I hate the Blue Jays

I always have. Joe Carter's shot still makes me sick.

The Pirates played good enough to win but did not. Malholm worked out of a lot of jams, but gave up two runs and that was enough to lose. The Pirate made some base running mistakes, but really just did not get the big hit. The hitting was more the problem than the base running. Bautista threw out Walker at home one a chopper in the infield. It was worth the try. Diaz got caught in a run down while Overbay scored. This one was bad as it ran us out of a rally. Cedano hit a bloop base hit. Overbay was waved home from second and looked like he was going to score. It appears as if Diaz stops completely at second and then starts up again. So either he missed a sign, or wanted to get in a run down to score Overbay, although Overbay appeared to score without trouble. Diaz needs to make the decision faster. Still he kept the rundown going long enough to get Cedano to second with only one out. No hits behind it. That was the real problem. One more base hit and Cedano scores. The third one was Jones slipping while trying to steal. That is technically bad baserunning because slipping is not recommended. He tried to get back to first and got thrown out. That stuff happens sometime.

The problem is that we are now counting a lot on newbies and bench players. Diaz and Jones are both playing because Tabata is out. Presley is new. d'Arnaud is new. Our catchers are new. That is too many new guys and 4th outfielders having to play consistent good baseball.

The Pirates don't need to go get help at the trading deadline. They just need to get healthy. The addition of Doumit alone would really help this line up. Tabata as well. Alvarez would also jump start something in all probability. Meek might help make Veras available as a trading piece if we want one, but overall the Pirates just need guys to stay healthy.

I like today's line up. Wood DH, d'Arnaud and Harrison and Presley all playing. You might as well do it to see what they can do. Wood played in the AL so maybe he can have some experience hitting on some of these guys.

By the way the GCL Pirates won today and Jared Lakind got his first hit. Joey Schoenfeld also got a hit. Overall there are some good players in the GCL, but I wish these two guys would step it up a little.