown out at third base.  Not something you see every day in the big leagues.

Earlier this week, the Pirates split a two game series with Detroit and the hitters showed some signs of coming back to life with an 8-0 win on Wednesday.  They are now 23-20 and one game out of first place in the NL Central, and would you have signed on for that at the beginning of the season?  Sure you would have, but the Jekyll and Hyde performances of the April Pirates vs. the May Pirates certainly gives one cause for concern. 

Tonight begins a six game home stand against the Diamondbacks and Rangers.  Let's see where they stand relative to .500 at the conclusion of those six games.

And how long before we start seeing some of these prized prospects like Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Nick Gonzales, and Quinn Priester in Pittsburgh instead of retreads like Mike Mathias and Chris Owings, to name two?

Quick Hit Thoughts On A Great Sports Weekend

If you are a sports fan, you had to love the weekend just completed.  There was something for everyone.  

The Steelers 26-21 win over Denver yesterday is being categorized as an "ugly win" by most of the pundits in its aftermath.  Maybe so, and for sure it never should have been as close as it ended up being, but here is something that wasn't ugly - that 84 yard bomb from Ben to rookie Chase Claypool for a touchdown in the second quarter.  That was a jaw dropper.

And as they say in golf, "It's a scorecard, not a post card", and the Steelers are now 2-0.

On Friday night Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller no-hit the Cardinals for six innings and was then pulled after throwing 84 pitches.  He left with a 2-0 lead, which was expanded to 4-0 in the Pirates half of the sixth inning.  The Pirates bullpen then proceeded to give up five runs in the seventh with an assortment of walks, hit batsmen, and hits that plated five runs in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.  The Bucs ended up losing 5-4.

The predictable uproar of "they should have left him in to go for a no-hitter" arose almost immediately, but putting Keller on a strict pitch count and pulling him when he reached it was absolutely the right thing to do.  He remains the #1 pitching prospect that the Pirates have, despite some mixed results in his time with the Big Club.  He has also shown some "china doll" proclivities insofar as injuries are concerned.  Friday was only his second start since spending a few weeks on the injured list in this shortened season.  Maybe leaving Keller in would have yielded a no-hitter, or, at best, would have prevented another Pirates loss, which would mean finishing the season with 16 wins instead of only 15.  Big deal.  The Pirates need a healthy Keller for 2021 and beyond.  His six innings on Friday showed great promise for the future, and insofar as the Pirates are concerned, that is all that matters in 2020.

Speaking of the Pirates, a note in the paper this morning said that on his radio show yesterday, GMBC indicated that the complete lack of box office and in-stadium revenues in 2020 means that teams will have to readjust their way of thinking in terms of spending money in the pursuit free agents in the coming off season.  By "teams", of course, he meant "the Pirates", so really nothing will change much in the S.O.P. of our Pittsburgh Pirates as we head towards the 2021 season.

Golf's United States Open was head this weekend and was won by Bryson DeChambeau.  He shot six under par and was the only golfer to finish in red numbers for the tournament.  He deserved the win, no question about it, so congratulations to him.  He also comes across, and maybe I'm wrong about this, as a guy who feels that he is the smartest guy out there on the course with his extensive use of analytics in planning his on course strategy, and other golfers don't seem to like him.  He also takes FOREVER between shots, especially putts, by constantly consulting that little notebook he carries and pulls out of his back pocket on, it seems, every shot.  Maybe that does make him the smartest guy out there, and his way will be the norm for every golfer on tour within the next five years.  Then golf will become populated with a bunch of analytical mumbo-jumbo, just like Major League Baseball has.  Won't that be fun?

I made some comments on social media over the weekend about the USGA's tendency to trick up their US Open courses so as to provide a "true test of golf."  You saw the results: one guy finishes under par, and the best golfers in the world hack it out of the hay for four days and slog in at eight or nine or double digits over par.  I don't like it, but apparently a lot of people do.  If that's what the Blue Jacketed Stuffed Shirts from Far Hills, NJ want, so be it, but I'd hate to see that week after week on Tour.  

To those of you who beat the shit out of me on Facebook over the weekend for this opinion, no need to do it again.  I just managed to stop the bleeding.

With no NBA presence in Pittsburgh, I don't often write about it, but the Association is currently in the midst of its Conference Championships, and there have been some pretty good stories in this little bit of sports theater.  Foremost has been the Denver Nuggets twice coming back from 1-3 deficits against heavily favored teams to reach the Western Finals.  They currently trail the LeBron James/Anthony Davis Lakers two games to zero, but both games have been close, and would you be willing to count them out?  Not me.

In the East, the Miami Heat lead the Boston Celtics two games to one, and they are led by Jimmy Butler.  I have listened to Michael Wilbon sing the praises of Jimmy Butler seemingly forever to the point where I'm saying, "yeah, right", but in watching some of these games, I have to say that Wilbon is 100% correct.  Butler is and has been the driving force behind the Heat reaching this point, and he is the best player on the court when he is out there.  He is a really fun player to watch.

Finally, I stayed to the end of last night's Seattle - New England game, won by the Seahawks, 35-30.  I hope that you did too, because that was one terrific football game.  I won't recap it here, you can look it up, and then the picture I posted above will have some context for you.  I will leave you with just two conclusions:  (1) Russell Wilson is absolutely fantastic, and (2) don't count out the Patriots just because the Golden Boy is no longer at QB for them; they're still good.  Oh, and here's a third conclusion: (3) Julian Edelman is amazing; it wasn't just Tom Brady that made his so good. 

May the coming week in sports give us as much as this week just concluded has.