Baseball Nation: All Posts by Charlie Wilmoth

Jeanmar Gomez starts as Bucs look for sweep

2013-05-23T14:21:30Z

Here's the lineup for the Pirates' 12:35 matchup against Edwin Jackson and the Cubs.

Starling Marte LF
Travis Snider RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Neil Walker 2B
Michael McKenry C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Clint Barmes SS
Jeanmar Gomez P

While you're waiting for the games to start, check out David Todd's interviews with Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle.

Francisco Liriano outduels Jeff Samardzija in 1-0 win

2013-05-23T02:02:53Z

Francisco Liriano dominated the Cubs, pitching seven scoreless innings to lead the Pirates to a 1-0 victory over Jeff Samardzija and the Cubs.

The Pirates got to Samardzija in the first, which seemed like a good sign given how much they'd struggled against him on Opening Day. Andrew McCutchen pulled a two-out double down the line, and Garrett Jones brought him home with a single to right-center.

Liriano ran into trouble in the third, when Cody Ransom singled, Darwin Barney walked, and Samardzija reached on a great bunt that caused Liriano to make a hurried, off-target throw to first. But Liriano got out of it with a fielder's choice, a strikeout, and a fly ball to right. Dave Manel points out how huge that is -- the run expectancy with the bases juiced and no outs is 2.24, but the Bucs got out of it without allowing a run.

"They missed a big one in the third inning," Clint Hurdle said. "That was the difference."

After that came strikeouts -- lots and lots of them for both sides. Samardzija and Liriano both left after seven, having allowed one walk apiece. Samardzija had eight strikeouts, Liriano nine.

"When [Liriano] gets ahead with his fastball ... the other stuff plays up dramatically," Hurdle said. "When he's had fastball command, those are the games that are electric for him."

Liriano got a big boost from Pedro Alvarez, who made three terrific plays on defense.

The Pirates brought in Tony Watson in the eighth. Part of that, I'm sure, was that Jason Grilli wasn't available, and Hurdle seems to think of Watson as the third guy in the 'pen behind Grilli and Mark Melancon. Watson doesn't deserve that status, clearly.

But if the Bucs weren't going to keep Liriano out there -- he'd only thrown 91 pitches -- Watson made at least some sense, because two of the three Cubs batters coming up after their pinch-hitter were lefties and Justin Wilson threw 24 pitches last night. Their best pinch-hit options were lefties as well. (Also, I'm not sure Watson deserves to be vilified the way he has been on Twitter -- his peripherals suggest he's pretty much the same pitcher he was last year, which is to say a decent, although admittedly not great, bullpen lefty.) Anyway, Watson got through the inning, striking out the Cubs' best hitter, Anthony Rizzo, to end it.

"Left-handed pinch-hitter, left-handed hitter leading off the top of the inning, [Starlin] Castro has not hit left-handed pitching this year, he's a reverse-split guy in his career, Rizzo's next. That's why we went to Watson." Hurdle said.

Some fans felt that the Pirates should have kept Liriano, who had only thrown 91 pitches, in the game instead of going with Watson. After the game, Hurdle said that Liriano told him he was "done." Liriano himself described it somewhat differently, but admitted to being a bit tired after the seventh inning, and said that the quality of the Pirates' bullpen gave him faith that the Bucs would maintain their lead.

"The bullpen's been great so far, so we can not take a chance right there," said Liriano.

Mark Melancon came on to close in Grilli's place. Melancon put two men on, the first coming when a strikeout got away from Russell Martin. But Melancon stranded them both to end it.

Liriano, obviously, has been spectacular in three starts this year, posting 25 strikeouts and six walks and allowing just three earned runs in his first 18 innings. Liriano appeared to be an upside play when the Pirates signed him, and so far, he's shown nothing but upside.

The Pirates are now 10 games above .500.

Gamethread: Pirates face off against Jeff Samardzija

2013-05-22T21:56:29Z

Here's the lineup for tonight's 7:05 matchup against Jeff Samardzija and the Cubs:

Starling Marte LF
Travis Snider RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Neil Walker 2B
Russell Martin C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Jordy Mercer SS
Francisco Liriano P

Pretty awesome lineup, at least offensively.

Hurdle on Samardzija, who dominated the Pirates on Opening Day: "We just need to put other uniforms on, because he only picked up his second win of the season last week, and he had to hit a two-run homer to do it [last week against the Rockies]. He's been nails against us. ... If he comes up with that stuff we saw Opening Day, it's going to be a challenge. Doesn't matter who you are. So the first thought's the most important thought. I'm going to see the ball up, I'm going to get a pitch to hit, and I'm not going to miss it."

Charlie Morton, James McDonald progressing

2013-05-22T20:31:05Z

Here are notes from Clint Hurdle's press scrum today:

-P- Jason Grilli is unavailable tonight, Hurdle says: "He threw 34 [last night against the Cubs] -- he's not pitching today, he might not pitch tomorrow."

-P- Hurdle characterized James McDonald's bullpen yesterday as "So far, so good." McDonald is scheduled to throw again on Friday.

-P- On Charlie Morton's start for Altoona last night: "Stamina was good. Fastball velocity continues to be something I haven't seen a lot of. I've seen Charlie 90 to 93, I'm getting [reports of] 90 to 96, so that top-end number is unfamiliar territory for me. The ball is still sinking. ... The next two [rehab starts] will be ramped up, six [innings, I think] at 90, seven at 100, both with the Triple-A team."

-P- Hurdle said that "Starting is Charlie's niche," seemingly implying that Morton might be added to the rotation when he returns, although Hurdle didn't commit to that. In any case, it doesn't sound like Hurdle will consider using Morton out of the bullpen.

-P- Hurdle talked about the importance of maintaining intensity throughout the game, regardless of who the other team might be: "The game doesn't know the game is important. That runner on second with two outs in the second inning can be the same as the runner on second with two outs in the eighth inning, when you develop that mindset as a professional. I talked to a professional golfer ... He said, 'My game never evolved until I figured out you just need to play the course. I didn't need to play my competition.' So regardless of the uniform you're playing against, regardless of the skill set that's on the mound, you deal with the situation ... It's a mindset, and I think this team is challenging itself to develop that mindset significantly better than we have before."

---

This is my first time in the press box, so I'm getting a sense of what I'm supposed to be doing here. Thanks to Dave Manel for texting me advice and to James Santelli for letting me follow him around a little bit. Thanks, also, to the reporters who were actually asking the questions -- since it's my first day, I wanted to lay back a little bit and make sure I didn't do anything ridiculous. That will change as I get more experience here.

Travis Snider's grand slam lifts Pirates to 5-4 win

2013-05-22T03:24:21Z

Travis Snider's grand slam helped the Pirates come from behind to beat the Cubs, 5-4.

The Cubs scored three off Wandy Rodriguez (who otherwise pitched well) in the second, thanks to a series of singles followed by a two-run double by pitcher Matt Garza.

Garza pitched five shutout innings, but it was his season debut, so the Cubs pulled him after 82 pitches. That worked out brilliantly for the Pirates. Hector Rondon entered and promptly loaded the bases, leaving with one out. James Russell then walked Pedro Alvarez to bring in a run. Then, after Gaby Sanchez flied out, Travis Snider pinch-hit for Clint Barmes, and homered just over the fence in right-center. Give Clint Hurdle credit for pinch-hitting for Barmes there -- that's a great move.

The Pirates managed to load the bases yet again that inning, but Andrew McCutchen lined out to end it.

Jason Grilli allowed a run in the ninth when Darwin Barney tripled and came home on a single by Starlin Castro, but the Bucs escaped with a 5-4 win.

Gamethread: Wandy Rodriguez takes on Cubs

2013-05-21T20:32:06Z

Here's the lineup for tonight's matchup against the Cubs.

Jose Tabata LF
Neil Walker 2B
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones RF
Russell Martin C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Gaby Sanchez 1B
Clint Barmes SS
Wandy Rodriguez P

Also, Jose Contreras has been reinstated after a few days on the bereavement list, and Jared Hughes is headed back to Triple-A.

Bucs Dugout Podcast: The Pirates through mid-May

2013-05-20T18:35:59Z

David and I discuss the Pirates' starting rotation, Russell Martin and pitch-framing, the incredible pitching of Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon, and why Pedro Alvarez and Clint Barmes haven't gotten as much attention as usual, among other topics.

Opening music: Meeting of Important People

Jeff Locke, Pedro Alvarez pace Pirates in 1-0 win

2013-05-19T20:14:42Z

Jeff Locke and the Pirates shut out the Astros 1-0 Sunday afternoon.

Locke has already proven he's perfectly good at shutting down Triple-A lineups, but give him credit for a good outing here -- he allowed just three hits over seven innings, striking out four and walking two, and Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli took care of the rest. (Melancon got some help from a terrific running catch by Starling Marte.)

Lucas Harrell took a no-hitter into the fifth and generally pitched very well, but allowed a line-drive, opposite-field homer to Pedro Alvarez that inning, and that was all the Bucs needed. Travis Snider hit a one-out double in the sixth and tried to come home on a two-out single by Gaby Sanchez. Sanchez's hit wasn't deep enough, though, and I knew Snider was going to be out as soon as the broadcasters announced he was rounding third. Not the kind of dead meat Snider usually likes to bring to the plate, if you know what I mean. Snider collided into Carlos Corporan and pretty much just bounced off him.

In any case, it didn't matter, as the Astros didn't come close to scoring after that.

In the end, the Pirates didn't even outscore the Astros in a three-game series, but they did end up winning two, which is a perfectly reasonable result, even against a terrible team.