Two in a row.

One more and that's called a winning streak.  It has happened before.

-Everybody should see the last 5 minutes of the made-for-TV movie The Langoliers

Damn Finals, Go Bucs

Doumit has been Christened Narddog

Breakdown of this later.

Get out your bread and butter, grandma. It's Grand Salami time.

The streaks have ended!

Ryan Doumit, what a man.  Takes a shot in the nards then gets the big home run in the ninth.

Andy is making solid contact in every at bat, this excites me.

I've decided that Andrew McCutchen will be Jose Reyes with slightly more power from an offensive standpoint.  This is based on very little, I like whims.


Final Note: finals week and John Madden blow equally.

Ay. Dios. Mio.

Yahoo! Boxscore

For those of you not well versed in Spanish, that translates to:

Oh. My. God.

So the Pirates lost big.

Again.

To the Brewers.

Again.

You may be asking yourself, why is this happening all of a sudden, or maybe you knew this was coming all along. Well, I don't think anybody thought it was going to be this bad.

I mean seriously, I can understand if the Pirates are going to lose some games, but to not even be competitive enough to have a chance to win is just a joke.

The injury to Ohlendorf seems to really have hurt the Pirates pitching staff. With Ross out, they are forced to rely fairly heavily upon minor league gypsies who really have no business being on a major league mound.

That said, I can't really blame the bullpen too much for giving up runs, because at this point, they have to be tired. Also, it's not like the offense is doing much to help them out. Over the last 8 games, the starting pitcher has been on the hook for the loss. The game is over by the time the bullpen gets in the game.

I'm not saying that coming in and giving up runs is helping the team win games, but it certainly isn't the reason we are losing them. I'd like to think that if the offense could put up more runs and we could get some quality starts from the rotation, then the Pirates could start winning some games again.

Until then, we are left to ponder what is wrong with the team and why they lose so badly to the Brewers.

I'll have more information on that soon.

Pre-Emptive Post

Yovani Gallardo strikes out 20

Pirates win in extras off a Rob Mackowiak grand slam (I think I see Dave Williams in the background there, but I could be wrong).

I'm Fixing a Hole...

Well after an exciting start to the season, the Pirates are beginning to look a lot like the team that many experts and fans predicted they would be. Even though the first few games seemed to demonstrate that scoring runs would not be issue this season, the Pirates have fallen into a slump at the plate with 2 shutouts in their last 5 games. Although I am concerned about this inability to score runs, it seems that the Pirates are getting on base and getting hits. If you ask me, the runs will come, just give it time.

Pitching on the other hand, oh boy. Pirate pitchers have been so bad recently that games are essentially over by the 3rd inning because by that time, the other team has already scored 8 runs or so. Since Ohlendorf has been injured, the Pirates have been forced to rely more on Daniel McCutchen and Charlie Morton for quality starts. This has not worked out well. Also, the fifth spot in the rotation has been a mess as of late, with Chris Jakubauskas almost being killed (literally) by a line drive to the head, and Brian Burres and others not getting the job done. Throw in that DMcCutch was used as a reliever in yesterday's game and it seems like the Pirates are going to have even more shakeups in the lineup.

("Now to make his first career start for the Pirates... #99, Pitchy McPitching-Machine!"

Announcer: "I like this kid's mechanics and delivery, but his inability to throw more than 10 pitches may be a factor in this game")

Though, regardless of who is pitching, I think I've noticed a trend in the batters facing the Pirates. They simply do not have instilled within them the fear of facing a major league pitcher. For example, while I was watching the game today, Carlos Lee was nonchalantly standing at the plate simply daring Burres to throw a strike. Albeit, he was waiting for the runner on first to steal, but his stance was so lackadaisical, so careless that it was obvious he was never going to attempt to swing the bat. Sadly, Burres couldn't even hit the strike zone on 4 straight pitches, thus empowering Lee's assumption that he needn't swing the bat at all. Somebody needs to put some fear into these hitters. After all, the pitcher should have the mindset that he is the hunter and the batter is merely the quick, but fragile gazelle. He must learn to outwit his crafty prey.

(In other words, Mantracker should be the Pirates pitching coach)

Establishing dominance on the mound is of critical importance. I guess Lee was right to stand there like a statue when Burres pretended to act like a pitcher. After all, in that occasion it was Lee and not Burres who was the hunter. So how do we get into the heads of opposing pitchers? If there is anything I learned from "Hey Arnold" its that if you want to avoid getting beat up by the school bully, sometimes you gotta act a little crazy.

(That, and the fact that Steely Phil was awesome at Chinese Checkers. Also, Dino Spumoni for life.)

With regard to the Pirates, I'm talking bout' the use of some sweet chin music now and then. Carlos Lee deserved to get popped when he was standing there like a bum. Also, Ryan Braun needs to be knocked down a few pegs. There is a lot of other trash out in the major leagues that needs to be taken out, so why don't we be the garbagemen of national league. Maybe after a few games of nonsensically bashing 10 or so players in the ribs, teams will learn to fear our violent and unpredictable ways. And that is when we strike. Rawwwwwrr!!

Pirates only lose by 1: Success!!!

GFJ finally went yard again

Clement needs to hit a few more to make up for his terrible average

Maholm gave the exhausted pen a bit of a rest

That's about all I remember, freaking school...

Pirates set record

For sucking. The 22-0 blowout loss to the Brewers today was officially the worst loss in all pirate history. Yes that's right, all pirate history. Worse than the first time people realized what Napster was doing and definitely worse than when Jack lost the Black Pearl.

(Lego artist rendition)

So enough talk about the epic meltdown of a series that the Pirates experienced. As my mother always says, "If you don't have anything nice to say about something, don't say anything at all". Therefore, let us move on.

Amidst the recent poor play of the Pirates, it has been hard to ignore the fact that young Andrew McCutchen is putting together a fine statistical season. Particularly with respect to stolen bases, on base percentage and batting average. The Cutch is batting .285 with an OBP of .365 and is currently leading the majors in stolen bases with 9. Not bad for a guy in his second year in the majors. Cutch stole 22 bases in 108 games last year and at his current pace he could easily get t0 50. Stealing bases is an essential tactic for a team that has to rely almost entirely on the power of Garrett Jones for the longball. To be a good base stealer, it takes a crazy amount of body control, speed, and agility. In other words, the same skills that Kevin Bacon showed us in Footloose.

(Gotta gotta cut footloose! Footloose! Kick off your sunday shoes!)

So here is my advice to McCutchen: You gotta dance dogg, just dance! Here is a true story: I used to play on a deck hockey team and I really wasn't really good. I played about half a season or so and didn't score a single goal even though I frequently played on offense. Prior to the next season I learned to play Dance Dance Revolution and spent hours training the coordination of my feet. The next deck hockey season my average goals and points per game were significantly higher than the previous season. (p < .001). Coincidence you say? Statistics don't lie, my friend. DDR = better statistical performance.

("b" is the probability that you will listen to "Party in the U.S.A." and enjoy it)

So c'mon Cutch. I know I applauded your effort earlier but now I'm reconsidering my opinion. 9 stolen bases so far is weak. Imagine what you could do with the power of DDR and other rhythm games. Start dancing or just quit baseball already.

Well

Damn

Bucs Lose: Ugly City

Well, Cutch was 3-4 bringing his average up to .288 and Duke is back on the mound tomorrow.

I have to believe Charlie Morton's going to have some gems to counterbalance starts like this.

That's really all I want to say

Bucs play well; Jason Marquis does not

First off we need to applaud the latest accomplishments of our Buccos; a three-game sweep is nothing to scoff at and it is something that this club can really hang their hats on in the early going. Good plate discipline, capable pitching and clutch hitting really contributed to the recent victories. I'm looking forward to an interesting and exciting summer if the Pirates keep playing this way.

The next topic doesn't directly concern the Bucs but is something worth mentioning. There was a Nationals-Brewers game that happened earlier today in which a certain pitcher did not play very well. Jason Marquis, I'm looking at you.

("Mrrr...Please don't look at me")

Mr. Marquis pitched quite poorly. Here is the official stat line: 0.0 IP, 4H, 7ER, 1BB, 0K, 28 pitches. The Brew Crew went on to score 3 additional runs in the first inning. Yowza. I always chuckle at the beginning of the season when a bullpen guy gets only 1 out and gives up 5 runs or so and his ERA soars to 108.00 or something like that, but this guy has gone three starts now and all he has to show is an 0-3 record with a 20.52 ERA. That's bad enough for Will Smith to say "Dayumm!"

(Though, for me, it isn't difficult to imagine something that would make Will say "damn".)

However, the point here is not make fun of Jason Marquis. It is rather to reiterate the old saying that it "ain't over til its over". Despite giving up a huge lead in the first inning, the Nats rallied to score 7 runs over 16 hits across the next 9 innings while the Brewers managed only 1 more run. The Nationals ended up losing by 4, leaving 2 stranded runners at the end of the 9th. Even though they came up short, it is refreshing to see a ball club give it their all the whole game even though a bum essentially threw away the game in the first inning. Sorry again Marquis.

("No, go on. It's cool. I'm still making $15 mil")

Moral of the story: don't give up. You may lose, but don't give up. Fans come to a game expecting their team to perform. Ultimately, a good performance is what all fans want to see. Of course, a win is better than a loss, but an exciting loss is better than a mailed-in loss. I'm sure any Nats fans at the game took at least some solace in the fact that their team has some heart. With their recent walk-off wins, the Pirates have shown that they have the grit and determination to hang in tough games and pull out a victory. Lets hope that when the Bucs have their "Marquis-esque" games this season that we can watch a heartfelt performance, and maybe even a win, in the eyes of all but certain defeat.

Bucs Win 5-3: Jay Bruce Still Sucks

Yahoo! Boxscore

The Buccos played well today to complete a three game sweep against the Reds. I've always had a dislike for the Reds. Maybe it's because their name reminds me of communists, maybe it's because they employ Jay Bruce, it's really hard to say.

Either way, the fact is that they were swept by the Pirates, and that puts the Pirates 2 games over .500. I know that it is only April, but the Pirates have been playing well this year. Sure they have had some rough patches in some games so far (the game against the Diamondbacks comes to mind), but they are putting up wins, and that's something to build on.

Some thoughts from today's game:

• Bronson Arroyo is a decent pitcher. Doesn't impress me much. The Pirates were equally unimpressed.
• Jaramillo went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs. That's great production for a backup catcher, even if it was only for one game.
• Cutch stole another base and got to third on the errant throw, which is always good to see. He's going 40-40 this year. It's kind of an organizational goal.
• Jay Bruce still sucks. 2 HRs mean nothing when they don't help your team win. Call it the Jason Bay effect. He's still hitting .178 so far this season. He's terrible
• SWEEP!

The Bucs have played very well so far this season, and will definitely have to keep up the play, because the Brewers come to town on Tuesday for a 3 game series. That's 3 games of Ryan Braun, the man we all love to hate.

If the Bucs can win this series, they can put some distance between themselves and the Brewers for second place early in the season. That's definitely an exciting prospect, even if it is early in the season.

Bucs Win 5-4: Walkoff City

11 games into the season, the Pirates have a winning record, that should be enough to make any fan smile.  We've got two wins in a row, one more and that's called a winning streak.  It has happened before.

- Darkwing looked terrified standing up there with a full count in the bottom of the ninth.  If Cordero would have put it near the zone, I'm not too confident anything good would have come from it.

- A walkoff granny would have been awesome, but I'll take a really long single any day in that situation.

- There's something different about this team.  I'm not saying it's their year or anything, but I really like the way things feel

Maholm vs. Arroyo for the series sweep tomorrow.  I'm way too excited about the prospect of 2 games over .500

Bucs Win 4-3: Relievers need to throw strikes.

Another MLB Gameday only game to make room for the Penguins on FSN.  Anyways, as always, here's what I took from the game.

- Zach Duke pitched well and kept his pitch count down, hopefully the rest of the rotation follows suit

- The Bucs are playing some good small ball.  Bunts and stolen bases win baseball games

- I have a strong distaste for the man called Jay Bruce

- The ball to strike ratio of our relievers is simply unacceptable and almost cost us this game.  Every team needs good middle relievers, and I'm not sure if we have those right now.

- Darkwing Duck might be a legitimate 3 hitter...I'm pleasantly surprised so far.

Not much else to say without actually seeing the game.  Ross is out for tomorrow, McCutchen gets the start.  Let's hope he remembers how to hit the strike zone.

"Iwamura-san sitte masu ka?" "Hai".

Hey all. The name is J.T. McCloud and I've been asked to do what I can and contribute to TPT. I've always liked baseball but honestly most of my knowledge about the game has come from Fantasy Baseball leagues and the video game MLB 09/10 The Show. Also, I have a thing for Magiquest, Nate McLouth, and Star Fox 64.

(Pictured: The pinnacle of video games)

Take my credentials as you will.

I am though, a Pirates fan. As such, I like to interject my thoughts on the team now and then. I'll be sure to bring my perspective to each post and hopefully add some humor to this blog. I mean, sheesh, have you seen the posts of those other guys? Zing!

Anyway, here's a cool story for the day. I was in my Japanese class today, acting very tiredly and not anticipating anything exciting, when alls a sudden my sensei asks about the Japanese player on the Pirates.

Me: "Aki Iwamura desu ne?"

Tomoda-Sensee: "Hai, Iwamura-san sitte masu ka?"

Me: "Hai. Pirates no baisubaru yoku mimasu"

Tomoda-Sensee: "A, soo desu ka? Ii desu nee!"

Me: *Grin*

Thats right, Pirates baseball talk in Japanese class. Boom baby. In that conversation my sensei basically asked if I knew (about) Aki to which I replied "Yes, I watch Pirates baseball often". She answered "O RLY? That's great!". What is even cooler is that she went on to say that Aki is from her hometown in Japan! According to Wikipedia, Aki is from Uwajima in the Ehime prefecture of Japan. Furthermore, according to my imagination, Aki is worshipped as a demi-god over there.

Stay tuned for more thoughts and stories.

(Aki's wife smiles as Japanese Lighting whispers sweet nothings in her ear)

Pirates lay an egg, Sanchez was Dirty

Oh, middle school humor.


Games like this happen, can't be too down on the team for it.

- Charlie Morton is definitely talented enough to be a major league pitcher, he just needs the head for it now;  mix up the pitches from time to time.  However, the drop in velocity from his first start to this start was not encouraging.

- I really like the patience Garrett Jones has been showing at the plate.  Too many power hitters are way too free swinging.

- Jonathan Sanchez is a good pitcher (but that one was obvious).  I wish we could have landed him in the Freddy deal that netted us Tim Alderson as was originally rumored.  I know Alderson has a lot of potential, but it's hard to remember that after watching Sanchez pitch lights out.

Let's hope PNC park treats us better

In game update

Garrett Jones has to take that pitch to the shoulder.  Down 0-2 with a curveball coming to the shoulder, you take your damn base.  Freaking ball players nowadays...

That is all

Pirates win 6-5: That makes him a saaaad panda

Short post, school blows

- Anyways, GFJ flashing the leather at first makes me really wish we could play him and his abysmal arm at first full time.

- Paul's sky hook will be on highlight reels the rest of the year

- .500 is always a good feeling, even this early in the year.

- Cutch's fast is faster than your fast

Morton goes for the series win today.  Winning series means winning seasons, so I'm going to go ahead and call this a big game today

Quit Layin' it in There, Meat: Bucs Lose 9-3

Hey everybody, I'm Turd Ferguson, and I'll be contributing posts from time to time as well. There's not much to tell about me. I like giant hats, preferably sombreros, and hey, it's a funny name. Anyway, without further ado, here is the game recap...

"Hey! Panda Bear! We don't take kindly to yer type 'round 'ere!" In case you didn't notice, the picture above is Pablo Sandoval, AKA "Panda Bear". That line pretty much sums up how I felt as I watched him go 3 for 4 with 2 runs and a walk. Not a bad stat-line to say the least, but still not as good as catcher Bengie Molina, who went 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs, 2 runs, and a walk. Those two guys shouldered much of the Giants offense, with everybody else chipping in accordingly.

That is a stark contrast to the Pirates lineup, where the offensive output came from Aki and Andy, with Cutch, Cedano, and Raynor being the only other Pirates to get a hit. Looking at the boxscore, it is fairly easy to see why the Bucs dropped this game, but the boxscore never gives the whole story.

I admittedly did not catch much of the game, but I saw some highlights of the game, and it could have ended better than it did. The Pirates had a chance in the 7th until it was revealed that a better part of the lineup cannot hit a slider over the middle part of the plate to save their lives. But hey, they fought hard and tried their best, and in the end, what more could we ask for as fans? After all, it's just a game and you play the game to have fun, just don't tell Herm Edwards that.

While it's certainly disappointing to see the Bucs drop another game, take solace in the fact that at least it wasn't as bad as yesterday. They'll get a win tomorrow... well... today now, so don't stop believin' just yet,

That'll do it for this game recap. It's 4:30 in the morning, I'm exhausted, the Pirates lost, and I have to go to class at some point tomorrow. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. Other than that, an enjoyable first post overall. Enjoy the game later today.

Bucs lose big: Don't want to see the score again

So, once again didn't actually get to watch the game, but I did catch the fourth inning on the radio during the trip back from Altoona.  Disgraceful.

Some positives
- I think I heard that Daniel McCutchen attempted to bunt for a hit.  This excites me.
- Aki still draws walks like no other
- If you erase the fourth inning, them buccos win (also, if my aunt had a penis, she'd be my uncle)
- Still not under .500

Looking at the Altoona game, no real shock here but Strasburg is the real deal.  Consistently at 97-98 on his fastball through five innings with a breaking ball that fooled a fair share of Curve batters.  He gave up a few, but a lot of that can be attributed to the defense behind him.  On the Altoona side of things, a few disappointments and a little encouragement.  Gorkys Hernandez cannot hit a curveball.  He just can't do it.  Rudy Owens looked sharp for most of his start with only a little hiccup at the end.  I would be very excited about this guy if his fastball could get above 89.  I was really looking forward to seeing Chase D'Arnaud play, but he was given the game off (save for a late game double switch), maybe next time.

The crowd at this game was crazy huge.  I'm pretty sure we parked in some guy's backyard.

Pirates win 6-3: Aki Goes Yard

Is there anything more exciting than "watching" a baseball game on mlb.com's Gameday?  Anyways, here's some random musings I had while watching the Indy Indians game, the Pens game, and following the Bucs game:

- List of reasons Akinori Iwamura is my hero:
     1.  He's beastly at drawing walks
     2.  He's got a wicked awesome name (reminiscent of Benito Santiago on that front)
     3.  His favorite movie is the Sean Connery classic, The Rock
     4.  Drawing on number three, I can only assume that he'll take pleasure in gutting you...boy.

-I didn't like the moving of Milledge to the 3 slot, I just can't see him as a 3 batter, but you can't argue with results.  Hopefully they keep up.

-If McCutchen is going to continue batting in the 2 slot, JR's going to have to start having him bunt with a runner on and less than 2 outs.

- Zach Duke put up good numbers, but just looking at his ball to strike ratio, I'm guessing he was having some command issues.  Hopefully he starts finding the strike zone more often soon.

- Donnie Veal has some potentially electric stuff.  A mid-90's fastball and a breaking ball that looks unhittable at times.  It'll be interesting to watch how he develops and advances through the year.

- I'm confident the Pens will have no problems with the Senators

Speaking of the Senators (how do you like that segway, boom), I'm going to be in Altoona tomorrow to catch Rudy Owens take on Stephen Strasburg and the Harrisburg Senators.  I just have to see for myself whether or not this man can really produce thunderbolts from his arm as I have heard.

Bucs go for their second straight series win tomorrow.  Daniel McCutchen, lead us to victory.

Lastings Looks Like a Duck

Welcome to ThePieTrainers.blogspot.com! We are four roommates dedicated to blogging about the Pittsburgh Pirates in any capacity possible.  While we are fans of WHYGAVS, BucsDugout, and the numerous other Pirates blogs already in existence (we mentioned those two by name because they're our favorites, we try to be honest around here), we like hearing ourselves talk too so we've created our own.  This being our first post, we aren't really sure what you can expect from us or in the same vein, what we can expect from you.  Being college-aged native sons of Pittsburgh, we've grown up rooting for a perennial loser, but we have rooted for our buccos without fail year after year.  Every year, we can't help but feel this is our year despite all the evidence to the contrary.  Through daily recaps, minor league analysis, and random rants, we hope instill in our readers (thinking somebody will read this may be a little optimistic) the same undying optimism we feel for our team.  It may be ridiculous and irrational, but it makes things so much more fun, so come, join us!

Also, we hate Ryan Braun and Jay Bruce while we love the dying art of the bunt.  Don't ask why, we don't know, we just do.

PS: Boom, Roasted.  (We like quoting shows and movies as well)