After two days that saw the Pirates look like a legitimate major league offense,things were back to normal as the anemic Bucco bats returned in a 3-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jeff Karstens was the losing pitcher in falling to 2-5 on the season.
Ronny Cedeno's fifth inning triple that scored Pedro Alvarez produced the only Pittsburgh run.
Pirate Hooks
1) The difference between these two less than stellar teams?
Power.
The Brewers have tons of it,even it is all that they seem to have as a team strength and the Pirates have little of it.
Bad teams with power can turn deficits around quickly.
Bad teams without it need to string multiple hits together that they are unable to do on a consistent basis.
2) Jeff Karstens was perfect for four innings until Prince Fielder's fifth inning homer and Rickie Weeks reached him with what proved to be the game winner,but Karstens is beginning to shape into a serviceable fifth starter/5 to 6 inning pitcher.
Karstens will not have more of a ceiling than that and long relief might be his best role,but I do see some maturity in his game.
3) Liked the fifty minute rain delay under dark skies.
Gave me time to play a quick game of MLB 10 The Show,which might be my favorite video game ever and that friends coves a lot of ground from a game player from the days of Intellivision!.
4) Ronny Cedeno isn't my idea of even an average shortstop,but he is hammering the baseball this month at a pace above .400.
Cedeno is a maddening player to watch,so anytime that the Pirates can get any kind of mileage out of him at all makes things easier.
5) The bullpen did their job well despite the loss as four pitchers combined for three shutout innings.The pen has been a pleasant surprise for the most part this season with the exception of Brendan Donnelly.
Back tomorrow with the Devils signing that will go a long way towards what the franchise is for the next decade and beyond!
Photo Credit-Peter Diana-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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