J-Mac took a no-no into the seventh in game one before an infield single to Troy Tulowitzki would break it up. The shutout would go that inning as well as a wild pitch and sac fly would make it 1-0 Rox. Juan Nicasio was just as good shutting out the Bucs through seven on 7 hits before a Pedro Alvarez lazer to the right-center field seats tied it at 1. Chris Resop would let the Rockies regain the lead in the eighth after hitting Eric Young, allowing a single to Marco Scutaro, then a sac fly to Tyler Colvin. The Bucs would then go down silently over the last two innings.
For any of you thinking, "Man, if Pedro could have at least gotten the force at second on the hit J-Mac could have gone all the way". No. That was most likely McDonald's last inning either way due to pitch count. Hurdle is not going to risk harming a starter so early in the year just for the chance at a no-no. I am fine with going for the win instead of the no-no.
The second game in the twin bill went the same way for Pirate pitching. Charlie Morton gave up a solo homer (Ramon Hernandez) in seven strong but got plenty of offense to allow him to get his first win of the year 5-1. The sun would be the Pirates friend on the offensive side in the fifth after Carlos Gonzalez misplayed back-to-back catchable fly balls with one out that allowed two runs to score. Garret Jones and Pedro Alvarez would then go back-to-back to finish the scoring.
Pitchers Lines
GM 1
McDonald: 7 IN, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K's
Nicasio: 6 2/3 IN, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's
GM 2
Morton:(W, 1-1) 7 IN, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's
Chacin:(L, 0-2) 5 IN, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's (1 to Morton)
The Bucs are off tomorrow to travel to the ATL where they will face the hated Braves in a 4-game set starting Friday night.
Turning Point's
GM 1
Eric Young getting hit-by-pitch in the eighth. He has the speed that took some of Resop's focus off of Marco Scutaro. Scutaro would single and Young would easily go first-to-third and score on a sac fly.
GM 2
The sun, largest star in the galaxy, aided in the 5 run fifth. That and the fact that Carlos Gonzalez was smart enough not to wear sunglasses during an afternoon double header under sunny skies. Just sayin.
Stud/Dud of the game's
GM 1
Stud: J-Mac - Took a no-no into the seventh only to have it taken away by an infield hit of all things.
Dud: Jose Tabata - Trying to turn a routine lead-off single into a double. Didn't work, rally over before it could start.
GM 2
Stud: Garret Jones - 3-4, HR, 2 RBI.
Also give props to Pedro Alvarez in both games. 3-8, 2 HR, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Dud: I really can't think of a dud for game 2 so I'm going to give it to someone me and fellow blogger @McEffect (follow him, very very quality Bucco blog) were discussing. His roommate turns 21 at midnight. (8 min from when I am typing this out, Happy Birthday man) His girlfriend, although will not let him celebrate it in a way a college student should. Therefore, she gets the dud of game 2. Not cool man.
Final Thoughts
-- Brad Lincoln pitched a perfect eighth and ninth innings in game two. I believe he has found is spot in the Majors. A long reliever.
-- Pedro had a very good day at the plate. His hits were to all fields, a few of his outs were well hit too. I think he has finally found his groove, Especially when he gets ahead in the count. If a pitcher can get ahead then all bets are off for Pedro to be productive but don't worry, he's working on it and he WILL have a decent season. I would be happy with a .205, 25-30 HR, 65-90 RBI year. (He can easily surpass these numbers though.)
-- The Pirates have now gone 18 consecutive games to start a season without giving up or scoring more than 5 runs in a game. It's a new Major League record. Now we can break the bats out boys.
--Watch Cutch imitate Cleveland Brown from "Family Guy" and "The Cleveland Show" http://t.co/OgT3hw72 (via
This day in 1991 - 1-0 Victory @ the Cubs
Randy Tomlin would move to 4-0 by pitching 8 shutout innings and allowing only 5 base runners (3 H, 2 BB) and striking out 3. Stan Belinda would pitch a perfect 9th to get save #5.
Andy Van Slyke would have the game-winning RBI, a double in the 6th scoring Jay Bell.
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