Pirates crumble against Rockies 6-4

The Pittsburgh Pirates needed a strong start from Charlie Morton to somewhat save their bullpen and they were able to get seven decent innings from Morton.
However,Jose Veras  was unable to do his part in the eighth inning in allowing three runs that was the winning margin in a 6-4 Colorado win.
Veras was the losing pitcher and dropped to 0-1.
Jose Tabata (2) and Ryan Doumit (1) homered for Pittsburgh..
The four game set ends today at 1:35.

Pitching Matchup
Colorado:Jhoulys Chacin (1-0 0.00 ERA) at Pittsburgh:James McDonald ( 0-0 3.86 ERA) 1:35

Pirate Hooks

1) Charlie Morton still is a work in progress with his control as he walked five more batters,but Morton gave the Pirates what they needed most-a long outing and kept them in the game.
Morton allowed just five hits and showed the type of arm that has given him so many chances.

2) Morton was helped by Colorado early as he walked the first two batters and worked third place hitter Carlos Gonzalez to a 3-0 count before Gonzalez hit what would have likely been ball four to Neil Walker for what proved to be a double play.
Colorado scored one run on the play,but that is all they would get for the inning that looked so promising.

3) Considering the level of baseball that the bigs is on,it never ceases to amaze me that so many hitters are aggressive to the point of stupidity when pitcher are not throwing strikes.
Gonzalez worked Colorado right out of what could have been a huge inning for them on a night when the Pirates HAD to have a long and strong game from Charlie Morton.
I'll never understand that thinking...

4) Kevin Correia pitched a scoreless ninth as a way of helping the bullpen as well as getting his between starts throwing in.
That shows just how weary the bullpen was last night.

5) Jose Tabata popped his second homer in two nights.
Tabata has raced out of the gate and the show of power is promising as well as the main rap on the outfielder was a lack of projected power.
If Tabata can sustain decent power,it is quite possible that his numbers could be very similar to those of Andrew McCutchen at seasons end.

6) Ross Ohlendorf was placed on the disabled list with shoulder issues.
Daniel McCutchen was recalled from Indianapolis to replace Ohlendorf on the roster.
McCutchen got the final out in the game deciding eighth in relief of Jose Veras.

7) Chris Snyder appears to be ready to be activated from his rehab stint at Bradenton and that will most likely mean Jason Jaramillo will be sent to AAA.
Not a guarantee,but looking at the roster,it makes the most sense....

Photo Credit-AP Photo

Five hour baseball

The Pittsburgh Pirates battled back from spotting the Colorado Rockies three runs in the first inning,forced extra innings and finally won the game on Jose Tabata's fourteenth inning RBI double for a 4-3 win at PNC Park.
Tabata had homered (1) earlier in the contest.
Garrett Olson picked up the extra inning win (1-1).
The game was moving slowly even considering extra innings,as I took the tape to work and was only able to watch seven innings in three hours and five minutes.
That is a pretty slow moving game to begin with.
Pirate hooks will be kept to what I saw in those seven innings.
The series continues tonight at PNC.

Pitching Matchup
Colorado:Greg Reynolds (Season Debut) at Pittsburgh:Charlie Morton (1-0 1.50 ERA) 7:05

Pirate Hooks

1) Sorry about the above picture not being representative of the game.
For a 14 inning games,just three pics available to use..

2) Two news catchups with the first being the Pirates lost righthanded pitcher Ramon Aguero on waivers to Texas.
Aguero struggled last season with Bradenton and Altoona and was reported to have lost velocity on the steamer...

3) The Pirates also gave up on the comeback of Craig Hansen and gave him his unconditional release.
Hansen was expected to develop into possibly a future closer after being brought to the Pirates in the Jason Bay deal.
Hansen developed a rare nerve disease that he was unable to return to top performance from.
Bryan Morris is the only player still in the organization from that trade....

4) I would say that one player likely caused time to be spent and bullpens to be used that may not have been needed to.
After Ross Ohlendorf walked the leadoff batter,Jonathan Herrera hit a medium speed to roller to Ronny Cedeno at short.
Cedeno didn't exactly hustle to field it and then took his time throwing to Lyle Overbay.
The next batter,Jason Giambi homered to right for all the runs Colorado would score on this evening.

5) Ross Ohlendorf left in the third inning with shoulder issues.
Ohlendorf was struggling with control anyway and Jeff Karstens filled in as the long man.
Karstens would be the most likely option to replace Ohlendorf's rotation spot,if that is deemed necessary.

6) Besides Jose Tabata, most  of the credit for this win has to go to the Bucco bullpen.
After Ohlendorf was through after just two and two thirds,the bullpen combines for eleven and a third innings of scoreless hurling from seven different pitchers.
Colorado was able to get just six hits from the seven Pirates.

7) The bullpen is short handed today with only Evan Meek not pitching last night.
Meek was reported to have stiffening in the shoulder.
Between the questions about Meek and the rest pitching last night,a solid outing for Charlie Morton tonight is a must!

Photo Credit-AP Photo

Not in THIS Mr.Rogers neighborhood

The Pittsburgh Pirates home opener started with high hopes and fizzled with the inability to do anything with Colorado starter Esmil Rogers in a 7-1 loss to the Rockies.
Only Andrew McCutchen's RBI grounder in the first inning avoided a shutout.
Paul Maholm picked up the loss (0-1) allowing five runs (three earned) in just under six innings on the hill.
The series continues on Friday

Pitching Matchup
Colorado:Jorge De La Rosa (0-0 0.00 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Ross Ohlendorf (0-0 6.00 ERA) 7:05

Pirate Hooks

1) The Pirates had zero response for Esmil Rogers,who held them to four singles in his time on the mound.
Rogers was impressive with seven K's and just one walk,the control allowed him to keep the Bucco batters off balance all game long...

2) Give thanks to Garrett Olson and Mike Crotta for their games today or 7-1 would been far worse.

3) The pre-game ceremony honoring the late Chuck Tanner was very well done and the Pirates putting a Tanner inspired logo on the right field wall was a nice touch.
I suppose for such an occasion that the team was able to keep Greg Brown somewhat muted in his words and Brown was not nearly as annoying as on his usual day..

4) More Greg Brown-What is his deal with creating bad nicknames?
As if Garrett "G.I." Jones wasnt enough,he was toying with "T-Bat" during today's game with Jose Tabata.
Middle aged guys trying to be hip never comes across well....

5) Neil Walker's throwing error in the first inning that turned a double play into what turned out to be two runs was a shot that Pittsburgh never recovered from.
As I wrote yesterday about Walker being a great fit with the bat at second as long as he can be average with the glove.
Walker's glove is still a work in progress when you consider he has been playing there for just over a year.

6) Paul Maholm wasn't helped by the error,but he was not at his best either.
 Troy Tulowitzki's homer was a rocket type liner that left the field in a hurry.

Photos by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Eric Krebs Interview-Part 2

Finally back to the Eric Krebs interview as I got a bit behind...

TRS: Did you enjoy Chattanooga or just another place?

EK: I really liked Chattanooga. Quiet town and reminds me of Williamsport but just a lot bigger and a greater population

TRS:Was it your idea to pitch winter ball or the Dodgers?

 

EK: At the end of the season I thought to myself I wouldn't mind going to play but its not my call and I couldn't tell them that. So I was just at home one day and got a call in the middle of Nov askin' if I wanted to go play and how quick I could get my arm back in shape to go down there.

 

TRS: You pitched in just five games,any injury issues?

 

EK: Nope, my arm was fine. I went down there and threw a few bullpens then a sim game first. My velocity was varying down there a bit since I wasn't fully in shape yet but I felt great

TRS: Was there any special reason that Puerto Rico was picked?

 

EK: They needed a RHP in the bullpen and I didn't need a passport to go there.

 

TRS: Anything that the Dodgers wanted you to work on special there??

 

EK: Just go there and pound the strike zone. I felt I did a good job of it. Granted I walked 2 guys but 1 was the first hitter I faced after not pitching since sept 7th. I tried to challenge the hitters down there.

Cleaning out the Inbox

The inbox needs emptying,but first a word on the Devils 4-2 win over Toronto last night that I missed.
Devils goals to Ilya Kovalchuk (30),Patrik Elias (20 empty net),Mattias Tedenby (8) and Henrik Tallinder (5).

The win could cost the Devils a draft position as they moved one point ahead of Atlanta.
New Jersey wraps up a disappointing season this weekend with afternoon games against the Rangers and Bruins.

I have been asked questions about Tuesday's evening with the Hagerstown Suns from three different venues-Email,Facebook and Phone,so I'll try to offer some more opinions on the outing.
Putting Bryce Harper aside,I suppose the one thing that I find fault with is this-The game was cancelled early in the day,so I assume that the autograph/talk to the team session was planned early enough that the team had printed flyers and posted them at the box office as well as around the stadium.
Someone couldn't have thought ahead enough to organize a little bit?
Even if just to have the players sit at the picnic tables down the line for 20 minutes?
Keep the line moving by limiting to one or two items due to time constraints?
The players were gracious enough in signing,but since no roster with names or numbers on the website was available to know who is who,how would you know?
One fan ( not someone I knew) complained to a Suns employee about the lack of any kind of organization or thought to this and the response was "Well,it was a last minute perk".
I took it this way from hearing the tone of voice to be "Take what you get and shut the hell up".

As far as Bryce Harper goes and I don't really have much to say about it,but I would like offer this to those of you that contacted me about being disappointed with his signing habits,especially to those of you that traveled a long way to hopefully have him sign,one of which told me the time was hourS and the multiple was more than two as well as what to do about it.
Bryce Harper has publicly stated that he is signing for kids only,so if you are traveling long distances in the hopes to have him sign something-don't bother.
If you want to see him play,I encourage you to do so soon as a fast start with the bat will likely see him in Potomac,perhaps as quickly as before the Suns second homestand.
The other common thread that I heard from the various talks that I had was about contacting the Suns to complain about Bryce Harper.
Feel free to do so,but I am not and they are pretty much unable to do anything.
The Suns management have no more control on who signs and who doesn't anymore than Potomac will or Harrisburg and on it goes.
If you choose to complain and I still think it will go on deaf ears-write the Nationals.
They are the only people that have a slim chance of getting players to listen.
Tell them how unhappy you are with players that will be Washington Nationals and that gives you a negative opinion of the franchise years down the road when your perception of a player is made from the image of the night that you met them.
The Nationals are still in their infancy compared to the Orioles and they are fighting a battle for fans,both now and for the future,they may listen-I doubt it,but it may be a better chance of changing things....
The Suns have very little that they can do with this matter.

Even with the missteps,it still wasn't a bad evening totally as I was able to see and have Davey Johnson sign two cards.
What a class act,I might have to dig out my book by Johnson that he wrote while managing the Mets to have him sign....

Sorry to say goodbye to Hall of Fame boxing trainer Gil Clancy,who passed at the age of 88.
Clancy was most noted for his handling of welter and middleweight champion Emile Griffith among many,but I'll always remember Gil for his mic work for CBS boxing in the heyday of the seventies and eighties.
Straight spoken,but with class-that was Gil Clancy.
He will be missed.

Ryan sends us this link on former Pirate managers that are looking for a second chance in the bigs as a field boss.
I didn't think much of Lloyd McClendon or John Russell as a manager,although I liked McClendon a lot as a player as I have always had a soft spot for guys that play lots of positions.
The one edge I give McClendon was that he always seemed like he cared,which is more than I could say for Russell,who seemed like he was asleep half the time...

Great article on the 1996 Tournament upset by UCLA by Princeton in Time magazine of all places.
It is written by Time writer Sean Gregory,who was a backup on that Tiger unit.
Gregory also writes a terrific piece on then Princeton coach and noted hoops wizard Pete Carril,which well worth the time,no pun intended....


Battlin' Bob (who really needs to meet Bryce Harper) sends us this note on the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer into Pennsylvania.
This doesn't seem to be a big deal until woodpeckers go after the EAB,which they love and then the tree weakens and dies.
The EAB loves the Ash tree and to an lesser extent the Oak tree to the point that trees are being devastated by the pest.
This is a baseball note as well,as bat maker Louisville Slugger uses much of its wood from ,you guessed it,-Pennsylvania Ash trees..

Finally,for the wrestling guys (and gals) out there,the always entertaining Scott Bowden at KFR looks at his votes for the five of the greatest matches that the "King of Memphis" Jerry Lawler has ever had.
Worth a watch for those of you that like Lawler and those that know him more as a commentator....

A winning road trip

I finally was able to watch a complete Pirate game in St.Louis on their last day and saw the Bucs take a 3-1 win behind seven shutout innings thrown by Kevin Correia,who improved to 2-0.
Joel Hanrahan notched the fourth save of the season,which means he has saved every win this season
Neil Walker homered (2) in the win for Pittsburgh.
Combining the split of the previous two Missouri games and the two out of three wins in Chicago,the Pirates head home for today's home opener with a surprising 4-2 record.

Pitching Matchup:
Colorado: Esmil Rogers (Season Debut) at Pittsburgh:Paul Maholm (0-0 0.00 ERA) 1:35

Pirate Hooks

1) Kevin Correia looked good again for his second straight start,but keep in mind one thing-two balls hit off him looked gone off the bat and the April breeze kept the ball in the playing field.
Those balls are homers in a month.

2) Neil Walker's homer continued his strong road trip and showed the offensive value in keeping him at second base.
Occasionally,you hear about Walker moving back to third,where he is better defensively when the inevitable day arrives that Pedro Alvarez moves to first.
I disagree as the value of Walker's bat at second far outweighs that of his bat at third.

3) Not often that you see back to back ground rule doubles,but Andrew McCutchen and Lyle Overbay did just that in the ninth inning,producing a run.
McCutchen's had the harder hit ball,but Overbay placed the ball right where he needed to down the line.

4) Evan Meek pitched the eighth after struggling in Chicago and his other appearance against the Cardinals.
Meek is still in the learning stages,despite his excellent 2010 and will be prone to the bad outing.
Most gas throwers in relief are....

5) I did see the first six innings of the Pirate win on Monday,so I saw the Charlie Morton portion of the game.
I have been a vocal critic of Morton in the past,but I have never denied his ability,just the results.
Morton has been reported to have lowered his arm slot in the off season and he allowed just three hits and no runs over six innings as he was the winning pitcher.
Morton looked good,but two red flags,five walks and two strikeouts.
Too many of one and not enough of the other...

6) The Pirates did sign lefty reliever Dan Meyer,who had just been released by the Phillies.
The once touted prospect was assigned to Indianapolis and looks to be the top choice to be promoted in the event Garrett Olson struggles as the only southpaw in the bullpen.

7) Josh Rodriguez made his first MLB start and after a 0 for 3 with 2 whiffs tossed in with a throwing error,it still was memorable to one other person-Cardinal starter Chris Carpenter,who fanned Rodriguez for his 1,500th career strikeouts.

Hope to be back later with cleaning of the inbox and answering some emailed questions about the Muni on Tuesday.

Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Exhibition?

Very busy day yesterday,so I will be catching up with the Pirates later tonight and just cover their entire series against the Cardinals after a split of the first two games.
The Devils lost in Pittsburgh last night and host Toronto tonight,so there will be a catch up post on both of those games as well.

I spent a long,windy night last night with the Hagerstown Suns on what was supposed to be an exhibition game against the Harrisburg Senators.
The rumor mill word says the Senators refused to play on the field after a rainy overnight,but the field was good enough for a "workout" and I have seen worse conditions played on the Muni.
The workout wasn't much of one as it was pretty much 25 minutes of catch and some Bryce Harper BP.

The Suns players were supposedly going to be sent to sign autographs and most did,but there was little organization to it and since the team never has bothered to put their team roster up,let alone numbers,it was tough telling who was who for the most part.
I had to get my roster from Nationalsprospects and "Sue" just to know what cards to bring.
As of this writing-the roster STILL is not available from the official team site.
I was able to get most of the Suns that I had finished and the two that had the most cards (Cole Leonida and Jason Martinson) both signed and were very friendly.
I also had a ten minute conversation with Sean Nicol,who played for the 2011 Suns and it looks like we will have an interview with Sean for the next off season.
The time off is so short for the players and I don't want to bother them any more than needed,so I try to get those done during the downtime.

Now for the word that most are interested in-Bryce Harper.
Looks like Mr.Harper is signing for children only and I am fine with that for the most part.
Just be respectful about it and that is fine.
The sun will come up tomorrow whether I ever get Bryce Harper or not.

The crowd was OK,but not what I expected.
I get the feeling that you are going to see more of the parents bringing kids to get Bryce Harper autographs than to see the games.
This could (Emphasis on could) be the type of deal,where the casual fan comes to take their kids to see him once and then stay away because of the circus.

As far as the team off the field goes,I saw several people complaining and unhappy with things,but I am still going to reserve judgement for now.
Between being almost a brand new front office filled with new employees that are inexperienced and dealing with HarperMania in this facility,Lets try to be somewhat understanding for a grace period.

I am not thrilled with everything either,but I am trying to stay open-minded and give things a chance.
Keep in mind,however, that grace periods do not have an unlimited shelf life.....