Wrappin up the Reds

I was getting ready with a recap of the Pirates down to the wire win until I discovered that today's game against the Reds was a 12:35 start.
Therefore I decided to do a series wrapup all in one post.
Lots of Pirate news,so I'll use this one for the Reds series and a later one today on the Pirate news.

Pirate Hooks

1) The Pirate bullpen looked dreadful in each of the three games,even in the victory.
This is understandable when you consider the trades that Neal Huntington made at the deadline,but every arm that was used with the exception of Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan was lit up in both victory and defeat.

2) Game one had very little to say as two hits off Travis Wood "would" indicate,but one was Ross Ohlendorf getting line drived again,but this time being able to stay in the game.
Ohlendorf took a shot off the knee that bounced to first sacker Garrett Jones for the out.

3) Game two was a game that I was lucky to see as I was invited for a Sonic run with Ryan,Battlin' Bob and the Jeff and I figured that I would miss most of the game,but a rain delay meant that I missed just two batters.
The Pirates put six runs on the scoreboard off Mike Leake in the second and figured to cruise home,but the Reds chipped away until a Pittsburgh insurance run in the fifth off Neil Walker's single would be the game winner.

4) Pittsburgh seemed to get to Leake mainly because it seemed like the rookie was shaken a bit when his fastball drilled Andrew McCutchen in the neck and left him prone for minutes.
Leake wasn't throwing at McCutchen,but it did seem to break his concentration and allow the Pirates to have a big inning.

5) McCutchen was back in the lineup the next day and homered to lead the game off .
That would be the Pirates only run until the Reds had the contest well in hand.

6) More McCutchen-a diving attempt for a catch in the seventh inning on a Laynce Nix smack left a chunk of grass away from the surface that looked more at home on the golf course than at PNC Park.
The slow motion replay was pretty cool to watch.


7) The game also featured four runs batted in by Neil Walker,who boosted his average back above .300 in the win.
Walker has played so well that I am enthused about his future,but keep in mind that the Pirates have seen this movie before and been disappointed most notably at second base
by Warren Morris.

8) Not a lot to say about yesterdays loss either other than was nice to see some power,albeit meaningless power considering the score as the Buccos pounded three out of the park from McCutchen,Jeff Clement and Pedro Alvarez.

9) Jeff Karstens was the loser,but he wasn't awful with three runs in five innings.
The next three pitchers were though,Sean Gallagher was the best of the three,but Wil Ledesma and Steven Jackson were terrible as the pair combined for five runs over the course of an inning of work.

Back later with a few thoughts of the latest Pirates maneuvering with the roster.