Not So Fast

The Pirates last game versus the Cubs was cancelled on account of rain and will not be made up because the Pirates were winning. We would not want to inflate that record too much.

The Pirates did pull off an impressive double header sweep on Wed. It was the first on the road since 1996.

But before we get too excited we need to remember that Game 1 the Cubs played no one. No Derek Lee. No Amaris Rameriz. So we should not give too much credit to Charlie Morton. Even though this was probably his best outing, he was pitching to a lot of over eager minor leaguers. Morton excels at those guys. The people he cannot get out are the ones who are not swinging at the first pitch, and will wait for Morton to groove an off speed pitch. Also remember in this game that if Milledge does not make a hard slide to disrupt the double play that game is a zero-zero tie after 9. Pierce would have just grounded into an inning ending double play. Then after the Cubs lost their argument the Cubs pitcher was clearly shaken as Jarmillo doubled and Bixler singled to complete a four run innning. That was all the Pirates got.

Game 2 was a much better sign and perhaps Jeff Karstens re-introducing himself into the starter conversation. He won three games in starts this year, and started a fourth that the team won, but Karstens did not go enough innings to get the win. Game 2 was another example of McCutchen as the spark plug. Two hits and one walk equaled two runs. Garret Jones got one walk and he scored that run too. LaRoche got one hit inbetween the big two, and he scored a run as well. Those guys allowed Ryan Doumit to have a great game with four hits and four RBI's and 3 runs since he hit a solo homerun once. The top of the line up has great potential for the Pirates next year.