Official Game Thread - 4/30 - Bucs @ A's

[3pirates3]

9:40pm start time.

Pirates

1. K. Hayes (R) 3B
2. B. Reynolds (S) LF
3. C. Joe (R) 1B
4. A. McCutchen (R) DH
5. E. Olivares (R) RF
6. J. Bart (R) C
7. J. Triolo (R) 2B
8. M. Taylor (R) CF
9. A. Williams (R) SS

M. Keller (R) SP

A's

1. L. Butler (L) RF
2. T. Nevin (R) 3B
3. J. Bleday (L) CF
4. B. Rooker (R) DH
5. S. Brown (L) LF
6. S. Langeliers (R) C
7. A. Toro (S) 2B
8. R. Noda (L) 1B
9. D. Hernaiz (R) SS

A. Wood (L) SP

[Doc]

I see four guys in the line-up who I don’t expect to get a hit or even have a productive at bat tonight, or any night for that matter. It just makes it that much harder to win a major league game in a circumstance like that, especially when most of the other guys in the line-up don’t garner high expectations, either. We’re in a sad state right now.

[3pirates3]

Pirates get an early lead on a solo HR by Joe.

A's get two in the 2nd but Pittsburgh ties it in the 4th. A's make it 3-2 with a HR.

[Bobster]

Woo-hoo! 2 runs and 5 hits! The offense is coming alive!

The good news is that they worked the count and got starter Alex Wood out after 4 innings and 93 pitches. The bad news is that they got only 1 hit against the Oakland bullpen the remaining 5 innings. I guess Haines hasn't worked out that part of the strategy yet.

Bucs have now lost 15 of the last 20. Jason Mackey had some interesting stats in yesterday's PG. among them:

• The Pirates (64.2%) swing at the fifth-fewest pitches in the strike zone of any MLB team.

• Only eight clubs have a worse whiff rate than Pittsburgh (27.3%).

• A mere two teams swing at a fewer percentage of overall pitches than the Pirates (44.9%).

• Meanwhile, the Pirates only have 12 instances of a worse batting average (.232) in franchise history through the first 30 games of a season since 1901.

• They’ve also struck out a franchise-record 283 times through the first 30 games.

Haines, general manager Ben Cherington, manager Derek Shelton and the rest of the hitting group wants Pirates players to chew through as many pitches as possible, which sounds like a great idea on paper. But the unfortunate byproduct has been dulling hitters’ aggression and the overall sharpness of the group.

That has been especially pronounced with runners in scoring position, where the Pirates are hitting .214 with a .635 OPS. Only five MLB clubs have been worse in those categories, while the Pirates have stranded 243 runners, second-most in MLB.

The incompetence of the leadership of this team is staggering. From Nutting to Cherington to Shelton to coaches Haines, Rabelo and probably Marin. Not to mention the problems developing players in the minors.

[Doc]

I see there were 12 more strikeouts last night. This is a debilitating continuation from recent years past. Pretty hard to generate any kind of offense when the opposing defense has no stress when securing nearly half the outs. Almost every night.

[Bobster]

Here is the play by play of the Pirates in the 8th and 9th innings last night:

8th;
Cutch struck out.
Suwinski struck out.
Bart struck out.

9th:
Triolo struck out.
Taylor struck out.
Cruz struck out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHCf6sjBgo

[bucs607179]

slip sliding away as the slumber company settles in under .500.

[Wildwoodcoach]

Here is the play by play of the Pirates in the 8th and 9th innings last night:

8th;
Cutch struck out.
Suwinski struck out.
Bart struck out.

9th:
Triolo struck out.
Taylor struck out.
Cruz struck out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkHCf6sjBgo

Someone said to me that it's as if the EVIL EYE has been placed on your team.

[Wildwoodcoach]

In the last 14 games the Pirates have scored a grand total of 28 runs

[Carolina Bucco]

One more fun fact ... the Pirates are 2 for 30 with RISP on this West Coast trip.