Lose when you ought to win, Win when you ought to lose

The Pirates had a strange couple of days. The Pirates showed a lot of punch against the Mets and in the final game trying to win 3 of 4 from the Mets. They put 3 quick runs in the 1st. 3 more in the third, and added another in the 4th for good measure to go into the bottom of the 4th with a 7-0 lead and Paul Malholm pitching. Paul had trouble getting the third out sometimes. He gave up a 2-out 3 run shot to Beltran in the 4th, but recovered to put up a blank 5th. Then with 2 outs in the 6th the wheels came off. The inning ended with a tie at 7. The bullpen failed, especially Jose Veras as he gave up two more runs. Neil Walker did manage to plate another run so that they only lost by a run. Unbelievable.

Today the Pirates opened a big homestand against the Phillies. Cole Hamels was brillant. He gave up 1 hit in 8 innings. However, he had one hiccup in the 6th to give away a run. Hammels walked Cedano, gave up a sac bunt to Karstens. Then uncorked a wild pitch that moved up Cedano. Tabata started his fun with a sac fly to tie the game. No hits, but one run in the inning. This one went into extra innings until Tabata plated Xavier Paul with a single. Tabata had missed a chance to plate the winning run in the 10th as he was just thrown out at first while Ciraco crossed the plate. He redeemed himself in the 12th. Game over. Pirates win.

Karstens was great and went 7 innings and into 90 pitches I believe. This game was super exciting as both teams had great pitching and great defense. Nice win.

I do think it is time to call up Brad Lincoln as he had a nice outing again, but maybe we ought to make him a pinch hitter. Lincoln is hitting .333 at Indy and was 2 for 2 tonight with a double and a triple. Nice stuff.