Post by joshsbix on Jan 4, 2024 13:32:52 GMT -5
The Opening Sim for the 2009 season could not have gone much worse for the Pirates. They opened the season with a 1-13 double sim and are currently on a 3 game losing streak. Billy Butler is will be headed to the DL for 5 weeks with a fractured knee and FA signing Miguel Asencio will be on the DL for 7 weeks with a ruptured elbow ligament.
4/3
Hope was high in Atlanta for the season opener. Atlanta fans were lookin for ATL to do what ATL does, win. The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 with a walk and an error and Choo drove in 2 with a double. Brian Anderson flirted with disaster through 4 innings giving up lead off doubles to Green in the second and Renteria in the 3rd but escaped without giving up any runs. Pittsburgh lead 3-2 after 7 before the Braves blew the game open with a 5 run 8th to seal the Pirate's fate with a 7-3 final. Kenny Powers said, "Brian pitched well today, I left him out there to try to get the complete game win. He deserved it, we deserved this one. This one is on MFing me." Pirates start 2009 at 0-1.
4/4
Another 5 spot in the late innings cost Pittsburgh another opportunity to get their first win of the season. Pittsburgh lead 4-1 headed into the bottom of the 7th. In the end it was 4 unearned runs that cost the Pirates this game as former Astro Bud Smith gets his first win and Hebson is tagged with a loss that he probably didn't deserve. Pirates start the season 0-2.
4/5
Game 3 of the season opening series had Atlanta hunting for the sweep and Pittsburgh hunting for their first win. Once again the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, highlighted by Justin Morneau's 1st homerun as a Pirate and opened it up to 5-0 in the 3rd. Wade pitched well in his debut going 6.2 innings and allowing only 2 runs and held a 5-2 lead as he turned the game over to the bullpen. Mattes pitched a scoreless 8th before Villarreal entered and gave up 3 runs. Atlanta scored in the bottom of the 10th to get the walkoff sweep. The Pirates drop to 0-3 and leave Atlanta pretty pissed off about late inning game management.
4/6
The Home Opener is a great way to shake of the early season losing streak and get things turned around. The Pirates had their big FA signing Miguel Ascencio making his Pirates debut, against division "rival" (we can't be a rival if we aren't rivaling) St. Louis. Lee all but silenced the Pittsburgh bats and Lee went 8.1 innings giving up 1 run to get his first win of the season. Asencio is tagged with his first loss of the season as the Pirates drop their home opener and fall to 0-4 on the season. Kenny Powers said after the game, we just ran into good pitching. We really hoped that a lot of the St Louis pitching would be traded in the off season, but Lee was definitely here tonight."
4/7
The first win of the season continues to be elusive as Zach Kroenke makes his ML debut. The hope was he was too young to realize that he was pitching against someone that will likely be in the Cy Young conversation this year. The Cardinals gave the rookie a rude welcome scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning, 1 in the 2nd, and 1 more in the 4th before Kenny Powers went to the bullpen. Willis made a failed season debut giving up 3 runs over 2.1 innings and the Cardinals win game 2 of the series easily, 8-1. Pirates drop to 0-5
4/8
Anderson gets his second start of the sim as the Pirates continue to search for win number one. As rumors swirl that Kenny Powers is on the hot seat, the team tried to focus on the task at hand. We had a pitching duel for 6 innings as the Cardinals led 2-1 after 7. Brad Penny relieved Anderson in the 7th and promptly gave up 4 runs. Pirates drop their 6th in a row.
4/9
St Louis went looking for the 4 game sweep and got it. Pittsburgh scored 3 in the 1st, and led 3-2 after 7 before Brad Penny once again gave up 2 runs and the Cardinals win 4-3. For Kenny Powers, the seat only got hotter. Pittsburgh drops to 0-7.
4/10
Pittsburgh headed home to lick their wounds and welcome another divisional foe, the Chicago Cubs, to town. The bats were hot early with a 2-2 score after 1 and everyone thought it was going to be a shootout. However, Fister and Wade settled down to pitch into the 7th before the Cubs scraped up a run in the top of the 9th. Strop held the Pirates scoreless to get the save in the 9th, Benitez gets the win for Chicago and CJ Wilson picks up the loss for Pittsburgh. Pirates drop to 0-8.
4/11
Miguel Ascencio gets the call for the second time this sim and pitched well through 6 innings. The Pirates once again had a late game lead headed into the final 3rd of the game, leading 2-1 after 6. The final score doesn't show that as the Pirate bullpen gave up 5 runs in the final 3rd and Chicago wins their second straight against the Pirates and the Pirates drop to 0-9.
4/12
The Pirates came into this ballgame trying to avoid their 3rd straight sweep to start the 2009 season. The hopes of opening day seem a million years ago but rookie youth can bring hope, and 42,000 showed up to Forbes Field to see Kroenke make his second start of the season. If fans got to the ballpark late, they missed Kroenke's start as he was lifted in the 3rd after giving up 6 runs, 3 earned. Kroenke looked good early but the Cub bats lit him up the second time through the order, scoring 6 in the 3rd. Pirates lose this one 6-3 to start the season at 0-10. Kenny Powers was asked after the game what a double digit losing streak meant to him. "It means we lost 10 MF games in a MF row and I might be getting Fing fired. That's what it Fing means."
4/13
Third time is a charm they say, and on the 13th, too. Brian Anderson took the mound for the 3rd time in 2009 to open the series against the Florida Marlins, and went the distance giving up 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 8. The offense scored 1 in the first and 1 in the second and it was enough to get Anderson his first win of the season. Pirates win! Pirates win! The final score was 2-1. Pittsburgh improves to 1-10 on the sim.
4/14
Bryan Hebson took his 3rd turn through the rotation and the Marlins got to him for 3 runs in the first before he settled down to pitch 6.1 scoreless innings. However, the Pirate offense, absent of Billy Butler, couldn't overcome the 1st inning hurdle and lose 3-2. Kenny Powers was beside himself after the game, "We are scoring runs the first time through the order but then the second and 3rd times through it is like we havent seen the pitcher before. I don't understand." Pirates fall to 1-1 for the Florida series adn 1-11 on the season.
4/15
Cory Wade got a harsh ML lesson after 2 quality starts to begin his ML career. The Marlin bats scored 6 earned runs in the first 3.1 innings and cruised to a 7-3 win. Once again, the Pirate bats were quiet in the late innings as they fall to 1-12 to start 2009 and the Marlins win the series, 2-1.
4/16
The big story from this game is that Miguel Ascencio was lifted in the 6th with an arm issue. It was later confirmed that he would be on the DL for at least the next 7 weeks. Brad Penny is expected to take his turns in the rotation. Ascencio gave up 4 runs before he left and the Pirate bats couldn't get any spark going and drop the opening game of the series to Philadelphia by a score of 4-1.
Thankfully this miserable sim is over. Hopefully the team starts to gel soon. Morneau is hitting .265, Lieberthal and Sexson are both hitting below .100. The minor leagues said that after the first sim Elliott Johnson is ready to come up. He is showing the ability to not strike out, and the pirates are bringing him up to try to get some cohesiveness from the bottom of the lineup to the top. Sim 2 can't, mathematically, be much worse, unless there are things called imaginary losses. Let's hope the FNGs come around and start producing soon. Let's Go Bucs!
4/3
Hope was high in Atlanta for the season opener. Atlanta fans were lookin for ATL to do what ATL does, win. The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 with a walk and an error and Choo drove in 2 with a double. Brian Anderson flirted with disaster through 4 innings giving up lead off doubles to Green in the second and Renteria in the 3rd but escaped without giving up any runs. Pittsburgh lead 3-2 after 7 before the Braves blew the game open with a 5 run 8th to seal the Pirate's fate with a 7-3 final. Kenny Powers said, "Brian pitched well today, I left him out there to try to get the complete game win. He deserved it, we deserved this one. This one is on MFing me." Pirates start 2009 at 0-1.
4/4
Another 5 spot in the late innings cost Pittsburgh another opportunity to get their first win of the season. Pittsburgh lead 4-1 headed into the bottom of the 7th. In the end it was 4 unearned runs that cost the Pirates this game as former Astro Bud Smith gets his first win and Hebson is tagged with a loss that he probably didn't deserve. Pirates start the season 0-2.
4/5
Game 3 of the season opening series had Atlanta hunting for the sweep and Pittsburgh hunting for their first win. Once again the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, highlighted by Justin Morneau's 1st homerun as a Pirate and opened it up to 5-0 in the 3rd. Wade pitched well in his debut going 6.2 innings and allowing only 2 runs and held a 5-2 lead as he turned the game over to the bullpen. Mattes pitched a scoreless 8th before Villarreal entered and gave up 3 runs. Atlanta scored in the bottom of the 10th to get the walkoff sweep. The Pirates drop to 0-3 and leave Atlanta pretty pissed off about late inning game management.
4/6
The Home Opener is a great way to shake of the early season losing streak and get things turned around. The Pirates had their big FA signing Miguel Ascencio making his Pirates debut, against division "rival" (we can't be a rival if we aren't rivaling) St. Louis. Lee all but silenced the Pittsburgh bats and Lee went 8.1 innings giving up 1 run to get his first win of the season. Asencio is tagged with his first loss of the season as the Pirates drop their home opener and fall to 0-4 on the season. Kenny Powers said after the game, we just ran into good pitching. We really hoped that a lot of the St Louis pitching would be traded in the off season, but Lee was definitely here tonight."
4/7
The first win of the season continues to be elusive as Zach Kroenke makes his ML debut. The hope was he was too young to realize that he was pitching against someone that will likely be in the Cy Young conversation this year. The Cardinals gave the rookie a rude welcome scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning, 1 in the 2nd, and 1 more in the 4th before Kenny Powers went to the bullpen. Willis made a failed season debut giving up 3 runs over 2.1 innings and the Cardinals win game 2 of the series easily, 8-1. Pirates drop to 0-5
4/8
Anderson gets his second start of the sim as the Pirates continue to search for win number one. As rumors swirl that Kenny Powers is on the hot seat, the team tried to focus on the task at hand. We had a pitching duel for 6 innings as the Cardinals led 2-1 after 7. Brad Penny relieved Anderson in the 7th and promptly gave up 4 runs. Pirates drop their 6th in a row.
4/9
St Louis went looking for the 4 game sweep and got it. Pittsburgh scored 3 in the 1st, and led 3-2 after 7 before Brad Penny once again gave up 2 runs and the Cardinals win 4-3. For Kenny Powers, the seat only got hotter. Pittsburgh drops to 0-7.
4/10
Pittsburgh headed home to lick their wounds and welcome another divisional foe, the Chicago Cubs, to town. The bats were hot early with a 2-2 score after 1 and everyone thought it was going to be a shootout. However, Fister and Wade settled down to pitch into the 7th before the Cubs scraped up a run in the top of the 9th. Strop held the Pirates scoreless to get the save in the 9th, Benitez gets the win for Chicago and CJ Wilson picks up the loss for Pittsburgh. Pirates drop to 0-8.
4/11
Miguel Ascencio gets the call for the second time this sim and pitched well through 6 innings. The Pirates once again had a late game lead headed into the final 3rd of the game, leading 2-1 after 6. The final score doesn't show that as the Pirate bullpen gave up 5 runs in the final 3rd and Chicago wins their second straight against the Pirates and the Pirates drop to 0-9.
4/12
The Pirates came into this ballgame trying to avoid their 3rd straight sweep to start the 2009 season. The hopes of opening day seem a million years ago but rookie youth can bring hope, and 42,000 showed up to Forbes Field to see Kroenke make his second start of the season. If fans got to the ballpark late, they missed Kroenke's start as he was lifted in the 3rd after giving up 6 runs, 3 earned. Kroenke looked good early but the Cub bats lit him up the second time through the order, scoring 6 in the 3rd. Pirates lose this one 6-3 to start the season at 0-10. Kenny Powers was asked after the game what a double digit losing streak meant to him. "It means we lost 10 MF games in a MF row and I might be getting Fing fired. That's what it Fing means."
4/13
Third time is a charm they say, and on the 13th, too. Brian Anderson took the mound for the 3rd time in 2009 to open the series against the Florida Marlins, and went the distance giving up 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 8. The offense scored 1 in the first and 1 in the second and it was enough to get Anderson his first win of the season. Pirates win! Pirates win! The final score was 2-1. Pittsburgh improves to 1-10 on the sim.
4/14
Bryan Hebson took his 3rd turn through the rotation and the Marlins got to him for 3 runs in the first before he settled down to pitch 6.1 scoreless innings. However, the Pirate offense, absent of Billy Butler, couldn't overcome the 1st inning hurdle and lose 3-2. Kenny Powers was beside himself after the game, "We are scoring runs the first time through the order but then the second and 3rd times through it is like we havent seen the pitcher before. I don't understand." Pirates fall to 1-1 for the Florida series adn 1-11 on the season.
4/15
Cory Wade got a harsh ML lesson after 2 quality starts to begin his ML career. The Marlin bats scored 6 earned runs in the first 3.1 innings and cruised to a 7-3 win. Once again, the Pirate bats were quiet in the late innings as they fall to 1-12 to start 2009 and the Marlins win the series, 2-1.
4/16
The big story from this game is that Miguel Ascencio was lifted in the 6th with an arm issue. It was later confirmed that he would be on the DL for at least the next 7 weeks. Brad Penny is expected to take his turns in the rotation. Ascencio gave up 4 runs before he left and the Pirate bats couldn't get any spark going and drop the opening game of the series to Philadelphia by a score of 4-1.
Thankfully this miserable sim is over. Hopefully the team starts to gel soon. Morneau is hitting .265, Lieberthal and Sexson are both hitting below .100. The minor leagues said that after the first sim Elliott Johnson is ready to come up. He is showing the ability to not strike out, and the pirates are bringing him up to try to get some cohesiveness from the bottom of the lineup to the top. Sim 2 can't, mathematically, be much worse, unless there are things called imaginary losses. Let's hope the FNGs come around and start producing soon. Let's Go Bucs!
