Post by joshsbix on Nov 28, 2023 9:55:16 GMT -5
The Pirates were able to pick up their 20th win before Philly got their 20th loss. Early in the season, 25 wins seemed like a milestone that might not be reached. Let's see how it all played out.
6/9
The Pirates look to SP Hebson to try once again to try to buy the women and children time to get off the sinking ship. The Expos called on Rich Harden to try to extend their winning streak against Pittsburgh. This ended up being the pitching duel everyone thought that we were going to get with Hebson and Smoltz. Both pitchers went 7.1 and Hebson got just enough run support to get the 1-0 win. Mantei and Mattes came out of the pen to seal the tight victory. Castillo picked up the lone RBI with is 14th double of the season, in the 6th inning, driving in C Hietpas. Pittsburgh puts together a total team effort, with the offense barely doing enough to start the sim 1-0.
I believe we referred to Washington as the Nationals in our previous sim post. We apologize to the French community of Washington DC
6/10
Well the league is officially upside down on this day. Pittsburgh made the short trip from Washington back to Pittsburgh to face the Philadelphia Phillies as they bring the league's best record into the series and the Pirates continue to wallow in the depths of lottopick hell. You couldn't tell that on the 10th of June (which also marks an important family day for the Jamieson family) as Dontrelle Willis nearly matched Chris Young pitch for pitch into the 7th. CJ Wilson relieved Willis with the Pirates trailing 3-2. The Pirates scored 2 in the 8th to get Willis off the hook for the L but Philly tied it in the 9th with a Matsui solo shot. Mattes got one out in the 10th and Price had the nerve to call German in from the bullpen to get the final 2 outs in the 10th. The entire stadium didn't breath for 6 minutes. German got the job done and the Pirates walked it off in the bottom of the 10th to stun the hitchhikers that had thumbed it from Philadelphia for the series. Pirates improve to 2-0 on the sim and 1-0 for the Philly series.
6/11
All the disappointment for the hitchhiking fan club was relieved and then some as the Phillies absolutely blew up Cordova and anyone the Pirates called in from the pen. Gabbard is being sent for help with shell shock as he got bombed for 8 runs on 8 hits while somehow managing to get 3 outs. John Thomson goes 7 and picks up an easy 17-3 win. All the points in the world aren't worth writing about the Philadelphia run production here. Only 2 Philadelphia hitters didn't have a multi hit game, they didn't hit a single homerun with someone on base. The silver lining here was all of the runs were earned, Pittsburgh had 0 errors
Pirates drop to 2-1 on the sim and Philly evens the series.
6/12
Let this serve as a warning to all who think winning a game against Philadelphia is a good idea. It is a trap. Game 3 was another unearned gem for the Pirates as they stretch their errorless games streak. However, the poster child for not pitching to his ratings, Darren Dreifort gave up 6 in the first and the Phillies added an insurance run in the 4th. Another late Pittsburgh comeback fell short as the Pirates scored 2 in the 9th but lost 7-6. Philly takes the 3 game series and the Pirates drop to .500 on the sim at 2-2.
6/13
The Pirates grabbed a flight immediately following the Philadelphia series and landed in LA early on the 13th. Trying to put the Philadelphia series behind them and getting laser focused for the Dodgers showed to be a problem. Anderson didn't pitch terribly but the offense was showing obvious signs of jet lag, only able to scratch two runs over. The Dodger bullpen secured the 3-2 win with the Dodgers getting a bottom of the 9th walk off solo shot from Jose Cruz. Dodgers grab the lead in series and the Pirates drop to 2-3 on the sim.
6/14
The Pirates offense shook off the time zone difference against Adam Eaton but Hebson matched him ER for ER. The Pirates had a 1 run lead headed into the bottom of the 9th thanks to a Nieves HR in the top of the inning. However, Joe Price called the second most miserable arm out of the pen, Kason Gabbard, and Gabbard did what Gabbard does. What Gabbard does is give up runs and games. Dodgers win 9-8 and the Pirates drop to 2-4 on the sim.
6/15
Dontrelle Willis didn't have his best day, giving up 5 runs over 7.2 innings but the Pirate offense showed up again for game 3. Gabbard and German pitched in this one and neither gave up a run. That has to be a sure divine sign that the Atlanta Dynasty is over, no? Pittsburgh scored 2 in the second and 6 in the 4th but then had to hang on as the Dodgers mounted a furious 7th-8th-9th inning rally. trailing 8-1 headed into the 7th, the Dodgers closed the deficit to 8-2 and then scored 3 more in the 8th to make it 8-5 before Willis was lifted. Gabbard finished off the 8th . After Villareal gave up 2 runs in the 9th to make it a 9-8 game, Joe Price calls German in. You know, the guy with a +10 ERA. Joe lets him 3 pitches and give up a hit before calling on Brian Lawrence to get the final out and the save. Pittsburgh holds on for the 8-7 win to improve to 3-4 and Willis gets his 4th win of the season. Erstad picked up his 23rd SB of the season in this one. Rickie Weeks got SB 31 but that is something for the next Need For Speed Report.
6/16
Day Off.
The sim had some ups and downs. The biggest news from the sim was AAA LF Andrew Dirks from the great state of Kansas got a nice talent boost which looks like it will allow Trumbo to move to first as part of the long term plan.
Lotto Odds Watch
1. TB 14 wins
2. SD 15 wins
3.Cincy 16 wins
4. Minnesota 18 wins
5.Pittsburgh 20 wins
6.NY A 22 wins
Honorable Mention LAA 23 wins
6/9
The Pirates look to SP Hebson to try once again to try to buy the women and children time to get off the sinking ship. The Expos called on Rich Harden to try to extend their winning streak against Pittsburgh. This ended up being the pitching duel everyone thought that we were going to get with Hebson and Smoltz. Both pitchers went 7.1 and Hebson got just enough run support to get the 1-0 win. Mantei and Mattes came out of the pen to seal the tight victory. Castillo picked up the lone RBI with is 14th double of the season, in the 6th inning, driving in C Hietpas. Pittsburgh puts together a total team effort, with the offense barely doing enough to start the sim 1-0.
I believe we referred to Washington as the Nationals in our previous sim post. We apologize to the French community of Washington DC
6/10
Well the league is officially upside down on this day. Pittsburgh made the short trip from Washington back to Pittsburgh to face the Philadelphia Phillies as they bring the league's best record into the series and the Pirates continue to wallow in the depths of lottopick hell. You couldn't tell that on the 10th of June (which also marks an important family day for the Jamieson family) as Dontrelle Willis nearly matched Chris Young pitch for pitch into the 7th. CJ Wilson relieved Willis with the Pirates trailing 3-2. The Pirates scored 2 in the 8th to get Willis off the hook for the L but Philly tied it in the 9th with a Matsui solo shot. Mattes got one out in the 10th and Price had the nerve to call German in from the bullpen to get the final 2 outs in the 10th. The entire stadium didn't breath for 6 minutes. German got the job done and the Pirates walked it off in the bottom of the 10th to stun the hitchhikers that had thumbed it from Philadelphia for the series. Pirates improve to 2-0 on the sim and 1-0 for the Philly series.
6/11
All the disappointment for the hitchhiking fan club was relieved and then some as the Phillies absolutely blew up Cordova and anyone the Pirates called in from the pen. Gabbard is being sent for help with shell shock as he got bombed for 8 runs on 8 hits while somehow managing to get 3 outs. John Thomson goes 7 and picks up an easy 17-3 win. All the points in the world aren't worth writing about the Philadelphia run production here. Only 2 Philadelphia hitters didn't have a multi hit game, they didn't hit a single homerun with someone on base. The silver lining here was all of the runs were earned, Pittsburgh had 0 errors
Pirates drop to 2-1 on the sim and Philly evens the series. 6/12
Let this serve as a warning to all who think winning a game against Philadelphia is a good idea. It is a trap. Game 3 was another unearned gem for the Pirates as they stretch their errorless games streak. However, the poster child for not pitching to his ratings, Darren Dreifort gave up 6 in the first and the Phillies added an insurance run in the 4th. Another late Pittsburgh comeback fell short as the Pirates scored 2 in the 9th but lost 7-6. Philly takes the 3 game series and the Pirates drop to .500 on the sim at 2-2.
6/13
The Pirates grabbed a flight immediately following the Philadelphia series and landed in LA early on the 13th. Trying to put the Philadelphia series behind them and getting laser focused for the Dodgers showed to be a problem. Anderson didn't pitch terribly but the offense was showing obvious signs of jet lag, only able to scratch two runs over. The Dodger bullpen secured the 3-2 win with the Dodgers getting a bottom of the 9th walk off solo shot from Jose Cruz. Dodgers grab the lead in series and the Pirates drop to 2-3 on the sim.
6/14
The Pirates offense shook off the time zone difference against Adam Eaton but Hebson matched him ER for ER. The Pirates had a 1 run lead headed into the bottom of the 9th thanks to a Nieves HR in the top of the inning. However, Joe Price called the second most miserable arm out of the pen, Kason Gabbard, and Gabbard did what Gabbard does. What Gabbard does is give up runs and games. Dodgers win 9-8 and the Pirates drop to 2-4 on the sim.
6/15
Dontrelle Willis didn't have his best day, giving up 5 runs over 7.2 innings but the Pirate offense showed up again for game 3. Gabbard and German pitched in this one and neither gave up a run. That has to be a sure divine sign that the Atlanta Dynasty is over, no? Pittsburgh scored 2 in the second and 6 in the 4th but then had to hang on as the Dodgers mounted a furious 7th-8th-9th inning rally. trailing 8-1 headed into the 7th, the Dodgers closed the deficit to 8-2 and then scored 3 more in the 8th to make it 8-5 before Willis was lifted. Gabbard finished off the 8th . After Villareal gave up 2 runs in the 9th to make it a 9-8 game, Joe Price calls German in. You know, the guy with a +10 ERA. Joe lets him 3 pitches and give up a hit before calling on Brian Lawrence to get the final out and the save. Pittsburgh holds on for the 8-7 win to improve to 3-4 and Willis gets his 4th win of the season. Erstad picked up his 23rd SB of the season in this one. Rickie Weeks got SB 31 but that is something for the next Need For Speed Report.
6/16
Day Off.
The sim had some ups and downs. The biggest news from the sim was AAA LF Andrew Dirks from the great state of Kansas got a nice talent boost which looks like it will allow Trumbo to move to first as part of the long term plan.
Lotto Odds Watch
1. TB 14 wins
2. SD 15 wins
3.Cincy 16 wins
4. Minnesota 18 wins
5.Pittsburgh 20 wins
6.NY A 22 wins
Honorable Mention LAA 23 wins
