Official Game Lineup - 4/20 - Bucs vs Guards

[Babe Adams]

Four games behind the 2024 pace. They need to go 73-66 (.525) the rest of the way to play .500 ball for the season.

[JollyRoger8]

As the song and movie title goes: “Never on Sunday”
Pirates are 0-4 on Sundays.

[Possum]

With a day off for traveling we can avoid the pain for one day.

[Bobster]

A day off and then a western road trip. I see no reason for Shelton and Cherington to be employed by Tuesday.

[Doc]

We have a chance to win it in the ninth and at least tie it in the 10th.
What happens…. Cutch swings at the first pitch he sees and hounds into an inning ending DP in the 9th…..Cruz swings at the first pitch with runners on 1st and 2nd no outs and hits into a DP killing the 10th inning rally
This team is frustrating beyond comprehension.

I don’t mind guys swinging at first pitches but that pitch better be in a sweet spot. I didn’t see the pitch McCutchen swung at to hit into the double play but I did see the pitch Cruz hit was low and away, a pitcher’s pitch to be sure. McCutchen should know better. Cruz never will.

[Wildwoodcoach]

Canerio-1st and 2nd, 1 out. Hits a routine flyball and gets a bunch of high fives in the dugout. Somebody explain to me what that's all about.

The only thing I can think is that they congratulated him for finding the dugout.

[JollyRoger8]

We have a chance to win it in the ninth and at least tie it in the 10th.
What happens…. Cutch swings at the first pitch he sees and hounds into an inning ending DP in the 9th…..Cruz swings at the first pitch with runners on 1st and 2nd no outs and hits into a DP killing the 10th inning rally
This team is frustrating beyond comprehension.

I don’t mind guys swinging at first pitches but that pitch better be in a sweet spot. I didn’t see the pitch McCutchen swung at to hit into the double play but I did see the pitch Cruz hit was low and away, a pitcher’s pitch to be sure. McCutchen should know better. Cruz never will.

I do mind when the pitcher has just issued a 4 pitch walk and you are at a critical moment of the game.

One other observation. I don’t remember which weekend game it was but Reynolds attempted to lay down a bunt. It was the most pathetic un-athletic attempt I have seen. It is amazing that no one in todays game can lay down a sacrifice bunt.

[Doc]

We have a chance to win it in the ninth and at least tie it in the 10th.
What happens…. Cutch swings at the first pitch he sees and hounds into an inning ending DP in the 9th…..Cruz swings at the first pitch with runners on 1st and 2nd no outs and hits into a DP killing the 10th inning rally
This team is frustrating beyond comprehension.

I don’t mind guys swinging at first pitches but that pitch better be in a sweet spot. I didn’t see the pitch McCutchen swung at to hit into the double play but I did see the pitch Cruz hit was low and away, a pitcher’s pitch to be sure. McCutchen should know better. Cruz never will.

I do mind when the pitcher has just issued a 4 pitch walk and you are at a critical moment of the game.

One other observation. I don’t remember which weekend game it was but Reynolds attempted to lay down a bunt. It was the most pathetic un-athletic attempt I have seen. It is amazing that no one in todays game can lay down a sacrifice bunt.

I agree, it's bad to swing at a first pitch after a walk's been issued, especially on four pitches. But there's also the theory that the pitcher, who's obviously struggling, just might ease a fastball down the middle thinking the hitter's going to take the pitch. My theory is, a pitcher's going to make a mistake in almost every at bat. It's in the hitter's interest to be ready to hit it, whether it's the first pitch, the last pitch, or every pitch in between.

It seems like baseball's concluded that bunting is a bad play now, even in sacrifice situations. Hitting for power is the most important thing, even for the smaller guys. The game's a lot different now than it was 40 years ago. Of course, the guys playing in the 1950s and '60s would say the same thing, about how much the game changed from 40 years prior, when it was the Dead Ball Era. I find HRs boring. (Nothing happens. It's like watching a basketball player shoot a free throw.) Give me a double or triple anytime. If it were feasible, I'd love to see the walls moved back in every park by 40-50 feet.