Raise the Jolly Roger - Are You Ready For 98 Wins & An Absurdly Early Off-Season?!

[madinsomniac]

And looking at updated stats, I might have been wrong...at least on total bases per run, not baserunners... the last few weeks the pirates have seriously made up ground here... at midseason that stat was ridiculously in the Cards favor, and even a couple weeks ago... I guess the injuries are finally catching up to the Cards a bit... they still manage to win everything though... still in these games you see the Pirates forcing too much... too many wannabe heroes... you win as a team, not a collection of stars... The Cards were outplays and still won a 3-0 decision

 

[Asuna]

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a...h-pitching-hitting-nl-central-playoffs-091115

Cardinals are #clutch

 

[madinsomniac]

The pirates have about double the games the cards have where they scored 2 or less runs a game in the second half alone... yes they have more big run games than the cards, but I think people dismissing the Cards, especially with the injuries they have fought all season, are whistling past the graveyard... plus on the pitching front they are due to get wainwright back for the playoffs...he is throwing again... If the Pirates play like they did the past two games, or how they did every single time they have been within striking distance for the division this season, they will not even get the wild card win. if they played like they do when no one is giving them a shot and the pressure is off, like right before the all star game, or the past week leading into the last cubs game, then maybe they have a shot to do big things... The cards are nearly invincible at home, but also they aren't the best team against lefties and we have two good ones to throw at them even with no Cole for the start of the series... Pitching wise we can match up with them, but we need the top of the order to play up to their potential and the back of the order to be at least productive

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

The Pirates have been the best team in baseball since May yet they don't play well when the pressure is on. Unbelievable. If the Bucs can solve Arrieta then the Cards are in for a dogfight in the nlds. They have their flaws and their historical clutch performance can always dry up at the wrong time.

The Bucs win 8 straight in September and people get all negative out of nowhere because they lost 2 in a row against top-5 mlb teams.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

The specific circumstances of that game were a total gut punch, but we were dealing with a situation in which we pretty much needed another run of total dominance, which wasn't likely. Hopefully we can still salvage the series and keep the .001% chance of hope alive. The Cardinals are pretty much a mess right now and I don't think they'll get past the NLDS.

Nothing much else to say - some perennial problems haunted us and cost us the growing chance we had at the division. However, for some perspective, take the odds of sweeping the Cardinals + Reds, Cards dropping a game to the Braves or us winning a one game playoff for the division. Probably 10% if we're being very optimistic. Someone pointed this out on twitter before the game yesterday, but I forget who. Granted, everyone is rightfully scared of Arrieta going full Bumgarner on the playoffs, but would you really place our odds of beating a first time playoff pitcher at less than 10%?

There are a whole lot of areas where we can place blame besides poor hitting and a bonehead defensive play in one game. Slow start, inability to put away bad divisional opponents, even to the extent of getting swept a few times, bad managerial decisions, etc. etc. It's a long ass season - some of those things are necessary to address, since it will be even harder to win a division next year. But we've been the best team in baseball since May, and I'm sure as hell not going to give up on the season because we lost two tough games.

 

[Winger for Hire]

I was 5 rows back of Piscotty's collision, and my god, that was the most sickening "THUD" I've ever heard in my life.

 

[ImporterExporter]

We just better pull our heads out of the sphincters very quickly. We don't have the WC home field locked up yet. And i'd rather not watch St Louis celebrate the damn division in PNC.

We're going to find out how mentally tough this team is tonight. Last night's game could have absolutely deflated everyone in that clubhouse given how many golden chances we pissed away.

And btw, Hurdle is a ****ing moron. No manager in baseball pulls a starter who is at 56 pitches and 1 hitting the other team through 6. I don't give a **** that there were 2 on and 2 out there. Just not worth it. With that efficiency Happ could have easily went 9 and we might not be having this convo.

 

[Winger for Hire]

And btw, Hurdle is a ****ing moron. No manager in baseball pulls a starter who is at 56 pitches and 1 hitting the other team through 6. I don't give a **** that there were 2 on and 2 out there. Just not worth it. With that efficiency Happ could have easily went 9 and we might not be having this convo.

Outcome of the game stays the same. Watson and Melancon would have pitched the 8th and 9th. Or at best Melancon comes on to pitch the 9th. Can't win a game with ZERO runs no matter how great your pitchers are throwing.

But lets keep on heaping it on Hurdle.

 

[djt153]

yeah hurdle sucks when your top 10 prospect lf can't pick up a ball in shallow left center and for good measure neither can your mvp center fielder. Maybe hurdle responsible for walkers poor positioning since that should've been a double play ball

 

[Pens1566]

Yep, definitely Hurdle's fault that they **** the bed on 3(4?) bases loaded situations and got 0 runs out of them.

 

[Penguins23]

yeah hurdle sucks when your top 10 prospect lf can't pick up a ball in shallow left center and for good measure neither can your mvp center fielder. Maybe hurdle responsible for walkers poor positioning since that should've been a double play ball

Right field.

Yep, definitely Hurdle's fault that they **** the bed on 3(4?) bases loaded situations and got 0 runs out of them.

4.

 

[cheesedanish87]

I don't think anybody was blaming Hurdle for the Pirates not getting a clutch hit last night, they were blaming him for taking Happ out.

Just because the Pirates couldn't get a big hit doesn't mean you let Hurdle off the hook for his poor decisions.

 

[Winger for Hire]

The only thing I can blame Hurdle for last night was not having JHay bunt Polonco over in the 5th.

 

[cheesedanish87]

I blame him for 3 things

Taking Happ out of the game.

Letting Pedro hit against a lefty with the bases loaded when you have Ramirez sitting on the bench.

Polanco base running.

When you have a player like Polanco who hasn't shown any improvement with his fundamentals i put blame on the manager.

Somebody on the Pirates should be working with Polanco on his baserunning, he shouldn't be making the same mistakes over and over again.

Its game 156 and hes still making the same mistakes he made game 1.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think taking Happ out was a mistake, but I don't think it was as black and white of a mistake as Hurdle often makes. We had to be playing for runs in that situation, and it's not like any of the other opportunities were working out, so I don't think he could reasonably expect the top of the order to just get it done next inning. That said, having Happ go 8 or 9 innings in game 1 of the series and winning would have been exceptional.

The second thing I think is that Alvarez vs Siegrist was not a wise decision, especially with Pedro up there swinging away at a guy with control problems. I forget if he had been used at that point, but if not I would have liked to have seen Morse, who has consistently worked the count and gotten a good pitch to hit or been able to force a walk. I think he could have either forced Siegrist to throw him something very good, or easily walked, whereas Pedro was down 0-2 in the blink of an eye if memory serves.

However, not much point in nitpicking these details when the game was a colossal failure on every single thinkable level except Happ's dominance.

Tonight we will see how mentally tough the team is. Division is all but over, but it's not over until it actually is, and we have to keep battling to sure up the division and our own momentum heading into the playoffs.

 

[Winger for Hire]

With the lineup struggling as mightily as they were, how could you not pinch hit for Happ there?

You could see the game was going to be a one or two run game, perfect Hurdle small ball game, two Hurdle sacrifice situations (one with Harrison and one with Cervelli) and he foregoes them to play for the big hit.

That's a much bigger mistake than turning the game over to the strongest part of your team.

 

[Penguins23]

Can someone summarize Polanco's base running mistake? I missed the first 6 innings of the game. If we had won I would go re-watch as I usually do but it's best I never watch this game ever ever again for my well being and the safety of my family, friends, computer, phone, etc.

The second thing I think is that Alvarez vs Siegrist was not a wise decision, especially with Pedro up there swinging away at a guy with control problems. I forget if he had been used at that point, but if not I would have liked to have seen Morse, who has consistently worked the count and gotten a good pitch to hit or been able to force a walk. I think he could have either forced Siegrist to throw him something very good, or easily walked, whereas Pedro was down 0-2 in the blink of an eye if memory serves.

Funny you say that, Morse drew a walk in the 6th when he pinch hit for the pitcher who faced the minimum amount of batters after 6 innings and 56 pitches.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Polanco on 2nd with a lead off double tried to go to 3rd on a ground ball to shortstop.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Polanco on 2nd with a lead off double tried to go to 3rd on a ground ball to shortstop.

Which was the textbook Hurdle bunt situation.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Funny you say that, Morse drew a walk in the 6th when he pinch hit for the pitcher who faced the minimum amount of batters after 6 innings and 56 pitches.

Ah, duh, that's right... sorry, I was watching the game live at like 3:30am for me, after trying to sleep a bit first, so the concrete sequence of things that happened is a bit blurry for me.

The NL is a true dog fight this year. Even the Dodgers are having trouble putting the final nail in the Giants coffin, the Mets have big question marks with Harvey, etc. I don't want to downplay last night at all, but facing Arrieta in the WC game has pretty much been our fate since we only managed to hover right around the minimum possible games to be behind the Cardinals and still have an outside shot. All we can do right now is put a horrible game behind us and focus on the five games left this week. Tonight we can at least keep some minimal pressure on the Cardinals and start taking the small remaining steps to play the WC game at home.

 

[Penguins23]

Polanco on 2nd with a lead off double tried to go to 3rd on a ground ball to shortstop.

Thanks. Unless it was a high chopper or very slow roller then there's really no need for that.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/fan_forum/red_schoendienst.jsp

It's a moral imperative that somebody makes them stop. Even if it has to be the Cubs.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Apparently it's raining like crazy in Pittsburgh and we might see a day-night doubleheader. Some twitter speculation that we might see Morton skipped for now and Liriano-Cole Wednesday? That could make sense, given that Morton has had success before against the Reds, and hypothetically we still go all out to put a small amount of pressure on the Cardinals to win a series against one of the worst teams in the NL. I'm disappointed in myself for even looking this up, but we'd have to sweep the Reds and see the Cardinals drop two games to the Braves to have the impossible happen.

 

[Mordax]

The Pirates have been the best team in baseball since May yet they don't play well when the pressure is on. Unbelievable. If the Bucs can solve Arrieta then the Cards are in for a dogfight in the nlds. They have their flaws and their historical clutch performance can always dry up at the wrong time.

The Bucs win 8 straight in September and people get all negative out of nowhere because they lost 2 in a row against top-5 mlb teams.

Welcome to Pittsburgh sports fan

 

[Penguins23]

Confirmed day night doubleheader tomorrow... first game is at 1:35...I land in Pittsburgh at 1:45...anyway to get tickets for cheap to go see half the game? Do scalpers stick around that long?

Any help is appreciated.