Orioles Wrap Up

Scores:
Tuesday: 6-8 Loss at Baltimore. Bad pitching. Box score.
Wednesday: 1-7 Loss at Baltimore. Bad pitching. Box score.
Thursday: 6-12 Loss at Baltimore. Bad pitching. Box score.

Season Record: 32-30, 2nd place in NL Central, 3.0 games back

Notes: Swept. For the first time this year the Bucs has no pitchers do anything good for a whole series. The best you could say about any of them is that Correia at least gave the team six innings. Its a shame too, because it wasted some pretty good hitting. Casey McGehee and Jose Tabata each has 5 hits. Also on the good side: no runners caught stealing or picked off.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Walker, 2B	15	1	2	4	0	5	7	0.133	0.133
Presley, LF	14	2	3	1	1	2	5	0.214	0.267
McCutchen, A, CF	12	2	4	1	0	3	4	0.333	0.308
Alvarez, 3B	12	0	1	1	0	4	9	0.083	0.083
Tabata, RF	11	2	5	0	1	3	4	0.455	0.500
Barmes, SS	11	1	3	0	0	1	6	0.273	0.273
McGehee, 1B	10	2	5	2	3	1	1	0.500	0.615
Barajas, C	8	1	1	3	0	2	3	0.125	0.125
Jones, G, DH	7	2	3	0	0	2	2	0.429	0.429
Hague, DH	5	0	1	1	1	2	2	0.200	0.333
McKenry, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	0.000	0.250
Harrison, SS	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	—-	1.000
Totals	108	13	28	13	7	26	45	0.259	0.308

Batting
Doubles (5): Walker (11), Presley (6), McGehee (7), Jones (9), Tabata (11)
Home Runs (3): McGehee (2), Walker (4), Barajas (6)

BaseRunning
SB: McCutchen 2 (13), Tabata (7)

Fielding
Errors: Barmes (8), Resop (3), Presley (3)
Double Plays: (McGehee-Barmes-Lincoln), (Barmes-Walker-McGehee), (McGehee-Barmes-Correia)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Correia(L, 2-6)	6.0	10	5	4	1	1	1	6.00	1.83
Lincoln(L, 3-2)	4.3	9	4	4	1	3	2	8.31	2.31
Resop	4.0	7	5	4	0	2	1	9.00	1.75
Bedard(L, 4-7)	3.3	8	7	7	2	1	0	18.90	3.00
Slaten	2.7	6	3	3	1	0	1	10.13	2.63
Hanrahan	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	1.00
Hughes, J	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	1	9.00	2.00
Watson	1.0	2	2	2	0	2	1	18.00	2.00
Cruz, J	0.7	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	1.50
Totals	24.0	44	27	25	7	13	7	9.38	2.13

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Tommy John Expected for Charlie Morton

News started breaking this morning that Charlie Morton, on the DL with elbow discomfort, has a torn ligament and will likely need Tommy John surgery. If that is the case then he won’t be back until the middle of next season, with no guarantee of being effective right away.

This is a big blow for Morton and a big blow for the Pirates’ pitching depth. For now, the ream is saying that Brad Lincoln will remain in the rotation until Jeff Karstens is healthy. I suspect that Rudy Owens or Jeff Locke will be starting in the big leagues by early July.

Trade Tree: Erik Bedard

Erik Bedard has been a big part of the Pirates’ pitching renaissance this season. Tonight, he starts for against the Orioles, the team that drafted and developed him.

Bedard broke out in 2007 as an ace pitcher for the 4th place O’s. Instead of building around him, Baltimore decided to trade in in what turned out to be a franchise changing deal.

Bedard (and David Hernandez) became seven players, five of whom are still are still with the organization. The key to this being a good trade for Baltimore is Adam Jones – a good player the last four seasons who is putting up MVP caliber numbers this year.

So what did Seattle get on their end? Bedard has always been an effective pitcher when healthy, he just has trouble staying healthy. In his first three seasons in Seattle Erik made only 30 total starts. 2011 was his first injury-free season in Seattle, but it was also the last year of his contract. The Mariners decided to trade him to a contender at the deadline before another malady could put him on the shelf.

The M’s are left with two toolsy outfield prospects and the visions of what Bedard might have been. It’s going to take one of Chih-Hsien Chiang or Trayvon Robinson turning into a major league regular for Seattle to recoup the value they sent away.

Series Preview: The Orioles

Current record: 32-27, 1st place tie in NL Central, 0.0 games ahead

Up Next: Baltimore Orioles, 34-26, 3rd place in AL East, 1.0 game back

Season Series: 0-0, First time playing.

Notes: The Orioles have been the surprise team of the AL this season, having spent 53 days in first place of the tough AL East. Like the Pirates, the O’s are finding their success despite having been outscored on the season 263-267. Also like the Pirates, they have a young All-Star center fielder leading the way. Adam Jones is hitting .298/.344/.571 with 17 home runs, 37 RBI and 9 steals. Anchoring the team behind the plate is a name all too familiar to Pirate fans: Matt Wieters. The Georgia Tech product has become one of the best catchers in the majors; just as it was thought he would back in 2007. Former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield passed on taking Wieters with the 4th pick, which is a big reason he is now the former GM.

Familiar Faces: Ronny Paulino, Steve Pearce, Dana Eveland

Probable Pitchers
Tuesday: RH Brad Lincoln (3-1, 30.0 IP, 31 K, 2.40 ERA, 1.07 WHIP)
vs. LH Wei-Yin Chen (5-2, 67.0 IP, 51 K, 3.49 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)

The Bucs face Chens in back to back starts for what has to be the first time in their history. Wei-Yin (no relation to Bruce) has been a major addition for the O’s this season. Jeff Karstens strained his hip flexor in his last rehab start, so Lincoln will get at least one more turn.

Wednesday: RH Kevin Correia (2-5, 63.0 IP, 24 K, 4.29 ERA, 1.27 WHIP)
vs. LH Brian Matusz (5-6, 65.1 IP, 50 K, 4.82 ERA, 1.55 WHIP)

Thursday: LH Erik Bedard (4-6, 62.2 IP, 61 K, 3.59 ERA, 1.37 WHIP)
vs. RH Tommy Hunter (2-3, 65.0 IP, 33 K, 5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

No lineups yet.

Royals Wrap Up

Scores:
Friday: 4-2 Win vs Kansas City. Bedard rolls through 7. Box score.
Saturday: 5-3 Win vs Kansas City. In the big inning, Bucs score 5. Box score.
Sunday: 3-2 Win vs Kansas City. McCutchen, Burnett lead the way. Box score.

Season Record: 32-27, 1st place tie in NL Central, 0.0 games ahead

Notes: Sweep! Detroit helps out, taking two from Cincy and putting the Pirates are in a first place tie. Andrew McCutchen had a big day Sunday, but the rest of the offense was spread out over the weekend and over the whole team. James McDonald struggled for the first time in over a month. Jose Tabata needs to be stopped from running. If he’s hurt, put him on the DL.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Presley, LF	13	1	3	1	0	1	1	0.231	0.231
Walker, 2B	11	2	4	2	1	5	2	0.364	0.417
Barajas, C	10	2	3	0	1	4	2	0.300	0.364
McCutchen, A, CF	10	1	2	3	2	3	5	0.200	0.333
Barmes, SS	10	2	2	2	0	1	5	0.200	0.200
Tabata, RF	8	1	2	0	0	1	5	0.250	0.333
Jones, G, PH-RF-1B	7	0	2	2	0	0	5	0.286	0.286
McGehee, 3B, 1B	5	0	2	0	0	1	3	0.400	0.400
Alvarez, 3B	5	2	1	0	3	1	5	0.200	0.500
Hague, PH-1B	4	1	0	0	1	1	5	0.000	0.200
Harrison, RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000	0.000
Burnett, AJ, P	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	0.000	0.000
Bedard, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
McDonald, J, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
Mercer, PH	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	—-	1.000
Totals	91	12	21	10	9	22	41	0.231	0.307

Batting
Doubles (4): Jones (8), Alvarez (10), McGehee (6), McCutchen (10)
Home Runs (1): McCutchen (11)

BaseRunning
SB: Walker 2 (5), Presley 3 (6), McCutchen (11)
CS: Tabata 2 (7), Mercer (1)
PO: Tabata

Fielding
Errors: Resop (2)
Double Plays: (Barmes-Hague)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Burnett, AJ (W, 6-2)	7.3	5	2	2	2	6	0	2.45	0.95
Bedard (W, 4-6)	7.0	5	2	2	3	5	0	2.57	1.14
McDonald, J	4.0	5	3	3	2	2	1	6.75	1.75
Hughes, J (W, 2-0)	2.3	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	0.43
Grilli (H, 15) (S, 1)	2.0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0.00	1.00
Hanrahan (S, 16, 17)	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Resop	1.0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	3.00
Slaten (H, 2)	0.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00
Cruz, J (H, 11)	0.3	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	3.00
Watson (H, 6)	0.3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00	3.00
Totals	27.0	20	7	7	10	20	1	2.33	1.11

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Series Preview: The Royals

Current record: 29-27, 2nd place in NL Central, 2.0 games back

Up Next: Kansas City Royals, 24-31, 4th place in AL Central, 7.0 games back

Season Series: 0-0, First time playing.

Notes: Interleague play is back for the next 15 games. For the Royals tonight, that means they lose the DH and their defense gets shifted around to keep their best hitters in the lineup. DH Billy Butler goes to first, 1B Eric Hosmer goes to RF, and RF Jeff Francoeur moves to CF. The Pirates have been playing well and should have no trouble with the weak Royals pitching.

Familiar Faces: Surpisingly, none.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: RH Luke Hochevar (3-6, 57.0 IP, 46 K, 6.63 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)
vs. LH Erik Bedard (3-6, 55.2 IP, 56 K, 3.72 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Saturday: LH Vin Mazzaro (2-0, 12.0 IP, 5 K, 2.25 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)
vs. RH James McDonald (5-2, 71.1 IP, 71 K, 2.14 ERA, 0.95 WHIP)

Sunday: LH Bruce Chen (5-5, 70.0 IP, 48 K, 4.37 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)
vs. RH A.J. Burnett (5-2, 55.0 IP, 50 K, 3.76 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)

Royals
Alex Gordon LF
Yuniesky Betancourt 2B
Billy Butler 1B
Mike Moustakas 3B
Jeff Francoeur CF
Eric Hosmer RF
Alcides Escobar SS
Humberto Quintero C
Luke Hochevar P

Alex Presley LF
Neil Walker 2B
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones RF
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Jose Tabata RF
Rod Barajas C
Clint Barmes SS
Erik Bedard P