Karstens creamed in Philly

Jeff Karstens made his return from injury in Philadelphia and was promptly dismissed with seven runs in five innings as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates by an 8-3 count.
Karstens was the loser and fell to 0-2 on the season.
Jose Tabata homered for the Pirates (3) in the loss.
The series continues tonight with Erik Bedard for the Pirates facing off against the Phillies Vance Worley.

Pirate Hooks

1) Jose Tabata has one of the better throwing arms in the game,in my opinion,but he seems to get more "in between" hops on his throws than the average outfielder.
I have no statistical proof of this,but it sure seems that way and it happened last night twice as Tabata throwing errors resulted in Phillie runs.

2) Jeff Karstens looked to have nothing for this evening.
I realize that Karstens was making his first start in the show after an extended layoff,but I have a sinking feeling that the Karstens that we will see this season will be the guy that pitched before 2011 and not the person that threw well in 2011..

3) Doug Slaten tossed one of the oddest innings that I have seen in a while in mop up work from the bullpen.
Slaten allowed a leadoff single and walked the next three Phillies to allow a run to trot home.
Slaten then whiffed the next three batters to end the inning.
As Elvis Presley once mumbled in the cinematic classic "Change of Habit"- "Weirdos,Man Weirdos".

4) The Pirates continue to shuffle on the roster as the newest member will be former Ray Drew Sutton in another attempt to catch a bat in the bottle.
I'd be surprised if this worked,but when you are dealing with a budget,sometimes you have to try something at the dollar store...

5) I felt pretty bad for Michael McKenry,who smashed a ball that would have been a rare homer to left field and watched as the wind shoved the ball into the field of play and spun Juan Pierre into the ground as he caught the ball.
Seems like many times in these situations,it hits the light hitting guys the most.
Perhaps it just seems that way,but it does seem that way...

Photo Credit:AP Photo