Marlins Complete Sweep, Pirates Get Wood.

First things first.  The pirates just got swept by the Marlins.  Hats off to the Marlins for a well played series.  The Pirates, not so much.  Nice to see Pedro get going a little bit.  Hope he keeps it up.

The Pirates have also gone and claimed infielder Brandon Wood off of waivers.  If anything, this should create some competition for Cedeno at short.  Not going to expect too much here, as Wood was the Angels opening day starter last year, and did so well that he was designated for assignment this year.  Good move for the Pirates, in my opinion though.

Series against the Nationals starts tonight.  Time to get some more wins.

Go Bucs.

Muggle Maholm: Bucs Lose

By all accounts, Paul Maholm was not very magical last night.  In fact, he wasn't even ordinary for most of  the game.  Any time you are pulled in the 4th inning as a starter, you know it's not a good day at the office.  Maholm definitely knows it, tweeting, "Obviously not a good game.  I sucked. Now let's move on and take the series."

To be fair, it's not like it would have mattered if Maholm would have come out and only given up 1 run, since the offense couldn't get it going.  Josh Johnson is pretty good, after all.  All in all, it was a fairly ugly game for the Pirates, and I look for them to bounce back with a win tonight.  A series win puts the Bucs back above .500 for the season, which is something to look forward to, even if it's only temporary.

Charlie's Got "Electric Stuff"

If you've followed the Pirates for any length of time in the past couple years, you've probably heard of the fabled "Electric Stuff" possessed by one, Charlie Morton. Due to his seemingly inability to control said, "Electric Stuff", it became kind of a running joke to refer to Charlie's "Electric Stuff" after he just got shelled for 6 or so runs.

Well, so far this season, it seems as though Charlie may finally have harnessed this stuff, and has been using it to dominate opposing hitters. Let's take a look at his stats through his first 3 starts this season:


Those are some pretty impressive numbers for a guy who has been mediocre at best when given the chance to throw in the big leagues.

I realize that it is only 3 starts into the season, but this is a very encouraging sign from Charlie.

Here's to hoping he has finally turned a corner and continues to show off his "Electric Stuff" for the rest of the season. God knows the Pirates could use it.

Boom

I called it. Pirates suck again. Mwahahahah.

Correia Throws No Hitter!..... Through 5

So for the first 5 innings of last night's game, I was thinking, "Man, Correia is throwing the ball really well tonight. What a great pickup this guy was!" Well... The Fat Prince just couldn't let us enjoy the rest of the evening. Things went south after that, and the Brewers didn't look back.

A 6-0 stings, but it stings even worse when the game was going so well and the Pirates just imploded. Credit to Fat, but I see the loss more as a Pirates' implosion than a Brewers win. Oh well, it's in the past now, and the Pirates are officially under .500.

Now we get to play the fun game of "Will the Pirates get back to .500 this year. I'm going to guess yes, still too early to say they won't get back to .500, but it's not fun. So welcome back to earth, Pirates. Here's hoping this year won't be as bad as last.

The Ace Takes Flight

Kevin Correia is 2-0, with a 1.29 ERA. I bet that he loses tonight. That's all that I have to say.

Pessimism FTW!

Ah...here it goes.

Well, well, well. If the old Pirates haven't begun their usual exercise in futility. In truth, I am so used to watching losing baseball that I was beginning to become uncomfortable with a winning record; I am glad my Buccos could accommodate me. Seriously though, what the fuck. It is like someone reminded the locker room that they should be a shitty team on record, or that they were winning accidentally until they found their stride. Our beloved Buccos sit at 5-5. I cannot say that I am disappointed; after all, they are exactly on pace for the 81-81 that I so desperately want. The only problem is that this would require a team of misfits to go .500 the rest of the way. If I were a betting man...well, let's say that the odds of getting hit by lightning and landing on Jimmy Hoffa are probably about the same as the Pirates winning as many games as they lose from here on out.

I realize that this blog was supposed to represent unyielding (and often foolish) optimism. To that I say "Fuck that." I am a realist. There is no chance in hell that the Pirates go .500. Any thoughts to the contrary are simply unrealistic pipe dreams. From this point forward (I probably could make this statement retroactive) I will be the resident pessimist on the Pie Trainers team. I will seek to curmudgeon any pleasant thoughts and hope. You have been warned.

7:05 Rockies vs. Pirates

The pirates will try to avoid their first two game losing streak of the season tonight as they take on the Rockies. Ohlendorf will toe the rubber for the Pirates, and De La Rosa will do the same for the Rockies.

Hopefully the Pirates realize there is actually a game today and turn in a better performance than they did yesterday. The keys to this game are rather simple in my mind.

1. Ohlendorf
2. Top of the order
3. Errors

First off, Ohlendorf has to throw something close to a quality start. If he can manage to get through 6 without giving up a huge lead, it'll be a success. Secondly, the offense must get it going tonight after a poor showing yesterday. The top of the order should be better tonight, and I'm calling a 3-4 game for Cutch. Finally, the Pirates have to play better defensively and stop making errors. Walker put them behind early on with a terrible error on a routine play yesterday, and they never really recovered. Speaking of errors, we will be debuting an error tracker for the pirates sometime in the next week, so look for that.

I like the Pirates chances in this game tonight, and I really think they are going to pull out a victory.

I'll say 5-2 Pirates as the final.

Let's get Dangerous.

Bucs Lose: Rocky Mountain Low

Box Score

John Denver sucks. For all the enthusiasm and excitement that has been the start to this season, it was certainly nice of the Pirates to remind us that they still have a long way to go before they can truly be considered a contender. Now I will admit, while I was happy that the Pirates had a 4-2 record coming into this game, my expectations were tempered.

I don't expect them to contend for the World Series, or even the division, hell, I don't even think they will get to .500 this year. But winning the home opener would have been nice. At the very least, they should have kept it close. This loss stings a little bit, though it served as a nice reminder that this team will be overachieving if this is the year they finally post a winning season.

Maholm was awful. It has to be said. At times, I thought I was watching Duke on the mound, until I reminded myself he was no longer with the team. As a guy that has never won more than 10 games in a season, and has only once posted an ERA under 4 in a full MLB season, I can't help but think this will be Paul's last year with the team. Granted, his ERA is 2.19 right now, but he certainly looked shaky at times yesterday, so one wonders how long it will last.

Big ups to Esmil Rogers, he dominated the Pirate hitters. The offense never really got anything going, and the score reflected that. Tulowitzki was good for the Rockies offensively, going 2 for 3 with a homer, 3 RBIs and a run. The Rockies were simply better, and turned the game into a stinker of a home opener for the Pirates.

Game 2 of the series is tonight at 7:05, as Ohlendorf takes the mound against De La Rosa. Could be another rough game for the Buccos, but here's to hoping they can pull this out out.

Preview later today.

"Me and My Big Fat Mouth"

Do you see what happens? Do you see what happens, Larry? Do you see what happens when you have some faith in the Pirates, Larry? You are made to eat your words. That's what. I call for a win, I get what could only in loosest of terms be called a competitive game...on opening day, no less. Those poor loyal souls that came out to the first game at PNC...in hopes of a new beginning. It makes me sad. I can accept a close loss; every team has them. But a 7-1 loss in the home opener just shows a lack of effort....and likely a lack of overall skill. I have formulated a get-rich-quick scheme; I will simply bet against the Pirates in every game they play this year. I figure, I'll have to make money, right? Probably not, actually. Since the Pirates are so bad, the lines will likely have no payout. Fuck it. This will be my medium for venting my decades of angst. I encourage you to do the same. Let's go Bucs! Please?

New Beginnings

So we got busy, slacked off, and just generally ignored the blog for almost a year now.

Well we're back. Got a new crew member and a renewed interest. Time to get it done. We will be doing our best to post daily and keep up on all things Pirates. Starts with a few posts today. Shit is about to get real...


Home opener today. Pirates are 4-2.

Enjoy it.

Savor it.

Probably won't last long. (Hey, it IS the Pirates after all)

But right now, the Pirates head into their home opener with 4 road wins under their belt after only having 17 all of last season. There is reason to be hopeful. Time will tell.

Rockies today. Recap tomorrow.

Enjoy the opener.


Go Bucs.

So it begins...again.

The past...say 20 seasons have represented a bit of a slump in the legacy of the Pittsburgh Pirates (I am trying to sound as hopeful as possible, despite being unyieldingly realistic). The Bucs are 4-2. I keep saying to myself, "Only 77 more wins, that's all i want." I figure, they have 156 game left, surely, they can go 77-79 the rest of the way. Then I glance at my phone, see that I am sitting in Pittsburgh and that I am talking about the Pirates, and readjust my expectations. Okay, how about we only lose 88 game instead of 81? The Buccos only have to go 70-86. Hell, I don't even know anymore. There are nights when I feel like there could be a resurgence. Then there are nights where I look for my mitt, with every intention of marching down to PNC Park and demanding to be put into the game. After all, how much worse could I possibly do? To be fair, the Pirates typically play much, much better at home than they do on the road. Case in point, I believe that the Pirates were an abysmal 17-64 on the road last year. How is that even possible? Watching the Pirates is, often times, like watching the Special Olympics. You know that you shouldn't laugh because it isn't nice to make fun of the unfortunate, but you will be god damned if you can stifle yourself.

Today is the home opener. I hold on to some hope for a win simply because the game is at home and Pirates are playing fairly well so far. Let's see how far my hope gets me. Hell, I will wager a prediction. I say the Pirates win 4-1. Watch my hopes be smashed.

Picture: Your 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates...I know it says Royals...the front office let them do the ordering.