Post by joshsbix on Nov 18, 2023 8:24:28 GMT -5
The rain held off and the Commish was able to get the Opening Day sim in late Friday night. The storm, however, raged in Pittsburgh as the Pirates put together a league worst 1-13 record, a full game worse than the 2-12 Yankees. The Pirates hold a 1 game lead for the best lottery draft odds. Here is how it went down:
4/3
Brian Anderson's return to the organization that traded him to Chicago last year, went well, until the game started. The only pitching positive that can be taken away from this one is somehow Anderson lasted through the first inning. Gabbard, Mattes, and Lawrence contributed 3,2, and 1 runs, respectively. Melvin Nieves hit the first of his 4 homeruns of the sim during the 9th inning to break up Oliver Perez's shutout. Pirates lose the season opener 12-1 and a very long season is underway.
4/4
St Louis continued their masterful pitching as Zach Greinke took the mound in game two for the Red Birds and matched up against Pittsburgh's #2 Bryan Henson. Greinke went 9 innings, as the STL bullpen has had an easy time earning their paychecks so far this season. Zach struck out 7 while walking only 1 as the Cardinals roll to a 6-0 win and start the season 2-0. The Pirates drop to 2-0 on the season. Interesting stat developing. The Pirates have 3 errors and only 1 run through 2 games. With only 2 hits in the game, there wasn't much to note offensively. For the Cardinals, it was a doubles fest as they hit 8 doubles. St Louis leads the series 2-0.
4/5
The Cardinals wrapped up the 3 game sweep and former organization star prospect, Carlos Villanueva picks up his first win of the season by a score of 3-0. Dontrelle Willis ran out of gas in the 5th and St Louis brought all of the old Astros out of the bullpen as Frasor and Isringhausen get the H and the S to keep the Pirates losing streak going. When will the first win come? Nieves hit his second homerun of the sim and the season but the Pirates couldn't come back after giving up the lead in the 5th. NO errors in this one so the error/run score is 4 runs and 3 errors.
4/6 New York (N)
Brian Lawrence got the nod for the home opener in Pittsburgh. One error in this game but it would not impact the final 13-7 score as the Mets cruise to an easy victory behind Kyle Farnsworth. The Mets management had to be pretty excited at the opportunity to rest their bullpen. German pitched well enough to pick up the loss but the Pittsburgh offense bailed him out. He was as surprise as we are. After the game he said, "I really deserved that loss. Thanks to Brian Lawrence for picking up that L for me. Mantei, Capps, and Mattes looked modestly better than before but that isn't saying much. The gave up 3 in the first before answering with 5 in the bottom of the 6. However, the Mets would chip away at the lead before putting the nail in the coffin with a 6 run 7th inning. C Hietpas did hit his first homerun of the season but the Pirates drop to 0-4 on the sim and the season.
4/7
Newly acquired SP Darren Dreifort took the mound for game two of the series, and the Pirates were hoping they could end their season long losing streak. It wasn't even close. The Mets scored 2 runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th innings. Bobby Madritsch picks up the win as yet another starting pitcher goes 9 innings against the Pirates. If I am seeing this correctly, through 5 games, Frasor and Isringhauesen are the only relievers to face a Pirate batter. Erstadt picked up his 1st stolen base of the season as the Pirates lose 8-2. Pirates drop to 0-5.
4/8
The Mets needed two runs late to get the job done but they win 8-7 and the Pirates woes continue as the season opening losing streak is at 6 games. There was hope in The Steel City as the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held a 5-2 after 4. The Mets tied up behind a 2 run double by Aubrey Huff in the 5th but the Pirates answered with a run in the 6th and had a 7-5 lead going into the 8th, just 6 outs before they could celebrate their first win of the season. CJ Wilson was called in to work the last 2.1 innings after it looked like they would survive another rocky outing from Brian Lawrence and the rest is history. Pirates drop to 0-6. It is worth noting that the Mets become the second team to have to use their bullpen, 2/6 games have not been complete games by the starter, starting against Pittsburgh.
4/9
The Mets finished up the series with a pitching masterpiece from Nate Cornejo and they cruise to a 4-0 win. Cornejo went all 9 allowing 0 runs on 3 hits and striking out 8 while only walking 1. Hebson pitched into the 8th and it wasn't a terrible performance, the offense gave him nothing to work with. The Pirates drop to 0-7 on the sim and season.
4/10
The Pirates head to Wrigley and the scoreless innings continued as it was Barry Zito that turned in the complete game shutout this time. The Cubs spread 4 runs over the 6.2 innings pitched by Willis but once again the offense didn't show up to make the game competitive. Pirates drop to 0-8 and Cubs go up 1-0 in the series.
4/11
The Cubs lit up German for 9 runs in 1.1 inning. The biggest question coming out of this one is why did he take the mound for the second inning? The Pirates were able to get some offense going in this one as Nieves hit his 3rd HR of the sim and Darren Erstadt started to get his motor in gear as he picked up his 4th SB of the season. Cubs win 12-7 and the Pirates drop to 0-9.
4/12
The Cubs finish off their home sweep of the Pirates with pretty much more of the same. Not enough offense for Pittsburgh, and huge innings given up by the pitching staff. The Cubs scored 4 in the second to cruise to another easy win, by a score of 7-3. Pirates hit a double digit losing streak to start the season, 0-10.
4/13
The Pirates return home still looking for solutions to the starting pitching and offense. Meanwhile, Bud Smith and the Braves were waiting. Bud went 8, giving up 3 runs to pick up the 6-3 win. Tejada and Griffin each hit their first homeruns of the season but it wasn't enough to keep the Pirates from dropping to 0-11.
4/14
The Pirates finally win! Of course it was a second game of the series. Bryan Hebson went 9 and it looks like they won on a walk off hit by Nieves in the bottom of the 9th. Erstadt picked up his 6th SB of the season, Hebson improves to 1-2 and the Pirates improve to 1-11!
4/15
Oh the difference a day makes. The Braves take game 3 of the series with a strong pitching performance from Strickland and a weak offensive night from Pittsburgh. Willis went 7 innings giving up 3 runs but the Braves pitching was just too good as ATL wins 4-0. Pirates drop to 1-12 on the sim.
4/16
Thankfully it is a day off. The Pirates can regroup and find a new way to blow games tomorrow!
4/16
The Pirates scored 3 in the first but gave them right back to Washington in the 2nd. German gave up 9 runs and the offense just couldn't compensate. The Nats win the offensive battle 11-8 despite Nieves getting his 4th HR of the season and Billy B getting his first. Pirates get back into form to start a fresh losing streak as they drop to 1-13.
Somehow through all this crappy baseball, Erstadt is at the top of the NL SB leaderboard, tied with Podsednik, I am hoping that holds until the first Need For Speed Report comes out. Nieves is tied for 6th in HR, Tejada is 3rd in OBP.
4/3
Brian Anderson's return to the organization that traded him to Chicago last year, went well, until the game started. The only pitching positive that can be taken away from this one is somehow Anderson lasted through the first inning. Gabbard, Mattes, and Lawrence contributed 3,2, and 1 runs, respectively. Melvin Nieves hit the first of his 4 homeruns of the sim during the 9th inning to break up Oliver Perez's shutout. Pirates lose the season opener 12-1 and a very long season is underway.
4/4
St Louis continued their masterful pitching as Zach Greinke took the mound in game two for the Red Birds and matched up against Pittsburgh's #2 Bryan Henson. Greinke went 9 innings, as the STL bullpen has had an easy time earning their paychecks so far this season. Zach struck out 7 while walking only 1 as the Cardinals roll to a 6-0 win and start the season 2-0. The Pirates drop to 2-0 on the season. Interesting stat developing. The Pirates have 3 errors and only 1 run through 2 games. With only 2 hits in the game, there wasn't much to note offensively. For the Cardinals, it was a doubles fest as they hit 8 doubles. St Louis leads the series 2-0.
4/5
The Cardinals wrapped up the 3 game sweep and former organization star prospect, Carlos Villanueva picks up his first win of the season by a score of 3-0. Dontrelle Willis ran out of gas in the 5th and St Louis brought all of the old Astros out of the bullpen as Frasor and Isringhausen get the H and the S to keep the Pirates losing streak going. When will the first win come? Nieves hit his second homerun of the sim and the season but the Pirates couldn't come back after giving up the lead in the 5th. NO errors in this one so the error/run score is 4 runs and 3 errors.
4/6 New York (N)
Brian Lawrence got the nod for the home opener in Pittsburgh. One error in this game but it would not impact the final 13-7 score as the Mets cruise to an easy victory behind Kyle Farnsworth. The Mets management had to be pretty excited at the opportunity to rest their bullpen. German pitched well enough to pick up the loss but the Pittsburgh offense bailed him out. He was as surprise as we are. After the game he said, "I really deserved that loss. Thanks to Brian Lawrence for picking up that L for me. Mantei, Capps, and Mattes looked modestly better than before but that isn't saying much. The gave up 3 in the first before answering with 5 in the bottom of the 6. However, the Mets would chip away at the lead before putting the nail in the coffin with a 6 run 7th inning. C Hietpas did hit his first homerun of the season but the Pirates drop to 0-4 on the sim and the season.
4/7
Newly acquired SP Darren Dreifort took the mound for game two of the series, and the Pirates were hoping they could end their season long losing streak. It wasn't even close. The Mets scored 2 runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th innings. Bobby Madritsch picks up the win as yet another starting pitcher goes 9 innings against the Pirates. If I am seeing this correctly, through 5 games, Frasor and Isringhauesen are the only relievers to face a Pirate batter. Erstadt picked up his 1st stolen base of the season as the Pirates lose 8-2. Pirates drop to 0-5.
4/8
The Mets needed two runs late to get the job done but they win 8-7 and the Pirates woes continue as the season opening losing streak is at 6 games. There was hope in The Steel City as the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held a 5-2 after 4. The Mets tied up behind a 2 run double by Aubrey Huff in the 5th but the Pirates answered with a run in the 6th and had a 7-5 lead going into the 8th, just 6 outs before they could celebrate their first win of the season. CJ Wilson was called in to work the last 2.1 innings after it looked like they would survive another rocky outing from Brian Lawrence and the rest is history. Pirates drop to 0-6. It is worth noting that the Mets become the second team to have to use their bullpen, 2/6 games have not been complete games by the starter, starting against Pittsburgh.
4/9
The Mets finished up the series with a pitching masterpiece from Nate Cornejo and they cruise to a 4-0 win. Cornejo went all 9 allowing 0 runs on 3 hits and striking out 8 while only walking 1. Hebson pitched into the 8th and it wasn't a terrible performance, the offense gave him nothing to work with. The Pirates drop to 0-7 on the sim and season.
4/10
The Pirates head to Wrigley and the scoreless innings continued as it was Barry Zito that turned in the complete game shutout this time. The Cubs spread 4 runs over the 6.2 innings pitched by Willis but once again the offense didn't show up to make the game competitive. Pirates drop to 0-8 and Cubs go up 1-0 in the series.
4/11
The Cubs lit up German for 9 runs in 1.1 inning. The biggest question coming out of this one is why did he take the mound for the second inning? The Pirates were able to get some offense going in this one as Nieves hit his 3rd HR of the sim and Darren Erstadt started to get his motor in gear as he picked up his 4th SB of the season. Cubs win 12-7 and the Pirates drop to 0-9.
4/12
The Cubs finish off their home sweep of the Pirates with pretty much more of the same. Not enough offense for Pittsburgh, and huge innings given up by the pitching staff. The Cubs scored 4 in the second to cruise to another easy win, by a score of 7-3. Pirates hit a double digit losing streak to start the season, 0-10.
4/13
The Pirates return home still looking for solutions to the starting pitching and offense. Meanwhile, Bud Smith and the Braves were waiting. Bud went 8, giving up 3 runs to pick up the 6-3 win. Tejada and Griffin each hit their first homeruns of the season but it wasn't enough to keep the Pirates from dropping to 0-11.
4/14
The Pirates finally win! Of course it was a second game of the series. Bryan Hebson went 9 and it looks like they won on a walk off hit by Nieves in the bottom of the 9th. Erstadt picked up his 6th SB of the season, Hebson improves to 1-2 and the Pirates improve to 1-11!
4/15
Oh the difference a day makes. The Braves take game 3 of the series with a strong pitching performance from Strickland and a weak offensive night from Pittsburgh. Willis went 7 innings giving up 3 runs but the Braves pitching was just too good as ATL wins 4-0. Pirates drop to 1-12 on the sim.
4/16
Thankfully it is a day off. The Pirates can regroup and find a new way to blow games tomorrow!
4/16
The Pirates scored 3 in the first but gave them right back to Washington in the 2nd. German gave up 9 runs and the offense just couldn't compensate. The Nats win the offensive battle 11-8 despite Nieves getting his 4th HR of the season and Billy B getting his first. Pirates get back into form to start a fresh losing streak as they drop to 1-13.
Somehow through all this crappy baseball, Erstadt is at the top of the NL SB leaderboard, tied with Podsednik, I am hoping that holds until the first Need For Speed Report comes out. Nieves is tied for 6th in HR, Tejada is 3rd in OBP.
