Division Series Results

Well, I went 0-4 in my picks for the division series. Now there are no underdogs left. In fact, the last three World Series winners are still alive, which means the only team left that is worth cheering for is the Tigers, who haven’t won since 1984.

New picks, guaranteed to be no less accurate than before:
LCS: Tigers over Yankees, Giants over Cardinals
WS: Tigers over Giants

Division Series Winners

Giants
Ryan Vogelsong 1 G, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.
Javier Lopez 2 G, 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
Xavier Nady 4 G, 0 for 5, 1 BB, 3 K.

Cardinals
None

Yankees
None

Tigers
Octavio Dotel 2 G, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Don Kelly 1 G, 0 for 0, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SF.

Eliminated Teams

Nationals
Adam LaRoche 5 G, 3 for 17, 2 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.
Sean Burnett 2 G, 1.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Mike Gonzalez 1 G, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Tom Gorzelanny 1 G, 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

Reds
Ryan Ludwick 5 G, 6 for 18, 4 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 K.
Bronson Arroyo 1 G, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Xavier Paul 3 G, 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 K.

Orioles
Nate McLouth 5 G, 7 for 22, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.

Athletics
Brandon Moss 5 G, 2 for 15, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HBP.

Must Win to Win Me Back

I admit, I’ve checked out lately. I stayed up to watch the 14 inning loss on Monday and haven’t watched any baseball since. The way the Pirates are currently playing is too frustrating, too deflating to devote my time to. Today’s game is at 2:20 vs. the Cubs. Win that one and I might be tempted to watch again.

More Roster Additions, Meek DFA’d

AAA Indianapolis was eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday, freeing up more players to be added to the big league roster. SS Chase d’Arnaud and RHP Bryan Morris were recalled from AAA. RHP Rick van den Hurk was also called up but he was not on the 40 man roster. To create room for van den Hurk, RHP Evan Meek was designated for assignment.

Series Preview: The Reds

Current record: 72-67, 3rd place in NL Central, 11.0 games back
2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot

Up Next: Cincinnati Reds, 84-57, 1st place in NL Central, 8.5 games ahead

Season Series: 6-6 (1-2, 2-1, 2-1, 1-2)

Notes: The last time the Bucs and Reds squared off, this series looked like it would be way more important than it is now. Cincinnati is cruising to the NL Central crown while Pittsburgh has gone from 15 games over .500 to merely five. A couple wins at Great American would be huge for the confidence of this team and its fans.

Familiar Faces: Bronson Arroyo, Xavier Paul, Ryan Ludwick

Probable Pitchers
Monday: LH Wandy Rodriguez (10-13, 177.0 IP, 117 K, 3.71 ERA, 1.28 WHIP)
vs. RH Mat Latos (12-4, 175.2 IP, 158 K, 3.69 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)

Tuesday: RH Kevin Correia (10-8, 141.0 IP, 65 K, 4.28 ERA, 1.32 WHIP)
vs. RH Mike Leake (7-9, 160.0 IP, 109 K, 4.73 ERA, 1.36 WHIP)

Wednesday: RH A.J. Burnett (15-6, 168.2 IP, 149 K, 3.68 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)
vs. RH Homer Bailey (10-9, 174.0 IP, 138 K, 4.03 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

No lineup yet.

Cubs Wrap Up

Scores:
Friday: 12-2 Loss vs. Chicago. 7 errors. Box score.
Saturday: 4-3 Loss vs. Chicago. Nothing going vs Samardzija. Box score.
Sunday: 4-2 Loss vs. Chicago. Grilli falters 2nd day in a row. Box score.

Season Record: 72-67, 3rd place in NL Central, 11.0 games back
2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot

Notes: Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. The promise of the playoffs is slipping away even though it’s still right in front of them. Seriously, one good week and the Bucs could be tied with the Cards again. The offense had serious problems this weekend. Brock Holt and Pedro Alvarez were the only players to record more than one hit. Yet the Bucs walked 14 times, including 4 from Gaby Sanchez. Jeff Locke was effective in his second start. Jason Grilli took back to back losses; unusual since he’s been a shutdown reliever all year.

Combined Box

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG	OBP
Holt, Br, 2B	13	2	5	0	0	3	3	0.385	0.385
Alvarez, 3B	12	0	4	2	1	1	9	0.333	0.385
Jones, G, RF, 1B	11	0	1	0	2	0	5	0.091	0.231
McCutchen, A, CF	9	2	1	1	2	3	6	0.111	0.333
Marte, S, LF-CF	9	0	0	1	2	4	3	0.000	0.167
Sanchez, G, 1B	6	0	0	0	4	3	3	0.000	0.400
Presley, RF	6	0	0	0	0	4	4	0.000	0.000
Harrison, SS	5	2	1	0	0	1	3	0.200	0.200
McKenry, C	5	1	1	1	1	2	2	0.200	0.333
Barajas, C	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	0.000	0.000
Barmes, SS	4	0	0	0	1	1	4	0.000	0.200
Clement, PH	2	0	1	1	1	0	1	0.500	0.667
Locke, P	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0.500	0.500
Mercer, SS	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.000	0.000
McDonald, J, P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000
Burnett, AJ, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
Totals	94	7	15	6	14	26	47	0.160	0.273

Batting

Doubles (3): Alvarez 2 (23), McKenry (13)
Triples (1): Holt (1)
Home Runs (1): McCutchen (25)

Fielding
E: Holt 3 (3), Marte 2 (2), Barajas (4), Sanchez (3), Harrison (5)
DP: (Alvarez-Holt-Sanchez), (Barmes-Jones), (Barmes-Sanchez)

Pitching

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	WHIP
Locke	6.0	7	2	2	0	6	2	3.00	1.17
McDonald, J	5.7	7	3	3	2	2	1	4.76	1.59
Burnett, AJ (L, 15-6)	5.0	8	7	3	1	4	0	5.40	1.80
McPherson, K	3.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	0.67
Leroux	1.7	0	2	0	0	2	0	0.00	0.00
Grilli (2 L, 1-6)	1.3	5	3	3	2	2	1	20.25	5.25
Resop	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00
Hanrahan	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	2.00
Hughes, J	0.7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Watson	0.7	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00	3.00
Takahashi	0.3	2	3	3	2	0	0	81.00	12.00
Qualls	0.7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
Wilson	0.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	-.–	-.–
Totals	27.0	34	20	14	10	22	4	4.67	1.63

Transactions: Activated LF Starling Marte from the DL. Activated RHP Chad Qualls from the DL.

Series Preview: The Cubs

Current record: 72-64, 3rd place in NL Central, 10.0 games back; 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot

Up Next: Chicago Cubs, 51-85, 5th place in NL Central, 31.0 games back

Season Series: 6-3 (3-0, 1-2, 2-1)

Notes: Seven of the Pirates next ten games are against the Cubs. This is the time to make a move. Taking any less than five of these games would be a setback. I’m going to stop short of say that they will take that many games; predictions like that have not worked out well for me this year. A lot of breaks went the Pirates direction in June and July – 2 out RBIs, a key strike out to get out of an inning. A lot of those breaks went the other way in August. I’ll just say that if you’re looking for a team to get some breaks against, the Cubs have historically always fit that bill.

Familiar Faces: None

Probable Pitchers
Friday: LH Travis Wood (4-11, 120.1 IP, 86 K, 4.64 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)
vs. RH A.J. Burnett (15-5, 163.2 IP, 145 K, 3.63 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)

Saturday: RH Jeff Samardzija (8-13, 165.2 IP, 171 K, 3.91 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)
vs. RH James McDonald (12-7, 161.2 IP, 147 K, 3.90 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)

Sunday: LH Chris Rusin (0-2, 6.0 IP, 5 K, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP)
vs. LH Jeff Locke (0-1, 9.1 IP, 7 K, 4.82 ERA, 0.96 WHIP)

No lineup yet.