Game 68: Pittsburgh Pirates @ Minnesota Twins
by Adam Peterson on Jun 18, 2009 12:30 PM EDT
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PrintPittsburgh Pirates at Minnesota Twins, Jun 18, 2009 1:10 PM EDT
First Pitch: 12:10pm CDT
TV: MLB.TV (and nothing else...this is getting old!)
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Bucs Dugout
Starting Pitchers
Nick Blackburn comes off yet another gem, 8 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 ER no decision at Oakland last week. Blackburn sports a very nice 3.31 ERA, good for 10th in the AL. Putting on my pessimistic hat, based on FIP (4.18) or xFIP (5.01), his expected ERA is about a run or two higher. Also concerning for a ground ball pitcher (career 1.26 GB/FB ratio), in his last four starts, he's given up 38 GB to 54 FB. Hitters are elevating the ball a bit more, which will eventually result in home runs. Then again, I had concerns going into the last couple starts, and Nick has brought the goods.
Zach Duke has been Pittsburgh's most consistent and effective starting pitcher this season, ranking 10th in the NL in ERA (3.10) and 9th in WHIP (1.17). Fortunately for the Twins, Duke (4.10 FIP / 4.43 xFIP) appears to be more in line for a regression than Blackburn. His extremely low BABIP (.268) and LOB% (78.5%) are due to come back down to earth. Duke is a ground ball pitcher (career 1.64 GB/FB ratio) who throws a high-80's fastball, but his curveball and change up are his most effective pitches. Twins hitters will need to be patient and wait for the hanging curve this afternoon. If his last two starts (5 HR allowed against Detroit and Atlanta) are any indication, there may be a few opportunities for the Twins to send a couple balls flying out of the park.
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21 PA short of qualifying
He was down to 18 short, but sitting out today bumps him back up to 21.
Adjusted numbers still gaudy with the extra 0-3
.376/.445/.663
Lineups
Pirates:
1. McCutchen, CF
2. Morgan, LF
3. Hinske, DH
4. Adam LaRoche, 1B
5. Andy LaRoche, 3B
6. Moss, RF
7. Jaramillo, C
8. Vazquez, 2B
9. Wilson, SS
Twins
1. Gomez, CF
2. Harris, SS
3. Morneau, 1B
4. Cuddyer, RF
5. Kubel, LF
6. Crede, 3B
7. Buscher, DH
8. Redmond, C
9. Punto, 2B
slow, rainy day at work
makes me happy it’s a day game in a dome. :)
i'm in nyc...
we’re not quite that bad. just a miserable endless deluge of rain.
mccutchen
has looked really impressive. this makes me happy since i added him to my fantasy team, but sad b/c we CANNOT lose a home series to the pirates.
Jack Morris
just said that Blackburn has “white man’s disease.” Would have been funnier if he would have said “Blackie has whitey disease.”
Just tuning in on Gamecast
Why is Buscher DH’ing vs a LH when we brought up Morales? Morales hit fine the first time up, give him a shot!
.346/.375/.469/.844
to be exact.
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Also--
You know how Gardy wants to have a back-up catcher. And he apparently refuses to let Mauer play today so it’s gotta be Morales.
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Well... that was horrible.
gotta do more with bases loaded/no outs.
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9 ground ball outs for Blackburn so far...
somethin must be workin.
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here’s hoping he stays on. our offense doesn’t seem to want to do enough to make going to our pen a safe option.
maybe gardy
is trying to see if he can get a player below .100. playing guys with BAs below .200 is way too easy. gardy likes a challenge.
Hughes/Valencia
These two are both slumping down in AAA and AA now, too.
So any help appears to be delayed.
it's so much prettier
when we’re the team turning it.
just caught the end of it...
so i’m not sure, but morgan dove for it and it looked like a lazy line drive.
his OBP is at .286
which is certainly not ideal, but i think given regular playing time, he’ll increase that above .300. with our current corner outfielders, i think his defense justifies plugging him in to the 9 spot right now but certainly would if he could increase his walk rate a bit.
ugh!
RISP fail again! it’s starting to become physical painful.
just wondering about that
If he keeps this up, there should be no reason for anyone else other than maybe Nathan to pitch today.
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cuddy
it’s my parents anniversary (they live in iowa) so i got them tickets to the game yesterday. really disappointing game, so they decided to get tickets today, too. my mom looooves cuddyer. i’m convinced he did that just for her! :)
buscher revelation
i just realized that i find it more difficult to watch buscher bat than punto. i think the only explanation is that i have higher expectations for buscher…or that i’m now capable of totally ignoring punto.
lol
I can watch Punto bat; but I can’t watch him run, especially when he runs back to the dugout. He runs on his toes with his legs spread too much like he’s got the biggest testicles in MLB
i went to the game in chicago this weekend
and i stayed with a friend who is a cubs fan. i was explaining my distaste for LNP and got a little too fired up and went off on a tangent about his tendency to slide into first base. she thought i was nuts until he dove into first base on the squeeze play in his first AB sunday. i have officially converted another punto hater.
was that the one?
There was one recent slide into first that was legit imo. Sliding helped avoid a potential swipe tag by a pitcher. But that’s like 1 in a 100.
my point wasnt' that he shouldnt' have slid then (he should have)
my point was that regardless of what the play was going to be, he was going to slide. it ended up being pretty impressive, but it was also something cubs fans don’t see often, so she was impressed that i called it.
well if he hadn't practiced sliding headfirst
all those other times, maybe he wouldn’t have executed it the actual time he needed it. :)
Mauer out wiht the Flu
So apparently Mauer is out today because he’s had the flu for a week and it won’t go away so Gardy is getting him some R&R. That’s actually pretty ridiculous when you consider that he’s gotten like 15 hits in the last week, and apparently he felt like crap that whole time.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane
LHP + Day Game + No off days coming up
Its a day he often sits out anyways.
Who know’s maybe Joe is like Michael Jordan in Madison Square Garden and he finds it easier to focus when he’s super-ill. :-)
blackburn
wow. i know this lineup isn’t exactly rock solid, but they showed yesterday they can hit if given the chance. blackburn looks fantastic today.
Take him out
It’s a mistake to let him see the middle of the order a 4th time. I know the Pirates aren’t the Yankees, but don’t screw around.
by Eric in Madison on Jun 18, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions
A mistake?
To give the guy a chance at a shutout?
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Yes
We saw it the other week in Oakland, I think with Baker. Gotta stop caring about things like shutouts. In a close game, you shouldn’t let these guys see a lineup for the 4th time. They just lack the pure stuff to do it—they aren’t throwing 97 in the 9th. They’re command guys—Blackburn, Baker, Slowey. Letting a lineup see them a 4th time is asking for trouble.
Might work out, but I wouldn’t risk it with a 3 run lead. Don’t want Nathan having to face the tying run.
by Eric in Madison on Jun 18, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions
How bout with a 5-run lead?
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That was kind of my point.
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and my point
is that Gardy is a slave to statistics. He’s gonna give Nick a chance for the shutout and won’t bring Nathan in until it’s a save situation.
You know
I was looking up Crede’s D on fangraphs the other day and was surprised to see that he was the 2nd most valuable player in MLB. The best defensive player in baseball? Nyjer Morgan the PIT LF. He sure hasn’t showed it in this series.
Cuddyer and his 3B's
Tied for the league lead now…
Funny I don’t think of him as being a good runner
uuugh
what do we need to do to get a runner in from 3rd?
maybe it's my diminished expectations for 3d base
but crede does just enough to make me really happy he’s around.
No hitter, apparently.
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and winning makes me oh so happy
now what to do with the last 4 hours of work…
Seems like a waste of time for everbody.
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Blacky
Blackburn gets the bragging rights in the pitching staff now for the first Twins CG on the year.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane
Nice to get a win
with Mauer sitting and Nick pitching great and Harris getting 3 hits and Buscher hitting a dinger and Cuddy hitting a HR. All around solid win
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