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10-31-2003, 11:56 AM
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#1 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Pirates Dynasty 2006
Off-Season
First off, the following players retired from MLB, Mark Hendrickson retires ... Reynaldo Garcia retires ... Chris Michalak retires ... Doug Creek retires ... Mickey Callaway retires ... Jose Parra retires ... Calvin Maduro retires ... Jim Parque retires ... Seth Greisinger retires ... Terry Pearson retires ... Danny Patterson retires ... Nate Field retires ... Bryan Rekar retires ... Chad Durbin retires ... Jay Tessmer retires ... Mike Holtz retires ... Matt Dewitt retires ... Tony Tarasco retires ... Larry Sutton retires ... Josh Pearce retires ... Dean Palmer retires ... Hector Ortiz retires ... Izzy Molina retires ... Donzell McDonald retires ... T.j. Mathews retires ... Marty Malloy retires ... Jose Macias retires ... Ryan Jackson retires ... Luis Garcia retires ... Mike Buddie retires ... Tim Worrell retires ... Jose Acevedo retires ... Jason Pearson retires ... Jonathan Johnson retires ... Bobby M. Jones retires ... Jason Boyd retires ... Brian Tollberg retires ... Hideo Nomo retires ... Mark Little retires ... Benny Agbayani retires ... Walt Mckeel retires ... Eddie Oropesa retires ... Curt Schilling retires ... Miguel Batista retires ... Tony Womack retires ... Craig Counsell retires ... Quinton McCracken retires ... Jamey Wright retires ... Garrett Stephenson retires ... Dave Veres retires ... So Taguchi retires ... Scott Sauerbeck retires ... Andrew Lorraine retires ... Raul Casanova retires ... Mark Loretta retires ... Everett Stull retires ... Gregg Zaun retires ... Brian Hunter retires ... Jeff Bagwell retires ... Jose Vizcaino retires ... Jared Fernandez retires ... Kelly Stinnett retires ... Corky Miller retires ... Alan Benes retires ... Mike Mahoney retires ... Roosevelt Brown retires ... Joe Borowski retires ... Steve Trachsel retires ... Joe McEwing retires ... Pedro Astacio retires ... Mo Vaughn retires ... Rey Ordonez retires ... Matt Herges retires ... Carl Pavano retires ... Oswaldo Mairena retires ... Julian Tavarez retires ... John Smoltz retires ... Aaron Small retires ... Tom Glavine retires ... He will be in the Hall Of Fame! Darren Bragg retires ... Matt Franco retires ... Herbert Perry retires ... Jeff Cirillo retires ... John Olerud retires ... James Baldwin retires ... Cory Lidle retires ... Aaron Harang retires ... Kevin Appier retires ... Aaron Sele retires ... Matt LeCroy retires ... Paul Byrd retires ... Chan Perry retires ... Jeff Farnsworth retires ... Jerrod Riggan retires ... Ryan Drese retires ... Omar Vizquel retires ... Mark l. Johnson retires ... Royce Clayton retires ... Frank Thomas retires ... Pedro Swann retires ... Brian Lesher retires ... Tom Wilson retires ... Chris Gomez retires ... Shane Spencer retires ... Willie Banks retires ... Tony Clark retires ... Lou Merloni retires ... Travis Driskill retires ... Brook Fordyce retires ... Curt Leskanic retires ... Francisco Campos retires ... Tim Laker retires ... Chris Holt retires ... Bryce Florie retires ... Steve Avery retires ... Rafael Roque retires ... Mike Hubbard retires ... Doug Bochtler retires ... Marc Wilkins retires ... Randy Knorr retires ... Damon Buford retires ... Kevin Sefcik retires ... David Doster retires ... Jon Nunnally retires ... Carlton Loewer retires ... Mike Schultz retires ... BOS: Reggie Sanders retires ... TBA: Antonio Alfonseca retires ... DET: Jamie Walker retires ... MIN: Greg Norton retires ... FLO: Raul Mondesi retires ... PIT: Adam Hyzdu retires ... ARI: Trevor Hoffman retires ... LAN: Rondell White retires ... SFN: Barry Bonds retires ... He will be in the Hall Of Fame! As noted above Tom Glavine and Barry Bonds were inducted to the Hall of Fame, and I also decided to induct Jon Smoltz as well. Glavine finished his career with a 264-175 record, a 3.51 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He started 573 games and pitched in 3846 2/3 innings, striking out 2315 batters and walking 1320. He pitched 54 complete games, 22 of which were shutouts. Glavine finished third on the all-time wins list, 9th in ERA, 10th in strikeouts, 8th in CG and 4th in shutouts. Bonds finished his career with a 0.294 average, a 0.431 OBP, and a 0.594 SLG percentage. He compiled 2778 hits and smashed 697 homeruns and also stole 497 bases. Bonds finished 4th in all time hits, 1st in homeruns, 1st in RBIs with 1868, 1st in doubles, 7th in triples, 1st in walks, 2nd in runs, and 5th in stolen bases. Smoltz just squeaked into the Hall, he finished with a 172-131 record and recorded 137 saves in his last four seasons with an ERA of 3.30 and a WHIP of 1.18. He started 361 games, and appeared in a total of 617 games, compiling 2713 innings pitched and struck out 2396 batters and walked just 853. He pitched 47 complete games, 14 of which were shutouts. Smoltz finished 13th on the all time wins list, 5th in ERA, 9th in strikeouts, 25th in saves, and 12th in shutouts. Now on to Pirates news, OF Adam Hyzdu retired, and Kris Benson and Mark Kotsay became free agents. The following players got one year contracts through arbitration: Bobby Hill gets a new one-year contract worth $2,320,714 Dave Williams gets a new one-year contract worth $1,232,286 Jason Jimenez gets a new one-year contract worth $1,038,214 Marshall McDougall gets a new one-year contract worth $2,308,500 J.J. Davis gets a new one-year contract worth $3,664,286 Scot Shields gets a new one-year contract worth $990,714 Jack Wilson gets a new one-year contract worth $318,929 Craig Wilson gets a new one-year contract worth $2,436,072 Humberto Cota gets a new one-year contract worth $300,000 Xavier Nady gets a new one-year contract worth $3,942,500 Mark Corey gets a new one-year contract worth $766,786 Ryan Doumit gets a new one-year contract worth $610,714 Ryan Vogelsong gets a new one-year contract worth $641,250 John VanBenSchoten gets a new one-year contract worth $3,080,714 Last year the Pirates made revenues of close to $46.5 million and made a profit of over $4 million, and so they now have $5.7 million in cash on hand. Their current payroll is just over $42 million, and they also have an automatic $1 million more in revenue this year due to an increased TV contract. Their first order of business will be to replace their scouting director and their A manager as each left after last season. The Pirates signed Ken Williams as their new scouting director to a deal worth $955,000 a year for five years. He is legendary at scouting hitters and excellent at scouting pithcers. They also signed Greg Legg as their new minors manager to a deal worth $975,000 per year for three years. He is outstanding at developing hitters and legendary at developing pitchers. He will be moved to AAA, Lawless will be moved to AA, and Spencer will be moved to A. First order of business for the Pirates, they decided that they didn't want two inexperienced starters in the rotation, so I decided to trade SP Zach Greinke, SP Ian Oquendo, and 2B Jeremy Harts to Baltimore for SP Rodrigo Lopez. Lopez is a four star pitcher and went 16-12 with a 3.40 ERA for the Orioles last season. He will take Benson's place in the rotation, and rookie CF Vic Butler will take Kotsay's place in the lineup, leaving the Pirates with a complete roster and no need to sign anyone during free agency. Free Agent Signings Day 2 : Atlanta : 1B Josh Phelps, 6,084,000 per year, for 3 years. Florida : P Jason Middlebrook, 339,000 per year, for 3 years. Day 3 : Los Angeles : CF Preston Wilson, 8,070,400 per year, for 4 years. St. Louis : 1B Paul Konerko, 2,075,800 per year, for 4 years. Florida : LF Bobby Higginson, 1,288,200 per year, for 4 years. Minnesota : 2B Aaron Boone, 655,500 per year, for 3 years. Cincinnati : 2B Keith Ginter, 563,600 per year, for 1 year. Kansas City : SS Jose Valentin, 413,000 per year, for 2 years. Baltimore : C Todd Pratt, 450,900 per year, for 3 years. San Francisco : C Javy Lopez, 453,200 per year, for 1 year. New York (A) : P Trever Miller, 419,000 per year, for 2 years. Baltimore : P Brian Fitzgerald, 400,700 per year, for 2 years. Day 4 : Los Angeles : 3B Eric Munson, 6,418,700 per year, for 5 years. Arizona : P Jason Isringhausen, 7,318,800 per year, for 5 years. Oakland : 2B D'angelo Jimenez, 778,400 per year, for 3 years. New York (N) : SS Pedro Feliz, 573,700 per year, for 3 years. Kansas City : P Jeremy Fikac, 407,900 per year, for 2 years. Day 5 : Anaheim : P Brad Penny, 4,251,100 per year, for 4 years. Chicago (A) : LF Eric Owens, 573,600 per year, for 3 years. San Francisco : 2B Julius Matos, 404,200 per year, for 2 years. San Francisco : CF Shawn Garrett, 450,900 per year, for 3 years. Baltimore : P Doug Nickle, 407,900 per year, for 3 years. Day 6 : Boston : RF Danny Bautista, 3,534,400 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : P Jon Garland, 1,972,000 per year, for 3 years. Arizona : P Terry Adams, 1,545,800 per year, for 3 years. Baltimore : 3B Tyler Houston, 442,800 per year, for 2 years. Baltimore : P Gary Glover, 454,900 per year, for 2 years. Kansas City : P Travis Miller, 410,600 per year, for 2 years. Day 7 : San Francisco : P Dennis Stark, 6,073,900 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : P Kris Benson, 6,232,100 per year, for 3 years. Toronto : SS David Lamb, 975,100 per year, for 3 years. New York (N) : RF Timo Perez, 732,200 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : CF Terrence Long, 431,100 per year, for 1 year. Chicago (N) : P Colby Lewis, 400,700 per year, for 1 year. Florida : P Denny Neagle, 450,900 per year, for 2 years. San Francisco : P Dave Coggin, 710,600 per year, for 4 years. Day 8 : Anaheim : 3B Joe Crede, 4,993,300 per year, for 3 years. Cincinnati : CF Mark Kotsay, 5,531,800 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : C Ramon Hernandez, 1,092,500 per year, for 3 years. New York (N) : 3B Geoff Blum, 836,600 per year, for 3 years. Anaheim : P Russ Ortiz, 782,500 per year, for 4 years. Detroit : LF Raul Gonzalez, 830,300 per year, for 3 years. Toronto : P Ramon Ortiz, 807,000 per year, for 4 years. Chicago (A) : SS Abraham O. Nunez, 478,800 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : P Damaso Marte, 2,132,200 per year, for 4 years. Milwaukee : P Courtney Duncan, 349,000 per year, for 4 years. Day 9 : Los Angeles : SS Rafael Furcal, 571,800 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : P Jason Phillips, 532,000 per year, for 3 years. Montreal : P Ray King, 1,807,000 per year, for 4 years. San Francisco : P Brandon Villafuerte, 625,900 per year, for 3 years. Day 10 : Florida : RF Brian Buchanan, 3,059,000 per year, for 4 years. Oakland : P Wayne Franklin, 3,740,600 per year, for 3 years. Colorado : LF Gene Kingsale, 839,400 per year, for 4 years. Arizona : P David Riske, 2,041,000 per year, for 3 years. Day 11 : Arizona : LF Brian Giles, 12,384,800 per year, for 3 years. Oakland : SS Jimmy Rollins, 2,314,900 per year, for 4 years. Boston : 1B Mike Kinkade, 839,400 per year, for 3 years. St. Louis : C Toby Hall, 979,800 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : LF Carl Everett, 884,900 per year, for 5 years. Day 12 : Los Angeles : P J.C. Romero, 2,867,900 per year, for 3 years. Los Angeles : P Kevin Walker, 835,800 per year, for 4 years. Texas : P Jeff Williams, 476,300 per year, for 3 years. Kansas City : P Jim Brower, 452,300 per year, for 2 years. Day 13 : Colorado : CF Corey Patterson, 4,095,900 per year, for 3 years. Oakland : 2B Jerry Hairston, 1,088,000 per year, for 4 years. Chicago (A) : RF Raul Ibanez, 573,600 per year, for 3 years. Day 14 : Baltimore : SS Gookie Dawkins, 438,900 per year, for 2 years. St. Louis : P Steve Karsay, 1,179,900 per year, for 4 years. San Francisco : P Carl Sadler, 415,200 per year, for 2 years. Kansas City : P Scott Schoeneweis, 414,300 per year, for 2 years. Day 15 : Colorado : P Danny Graves, 4,540,100 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : P Adam Eaton, 2,185,000 per year, for 3 years. Texas : P Cliff Lee, 432,600 per year, for 2 years. Chicago (A) : P Mark Lukasiewicz, 659,000 per year, for 4 years. Day 16 : San Francisco : P Mark Redman, 417,900 per year, for 3 years. Texas : P Lorenzo Barcelo, 420,800 per year, for 1 year. Day 17 : Colorado : P Doug Davis, 460,300 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : P Scott Mullen, 957,600 per year, for 3 years. Colorado : P Rocky Biddle, 738,700 per year, for 3 years. Baltimore : P Kevin Gryboski, 416,900 per year, for 3 years. Day 18 : Boston : CF Hiram Bocachica, 820,300 per year, for 3 years. Houston : 3B Aramis Ramirez, 728,100 per year, for 4 years. Milwaukee : P Luther Hackman, 410,600 per year, for 3 years. Day 19 : Cleveland : P Kerry Ligtenberg, 1,380,900 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : P Manuel Aybar, 1,588,400 per year, for 4 years. Tampa Bay : P Todd Van poppel, 1,153,700 per year, for 5 years. Chicago (N) : P Juan Alvarez, 568,500 per year, for 2 years. Day 20 : Boston : CF Milton Bradley, 726,400 per year, for 4 years. Chicago (N) : CF Darnell McDonald, 443,100 per year, for 2 years. New York (N) : RF Gary Sheffield, 669,100 per year, for 2 years. Toronto : P Peter Munro, 710,100 per year, for 3 years. Cleveland : P Darren Dreifort, 614,600 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (A) : P Cliff Politte, 835,800 per year, for 5 years. Texas : P Jose Paniagua, 403,400 per year, for 1 year. Day 21 : Cincinnati : 1B Erubiel Durazo, 5,949,300 per year, for 4 years. Toronto : C Brian Schneider, 4,016,000 per year, for 4 years. Anaheim : SS Julio Lugo, 1,054,100 per year, for 3 years. San Francisco : 1B Robert Fick, 415,600 per year, for 1 year. Day 22 : Detroit : C Mike Piazza, 894,800 per year, for 1 year. Boston : P Tim Wakefield, 609,900 per year, for 1 year. Boston : P Scott Linebrink, 1,593,700 per year, for 4 years. San Francisco : P Lee Gardner, 480,700 per year, for 3 years. San Francisco : P Dan Reichert, 410,600 per year, for 2 years. Day 23 : New York (N) : 1B Dmitri Young, 2,308,500 per year, for 4 years. Los Angeles : P Dan Smith, 1,092,500 per year, for 3 years. San Francisco : P Will Cunnane, 403,400 per year, for 3 years. Day 24 : Day 25 : St. Louis : P Dennys Reyes, 610,500 per year, for 3 years. Day 26 : Chicago (A) : 1B Damon Minor, 724,700 per year, for 3 years. Los Angeles : P Shawn Estes, 664,400 per year, for 4 years. Oakland : P Jason Bere, 554,700 per year, for 3 years. Day 27 : St. Louis : P Randy Choate, 725,400 per year, for 3 years. St. Louis : P John Rocker, 742,900 per year, for 4 years. Day 28 : Chicago (A) : P Mark Buehrle, 9,958,000 per year, for 5 years. Day 29 : St. Louis : P Ramiro Mendoza, 872,100 per year, for 3 years. Day 30 : A bunch of minor league contracts were signed. There were a number of other trades this offseason, besides the deal the Pirates made. San Diego got 2 star 1B Craig Brazell and 1 star prospect SS Thomas Arnold from the Mets in return for 2.5 star 2B Bernabel Castro. St. Louis picked up 2.5 star 2B Angel Santos from Boston in exchange for 4.5 star prospect 1B Chris Duncan and 1 star prospect 3B Michael Ohearn. Baltimore picked up 2 star 3B Brendan Harris from the Cubs in exchange for 5 star prospect CF Lynn Sickels. ?????Damn, why do the Cubs keep winning the lopsided trades. Anaheim picked up 2.5 star 2B Teuris Olivares and 2 star prospect 1B Jeffrey Hedden from the Yankees for 3.5 star prospect 3B Dallas McPherson. Cincinatti unloaded 2.5 star CF Ken Griffey Jr, sending him to Colorado in return for 3 star 2B Orlando Hudson and 1.5 star prospect 3B Matt Ferrara. Oakland picked up 2.5 star CF Corey Patterson from Colorado in exchange for 2.5 star SP Bert Snow. Oakland also picked up 2.5 star 1B Josh Willingham from Florida in exchange for 3 star SP Mark mulder. The Giants picked up 3.5 star prospect Jason Cooper from Cleveland in exchange for 3 star SP Dennis Stark and 4 star prospect MR Evelio Ramirez. Lastly, the White Sox picked up 4 star 1B Jason Giambi, 2 star prospect SS Deivi Mendez and 2 star prospect C Royce Montemayor from the Yankees for 4.5 star SP Jon Rauch. Damn good trade for the Yankees, too bad for the Sox, they seem to be happily content with overaging 1Bmen. After spring training, the Pirates had to make a couple of moves to trim their roster. Shawn Garrett was picked up off waivers as he was out of option years, and Ben Shaffar and Bobby Bradley were picked up off of the Rule 5 draft as they wasn't enough room for them on the forty man roster. Here's the opening roster, and the lineup for the Pirates. (* denotes player on 40-man roster and number in parenthesis is number of option years remaining) SP Sidney Ponson SP Rodrigo Lopez SP John VanBenSchoten (1 year) SP Dave Williams SP Brian Bullington (2 years) MR John Grabow MR Mark Corey MR Jose Jimenez MR Scot Shields MR Ryan Vogelsong MR Gabe White CL Jim Mann C Ryan Doumit C Humberto Cota 1B Craig Wilson 1B Ray Navarette (2 years) 2B Bobby Hill 3B Drew Henson 3B Yurrendell DeCaster (2 years) SS Marshall McDougall SS Jack Wilson LF Xavier Nady CF Vic Butler (3 years) CF Manuel Ravelo (2 years) RF JJ Davis *MR Justin Reid (1 year) *RF BJ Barns (1 year) *RF Jose Cortez (1 year) *SP Sean Burnett (2 years) *SP Josh Shortslef (2 years) *MR Kurt Shafer (2 years) *RF JJ Johnson (2 years) *SS Edwin Yan (2 years) *MR Jason Sharber (2 years) *CF Rajai Davis (3 years) *3B Jose Bautista (3 years) *2B Domingo Cuello (3 years) *LF Nate McLouth (3 years) The lineup for the Pirates will once again be the same versus lefties and righties and will be as follows. CF Vic Butler 2B Bobby Hill LF Xavier Nady RF JJ Davis 1B Craig Wilson 3B Drew Henson SS Marshall McDougall C Ryan Doumit The starting rotation order will be Ponson Lopez VanBenSchoten Williams Bullington
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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10-31-2003, 02:22 PM
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#2 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 1
The Pirates begin the 2006 season with a three game series in Philadelphia against the Phillies. The Pirates just beat out the Phillies for the wild card spot late in the season last year, and so the Phillies are going to be looking for some retribution. The Phillies are stacked with a real good pitching rotation of Ryan Madson (14-8 3.46), Chris Capuano (18-6 2.39), and Vicente Padilla (12-9 2.95). Their lineup also looks pretty strong with Bobby Abreu (0.303 16 69), Pat Burrell (0.254 36 109) and Jim Thome (0.268 29 95) leading the way. Game 1: Pirates 1 Phillies 2 Ponson pitched fairly well and gave up just three hits, but his lack of control hurt him as he walked six batters in route to giving up two runs in seven innings for the loss. Madson gave up just one run, a solo homerun to Hill, and went 8 1/3 innings for the win. Paronto shut down the Pirates in the ninth picking up two outs and the save. Game 2: Pirates 5 Phillies 4 Fireworks Night at Veterans Stadium Lopez pitched well in his debout in a Pirates uniform, giving up three runs, just one of them earned, in six innings of work to pick up the win. Mann gave up a solo homerun in the ninth inning, but that was the only hit he gave up as he picked up the save. Machuca hit two homeruns in the game for the Phillies, both solo homeruns. Game 3: Pirates 5 Phillies 2 VanBenSchoten started off right where he left off last season, giving up just two runs in eight innings for the win. Padilla struggled a bit in this game, giving up five runs, three of them earned, in five innings for the loss. Mann pitched a scoreless ninth for the save, and Machuca homered again for the Phillies. Series Recap: Many are predicting that the Pirates and Phillies are going to be the teams to beat this year in the NL, and the Pirates showed that they're the better team in this series. Next, the Pirates travel to Milwaukee to partake of some beer and face the Brewers in a three game series. The Brewer starting rotation is well below average with Hendrickson (10-9 4.25), Valdes (8-16 5.10) and Burnett (8-18 5.49) at the top of the rotation. Their lineup is much better with Richie Sexson (0.290 33 103), Andrea Lemmons (0.278 14 76), and Kelly Grams (0.283 26 79). The Brewers narrowly avoided 100 losses last season with a record of 63-99, and they're gonna be hard pressed to do any better than that this year. Game 4: Pirates 6 Brewers 5 Both pitchers pitched scoreless games until the sixth inning, when the Pirates scored six runs in the top of the inning off of former Pirate Oliver Perez, who was chased after just 5 2/3 innings, and picked up the loss. The Brewers answered back with two in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the bottom of the seventh from two run homeruns by Grams and Petrick. Williams left the game after eight innings of work, giving up the four runs and earning the win. Mann gave up one run in the ninth but with runners at first and second and two outs, he got Machado to ground out back to the mound and earn the save. Game 5: Pirates 8 Brewers 2 Bullington had a good start to his rookie season, giving up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings and picking up the win. Hendrickson continues to struggle for the Brewers, giving up 6 runs, 5 of them earned, in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Butler, Wilson, and McDougall all homered for the Pirates. Game 6: Pirates 9 Brewers 6 Ponson gave up more than his share of runs, letting six runners cross the plate in 8 2/3 innings of work, but he still picked up the win. Quevedo got destroyed, giving up 7 runs in 5 1/3 innings for the loss. Mann came into the game to pick up the last out of the game, getting Grams to strike out with runners at first and second, and recording his 4th save of the season. Series Recap: As expected, the Pirates swept the Brewers and now stand in first place in the central division with a record of 5-1. Around the league, on Wednesday Colorado's Todd Helton laced five hits against the Giants. Then on Wednesday, Boston's Manny Ramirez hit for the cycle against the Yankees becoming the 6268th player in MLB history to do so. On Sunday, Colorado's south paw Omar Daal suffered a ruptured ligament in his elbow and will miss the next five weeks.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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10-31-2003, 02:59 PM
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#3 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 2
Forgot to announce before that the Pirates have increased ticket prices to $9 for all home games this seaon. This week the Pirates begin their first home series with a three game set against last year's NL East champs, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have started out rocky, and are 2-4 and in fourth place in the east. The Braves have a good rotation, with Matt Wright (8-8 3.67), CY Young winner Adam Wainwright (21-3 1.77), and Jung Bong (4-1 2.53) at the top of the rotation. The Braves lineup isn't as formidable as it once was, but they still have some big power hitters in the lineup with Craig Monroe (0.269 25 76), Andruw Jones (0.243 28 82), and Josh Phelps (0.259 28 108). Game 7: Pirates 7 Braves 5 With Lopez and Wainwright starting, the fans were expecting a pitcher's duel, but it turned out to be a rather high scoring game, especially considering the starters. The Braves jumped on the board first in the fourth inning scoring one run, and then added four more in the fifth inning with back to back homeruns, a three run shot by Andruw Jones followed by a solo shot by Phelps, to give the Braves a commanding 5-0 lead. Lopez left the game after the fifth, having given up all five Braves runs. The Pirates answered back scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and then two more unearned runs off of Wainwright in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5. Wainwright left after seven innings, having given up five runs, three of them earned. Then in the bottom of the tenth, Cota hit a pinch hit two run homerun that just cleared the wall in left field to win the game for the Pirates. Gabe White got the win as the Pirate bullpen as a whole pitched five scoreless innings, and Vizcaino got the loss for the Braves. Game 8: Pirates 3 Braves 1 Fireworks Night at PNC Park VanBenSchoten continues to perform great, giving up just one run in 8 1/3 innings for the win. Bong gave up just three runs, all of them unearned and all three knocked in by Yurrendell Decaster, in eight innings for the loss. Mann picked up the last two outs in the ninth for his 5th save of the season. Game 9: Pirates 4 Braves 3 The Pirates were trailing this game 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Vic Butler hit a two run homerun off of Nelson to give the Pirates the lead 3-2. The Braves answered right back in the top of the ninth scoring a run off of Jim Mann to tie things back up 3-3. Then in the bottom of the 10th, DeCaster led off with a single, and then two outs later he scored when Butler doubled down the left field line to win the game for the Bucs. Both starters pitched well, with Wright giving up just one run in 6 innings, and Williams giving up two runs in 7 1/3 innings. Shields picked up the win for the Bucs and Vizcaino was charged with the loss for the Braves. Series Recap: After their opening day loss the Pirates have won 8 games in a row and now hold the best record in baseball at 8-1. The Pirates now face their division rivals the Chicago Cubs, who finished in first last year with a record of 101-61, and beat the Bucs in three games in the playoffs. The Cubs still have an outstanding starting rotation with Prior (15-7 2.52), Kennedy (18-10 2.96), and Smyth (14-8 3.74) at the top of the rotation. Their lineup is still also formidable with Choi (0.280 29 80), Kelton (0.273 39 109) and Sosa (0.295 40 113) still leading the way. Closer Danny Kolb is out with a ruptured tricep tendon and will miss this series on the DL. Game 10: Pirates 0 Cubs 4 Bullington pitched a decent game, giving up four runs, three of them earned in six innings but still got the loss. Prior was just too much for the Pirates as he gave up just two hits and struck out nine and did not give up any runs in eight innings of work for the win. Martinez came within just one out of getting a no-hitter, but he gave up a two out single to Munson as he walked one and struck out 11 in 8 2/3 innings as the Giants won the game 1-0. Game 11: Pirates 4 Cubs 11 Ponson continues to struggle as he gave up five runs in just five innings of work for the loss. Kennedy pithed a complete game, giving up four runs, three of those in the ninth inning, for the win. Game 12: Pirates 4 Cubs 0 Noddin Head Doll Day Lopez scattered seven hits and walked three batters but did not give up a single run as he got a complete game shutout for his 2nd win of the season. Thomson gave up four runs in six innings for the loss for the Cubs. Vic Butler hit his third homerun of the season and leads the team in homers from the leadoff spot. Series Recap: The Bucs managed to salvage something from the series, winning one game of three, and holding on to first place in the central in the process. Around the league, on Thursday San Francisco's ace Jesse Foppert blanked the Dodgers on just two hits as the Giants won the game 5-0. On Saturday Rangers' fans got bad news as it was announced that Mark Teixera would miss the next 8 weeks with a fractured skull, suffered after being struck by a pitch from Seattle's Ryan Rupe.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-02-2003, 10:42 PM
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#4 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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It turns out that I think the problem I had with VanBenSchoten not winning the rookie of the year was due to me using the total minor's roster set and it appears that I'm going to have the same problem with Bullington this year as well. On top of that, all of my young players that were not game created will have one less year of arbitration, making it just that much harder for me, oh well, that just really sucks, but there's nothing for me to do about that I guess.
Week 3 The Pirates begin this week with a four game series against the Milwaukee Brewers who are 6-6 and whom the Pirates are 3-0 against this season. The Brewer starting rotation is well below average with Hendrickson (10-9 4.25), Valdes (8-16 5.10) and Burnett (8-18 5.49) at the top of the rotation. Their lineup is much better with Richie Sexson (0.290 33 103), Andrea Lemmons (0.278 14 76), and Kelly Grams (0.283 26 79). Game 13: Pirates 4 Brewers 3 Both starters pitched fairly well with VanBenSchoten and Hendrickson each giving up three runs off of 8 hits, wtih JVB lasting 6 innings, and Hendrickson went 6 2/3 and neither got a decision. The Pirates scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when Ravelo and Cota hit back to back two out doubles. Mann pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, while Quevedo was charged with the winning run and got the loss. Game 14: Pirates 3 Brewers 2 Both starters once again pitched well, with Dave Williams lasting seven innings and giving up two runs off of just three hits and Burnett giving up two runs in six innings as neither starter once again got the decision. The Pirates won this game in the bottom of the ninth when McDougall doubled down the line to score DeCaster. Mann once again picked up the win, picking up the last out in the top of the ninth inning. Game 15: Pirates 11 Brewers 8 Bullington didn't fare too well out on the mound, giving up five runs in two innings. Luckily for him, the Pirates offense showed up and managed to score six runs in just 1/3 of an inning off of former Pirate Oliver Perez. Despite giving up three runs in 2 2/3 innings, Scot Shields was credited with the win in this game, but htis time the win definitely went to the offense. Rookie 1B Prince Fielder hit two homeruns for the Brewers, while JJ Davis also hit two dingers for the Bucs. Mann pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save. Game 16: Pirates 3 Brewers 4 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park Both starters once again pitched a decent game, with Ponson giving up two runs in seven innings and Steitz giving up two runs in six innings, but again neither starter got the decision. The Brewers took the lead when Ochoa hit a two out triple off of Jimenez with two runners on base to take the lead 4-2. Both runs were charged to White, who picked up the loss. The Pirates tried to answer back when Nady hit his first homerun, a solo shot with two outs off of Nance. Adams came in after that and got four Pirates out in a row to pick up the save. Series Recap: The Pirates still own the Brewers, even if they did lose one game against them. They still hold on to a commanding lead in the central division. The Cubs now travel to Chicago for a three game series against the Cubs who are 9-6 and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against so far this season. The Cubs still have an outstanding starting rotation with Prior (15-7 2.52), Kennedy (18-10 2.96), and Smyth (14-8 3.74) at the top of the rotation. Their lineup is still also formidable with Choi (0.280 29 80), Kelton (0.273 39 109) and Sosa (0.295 40 113) still leading the way. Closer Danny Kolb is still out with a ruptured tricep tendon and will miss this series on the DL. Game 17: Pirates 5 Cubs 2 Lopez continues to make a case for himself to be the Pirates top starter as he goes six innings, giving up just one run and picking up the win. Garland struggled for the Cubs, giving up five runs, four of them earned in eight innings for the loss. After Corey gave up a run in the ninth, Mann came in and go the next two Cubs batters out to pick up his 7th save of the season. Hill had a good day for the Bucs, going 4-5 with 2 RBIs and earning the player of the game nomination. Game 18: Pirates 3 Cubs 7 Glove Day at Wrigley Field VanBenSchoten was doing well until the 6th inning, when the Cubs scored six runs in the inning off of him while he didn't record a single out. He lasted just 5+ innings, giving up seven runs, six of them earned, for the loss. Webb did well in his first start this season for the Cubs, giving up three runs, two of them earned, and lasting the complete game for the win. Game 19: Pirates 4 Cubs 5 Williams went just 1+ innings and gave up two runs. Thomson went 6 2/3 innings and gave up four runs. Neither starter got the decision. The Pirates took the lead in the seventh 4-2 with a two run homerun by Vic Butler. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Grabow put two runners on base while recording just one out. Mann then came in and got Bellhorn to strike out, but then made one mistake on a pitch to Kelton and he made him pay with a homerun to right center field to give the Cubs the 5-4 lead. The Pirates managed just one hit in the top of the ninth off of Ohman, who picked up the save. Mann was charged with the loss and Hagerty was credited with the win. Series Recap: No matter how good the Pirates are and what kind of a roll they're on, the Cubs always find a way to win against them. The Pirates are now just one game up on St. Louis. Around the league, on Monday Texas' Carlos Beltran tore an abdominal muscle while running the bases and will miss the next 6 weeks. Then on Thursday, Tampa Bay's Roy Roberts strained an elbow ligament while making a routine throw and will miss the next 4-5 weeks. Lastly, Oakland will be without their ace Barry Zito for at least the next 6 weeks with back spasms that he began to suffer from during a game on Saturday against Texas.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-02-2003, 11:29 PM
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#5 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 4
One more week before heading to bed. On a side note, I decided to see what it'd take to get uber ace Jesse Foppert from the Giants, and they wouldn't take JJ Davis, Lopez, Ponson, Moses, and Loewen saying that the trade would hurt their team. Not so sure about that, but it probably means that Foppert will never be traded from the Giants. Also, as another note, in case you haven't noticed, I had been using last years stats for a while as there just wasn't enough time for this year's stats to mean anything, but I think I'm gonna switch now to this year's stats. Anyway, back on track, the Bucs start the week with a three game series at home against the Rockies, who are 9-10. The Rockies finished last year at 78-85 and just missed the playoffs, losing the last game against the Padres. The Padres have Danny Graves (1-2 3.60), Ryan Kibler (2-0 2.25), and Bert Snow (2-2 3.80) at the top of their starting rotation. The Rockies added Ken Griffey Jr. (0.277 3 10) to their lineup and also still have Larry Walker (0.253 2 10) and Todd Helton (0.349 6 20) in their lineup as well. Game 20: Pirates 3 Rockies 5 Both starters once again turned in great performances, with Bullington giving up three runs in seven innings, and Graves giving up three runs in eight innings and neither starter getting the decision. Carbaugh led off the top of the tenth with a walk and went to third on a Walker double one out later. He then scored on a wild pitch. Mann got Miller to strike out before giving up a double to Closser to give the Rockies a two run lead. Puffer then shut down the Pirates in the bottom of the tenth, going 1-2-3 and picking up the win, while Mann got the loss. Pedro Martinez picked up his 200th career win as the Giants defeated the Cubs 3-1. He gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out nine and working seven scoreless innings. Game 21: Pirates 3 Rockies 2 Glove Day at PNC Park Ponson pitched a great game giving up just one run, a solo homerun to Closser in the fourth inning, in seven innings of work for the win. Kibler pitched all eight innings for the Rockies, giving up three runs for the loss. Corey picked up the save in the ninth despite giving up two hits and allowing a runner, put on by Jimenez, to score. Game 22: Pirates 5 Rockies 4 Lopez pitched a pretty good game, giving up three runs, only one of which was earned, in seven innings of work, while Snow also went 7 innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned. The Bucs were down 3-0, before scoring three runs in the seventh off of Snow to tie the game. Then in the top of the 11th inning, the Rockies took the lead when Griffey singled off of Shields to score Atkins. The Pirates did not lay down, as in the bottom of the 11th, DeCaster led off by getting hit by a pitch, and McDougall followed that with a walk off homerun to give the Pirates the win. Shields got the win, while Fuentes was charged with the loss. Series Recap: Nice series for the Bucs as all three games could have went either way, but two of the three went the Pirates way. They now lead the central by two games. The Pirates wrap up the week with a trip to Arizona for a three game series against the Diamondbacks who are 11-11. Kenny Baugh (3-0 4.70), Miguel Asencio (1-2 3.03) and Kurt Ainsworth (1-1 7.33) are the top of a rather average DBack rotation that once featured the likes of Johnson and Schilling. The DBack offense is much improved after acquring LF Brian Giles (0.329 4 18) through free agency to add to their lineup already consisting of Magglio Ordonez (0.333 5 26) and Felix Escalona (0.293 2 8). Game 23: Pirates 8 DBacks 10 Neither starter did too well with VanBenSchoten giving up five runs, three earned, in 5 2/3 innings, and Adams gave up four runs in 6 innings, and neither starter got the decision. The Pirates led 7-5 through seven innings, but Hidalgo hit a solo homer in the eighth off of White and Myers hit a solo homer off of Grabow in the ninth to tie the game at 7-7. Then in the top of the tenth, the Pirates picked up one run off Isringhausen when McDougall doubled home DeCaster with one out in the inning. Then in the bottom of the inning, Corey gave up a single to Cintron, a double to Hidalgo and hit Escalona with a pitch to load the bases while just getting Cresse to strike out. Then with one out and the bases loaded, he got Martinez to line out to second and it looked like he'd be out of the jam. However, former Pirate Brian Giles came up to the plate and smashed a double scoring all three runners, even though they only needed two runs to win the game. Game 24: Pirates 1 DBacks 5 Williams didn't do too bad, giving up four runs, two of them earned, in seven innings but he picked up the loss. Good pitched a great game for the DBacks, giving up just one unearned run in seven innings for the win. The DBacks scored one insurance run when Ordonez homered off of Vogelsong in the eighth, but it proved to not be needed as Fluker pitched two perfect innings without giving up a hit to pick up the save. Game 25: Pirates 6 DBacks 3 Bullington rebounded nicely from his last start, giving up just three runs in eight innings for the win in this one. Baugh gave up five runs, four earned, through 6 1/3 innings for the loss. Drew Henson knocked home what turned out to be the winning runs with a three run homerun in the seventh inning with two outs against Koplove. Former Pirate Giles hit a solo shot for the DBacks. Mann pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 8th save of the season. Series Recap: A tough series and a tough week for the Bucs as they once again win just one out of three. Luckily the rest of the central had a bad week as well, and the Pirates are still atop the division, now 1.5 up on the Cubs. Around the league, on Saturday Montreal's Vlad Guerrero starred in the game against the Giants, hitting for the cycle, becoming the 6269th player to do so.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-03-2003, 12:48 AM
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#6 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Where you live
Posts: 11,017
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Cubs was the best team in division last year and it seems their roster didn't change much. I'd guess they are still the team to beat this year in the long run. Hope the we can see the website soon.
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Jonathan Haidt: Moral reasoning is really just a servant masquerading as a high priest. |
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11-03-2003, 11:59 AM
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#7 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Ohhh yeah, the website, I always forget about updating that, but I'll probably do that today sometime. As for the Cubs, of course their the returning champs so they're still the team to beat, but the Bucs finished just two games back last year, and the Cubs are getting older while the Pirates still have a very young team. Should be an interesting season anyway.
Week 5 The Pirates begin the week with a trip to San Francisco for a three game series against the Giants, who are 15-10 and in first place in the west. The Giants have an excellent starting rotation with the likes of Foppert (4-2 2.68), Pedro Martinez (3-2 2.40), rookie Scott Hardcastle (3-2 3.71), Jeff Clark (1-1 2.92), and Damian Moss (0-3 3.94). Their offense is pretty weak with only one player considered above average in CF Jason Lane who is hitting just 0.212 with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs. Game 26: Pirates 1 Giants 2 Very bad news for the Pirates today as Sidney Ponson left the game after giving up two runs in 5 1/3 innings. After throwing out Hardcastle after a come backer to the mound, he clutched his arm in obvious pain, and the doctors diagnosed him with a torn bicep muscle and he will miss the rest of the season. Hardcastle worked seven innings for the Giants, giving up just one run for the win. The Pirates' best chance came in the top of the eighth when with one out Hill walked and went to third base on a single by Nady. However, Nen got out of the jam by getting Davis to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. Anderson then came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 7th save of the season. The Pirates placed Sidney Ponson on the 60-day DL and called up SP Sean Burnett from AAA. Burnett was 0-1 with a 1.31 ERA in 5 starts for the Sounds this year. Game 27: Pirates 0 Giants 3 Glove Day at Pac Bell Park Lopez had a decent day giving up three runs in 7 2/3 innings but he got the loss in this one. The Pirates offense was non-existent as they picked up just one hit off of Clark, who worked seven scoreless innings while walking none and striking out 8 batters for the win. Coggin and Anderson also worked scoreless, hitless innings, with Anderson earning his 8th save of the season. April Wrapup The Pirates had a pretty good month of April, with a real strong start that kind of tailed off at the end of the month, but they finished with a record of 16-11 none the less. They are now 1/2 game back of the Cubs for first place. The starting rotation all had a pretty good month, but Lopez really stood out, going 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA this month. Their hitting really struggled with JJ Davis (0.217 4 10), Drew Henson (0.203 2 13), and Ryan Doumit (0.178 0 6) performing well below expectations. Bobby Hill was the only player to have a real good month, hitting 0.342 with an OBP of 0.438 while hitting 1 HR and knocking in 8 runs. Boston once again has the best record in all of baseball, with a record of 20-8, but they lead the east by only one game over the defending champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cleveland has gotten off to a hot start with a record of 18-9 and lead the central by five games over the Twins. Seattle and Texas find themselves tied in the west with a record of 15-12, and with Anaheim just one back, and Oakland two back. In the NL, the Phillies are up two games on the Marlins, with a record of 18-9. In the central, the Cubs just took a 1/2 game lead over the Pirates with a record of 16-10. Lastly, in the west, the Giants have finally stepped up, and with a record of 17-10, they lead the Diamondbacks by 2 games. Tampa Bay right hander Luis De los Santos won the POM award for the AL after going 4-1 with a 1.42 ERA in 6 starts for the DRays. In the NL, Mets' Jake Joseph won the award after going 4-1 with a 1.50 ERA. Texas' Alex Rodriguez is still one of the best players in the league and had the best month in the AL, winning the BOM award after hitting 0.353 with 11 HRs and 26 RBIs. In the NL, San Diego's Ryan Klesko went 33 for 85 (0.388) with 8 HRs and 22 RBIs to win the award. The Pirates promoted CF Jeremy Hermida from AA to AAA. Hermida was hitting 0.286 with 0 HRs and 4 RBIs for the Curve. Game 28: Pirates 5 Giants 2 Noddin Head Doll Day at Pac Bell Park VanBenSchoten gave up two quick runs in the first inning, but then pitched five more scoreless innings, to earn the win. Moss pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, until he gave up a three run homerun to DeCaster that gave the Pirates the lead. He then gave up two more runs the next inning before being pulled, working a total of 7 2/3 innings and giving up all five runs, four of them earned. Jimenez worked two scoreless innings, and Mann worked a scoreless ninth for his 9th save of the season. Series Recap: Another tough series, especially with the loss of Ponson, and the Bucs now find themselves back 1/2 a game of the Cubs. The Pirates head home and wrap up the week with a three game series against the Diamondbacks who are 15-13 and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against this season. Kenny Baugh (3-1 4.86), Miguel Asencio (1-2 3.89) and Kurt Ainsworth (1-1 7.47) are the top of a rather average DBack rotation that once featured the likes of Johnson and Schilling. The DBack offense is much improved after acquring LF Brian Giles (0.343 7 28) through free agency to add to their lineup already consisting of Magglio Ordonez (0.311 7 32) and Felix Escalona (0.318 3 11). Game 29: Pirates 10 Dbacks 6 Williams really suffered in this game, giving up five runs in 3 2/3 innings. Baugh also didn't do well for the DBacks giving up five runs in five innings. Neither starter got the decision. The Pirates took a commanding lead in the sixth inning when they scored five runs, including a grand slam by Bobby Hill, off of Simpson, who lasted just 1/3 of an inning. Corey gave up one run in the ninth inning to the Diamondbacks, but it was too little too late as the Pirates held on for the win. Jimenez picked up the win and Simpson earned the loss. Game 30: Pirates 2 Dbacks 4 Bullington had a decent game, giving up four runs in seven innings, but he suffered the loss in this game. The Pirates managed just one run off of Good, who worked 6 innings and struck out 11 batters for the win. Both Pirates runs came from solo homeruns by Yurrendell DeCaster. Simpson picked up the last out of the ninth inning and earned the save. Game 31: Pirates 13 Dbacks 7 Burnett didn't have the greatest game in his MLB debut, but he did OK giving up five runs, four of them earned in five innings of work. Asencio struggled for the DBacks, giving up eight runs in 6+ innings for the loss. The Pirates were trailing 7-3 heading into the seventh, before they exploded for 7 runs in the bottom of the seventh, five off Asencio and the other two off of Isringhausen. The Pirates then added three more in the eighth, thanks to a three run homer by Davis off of Simpson. They proved not to be needed though as Mann worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for his 10th save of the season. Jimenez gave up two runs in two innings, but got the win. Series Recap: Pretty crazy series with a lot of runs scored, but the Pirates were able to outduel the Diamondbacks. They remain 1/2 game back of the Cubs, as they won two out of three against the Dodgers. Around the league, as mentioned before on Tuesday Ponson was injured and will miss the remainder of the season. Other than that, no other significant news occurred.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-03-2003, 09:37 PM
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#8 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Well, I've finally run out of web space, three plus seasons worth of pages, plus some other stuff on there, so I had to delete the player pages from the 2003 and 2004 seasons, but the main league files for those years can still be viewed. The 2006 files have been updated through week 5.
Week 6 The Pirates begin a three game series at home against the Houston Astros who are currently in last place in the central with a record of 10-21. The Astros have a fairly weak pitching rotation with Dennys Baez (0-2 4.31), Freddy Garcia who's really dropped off ratings wise since last year (1-4 3.75), and Mitch Talbot (1-1 4.25). Their lineup isn't much better with just Austin Kearns (0.222 8 19) as the only real threat. Game 32: Pirates 8 Astros 2 Lopez had a great start, giving up just two runs, one of them earned, in eight innings for his 4th win of the season. Baez did OK, giving up four runs, three of them earned, in six innings, but picked up the loss. The Pirates added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, but they weren't needed as Jimenez pitched a scoreless ninth to hold on to the win. Game 33: Pirates 7 Astros 8 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park VanBenSchoten didn't have a very good game, giving up five runs, four of them earned, in 5 2/3 innings. Talbot pitched well for the Astros, giving up three runs in 7 1/3 innings for the win. The Pirates were trailing 5-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, until Drew Henson hit a grandslam off of Redding to bring the score to within one. The Astros answered right back in the ninth when they scored three runs off of Corey. The Pirates tried to mount a comeback and scored three runs off of Jimenez, but with runners at first and second and two outs, Moreno was brought in and got JJ Davis to ground out to third base to end the threat and pick up the save. Game 34: Pirates 1 Astros 8 Williams had yet another bad start, giving up six runs in 6 1/3 innings for the loss. Garcia pitched a brilliant game, giving up just one run in eight innings for the Astros. Mateo homered twice for the Astros, and Alfaro and Gimenez also hit solo shots. Henson picked up the only run for the Bucs with a solo shot in the second inning. Series Recap: Tough break for the Pirates as they lose two of three to the last place Astros. Things seem to have really gone down hill since Ponson's injury. Hopefully the young guys can pick things up and find a way to start winning. Next up, the Pirates face the Cincinatti Reds who are 12-21 with a three game series at home. The Reds have rookie Jon Koronka (2-1 5.25), Ty Howington (4-2 4.60) and Ted Lilly (1-3 6.81) at the top of their rotation. They have former Pirate Mark Kotsay (0.246 1 18) along with Bobby Kielty (0.323 6 18), Erubiel Durazo (0.271 9 25) and Adam Dunn (0.196 3 15) as a part of their lineup. Game 35: Pirates 5 Reds 3 Both starters pitched fairly well, with Lilly giving up three runs in 6 1/3 innings and Bullington also giving up just three runs in 7 innings. All three Reds runs came from solo homeruns, one each from Hudson, Durazo, and Beattie. This game went to extra innings, and the game wasn't decided until the bottom of the 13th, when with a runner on first and two outs, Ryan Doumit took Riedling to deep right field with a walk-off homerun to give the Pirates the win. Jimenez earned the win for the Pirates while pitching two scoreless innings and Riedling was charged with the loss. Game 36: Pirates 0 Reds 1 Burnett pitched his best game in his career, giving up just one run in eight innings, but he still picked up the loss. The Pirates managed just five hits and no runs off of O.J. King in seven innings, a starter who before this game had an ERA over 9. Dotel pitched a scoreless eighth and Oswalt pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save. Game 37: Pirates 3 Reds 7 Lopez had his first real bad start as a Pirate, giving up six runs in seven innings for the loss. Wilson pitched pretty well, giving up just one run despite giving up ten hits in six innings of work for the win. Riedling pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the save. Series Recap: Another really rough series for the Pirates as they lose two of three to a team that's just as bed as the Astros, the Reds. Luckily, the Cubs also lost three of four games, and the Bucs remain just one game back of the Cubs. Around the league, no significant news happened this week.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-10-2003, 03:11 PM
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#9 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Sorry to anyone that's been following this, but I was extremely busy last week looking for a job and everything else, so I didn't have time to do any updates, but I'm back and I should have some time this week.
Week 7 As a recap, the Pirates are 21-16 and are in second place in the central division, just one game back of the Cubs. They begin this week in Houston with a four game series against the last place Astros who are 14-23, and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against this season. The Astros have a fairly weak pitching rotation with Dennys Baez (1-3 3.93), Freddy Garcia who's really dropped off ratings wise since last year (2-4 3.38), and Mitch Talbot (2-2 3.98). Their lineup isn't much better with just Austin Kearns (0.236 8 20) as the only real threat. Game 38: Pirates 11 Astros 5 VanBenSchoten had a pretty good game, giving up three runs in 7 2/3 innings for the win. Garcia got smashed, giving up six runs, five of them earned in just 4 1/3 innings for the loss. The Pirates picked up five insurance runs in the eighth, including a grandslam by JJ Davis off of Chen. Game 39: Pirates 8 Astros 9 Williams was rolling right along until the seventh inning when he gave up three runs as part of a 5 run inning for the Astros. Williams finished giving up six total runs in 6+ innings of work. The Pirates managed to score 7 runs, four of them earned, off of Astros starter Saarloos who lasted 5 2/3 innings. The other two Astros runs in the eighth inning came off of Ryan Vogelsong, and allowed the game to be tied 8-8. The Astros then took the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Wily Mo Pena singled off of Corey to score Mateo. The Pirates managed just a single in the top of the ninth off of Jimenez who worked a scoreless ninth for the save, his 6th of the season. Today the Pirates promoted MR Kurt Shafer from AA to AAA. Shafer was 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 17 appearances working 21 1/3 innings with 20K and 6 BBs for the Curve. Game 40: Pirates 7 Astros 3 Bullington pitched very well in this game, giving up just three runs in seven innings for the win. Hernandez struggled, giving up five runs, four of them earned, in five innings of work. Both teams hit three solo homeruns, with Davis, Butler and Henson each getting one for the Bucs and Gorecki hitting his first two homeruns as a major leaguer and Alfaro picking up the other one for the Astros. Corey worked two scoreless innnings for the save. Game 41: Pirates 1 Astros 2 Burnett just can't seem to get the help need for his first career win, as he once again pitched a great game giving up just one run in 6 innings, but once again the Pirates offense didn't show up. Baez worked just 2/3 of an inning before being taken out because of an injury. The bullpen stepped in and gave up just one run during the rest of the game. The Astros won the game in the bottom of the 10th. Mann begun the inning well getting two quick outs, but then problems arose after he hit Alfaro with a pitch. Everett followed with a single, and then Whiteman followed with a single to left to score Alfaro and end the game. Mann got the loss and Ramirez picked up the win. Series Recap: Dang, just two out of four against a last place team hurts, especially since the Cubs won 3 of 4 from the Cardinals to gain another game and go up by two. Next up, the Pirates travel to Cincinatti for a three game series against the Reds who are 18-22 and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against this season. The Reds have a fairly young pitching staff with second year starter John Koronka (2-1 5.71), Ty Howington (5-2 4.05), and Ted Lilly (1-3 6.26) at the top of the rotation. Their lineup consists of heavy hitting Bobby Kielty (0.336 7 23), Erubiel Durazo (0.250 10 27), and former Pirate Mark Kotsay (0.235 2 21). Game 42: Pirates 3 Reds 1 Lopez continued his stellar performance, giving up just one run, a solo homerun by Luna, through eight innings of work for the win. King pitched well giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but still earned the loss. Mann pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the season. Game 43: Pirates 0 Reds 5 Glove Day at Great American Ballpark VanBenSchoten struggled a bit in this outing giving up five runs in 6 2/3 innings for the loss. Oswalt is making a resurgance after many have counted him out after last years injury, and managed to pitch a complete game shutout, giving up just five hits while walking one and striking out five batters. Game 44: Pirates 2 Reds 5 Baseball Cap Day at Great American Ballpark Williams had a decent start, giving up three runs, two of them earned, through 6 innings but still picked up the loss. Koronka had a great start, giving up just one run in seven innings for the win. Riedling pitched a scoreless ninth for his 9th save of the season. Series Recap: Sucky, sucky. Around the league, on Monday Colorado lost their star closer JD Closser when he strained his posterior cruciate ligament during a rare opportunity where he was running the bases.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-12-2003, 11:05 AM
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#10 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 8
The Pirates begin this week finishing off their four game series against the Reds. Game 45: Pirates 8 Reds 9 Bullington struggled in this outing, giving up five runs in 5 1/3. Howington pitched fairly well, giving up four runs in 7 innings. The Pirates were trailing 7-5 heading into the ninth when they managed to score three runs off of closer John Riedling to take the lead 8-7. Then in the bottom of the ninth, LaRue lead off with a double and Villalba followed with an infield single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Mann then seemed to have gotten out of the jam after getting Larson and Dunn to strike out. Hudson tied the game though with a single scoring Smithermon and moving Villalba to third to tie the game. Kielty then got the game winning hit when he singled home Villalba for the winning run. Mann picked up the loss and Wachman got the win. After losing three of four to the Reds, the Pirates challenges mount as they travel to Chicago for a three game series against the Cubs who are 27-17 and whom the Pirates are 2-4 against. The Cubs have one of the best starting rotations in all of the majors with Mark Prior (6-2 1.82), Joe Kennedy (5-4 3.45), Jon Garland (2-4 4.85), and rookie Luke Hagerty (3-0 1.93). Their lineup isn't too bad either, with Dave Kelton (0.298 14 44), Sammy Sosa (0.259 7 22), and Mark Bellhorn (0.296 11 30) leading the way. Game 46: Pirates 3 Cubs 2 Burnett finally picked up his first career ML win after giving up just two unearned runs in six innings. Garland gave up three runs in 8 1/3 innings for the loss. Craig Wilson scored the game winning run, a solo homerun in the seventh inning off of Garland. Mann pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 12th save of the season. Game 47: Pirates 3 Cubs 4 Lopez pitched a really good game, giving up just two runs in seven innings, but the bullpen blew this one so he did not earn the win. Hagerty gave up three runs, two of them earned, in 6 1/3 innings and did not get a decision either. The Cubs were trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. They led off the inning with a single by Bellhorn who was moved to second on a sacrifice by Dubois. White was then pulled and Mann came in and got Melian to strike out. He then walked Sickels and gave up a double to Davis that scored Bellhorn and Sickels to give the Cubs the lead. Ohman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the Cubs, getting three straight groundouts to the shortstop for the save. Cruz picked up the win and Mann was charged with the loss. Game 48: Pirates 3 Cubs 2 Fireworks Night at Wrigley Field Both starters did fairly well, each giving up two runs, with VanBenSchoten lasting five innings and Thomson lasting 6 1/3 innings and neither got a decision. The Pirates got the winning run in the ninth inning. After getting two quick outs, Beltran walked Vic Butler. Bobby Hill made him pay with a double to left-center to score Butler, the winning run. Corey then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. White picked up the win and Beltran got the loss. Series Recap: Just what the Pirates needed, a series win against the division leading Cubs puts them now 2.5 back. All three of those games could have went either way, each decided by just one run. Next up, the Pirates travel to St. Louis to face the third place Cardinals who are 25-23 and whom the Pirates have not played yet this season. The Cards have a decent starting rotation with Jason Simontacchi (2-3 4.10), Jimmy Journell (4-3 3.01) and Tyler Johnson (5-2 5.75). Their lineup though is the driving force of the team with Albert Pujols (0.300 8 27), Jim Edmonds (0.245 7 18), and Scott Rolen (0.307 8 19). Game 49: Pirates 3 Cardinals 5 Both starters did well, but did not last long, with Williams giving up 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings and Ankiel giving up one run in 4 2/3 innings and neither getting the decision. The game was tied 3-3, but the Cardinals scored two in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. Both runs were charged to Mark Corey, who was not able to record a single out, and picked up the loss. The win went to Reyes, and Lambert was able to pick up the save in the ninth despite giving up two walks in the inning. Game 50: Pirates 4 Cardinals 2 Both starters pitched fairly well, with each of them giving up just two runs, with Bullington lasting for six innings and Hawksworth lasting 6 2/3 innings and neither getting the decision. The game wasn't decided until the 12th inning. Lambert started the inning off by walking the first three Pirates batters, putting on Davis, Nady and Wilson to load the bases. Jack Wilson came through with a single that scored Davis and Nady and gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead. The Pirates loaded the bases again when DeCaster was walked and there were still no outs. Finally, Lambert got McDougall to ground into a fielders choice that got Wilson out at home. He then got Henson to line out to first and Vogelsong to strike out to end the inning. Vogelsong then pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning giving up just a single to hold on to the win. Vogelsong earned the win pitching two scoreless innings, while Lambert got the loss. Game 51: Pirates 5 Cardinals 0 Burnett pitched a great game, throwing eight scoreless innings while giving up five hits while walking one and striking out seven batters for the win. Journell gave up four runs in the fourth inning, and finished giving up just those four runs in seven innings for the loss. Series Recap: A nice close series with the Bucs once again coming out on top. Although, the Cubs swept the Reds, meaning the Pirates have fallen to 3.5 back of the Cubs for first. Around the league, nothing significant happened this week.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-12-2003, 02:59 PM
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#11 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 9
The Pirates return home this week and start off with a three game series against the first place Cubs who are 31-19 and whom the Pirates are 4-5 against this season. The Cubs have one of the best starting rotations in all of the majors with Mark Prior (6-2 1.81), Joe Kennedy (6-4 3.44), Jon Garland (2-5 5.15), and rookie Luke Hagerty (3-0 2.10). Their lineup isn't too bad either, with Dave Kelton (0.277 16 50), Sammy Sosa (0.257 7 22), and Mark Bellhorn (0.283 11 30) leading the way. Game 52: Pirates 4 Cubs 2 Glove Day at PNC Park Lopez pitched a heck of a game giving up just two runs in seven innings for the win. Hagerty gave up four runs in six innings for the loss. The eventual winning runs for the Pirates came when Xavier Nady hit a two run homerun in the fifth inning. Mann pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 13th save of the season. Mark Corey tore his bicep muscle after getting Sosa to ground out in the eighth inning. He will be out for the rest of the season. Mark Corey was placed on the 60-day DL and the Pirates signed MR Mike Williams to take his place on the 25 man roster. Game 53: Pirates 2 Cubs 4 VanBenSchoten had a decent game, giving up three runs in 6 1/3 innings, but still picked up the loss. Thomson only managed to last four innings, and gave up two runs, one of the earned, but did not get the win. The win went to Cruz who pitched a scoreless 5th inning. The Cubs added one insurance run in the top of the 9th, but it proved to not be needed as Ohman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Sammy Sosa smashed two homeruns in the game for a total of 663 career homeruns. Game 54: Pirates 3 Cubs 1 Dave Williams outdueled Mark Prior, as he gave up just one run in 6 2/3 innings for the win. Prior gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings, despite giving up just three hits and walking just two batters. The winning runs came in the sixth inning when JJ Davis hit a two out two run homerun off of Prior. Mann gave up a hit and walked a batter but held on for the save in the ninth, his 14th of the season. Series Recap: Once again exactly what the Pirates needed, as they managed to win two out of three really close games. Now they're just 2.5 games back of first place. The Pirates remain home for a three game series against the Cardinals who are 27-27 and whom the Pirates are 2-1 against this season. The Cards have a decent starting rotation with Jason Simontacchi (2-3 4.10), Jimmy Journell (4-4 3.20) and Rick Ankiel (2-4 2.97). Their lineup though is the driving force of the team with Albert Pujols (0.309 14 40), Jim Edmonds (0.255 7 18), and Scott Rolen (0.306 8 20). Pitchers Tyler Johnson and Dan Haren will miss this series on the DL. Game 55: Pirates 7 Cardinals 3 Fireworks Night at PNC Park Bullington finally found his groove again, pitching a complete game and giving up just three runs for the win. All three runs came by homerun, as Tejada hit a solo shot in the fifth and a two run shot in the seventh. Journell gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Butler, Davis, and McDougall all homered for the Pirates. Game 56: Pirates 1 Cardinals 2 Burnett continues to improve as he gave up just two runs, one of them earned, through 6 2/3 innings but got no run support as he picked up the loss. Hawksworth did great giving up just one run in 7 1/3 innings for the win. Crudale pitched a scoreless ninth despite giving up a hit for the save. Amateur Draft The Pirates don't select until 27th this year in the draft. The first five picks this year went as follows: 1st - NYM - RF Victor Vega - Brilliant in hits homeruns and walks, a definite for sure prospect, with below average range and a gun for an arm. 2nd - MIL - 2B Wayne Stampley - Good in hits and brilliant in homers and taking walks. He has average range and above average fielding abilities. 3rd - ANA - 1B Leo Sanchez - Also good in hits and brilliant in homers and taking walks. Slightly below average range but with an excellent glove. 4th - DET - CF Jack Howell - Only average in getting hits but brilliant in homers and taking walks. He has pretty good range in the field and an average arm. Also has decent speed on the basepaths and he knows how to choose his spots to run. 5th - HOU - 1B Eric Green - Good in hits and taking walks and brilliant in homeruns. Below average range in the field and excellent glove work. No speed to worry about at all. The Pirates selections went as follows: 1st - SP Daniel Jaquez - Not a whole lot available this late in the draft so the Bucs stuck with their proven record of drafting good young pitching prospects. This guy is 3.5 stars and is average in avoiding hits and good in avoiding homeruns and walks. 2nd - SP Frank Lafollette - Absolutely nothing available with the hitters, so we picked up this guy who is also 3.5 stars and average in avoiding hits and homers and good at avoiding walks. 3rd - CF Art Wilcoxson - Average in hits, poor in homers and fair in walks 4th - MR Antonio Pacheco - Average in avoiding hits and homers, good in walks 5th-7th - computer picked LF Gary Westhoff FAA, MR Luis Lopez FGA, and RF James Johnson FPF May Wrapup The Pirates struggled a bit this month but still finished the month above 0.500 at 15-12 to put their overall record to 31-25, just 2.5 games back of the first place Cubs. Burnett had a really good month going 2-2 with a 1.59 ERA and Lopez continued his strong season with a record of 3-1 and a 2.92 ERA this month. Meanwhile the rest of the starters struggled with ERAs above 4, especially Williams who went 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA. Bobby Hill continued to get on base for the Bucs, hitting 0.318 and with a OBP of 0.386 this month. JJ Davis also did well hitting 0.316 with 6 HRs and 20 RBIs. McDougall really had a poor month hitting just 0.173 with 1 HR and 11 RBIs. Boston still has the best record in all of baseball, with a record of 35-20, and they lead the east by 4.5 games over the defending champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cleveland has held on to their lead in the central with a record of 32-23 and lead by 5.5 games over the White Sox. Anaheim and Texas find themselves tied in the west with a record of 32-22, and with Seattle 4 games back. In the NL, the Phillies are up 4 games on the Marlins, with a record of 33-22. In the central, the Cubs hold a 2.5 game lead over the Pirates with a record of 33-22. Lastly, in the west, the Padres have really stepped things up, and with a record of 31-24, they lead the Diamondbacks by a 0.5 game. The BOM awards went to Cleveland's 1B Travis Hafner who hit 0.385 with 13 HRs and 28 RBIs, and Colorado's 1B Todd Helton who hit 0.352 with 11 HRs and 30 RBIs. The POM awards went to Toronto's Roy Halladay who went 4-1 with a measly 0.86 ERA, and San Francisco's Jesse Foppert who went 3-1 with a 0.79 ERA. Forgot to list the transactions last month, so I'll do both months here now: The Mets picked up supposedly five star CF Kevin Thompson from the Yankees in return for 3 star prospect 2B Joe Jianetti and 1 star prospect SS Corey Ragsdale. The White Sox picked up 2.5 star SS Rich Aurilia from the Phillies in return for 3.5 star prospect SP Heath Phillips and 1 star prospect 2B Leonardo Luna. The Cubs picked up 2.5 star CF Jackson Melian from LA in return for 2.5 star SP Steve Smyth. The Expos got 2 star C Juan Brito from the Royals for 2 star prospect 2B Greg Thissen, 2 star prospect 3B Kiki Fisher, and 2 star prospect 1B Larry Segovia. Game 57: Pirates 10 Cardinals 0 Lopez continues his stellar season, pitching a complete game shutout while giving up just five hits while walking two and striking out nine batters. Simontacchi got shelled as he gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings for the loss. The Pirates had seven doubles and one homerun as part of the sixteen hit and 10 run pounding of the Cardinal pitching staff. Series Recap: The Bucs just keep picking up two wins out of every three games, and if they can keep it up, should be good for the postseason. The Cubs lost two of three and the Bucs are now just 1.5 back. Around the league, on Monday KC's Larry Bigbie hit for the cycle becoming the 6270th player to do so. Also on Monday, St. Louis had good news and bad news, as southpaw Tyler Johnson injured himself in the game and was discovered to have bone chips in his shoulder and will miss the next nine weeks. The good news was that Albert Pujols smashed three homeruns in the game, helping the Cardinals to the victory. On Wednesday, Cincinatti fans got bad news as it was discovered that ace John Koronka will miss the next five weeks with a pulled rotator cuff muscle. On Thursday, even more bad news, this time for Philly fans as Brett Myers will miss the next five weeks with a strained tricep muscle. The last of the bad news came on Saturday, when it was announced that Arizona's Kurt Ainsworth will miss seven weeks with a strained elbow ligament.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-12-2003, 03:52 PM
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#12 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 10
The Pirates begin their interleague play with a three game series at home against the New York Yankees who are 21-35 and in last place in the AL East. The Yankees have a couple of decent starters in Jon Rauch (1-7 3.62) and Brandon Claussen (2-2 4.30), but then drop off fast with Mark Phillips (3-4 6.12) as their next best. Their lineup consists of a bunch of players with a lot of power but little average with Juan Rivera leading the team (0.309 10 32). Game 58: Pirates 2 Yankees 1 VanBenSchoten pitched a heck of a game, going 7 2/3 innings without giving up a single run and giving up just four hits and walking one and striking out 11 batters for the win. Rauch also did well, giving up just two runs, one of them earned, in 5 2/3 innings but got the loss. The Yankees threatened in the ninth when Soriano singled and then after a passed ball he moved to second and then Rivera was intentionally walked. After Johnson struck out, Mann walked Posada to load the bases. Williams then came up and hit a fly ball to deep left field, but Nady made the catch on the edge of the warning track, though one run did score on the sac fly. Mann then got Phillips to ground out to third to end the threat and pick up the save, his 15th of the season. The Pirates promoted 2B Matt Moses from A to AA. Moses was hitting 0.305 with 2 HRs and 14 RBIs for the Hillcats. Game 59: Pirates 1 Yankees 4 Dave Williams pitched a heck of a game, giving up just one run, off of one hit, a solo homerun by Bernie Williams, while pitching nine innings. Unfortunately, he had no run support, as Claussen also gave up just one run, a solo homerun by Jack Wilson, through 7 innings of work. The Yankees won the game in the top of the 10th. Jimenez gave up a double to Derek Jeter and then intentionally walked Soriano before being pulled in favor of Mann. Mann then walked Matsui to load the bases, then walked McPherson, scoring Jeter. He then got Johnson to strike out before walking Cruz Jr to score Soriano and Cano to score Matsui. He finally got Rivera to pop out and Williams to ground out to end the inning. The Yankees scored three runs, off of just one hit and five walks in the inning. Rincon then pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning for the save. The loss went to Jimenez and Cruz got the win. Game 60: Pirates 1 Yankees 5 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park Bullington didn't have the greatest game, giving up four runs in 7 1/3 innings. Once again he got no run support as the Bucs managed just one unearned run and one hit off of Phillips, who pitched a complete game for the Yankees. Series Recap: An absolutely terrible series for the Pirates as they managed to score just four runs in three games against a pretty weak pitching staff. Luckily the Cubs only managed to win one of three against the Red Sox, so the Bucs remain just 1.5 back. Next up, the Pirates stay home and have a three game series against the Devil Rays who are the same record as the Pirates 33-27. The former champions have a great pitching rotation with Dewon Brazelton (8-4 2.69), Kevin Millwood (7-4 3.72), rookie Chris Flinn (4-6 4.66), Luis DeLosSantos (5-4 2.84), and Aaron Rakers (2-3 2.84). Thier lineup leaves something to be desired, but they do have Ben Grieve (0.310 6 37), Michael Cuddyer (0.231 10 28), and Erick Almonte (0.270 7 28). Game 61: Pirates 3 Devil Rays 9 Burnett did not have a very good game, giving up five runs in five innings for the loss. De los Santos did decent, giving up three runs in five innings for the win. Scot Shields blew any chance for the Bucs coming back, giving up four runs in two innings to seal the Pirates loss. Vic Butler had a three run homerun and Almonte and Grieve homered for the DRays. Game 62: Pirates 6 Devil Rays 16 The Pirates losing skid continues as Lopez had a horrbile game, giving up 8 runs in 6 1/3 innings for the loss. Rakers didn't do too much better, giving up five runs, three earned, in 6 innings but he did get the win. The Drays hit a lot of homeruns with Weeks, Cuddyer, Roberts and Hamilton all getting in on the action. Game 63: Pirates 9 Devil Rays 3 The Pirates returned the favor, at least partly in this game, as VanBenSchoten pitched very well, giving up just one run in 6 innings for the win. Millwood struggled, giving up five runs in four innings for the loss. Davis and Butler both homered for the Bucs, and Butler had a big day with a single, triple, and a homerun in the game. Series Recap: Interleauge play continues to be a problem for the Pirates as they lost another two of three, this time to the DRays. Luckily, the Cubs got swept by the Marlins, so the Bucs are now just 1/2 a game back. In other news, the Astros finally snapped their 12 game losing streak, beating the Red Sox 4-0. Around the league, on Monday Arizona's Kenny Baugh pitched a two hit shutout to help the Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory over the Giants. On Tuesday, Atlanta's Wes Littleton ruptured a disc in his back and wil require surgery and he'll miss the rest of the season. On Wednesday, Met's right hander Jake Joseph fired a two hit shutout as they defeated the Rangers 3-0. Also on Wednesday, former Pirate and current Oriole Tony Alvarez hit three homeruns off of Cincinatti's pitching. On Saturday, it was discovered that Larry Walker had a torn back muscle and will miss the remainder of the season.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-13-2003, 11:19 AM
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#13 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 11
Up to the 11th week of the season already, and the Pirates find themselves at a record of 34-29 and just 1/2 a game behind the first place Cubs. They continue their interleague play this week and travel to Toronto for a three game series against the Blue Jays who are 29-33. The Jays have a good pitching staff with Roy Halladay (6-5 2.76), Vinny Chulk (5-4 3.94) and Brandon League (6-4 4.78) at the top of their rotation. Their lineup consists of a lot of sluggers including Dewayne Wise (0.327 19 68), Carlos Delgado (0.295 8 40) and Kevin Millar (0.298 10 38). Game 64: Pirates 8 Blue Jays 4 Dave Williams continues to be a real workhorse for the Pirates, pitching another complete game, despite giving up four runs, and earning the win. League gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings and did not get a decision. The Pirates jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Blue Jays brought it to within one in the bottom of the second and eventually tied it in the fourth inning. Then in the eighth inning, the Pirates exploded for three runs off of Bowles and then added on more in the ninth. Bowles was charged with the loss. Game 65: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 5 Bullington struggled a bit giving up five runs, including two run homeruns to Wells and Castillo, in 6 2/3 innings for the loss. Halladay didn't give up any runs until the eighth inning when Navarette smashed a two run homer, and went eight innings giving up just those two runs for the win. Williamson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Game 66: Pirates 5 Blue Jays 4 Burnett pitched another great game, giving up just two runs, off a two run homer by Wells, in 7 2/3 innings of work for the win. Munro also pitched well, giving up two runs in seven innings but did not get a decision. The Pirates broke apart a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning when JJ Davis smashed a three run homerun off of Lopez. The Jays gave it their best try to comeback in the ninth inning but fell just short. Wells got on base with a single and Delgado followed getting hit by a pitch. David Lamb then stepped up and smashed a double to the gap in left-center allowing both runners to score. Ortiz then laid down a perfect sac bunt, allowing Lamb to move to third. Mann then walked Hinske to put runners at the corners with one out. The strategy paid off as Mann got Castillo to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat and the game and give Mann his 16th save. DeJong was charged with the loss as he put the two runners on before Davis' homerun. Series Recap: Pretty much what I expected. Next up, the Bucs travel to Baltimore for a three game series against the Orioles who are 27-40. The Orioles have a decent top two in the rotation with Ian Ferguson (5-6 3.57) and former Pirate Zach Greinke (7-5 2.84), but they drop off fast after that with Zach Day (2-7 5.87) as their next best starter. Their lineup is fairly weak with Jay Gibbons (0.302 15 28) as the only real threatening player in the lineup. Game 67: Pirates 3 Orioles 12 Of course, once again a team that has no offense completely destroyed Pirates' pitching as Lopez gave up eight runs, seven earned, in 5 1/3 innings for the loss, and Shields gave up another four runs, one earned, in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Ferguson had some real control problems, as he walked eight batters, but he managed to give up just two hits and two runs in seven innings for the win. Game 68: Pirates 2 Orioles 9 VanBenSchoten actually pitched a decent game, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but still got the loss, thanks in most part to his bullpen. JVB left the game in the seventh after getting two quick outs and putting no one on base. Jimenez then came into the game and gave up a single to Gorski and then allowed Leon to reach base on an error by the third baseman. He then walked Harris, followed by a pinch hit grandslam by Gredvig. He followed that by giving up a solo homerun to Barajas before finally getting Sizemore to strike out and end the inning. Then in the eighth inning, Jimenez gave up a single to Reed, who stole second and scored on a single by Gibbons. Finally Jimenez was pulled, but was still charged with another run as White gave up a double to Leon to score Gibbons. All in all, Jimenez gave up seven runs, two of them earned, in just 2/3 of an inning. Game 69: Pirates 7 Orioles 2 Finally, Dave Williams showed the rest of the staff how to take care of a weak offensive team, by giving up just two runs in eight innings for the win. The Pirates got to former teammate Greinke, scoring six runs off of him, as he worked just 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Series Recap: Another terrible series, almost as bad as the one against the Yankees, but at least they were able to salvage the last game. The Cubs took advantage of the situation by sweeping the Yankees and taking a 2.5 game lead on the Bucs. Around the league, on Wedensday Philly's Vicente Padilla suffered a serious injury with a ruptured tricep tendon, and will likely miss the next 6 weeks.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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11-13-2003, 12:53 PM
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#14 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 12
The Pirates take a short break from interleague play and travel to Milwaukee for a four game series against the Brewers who are 28-40 and whom the Pirates are 6-1 against this season. The Brewers have a pitching staff full of pitchers not living up to their potential, with AJ Burnett (4-9 5.72), Ismael Valdes (6-6 3.76), and former Pirates Oliver Perez (2-9 6.13). The Brewers have a decent offense with Andrea Lemmons (0.300 16 38) and Kelly Grams (0.283 15 50) leading the way, though slugger Sexson (0.198 12 27) has really been struggling this season. Game 70: Pirates 3 Brewers 2 Bullington had himself another nice start, scattering seven hits and giving up just two runs in eight innings for the win. Neugebauer also pitched well, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but did not get a decision. In the top of the ninth the Pirates scored the winning run the old fashioned way, by getting out. Jack Wilson led off the inning with a double and was then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nady. He then scored on a sac fly by Yurendell DeCaster. Mann then came into the bottom of the ninth and struck out the side, getting Sexson and Gish to strike out looking and Dubois to strike out swinging, and earn his 17th save. Quevedo was charged with the loss. Game 71: Pirates 0 Brewers 3 Burnett pitched a decent game giving up just four hits in seven innings, though unfortunately one of those hits was a three run homerun by Richie Sexson. Perez schooled his old teammates pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings, while giving up just four hits for the win. Adams picked up the last two outs in the game for the save. Game 72: Pirates 6 Brewers 7 Lopez had his second straight poor outing, giving up five runs in four innings for the loss. Steitz pitched well for the Brew Crew, giving up just two runs in seven innings for the win. The Pirates tried to mount a comeback in the ninth trailing 7-3. DeCasters led off the inning with a single and Butler followed with a two run homerun off of Nance to bring the game to 7-5. Strickland then came into the game and gave up a single to Hill, a walk to Nady and then another single Craig Wilson that scored Hill. JJ Davis then grounded out to the catcher for the first out of the inning, moving the runners to second and third. Henson was then intentionally walked to load the bases and the strategy paid off, as Strickland got Jack Wilson to ground into a game ending 6-4-3 double play. Strickland got his first save of the season. Game 73: Pirates 4 Brewers 5 VanBenSchoten gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings and Burnett gave up four runs in 6 2/3 innings and neither starter got the decision. The Brewers tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with an unearned run off of Jimenez. Then in the ninth, Mann led the inning off by hitting Dubois with a pitch. He then got Alba to strike out and Batista to ground out to the catcher, but moving Dubois to second. Machado came through with a clutch single to score Dubois from second and win the game for the Brewers. Adams picked up the win and Mann earned the loss. Series Recap: This is really starting to get beyond frustrating, I mean losing three of four to the Brewers?? WTF?? Anyway, the Pirates slipped to third place now in the central. The Pirates now return home and return to interleague play with a three game series against cross-state line rivals the Cleveland Indians who are 44-29 and in first place in the AL Central. The Indians have combined an average pitching staff with Jose Contreras (7-3 3.40), Dennis Stark (7-4 3.73), and rookie Derrick Van Dusen (6-7 5.52) along with an explosive lineup consisting of IRod (0.268 8 30), Ryan Church (0.268 16 58), Travis Hafner (0.327 24 59), Jack Cust (0.270 16 49), and Brandon Phillips (0.319 11 56) to become one of the better teams in the majors. Game 74: Pirates 2 Indians 5 Fireworks Night at PNC Park Williams pitched a great game giving up no runs and just two hits in 6 1/3 innings, but because of a rain delay he was forced to leave the game early and did not get a decision. Contreras also did fairly well giving up just two runs in seven innings and he picked up the win. The Pirate bullpen lost the game with Jimenez giving up two runs in the seventh inning, while recording just one out, and Vogelsong gave up three runs in the eighth inning while recording just two outs. Vogelsong was charged with the loss. Escobar pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Game 75: Pirates 9 Indians 11 Bullington had a pretty poor outing, giving up six runs in 5 2/3 innings for the loss. VanDusen pitched pretty well giving up three runs in 5 2/3 innings for the win. The Pirates were able to come within one run after scoring two runs in the seventh to bring the score to 6-5. The Indians then just exploded in the top of the eight, scoring five runs, three off of Vogelsong and two off of White to regain a commanding lead. The Pirates answered back partially by scoring four runs off of Escobar, but Cressend came in for one out, and De los Santos got another out as well as pitched a scoreless ninth inning to hold on for the win and pick up the save. Game 76: Pirates 1 Indians 6 Burnett had a decent game giving up three runs in seven innings but he still got the loss. Sabathia performed brilliantly, and despite walking six batters, he gave up just two hits and no runs in eight innings for the win. The Pirate bullpen didn't even give a chance for the offense to play catchup, as Mike Williams gave up three more runs in 1 1/3 innings of work. Series Recap: The Pirates losing streak now reaches six games. The Pirates are no longer looking toward trying to get first place, but are just looking to finish above 0.500, as they are now even with a record of 38-38. Around the league, on Tuesday the White Sox learned that they will be without Bartolo Colon for the next four weeks as he is out with a strained bicep tendon. Also on Tuesday, Cleveland's ace Jeremy Guthrie tore his bicep muscle and will miss the next 4-5 weeks.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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01-23-2004, 02:49 PM
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#15 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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I had to dig this one up from the past, actually it wasn't too difficult as I still had the links in my signature. Anyway, I got sidetracked in trying to run a full 100+ years and store it into Cato, and I'm finished with that but am having trouble creating the web pages from Cato. Not really sure what the problem is, but I'm pretty sure it's just a little brother that's being a major pain and keeps closing the program while it's running so I can't get all the files out. I think I'll have to pull out my laptop and run it on their, and just leave it running for a few days. Anyway, I decided I might as well pick this dynasty back up where I left off with it. As a quick refresh, the Bucs are currently 38-38, just five games back of the first place Cubs, but have lost six straight games.
Week 13 The Pirates start this week off with a three game series at home against the Houston Astros, who are the last place team in the majors with a record of 26-49 and whom the Pirates are 3-4 against this season. The Astros have a decent starting rotation with Danys Baez (2-3 3.82), Freddy Garcia (3-10 4.71), Mitch Talbot (5-5 4.75), and Kirk Saarloos (5-7 2.83). However their offense has been rather inept, as sluggers Wily Mo Pena (.262 6 41) and Austin Kearns (0.229 14 35) just haven't produced to expectations. Game 77: Pirates 0 Astros 4 The Pirates losing streak continues, as once again the offense just couldn't get in gear. Baez pitched a great game for the Astros earning the shutout win, while giving up just three hits in 8 1/3 innings of work. Lopez didn't fare too badly, but he still got the loss as he gave up four runs in eight innings. Game 78: Pirates 2 Astros 6 Glove Day at PNC Park Chalk up another in the loss column for the Pirates. VanBenSchoten struggled a bit in his outing today, giving up four runs 6 2/3 innings for the loss. The Pirate offense once again didn't provide much help, as the scored just two runs in nine innings off of starter Freddy Garcia, who picked up just his 4th win of the season. Game 79: Pirates 2 Astros 0 The Pirate pitching staff took things in their own hands in this game and finally ended the Bucs long losing streak. The Pirate offense managed just two runs in 7 innings off of Saarloos, but this time that's all that they needed as Williams pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings for the win. White got the hold, picking up the last out in the eighth, and Mann held on for the save in the ninth, his 18th of the season. This win came at a cost, however, as third baseman Drew Henson injured his shoulder and will likely miss the next 7-10 days. The Pirates now travel to Cleveland, to finish off a home and home season against the Indians. The Indians destroyed the Pirates (5-2, 11-9, 6-1) in the three games at PNC Park, and the Bucs are looking to return the favor at Jacobs Field. The Indians have combined an average pitching staff with Jose Contreras (9-3 3.61), Dennis Stark (7-5 4.11), and rookie Derrick Van Dusen (7-7 5.26) along with an explosive lineup consisting of IRod (0.280 10 38), Ryan Church (0.265 17 59), Travis Hafner (0.326 26 65), Jack Cust (0.273 18 54), and Brandon Phillips (0.313 11 56) to become one of the better teams in the majors. Game 80: Pirates 5 Indians 3 The Pirates came out on top of this game, thanks to good solid pitching and timely hitting. Bullington pitched well, giving up three runs in 7 1/3 innings for the win. White held on, picking up the final two outs in the eighth, and Mann came in again to close out the ninth to earn his 19th save of the season. Rodriguez struggled on the mound for the Indians, giving up five runs in 6 2/3 innings. Butler and Doumit homered for the Bucs, both solo shots off of Rodriguez and Chruch hit a solo homer off of Bullington in the eighth. Game 81: Pirates 15 Indians 1 Baseball Cap Day at Jacobs Field Pirate manager Lloyd McClendon made a slight tinker change to the lineup, switching Hill to leadoff and Butler to the second spot, to try and spark something in the offense. Hill and Butler each contributed with one hit, and scoring two runs, but the biggest sparks came from JJ Davis, who went 4-5 with 5 RBIs and Yurendell DeCaster who went 3-5 with 6 RBIs. The target of the Pirates frustration was let out on Indians starter CC Sabathia, as he gave up nine runs in five innings for the loss. The Pirates got another superb starter from Sean Burnett who pitched a complete game giving up just one run off of six hits. Game 82: Pirates 5 Indians 3 Another solid game by both the Pirates pitching staff and the Pirates offense. Lopez pitched well, giving up just three runs in eight innings for the win, and Mann once again came in to close out the ninth, putting the Indians down 1-2-3 for his 20th save of the season. Stark didn't have his best performance, as he gave up five runs, four of them earned, in 6 2/3 innings for the loss. Davis hit his 16th homer of the season and Doumit added his third while Church hit his 19th of the season. Around the league, on Monday Texas' Carlos Beltran turned in a five hit performance against the A's. On Saturday, L.A.'s Jeff Weaver turned in a stellar performance against the Mariners, giving up just two hits and leading the Dodgers to a 5-0 victory.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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02-02-2004, 04:06 PM
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#16 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 14
The Pirates are just past the halfway point and have a record of 42-40 and find themselves 5 games back of the first place Cubs in the central division. This week they start off with the Montreal Expos, who are 35-45. This will be the first time these two teams meet this season. The Expos have a good pitching staff that just hasn't been performing to expectations. All three of their top starters, Javier Vazquez (7-6 4.57), Seung Song (6-4 4.07), and Orlando Hernandez (6-8 5.33) are putting up numbers much worse than their career averages. They have a pretty solid lineup with superstar Vladimir Guerrero (.301 16 48) surrounded by Jason Hart (.302 9 49) and Brad Wilkerson (.329 14 57). Game 83: Pirates 11 Expos 3 Baseball Cap Day at Olympic Stadium The Pirates winning streak was extended to five games thanks in large part to a crushing offense and good solid pitching from VanBenSchoten. John went a total of seven innings, giving up just two runs to earn his seventh win of the season. Chris Young had a decent game for the Expos, giving up four runs, three earned, in six innings but it wasn't good enough as he picked up his 2nd loss of the season. The Expos closed to within three runs in the bottom of the eighth, scoring quickly off of Jimenez, but Williams came in and got one out and Mann picked up the other two outs to curb the damage. The Pirates then broke away, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth. Mann picked up the save for the Bucs, his 21st of the season. June Wrapup Despite winning their last five games, this month was the worst this season for the Bucs as they went 12-15 this month to finish with a record of 43-40. VanBenSchoten (3-2 2.75), Dave Williams (3-0 1.58), and Sean Burnett (2-3 3.53) all had a superb month for the Bucs, while ace Rodrigo Lopez (2-4 5.98) seemed to struggle for the first team this season. Vic Butler seems to be starting to find his groove in the majors, after hitting 0.297 with a 0.357 OBP with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs this month. Ryan Doumit (0.370 2 10) and JJ Davis (0.281 6 20) also hit pretty well this month, while Marshall McDougall (0.222 1 6) continues to struggle and Xavier Nady (0.224 2 11) also struggled this month. Boston is leading the AL East, with a record of 51-31, by 4.5 games over the defending champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cleveland has held on to their lead in the central with a record of 48-35, though the White Sox have narrowed the gap to just 3 games back. Texas leads the AL West and now has the distinction of holding the best record in MLB with a record of 51-30 and lead both Anaheim and Seattle by 9 games. In the NL, the Phillies are up 3.5 games on the Marlins, with a record of 47-35. In the central, the Cubs hold a 3.5 game lead over the Cardinals with a record of 46-34. Lastly, in the west, the Padres have gone on a huge decline and has given up the lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lead the Dodgers by 5.5 games with a record of 51-33. AL BOM - Justin Morneau hit 0.412 with 10 HRs and 31 RBIs NL BOM - Brad Wilkerson hit 0.379 with 4 HRs and 23 RBIs AL POM - Gil Meche went 5-0 with a 1.99 ERA striking out 26 NL POM - Jake Joseph went 4-1 with a 1.32 ERA striking out 36 There were a number of minor trades this month. Cincinatti sent 3.5 star prospect SP John Koronka to the Oakland A's in return for 2.5 star SP Wayne Franklin. The next day Oakland turned around and sent Koronka to the Royals in exchange for 2.5 star RF Alexis Gomez. Milwaukee sent 2.5 star RF Jason Dubois to the Cubs in exchange for 3 star SP Ben Hendrickson. Atlanta sent oft-injured 2.5 star SP Adam Wainwright to the Dodgers in return for 2 star 3B Chris Woodward. Lastly, Colorado and Milwaukee swapped pitchers with the Rockies getting 3 star SP Ismael Valdes and the Brewers picking up 2.5 star SP Omar Daal. Game 84: Pirates 1 Expos 5 Williams struggled a bit in this outing, giving up five runs in four innings for the loss. The Pirates managed to get 8 hits off of Vazquez, but was only able to score one run off of him in nine innings. Wilkerson hit a three run homerun in the fifth to seal the deal for the Expos. Game 85: Pirates 3 Expos 2 Bullington pitched a very good game, scattering seven hits and giving up just two runs in six innings, while Song went seven innings, while scattering six hits and giving up just one run, though neither starter pitched well enough for the win. The Pirates scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning off of Shannon Stewart to take the lead, and Mann closed out the bottom of the ninth getting three quick outs for the save. Game 86: Pirates 7 Expos 4 Burnett continues to dazzle in his rookie season, giving up just one run in 6 2/3 innings of work for his 5th win of the season. Veteran Hernandez continues to struggle however, giving up five runs in five innings for the loss. The Expos started to mount a comeback in the eighth when Wilkerson hit a three run two out homerun off of White. Jimenez then gave up a walk but Mann came in to finish the eighth and then got three quick outs in the ninth to earn his 23rd save of the season. The Pirates have announced that they have signed 1B Craig Wilson to a three year extension worth $2.5M per year and MR Gabe White to a two year extension worth $2.25M per year. Also, SP Rodrigo Lopez' agent has announced that he has cut off talks with the Pirates concerning a contract extension and announced Lopez will become a free agent unless the Pirates trade him. Next up, the Pirates return home to face their division rival Cincinatti Reds who are 42-43 and whom the Pirates are 2-5 against this season. With the exception of their top starter, Ty Howington (8-4 3.80), the rest of the Reds pitching staff, including Wayne Franklin (3-10 6.05), O.J. King (2-6 5.79) and Ted Lilly (2-9 5.96), has been pitching very poorly. Their lineup consists of heavy hitting Bobby Kielty (0.341 14 51), Erubiel Durazo (0.247 18 251), and former Pirate Mark Kotsay (0.258 8 40). Game 87: Pirates 7 Reds 1Noddin Head Doll Day at PNC Park Lopez seems to be bouncing back from a poor month, pitching a complete game and not giving up a run until the ninth when Mohr hit a solo homerun. Basham gave up five runs, four of them earned, in five innings of work for the loss. Nady and Davis both hit solo homeruns for the Bucs. Game 88: Pirates 8 Reds 9 The Pirates began the game scoring five quick runs off of Ty Howington. The Reds responded in the second inning, scoring two runs off of VanBenSchoten. The Pirates then scored one more run in the bottom of the second, chasing starter Ty Howington after he completed just 1 1/3 innings. The Reds then responded in the third inning, by scoring four runs off of VanBenSchoten and chasing him from the game after just 2 2/3 innings pitched. In the top of the 4th, the Reds took the lead, scoring three runs off of Ryan Vogelsong to take a 9-6 lead. The Pirates got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but there was no more scoring until the ninth. Hill and Butler led the bottom of the ninth off with walks, but Nady then grounded into a double play. Wilson then singled home Bobby Hill, but the rally was stopped when Cota flew out to deep right-center field. Vogelsong got the loss for the Bucs while Hudson picked up the win and Riedling got the save. Game 89: Pirates 5 Reds 4 Williams didn't have the greatest game but did fairly well, giving up four runs in seven innings and earning his 6th win of the season. Franklin didn't do as well, giving up five runs in five innings for the loss. JJ Davis and Marshall McDougall homered for the Bucs while Dunn homered for the Reds. Mann picked up his 24th save of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Around the league this week, there were a number of injuries. On Monday, Oakland lost it's ace starter Barry Zito who will likely miss the next six weeks with a ruptured tricep tendon. On Friday, doctors discovered bone chips in the shoulder of Boston's Derek Lowe who will miss the rest of the season. Also on Friday, Giants' right hander Scott Hardcastle tore his bicep muscle and will also miss the remainder of the season. On Saturday, Minnesota's Beau Kemp left the game early with back spasms and will likely miss the next five weeks. Also on Saturday, St. Louis' Toby Hall roped five hits against the Cubs. Lastly, on Sunday, Yankees' shortstop Derek Jeter hit a single off of Derrick Van Dusen for his 2000th career hit.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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02-02-2004, 09:39 PM
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#17 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 15
The Pirates begin this week at home against the hated New York Mets (Muck the Fets!) who are 40-49 and this is the first matchup between the two teams this season. The Mets pitching staff is a mix of the good, Ross Peeples (9-5 3.97) and Jake Joseph (13-3 1.63), the bad, Phil Seibel (5-10 5.88) and Andrew Miller (6-7 4.95), and the ugly Franklin Nunez (1-8 6.94). Their lineup has a couple of big hitters with Cliff Floyd (0.302 13 52) and Dmitri Young (0.295 11 51), but after them there is not a hitter hitting above 0.275 or with more than 10 HRs. Game 90: Pirates 3 Mets 9 Bullington actually pitched very well in this game, giving up just two runs off of two hits, but lasted just five innings and picked up the loss. Jake Joseph pitched another superb game, giving up just three runs in eight innings for his league leading 14th win of the season. The Mets exploded in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring two runs off of Shields and five runs off Jimenez to secure the win. Game 91: Pirates 5 Mets 2 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park Another great outing by rookie Burnett, who gave up just one run in 6 2/3 innings for the win. Miller had a good outing for the Mets but was hampered by the four errors by the Mets defense, which led to the four unearned runs scored against him. The Pirates offense took advantage of every oppurtunity they had, scoring five runs off of just five hits, including a three run homerun by Drew Henson. Game 92: Pirates 10 Mets 2 Ever since announcing that he was not going to resign with the Pirates, Lopez has pitched in two brilliant games. In this one, he gave up just two runs and pitching the complete nine innings for his 10th win this season. Nunez had another poor outing for the Mets, giving up 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings for the loss. Nady and Cota each homered for the Bucs. The Pirates signed the following to minor league contracts: Freddy Sanchez, Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Aguilera, Hank Hill, Eduardo Sierra, Jeremy Laster and Osvaldo Colella. Sanchez and Zambrano were placed on the 40-man roster. They also released RF Paul Welch, MR Nathaniel Redrick and 1B Levi O'Brien. Next up for the Pirates, is a four game home series against the Florida Marlins who are 49-41, and this is again the first matchup between the two teams. The Marlins team is anchored by a superb starting rotation of Josh Beckett (7-2 2.79), Nate Bump (10-7 3.17), Mark Mulder (9-6 3.20), Geoff Goetz (4-7 3.42), and Kevin Olsen (4-4 4.39). Their lineup on the other hand definitely has some holes to fill, with nobody to hit around 1B Brad Fullmer (0.323 18 55). Game 93: Pirates 2 Marlins 1 This game was a real pitcher's duel, with SP Josh Beckett giving up just two runs in six innings. However, JVB outdueled him, giving up just one run 6 1/3 innings for the win. The Pirate bullpen did a great job of holding on to the game, not giving up any hits and only one walk in 2 1/3 innings of work. Mann picked up his 26th save of the season. Game 94: Pirates 4 Marlins 3 The Pirates squeaked by in another close one. The Marlins scored three quick runs off of Dave Williams, but he held on going six total innings for the win. The Pirates took the lead when with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Yurendell DeCaster hit a grand slam off of Gabe Goetz. Once again the bullpen held on, but just barely. Jim Mann started the bottom of the ninth by striking out Will Smith, but then walked Andy Fox, gave up a double to Brad Fullmer and then loaded the bases by walking JD Drew. Jason Jimenez came in to close things out by getting Mike Redmond to ground into a double play. Game 95: Pirates 5 Marlins 1 Another superb start by Bullington who gave up just one run off of two hits and one walk in seven innings for the win. Nate Bump pitched fairly well, giving up three runs in seven innings, but it wasn't good enough as he picked up the loss. The Marlins threatened in the bottom of the ninth, getting a double by Gibson and a walk by Andy Fox off of Jim Mann. Mann was then pulled in favor of Mike Williams who came in and got Fullmer to pop out and Johnson to line out into a double play. Game 96: Pirates 7 Marlins 5 Glove Day at PNC Park The Pirates extended their winning streak to six games with yet another win over the Marlins. Burnett didn't have his greatest game, giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings and did not get a decision. Olsen also didn't do too well giving up five runs, four of them earned, in 6 2/3 innings. The Pirates scored one run off of Neal, who picked up the loss, and another insurance run off of Phelps. The Pirates bullpen didn't give up a single run, with Ryan Vogelsong getting the win after pitching two hitless innings. White picked up the save after throwing a 1-2-3 ninth. The Pirates are now in second place in the central, just 2.5 games back of the Cubs. They are leading the wild card race by 1 game over the Cardinals. Around the league on Wednesday, St. Louis' shortstop Miguel Tejada was hit by a pitch and will miss the next five weeks with a broken hand. On Saturday, Kansas City's Wilton Chavez strained a bicep muscle and will likely be out for the next 7 weeks.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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02-17-2004, 11:43 PM
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#18 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 16
All-star week, and SP Rodrigo Lopez was the only Pirate named to the NL All-star team. The AL won the game in 11 innings by a score of 3-2 and Lopez did not get a chance to pitch in the game. This week the Pirates have a three game series against the New York Mets who are currently 42-53 and whom the Pirates are 2-1 against this season. Jake Joseph (15-3 1.65) is having a career year so far for the Mets but is the only bright spot on an otherwise pretty bleak Mets pitching staff. Cliff Floyd (0.310 15 57) and Dmitri Young (0.287 11 52) are the leaders of an offense that ranks 24th in runs scored. Game 97: Pirates 5 Mets 3 Another nice start by Lopez as he gives up just three runs, two of them earned, in eight innings of work for the win. Mann was once again 1-2-3 shut them down as he picked up his 27th save of the season. Peeples didn't have too bad of a start, giving up three runs, two earned, in six innings but was not able to pick up a decision. Walker got the loss as he gave up the winning run in the seventh inning. Game 98: Pirates 1 Mets 2 (11) A tough loss for the Bucs as this one snapped their 7 game winning streak. VanBenSchoten pitched another great game, giving up one run off of just two hits in seven innings. However, the Pirates offense struggled to score runs, scoring just one run, despite picking up eight hits in eight innings off of starter Phil Seibel. Mann got knocked around in his second inning of work in the bottom of the 11th. He started the inning off by hitting Berwick with a pitch but then got Quinlan to ground out into a fielder's choice. That was the only out he could get as he then gave up a single to Castro, moving Quinlan to third. Quinlan then scored on Wigginton's hit into the gap in right center field. Nakamura picked up the win for the Mets after pitching a scoreless inning. Game 99: Pirates 6 Mets 5 Williams pitched very well but was taken out after just six innings and giving up just two runs, one of which was earned. The Pirates offense got to starter Jake Joseph, who gave up all six runs in 6 2/3 innings. The Mets tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Vogelsong gave up a two run homerun to Floyd. Jimenez then came into the game and gave up a double to Scutaro and intentionally walked Jason Phillips before being pulled. Gabe White gave up a single to Luke Allen and was pulled from the game with runners at second and third. Mike Williams then came in and got pinch hitter Quinlan to fly out to shallow right-center field and Mike Jacobs to line out to the first baseman to end the threat. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Mann loaded the bases by walking Castro, giving up an infield single to Berwick and then walking Wigginton. He got out of the jam by geting Floyd to line out to first, Scutaro to strike out and then Jason Phillips to fly out to center field for his 28th save. Around the league, there was no significant news that happened.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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02-18-2004, 12:03 PM
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#19 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 17
The Pirates started the week off with a number of transactions. The one making the biggest news splash was the announcement of a trade with the Minnesota Twins. The Pirates sent three star SS Marshall McDougall to the Twins in return for 22 year old four star prospect Xavier Paul. The Pirates then promoted 2B/SS Edwin Yan to the major league roster and sent Paul down to their class A affiliate. The Pirates made this trade to make room for Yan on their roster and they hope he can develop into a good leadoff or #2 hitter. Paul is a bit old to be playing in A but he is very close to being promoted to AA and I expect him to be ready for AA by the end of the year. They also released a number of players to free up space in their minor leagues. Among those released include Zach Duke, Donald Veal, Blair Johnson, and Domingo Cuello. The Pirates begin the week with a two game series in Florida against the Marlins who are 50-48 and whom the Pirates are 4-0 against this season. The Marlins still have a great core for their starting rotation of Josh Beckett (7-4 2.75), Nate Bump (10-9 3.15), and Mark Mulder (10-6 2.99). Their offense however ranks 20th in runs scored as beyond Will Smith (0.348 7 57) and Brad Fullmer (0.316 18 56), there isn't much in the lineup. Game 100: Pirates 3 Marlins 5 It was the night of the homeruns, as all five Marlins runs were scored off of the longball. Stokes hit a two run homerun and Drew hit a solo shot off of Bullington, who lasted 6 1/3 innings and did not get a decision. The last homerun came in the bottom of the 10th inning, a two run shot by Josh Wilson off Ryan Vogelsong with one out in the inning to win the game. Olsen gave up three runs, all of them unearned, in six innings of work but also did not get a decision. The loss went to Vogelsong and the win to Spooneybarger, who worked two scoreless innings of relief. Game 101: Pirates 2 Marlins 4 Burnett didn't have his greatest game, but did OK, giving up four runs in six innings but picking up the loss. Beckett was once again supberb, as he gave up just two runs in six innings of work for the win. Spooneybarger pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Vic Butler extended his hitting streak to 9 games. Next up, the Pirates travel back home for a two game series against the Montreal Expos who are 43-57 and whom the Pirates are 3-1 against this season. Montreal is 28th in team runs allowed this season despite having a rotation consisting of Javier Vazquez (9-9 4.82), Seung Song (7-5 3.29), and Luis De Los santos (7-7 4.19). Their offense however is ranked much better with Vladimir Guerrero (0.304 18 59) leading the way along with Brad wilkerson (0.324 18 72), Jason Hart (0.294 11 60), and Jeff Kent (0.288 10 53). Game 102: Pirates 2 Expos 6 The Pirates losing streak slides to three games as Rodrigo lopez really struggled this outing giving up five runs, four of them earned, in 6 2/3 innings of work. Song put things together and pitched a great game, giving up just one run in 6 2/3 innings of work for the win. Butler's hitting streak was also snapped as he went 0-3 today. Game 103: Pirates 10 Expos 14 Fireworks Night at PNC Park This game really was a fireworks show as both pitching staffs really struggled to keep this game under control. VanBenSchoten was chased from the game after giving up six runs, five of them earned, after just 1 1/3 innings of work. Hernandez lasted a little bit longer, but didn't do any better, as he gave up eight runs, seven of them earned in 4 1/3 innings of work. The Pirates were actually leading the game 8-7 until the top of the eighth inning before the bullpen fell apart. Vogelsong loaded the bases and with one out was pulled from the game in favor of Mike Williams. Williams promptly gave up a grand slam to Jason Hart that just cleared the wall and just stayed fair down the left field line. The Pirates were able to get two runs back in the bottom of the eighth but the bullpen fell apart again as Grabow gave up three more runs in the top of the ninth to seal the loss. The Pirates now take their four game losing streak to St. Louis for a three game series against the Cardinals who are in second place in the central with a record of 55-47, just a half game ahead of the Pirates, and whom the Pirates are 4-2 against this season. The Cards have an excellent starting rotation consisting of Jason Simontacchi (7-6 4.50), Jimmy Journell (7-11 4.11), Jeremy Lambert (7-2 2.16), and Blake Hawksworth (7-4 3.36). Their offense has been a bit of a dissapointment as they rank 21st in runs scored despite having the likes of Albert Pujols (0.295 21 61), Jim Edmonds (0.270 16 42), and Scott Rolen (0.299 15 37) in the lineup. Their starting shortstop Miguel Tejada will miss this series with a broken hand. Game 104: Pirates 4 Cardinals 5 The losing streak continues, as the Pirates lose another heartbreaker. The Pirates led the game 2-1 until the bottom of the eighth inning. Williams led the inning off by walking Toby Hall and Travis Lee. The runners were then moved into scoring position with a sac bunt by Molina. Williams was then pulled after intentionally walking Pujols. Gabe White then came in and got Scott Rolen to strike out and it looked as if the Pirates might have gotten out of a jam. McClendon then decided to go with Mann to face Edmonds, but the plan backfired as Edmonds smashed a double down the right field line scoring all three runners. Santos then followed with another double to score Edmonds before Mann finished the inning by getting Nelson to ground out. The Pirates threatened in the ninth inning. Nady led off with a single to right field and then scored on a pinch hit triple by JJ Davis. Ravelo was then intentionally walked to put runners on the corners with one out. DeCaster came to the plate and smashed one to the left side of the infield, but gold glove third baseman Scott Rolen was right there to catch the liner and save what probably would have been a double. Yan then flied out to left-center allowing Davis to tag up and score from third. Crudale got out of the jam by getting Doumit to ground out to second base to end the game. Game 105: Pirates 6 Cardinals 0 Noddin Head Doll Day at Busch Stadium This game took a while before any bats woke up. Bullington went seven shut-out innings, giving up just four hits and one walk, while Simontacchi went eight shutout innings and giving up just four hits and no walks. The Pirates bats finally came alive in the top of the ninth inning. Cota led off the inning with a solo homerun off of David Williamson. Williamson then gave up a single to Vic Butler and then a two run homerun to JJ Davis before being pulled. Batista then came in and got one quick out, but then Navarette singled, Henson followed with a two run homerun and then DeCaster followed that with a solo homerun. Batista then gave up a single to Doumit, but finally was able to end the inning as Yan lined into a double play U3. Gabe White had pitched a scoreless eighth inning and picked up the win, and Mike Williams pitched a scoreless ninth to hold on to the win. Game 106: Pirates 0 Cardinals 5 Baseball Cap Day at Busch Stadium Burnett pitched a decent game, giving up just two runs in six innings of work, but picked up the loss. Journell pitched a complete game shutout, scattering six singles and walking just one hitter for the win. Around the league on Monday, DBacks fans got bad news as it was announced that starting pitcher Kurt Ainsworth would miss the next 8-9 weeks with a torn bicep muscle.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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02-23-2004, 02:33 PM
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#20 |
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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 912
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Week 18
With the trade deadling quickly approaching, GM Chris Chatham has been spending a lot of his time lately on the phone with other ballclubs discussing possible trades. In a news conference today, he announced that the Pirates have sent 4 star SP Sidney Ponson along with 2.5 star 1B Craig Wilson to the Florida Marlins for 3.5 star 1B Brad Fullmer. Ponson is currently on the DL and will likely not play at all this year, though he is expected to make a full recovery and will be ready for next season. While it was difficult to trade Ponson, especially since Lopez refuses to speak with me about contract negotiations, I decided to make a move to try and secure a spot in the playoffs this year. I think we can make it this year, and Fullmer, who was hitting 0.319 with 18 HRs and 59 RBIs will provide a lot more punch to my lineup than Craig Wilson (0.236 8 41) was able to provide this year. Even with Lopez gone at the end of this season, we still feel we have a core of real good young starting pitchers. Barring any injuries in the next few days, this is gonna be the Pirates lineup heading into the dog days of August. Now, onto this week's games. The Pirates start this week off with a three game series at home against the San Francisco Giants who are currently 51-55 and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against this season. The Giants are ranked fourth in runs allowed with a great starting rotation consisting of Jesse Foppert (12-9 2.66), Pedro Martinez (10-9 3.25), Freddy Garcia (7-12 4.50), and Damian Moss (3-9 4.19). Their offense however ranks dead last in runs scored. Jason Cooper (0.272 17 52) and Jason Lane (0.214 22 62) are the only viable threats in their lineup. Game 107: Pirates 3 Giants 2 The game was tied 1-1 heading into the ninth inning as both starters pitched an excellent game with Lopez lasting eight innings and giving up just one run (a solo homerun to Jason Lane) and Ohka lasting seven innings, while giving up just one run (also a solo homerun by Drew Henson. Then in the top of the ninth with one out and nobody on base, Jason Lane hit his second solo homerun of the game off of Jason Jimenez to give the Giants the lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Luke Anderson entered the game to pitch for the Giants, and he got two quick outs and the game seemed all but over. However, the Bucs did not give up and recent acquisition Brad Fullmer lit a spark by singling to center field. DeCaster followed that with a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Fullmer from first base to tie the game. Yan then picked up the game winning hit by singling down the right field line, easily scoring DeCaster for the winning run. Game 108: Pirates 5 Giants 4 Another close one, but the Pirates led the entire time, thanks to a no out grand slam by JJ Davis off of Freddy Garcia in the first inning. After that first inning, Garcia settled down and managed to six innings without giving up any more runs, but he still suffered the loss. VanBenSchoten pitched well, giving up two runs in five innings, and picking up the win. The Pirates scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Butler knocked home Cota on a fielder's choice ground ball to make the score 5-3. It turned out that the run was much needed as the Giants managed to score after Matos tripled and later scored on a sac fly. Mann held on, however, for his 29th save of the season. JVB was injured during the game and is listed as day-to-day with 95% effectiveness for the next 4 weeks with a strained tricep. Game 109: Pirates 6 Giants 5 Another nail biting finish to this game, and once again the Bucs came out on top. Neither starter gave up an earned run, though Foppert gave up four unearned runs in six innings and Williams gave up two unearned runs in seven innings of work. The Giants pulled to within one run when Jason Lane hit a solo homerun off of Gabe White in the top of the eighth, though the Pirates answered right back in the bottomo of the eighth when JJ Davis singled home Nady to make the score 5-3. Jim Mann then came in to close things out in the top of the ninth and got one quick out before giving up a pinch hit solo homerun to Ray Durham to once again bring the game to within one run, 5-4. Torcato followed with a pinch hit single and moved to second base on a Jason Lane groundout. With two outs, Ramon Martinez came through with a single up the middle that scored Torcato to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Neither team threatened much until the bottom of the 11th inning. Fullmer led the inning off with a walk. Coggin got the next batter, DeCaster to strike out looking, but Jack Wilson singled to left field to put runners at first and second with one out. Coggin then got Doumit to strike out swinging and it seemed he might be out of a jam. McClendon then made a gutsy move bring his back-up catcher to the plate. While Cota was at the plate, Coggin threw a pitch in the dirt that got by the catcher and moved each runner up 90 feet. Cota then came through with a single to left field that easily scored Fullmer from third base to give the Pirates the win. July Wrapup The Pirates came back strong in the month of July, finishing with a record of 16-10 this month and now find themselves in second place in the central division and leading the wild card race with a record of 59-50 on the season. Rodrigo Lopez bounced back from a poor performance in June to go 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA this month. There were a couple of oddities this month from the pitching staff as VanBenSchoten had a high ERA of 5.64 this month, but still managed a 2-0 record, while on the other hand, Brian Bullington finished with a record of just 1-1, despite having an ERA of just 2.30. Bobby Hill continues to have a career year, and hit 0.368 this month with an OBP of 0.444 while also hitting two homers and knocking in eight runs from the leadoff spot. Vic Butler struggled just a little bit out there, hitting just 0.241 this month, though he still managed a 0.343 OBP and a 0.741 OPS for the month. Instead of typing out the standings, i decided to try just attaching an image of the main standings page this time. This way you can also get a look at all of the league leaders.  AL BOM - Alfonso Soriano (NYY) hit 0.327 with 10 HRs and 32 RBIs NL BOM - Erubiel Durazo (CIN) hit 0.329 with 10 HRs and 24 RBIs AL POM - Jason Schmidt (CHA) went 4-1 with a 1.43 ERA NL POM - Seung Song (SDP) went 2-2 with a 0.65 ERA There were a ton of trades made at the trading deadline and they can all be found here. Some of the more interesting trades include: Baltimore came away with a steal, acquiring 4 star prospect 1B David Murphy from the Devil Rays in exchange for 3 star MR Eric Dubose. Later on, the Devil Rays picked up more bullpen help by acquiring 5 star closer Scott Stewart from the Expos by sending them 2.5 star SP Luis De los Santos. The Brewers won the award for getting the most out of a trade of a rental player, as just two days before the deadline they sent 2 star LF Alex Ochoa to the Houston Astros in exchange for 4.5 star SP prospect Jared Hughes. Houston somewhat redeemed itself by picking up 3.5 star 1B Norman Theberge from Detroit for 3 star SP Danys Baez and 2 star 2B prospect Terry Corea. There were also a couple of big names traded away at the deadline, as Boston picked up another strong arm for its rotation, acquiring 4 star SP Barry Zito from the Oakland A's for 2 star CF Milton Bradley, 2.5 star C prospect Dustin Brown and four star prospect 3B Chad Spann. 4 star RF Austin Kearns also finds himself in a new home as he was shipped off to Seattle as the Astros got 2.5 star SS Jose Lopez, 1 star prospect SP David Mayton and 3 star SP prospect Bobby Livingston in return. Randy Wolf got the frequent flyer award for being the guy most bumped around in the month of July. He was traded from KC to SD on 7/17, then from SD to DET on 7/21, then from DET to NYM on 7/23, then back to DET from NYM on 7/30, then from DET to CIN on the same day, and then finally from CIN to MIL still on the same day. The ML leader in wins, Jake Joseph, also was traded twice, from the NYM to OAK on 7/21 and then from OAK back into the NL with FLA on 7/30. Lastly, here's a list of a number of the more important contract extension signings made: Baltimore : Scott Eyre has been signed to a contract extension, $2,300,000 per year, for 4 years. New York (A) : Jorge Posada has been signed to a contract extension, $4,480,000 per year, for 3 years. Tampa Bay : Ben Grieve has been signed to a contract extension, $3,340,000 per year, for 4 years. Toronto : Roy Halladay has been signed to a contract extension, $6,680,000 per year, for 5 years. Cleveland : Greg Larocca has been signed to a contract extension, $3,410,000 per year, for 3 years. Minnesota : Todd Hollandsworth has been signed to a contract extension, $5,240,000 per year, for 3 years. Anaheim : Darin Erstad has been signed to a contract extension, $4,380,000 per year, for 3 years. Seattle : Gil Meche has been signed to a contract extension, $7,350,000 per year, for 4 years. Texas : Brandon Berger has been signed to a contract extension, $5,130,000 per year, for 3 years. Texas : Jeff Zimmerman has been signed to a contract extension, $3,210,000 per year, for 3 years. Florida : Tim Spooneybarger has been signed to a contract extension, $3,520,000 per year, for 3 years. New York (N) : Armando Benitez has been signed to a contract extension, $5,460,000 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : Joe Kennedy has been signed to a contract extension, $5,110,000 per year, for 3 years. Chicago (N) : Mark Bellhorn has been signed to a contract extension, $4,310,000 per year, for 3 years. St. Louis : Jim Edmonds has been signed to a contract extension, $6,030,000 per year, for 3 years. Los Angeles : Jeremy Giambi has been signed to a contract extension, $4,790,000 per year, for 4 years. San Diego : Justin Speier has been signed to a contract extension, $3,990,000 per year, for 3 years. FYI, the site has been updated with all league and player pages. And now, finally back to some baseball. The Pirates finish off the week at home against the San Diego Padres who are 54-55 and whom the Pirates have not yet played this year. The Padres have one of the better starting rotations in the league with Mike Nicolas (5-5 3.95), Seung Song (8-6 3.08), Kris Benson (8-7 3.07), Jason Moates (5-10 3.72), and Randy Keisler (8-5 3.47). The also have a slightly above average lineup consisting of former Pirate Jason Kendall (0.293 10 42), Ryan Klesko (0.265 28 76), and Troy Glaus (0.233 26 70). Game 110: Pirates 7 Padres 2 Bullington had one of his better games as of late, giving up just one run in eight innings for the win. The Pirates were able to get to Randy Keisler, who lasted just 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs for the loss. Brad Fullmer hit his first homerun as a Pirate, a three run shot that gave the Bucs their first runs of the game. DeCaster also homered for the Bucs, a two run shot in the seventh inning. Vogelsong continues to struggle in the bullpen, as he gave up another run in an inning of relief,b ringing his ERA to 7.45. Game 111: Pirates 2 Padres 3 (12) Fireworks Night at PNC Park Burnett pitched another superb game and did not give up any runs until the eighth inning. With a runner on first base and two outs, Burnett gave up a single to Troy Glaus to put runners on first and second with two outs. Roberto Castilleja came through with a pinch hit double scoring both runners to tie the game up. Burnett got out of the jam by getting Klesko to fly out to right center field. Burnett picked up two more outs in the ninth before being pulled from the game, giving up two runs on eight hits with no walks while striking out 10 in 8 2/3 innings and picking up a no decision. Nicolas worked just as well, giving up two runs off of four hits and four walks in 7 2/3 innings and also did not get a decision. The game went into extra innings. The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the tenth when Hill led off with a single and then stole second base. Vic Butler followed with another single, but the Bucs decided to hold Hill at third base as the ball was hit into shallow right field. Nady then grounded out to third base, and the decision was to hold Hill at third again, but Butler moved along to second base. Those decisions ended up being costly as Davis followed by striking out and Fullmer was retired on a fine running catch on a fly ball to shallow center field. The Padres managed to score in the top of the 12th off of one of the wierdest sequences I've ever seen. Ramon Vazquez led off the inning with a single off of Mike Williams. The padres then made a gutsy move by placing SP Seung Song into the game to pinch run for Vazquez. Song then managed to steal second base. Kennard Jones then flew out to right center field, but Song stayed at second base. Jason Kendall then followed with a ground out to second base, allowing Song to move to third base. Then, while Troy Glaus was at-bat, Cota committed a passed ball on a pitch that just tipped off the edge of the glove and Song was able to score the go ahead run. Glaus ended up striking out to end the inning. Then in an idiotic move, McClendon decided to allow Mike Williams to bat in the bottom of the 12th, obviously giving up on the game, and that translated down the line as the Bucs didn't manage to get anyone on base in that inning. Game 112: Pirates 5 Padres 3 Lopez pitched another superb game, and carried a shutout into thte ninth inning before surrendering a two run homerun to Hank Blalock. He was then pulled from the game, giving up just those two runs off of five hits and two walks in eight innings of work for the win. Scoring the game winning run yesterday must have exhausted Song, as he had a lot of problems controlling his pitches, as he gave up five runs, three of them earned, off of six hits and five walks in six innings of work for the loss. Mann gave up one more run in the bottom of the ninth, but held on for his 30th save of the season.
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"And Shepherds we shall be, For thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sancti." |
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