Bucs Get Three-Hit, Lose Series

     Charlie Morton, who owned the Reds last year, gave up two homers in a 5-0 loss today.

     Morton got behind early in the first by allowing a one out walk to Drew Stubbs, then allowed him to get to third on an errant pickoff attempt to first base. Joey Votto would knock him in with a single to make it 1-0. It seemed the Bucs would get the run back when they loaded the bases with one out. Casey McGehee would line out to third on a nice diving play by Todd Frazier and Nate McLouth would be called out on strikes on a very questionable 3-2 pitch that seemed to be below Nate's knees.
    
     That would be the Pirates lone scoring chance as Mat Latos would allow only two more hits in his six innings of work. The Reds bullpen would only allow a hit over the last three to secure the shutout. Morton would not have the same outcome as he would allow Todd Frazier and Drew Stubbs to hit homers in consecutive innings to put the game out of reach.
    
     It was an all-around ugly day for the Pirates as they would strike out a franchise record seventeen times in the loss.The defense wasn't that good either committing two errors, one which led to a run.


Starters Lines
Morton: (L, 1-3) 6 IN, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's (2 to Latos)
Latos: (W, 2-2) 6 IN, 2 H, 3BB, 11 K's (1 to Morton)

Turning Point
     Nate McLouth's strikeout in the first. Bad call or not, it ended the only chance for runs in the game for the Pirates. Personally, if a pitch is close with two strikes you should be swinging but sometimes it's hard to pull the trigger.

Stud/Dud of the Game
Stud: None (How can I give this to anyone when your team gets three hit and strikes out 17 times)
Dud: Every non-pitcher in the lineup except for Neil Walker. (Walker went 1-3 with a walk and was the only non-pitcher not to strike out)

Final Thoughts
-- This was a very frustrating game to watch. The type that get people talking about 100+ losses. I'm not to that point quite yet. It's only 28 games into the season and the Pirates are still going through the tough part of their schedule.

-- The seventeen strikeouts by Pirate hitters ties a club record for a game. (June 4, 1995 vs. the Dodgers, July 21, 1997 vs. the Phillies)

-- The Pirates will have an off-day on Monday to regroup before finishing the nine-game homestand against Washington and Houston.

This Day in '92 - W/ 16 INN vs. ATL 4-3
     The Pirates walked-off in the sixteenth by way of a Don Slaught triple and Jose Lind RBI single. Bob Patterson picked up the win with two scoreless innings for his second win. Barry Bonds went 2-5 with a double, a run scored, 3 walks (1 Intentional), and 2 stolen bases.
     Andy Van Slyke went 2-7 with an Intentional Walk.