Oh come on . . . (0-4)

The Pirates played okay tonight. Malholm pitched well, the relievers (with the exception of Donnelly) pitched fine. Hanrahan got two nice innings. But they still lost because of Manager JR. He tried to lose this game and did.

He lost this game because of another strange and pointless line up. Jones was the DH, and not the first baseman. Doumit, who is a catcher and not a first baseman, played first for the 3rd time since 2007, I think. And surprise this game turns on teh fact that Doumit cannot make a fairly normal play at first. The throw was low, but I don't think it bounced. Jones would have made that play. He catches it and the inning is over the Pirates go into the next inning up 2-1. Instead, it is a two run error and the Pirates go into the 8th down 3-2.

To their credit the Pirates tied the game and lost on a walk off homerun. After Tabata and Walker tied the game JR pulls Doumit from the game. But it is too late for defensive substitution now. He blew the game. Now his power might still come in handy. All that move did was reinforce in Doumit's head that he is not a first baseman. Also, Jarmillo is only hitting .178. He is not all that much better at throwing runners out than Doumit. I think it is a net loss to keep Jarmillo as a regular catcher and trying to squeeze your second best power hitter in at first.

The good news is Tabata can change games with his speed as he did in the 8th inning by stretching a single into a double and stealing third. That is speed. Jones is hitting now. His slow start is officially over. His average is up to .270 after two hits tonight. Jones got his 9th homer and scored the first run of the night on a double by Church.