Post by joshsbix on Jan 6, 2024 11:30:07 GMT -5
After a miserable 6-21 start to the 2009 season, the Pirates have decided to go in a different direction. Owner Jamieson announced today that he would be following his business heroes Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban by taking over every operation of the team. The team couldn't be reached for further comment but I am sure we will hear from Kenny Powers before too long. Let's see what happened in Sim 3 that got Jamieson to the breaking point:
4/25
Day off
4/26
The Mets come to town for a three game series. Game 1 featured a pitching matchup between Glover and Anderson. Glover went into the 9th while Anderson was lifted after 8th. Both starters gave up 3 runs. The Pirate bullpen rolled out Villarreal, Mattes, and Wilson for 3.2 scoreless innings before Jason Middlebrook gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in the 13th inning. Mets win game 1 7-3. Choo went 3-6 and Morneau swiped his 8th stolen base of the season. Pittsburgh drops their 2nd straight and is 0-1 for the sim.
4/27
The Pirates are still trying to find their groove. Even though the team scored 5 runs in this one, the bottom 3rd of the lineup out performed the top 2/3rds. Morneau was lifted with a bruised ankle while running the bases and is officially listed as day to day. Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the bottom of the first taking a 1-0 lead before the Mets answered with 3 in the 2nd. Hebson went into the 8th in this one giving up 5 runs, 4 earned. That unearned run ultimately cost us as the Mets win 6-5 in 11 innings, it looks like Markakis maybe got the game winner because he was got the walk off hit. Pirates drop to 0-2 on the sim and lose their 3rd straight.
4/28
Looking to avoid their 5th sweep of the year, Kenny Powers turned to Brad Penny for a second start. It seems likely to be his last after getting bombed for 6 runs over 4 innings. The bullpen kept the Pirates in the game and the offense responded late scoring 5 runs in the second half of the game to walk it off in the bottom of the 11th. Justin Morneau seems to be fine after the city collectively held their breath over his ankle. He went 4-6 in this one, a double shy of the cycle. Pirates win 8-7 to avoid the sweep and to end their 3 game losing streak and are 1-2 for the sim. On to San Francisco.
4/29
Pittsburgh bats showed signs of life in game 1 at AT&T park as 62,396 people showed up for cap day. Matt Cain and Cory Wade faced off in a battle of young pitchers. Their age showed. Cain went 4.1 innings giving up 7 runs, 6 ER while Wade went 6.2 innings giving up 8. Crazy enough, the game was scoreless after 3 innings before the Pittsburgh offense broke through in the 4th for 3 runs powered by Sin Shoo Choo's 3rd homerun of the season, SF answered with 1 in the 4th. Pittsburgh exploded again for 4 more runs in the 5th. Sexson went deep for a 3 run HR. The wheels fell off in the 7th as SF scored 7 to close the gap to 10-8 but couldn't make the final push. Pirates win 10-8 as Howry got a Hold and Mantei picked up his first save of the season. Pittsburgh wins the series opener, their second in a row, and improve to 2-2 for the sim.
4/30
Looking to make some progress in the W-L department, Pittsburgh hoped to build off of the momentum of the last couple of games. Kroenke got off to a slow start allowing 2 runs in the first inning but settled down to go 8, giving up another 2 spot in the 6th. C Flores answered the call in the 8th with a 2 out, 2 run homerun. SF tied the game in the bottom of the 9th as Villareal blew the save opportunity and Troy Glaus hit his second homerun of the game in the 11th to walk off for the win. Pittsburgh drops to 2-3 on the sim and 1-1 in the SF series.
5/1
Pirates start May looking to bounce back from another tough extra inning loss. Brian Anderson would get the rotation going for another turn. Anderson has pitched well enough to be 4-1 but finds his record at 1-3 coming into this outing. He pitched like he wasn't going to leave the decision up to the offense, going 9 giving up a single earned run, in the first inning. He struck out 9 and was robbed of player of the game by Richie Sexson's 2 HR, 5 RBI game. Pirates improve to 3-3 on the sim and 2-1 in the SF series with a 5-1 win.
5/2
Hope was high as hundreds of Pittsburgh fans made the flight from Pittsburgh to SF to see if the Pirates could get a series win and a winning sim. Hebson has pitched pretty well, with a sub 4.00 era but he continues to hunt for his first win of the season, coming into 6th start with an 0-3 record. Fans felt that after a tough start the last time out, Hebson was poised. However, SF had other plans as they got to him early and often, scoring at least a run in the first 5 innings. Billingsley pitched 8 scoreless before being lifted after 133 pitches, rightfully earning the player of the game award. Logan closed out the shutout and Pittsburgh drops to 3-4 on the sim and 6-21 for the season.
The offense seems to be coming together slowly. There will be changes at the end of the bullpen before today's sim. The further we fall out of contention the hotter Morneau talks get. Get your offers in this weekend.
4/25
Day off
4/26
The Mets come to town for a three game series. Game 1 featured a pitching matchup between Glover and Anderson. Glover went into the 9th while Anderson was lifted after 8th. Both starters gave up 3 runs. The Pirate bullpen rolled out Villarreal, Mattes, and Wilson for 3.2 scoreless innings before Jason Middlebrook gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in the 13th inning. Mets win game 1 7-3. Choo went 3-6 and Morneau swiped his 8th stolen base of the season. Pittsburgh drops their 2nd straight and is 0-1 for the sim.
4/27
The Pirates are still trying to find their groove. Even though the team scored 5 runs in this one, the bottom 3rd of the lineup out performed the top 2/3rds. Morneau was lifted with a bruised ankle while running the bases and is officially listed as day to day. Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the bottom of the first taking a 1-0 lead before the Mets answered with 3 in the 2nd. Hebson went into the 8th in this one giving up 5 runs, 4 earned. That unearned run ultimately cost us as the Mets win 6-5 in 11 innings, it looks like Markakis maybe got the game winner because he was got the walk off hit. Pirates drop to 0-2 on the sim and lose their 3rd straight.
4/28
Looking to avoid their 5th sweep of the year, Kenny Powers turned to Brad Penny for a second start. It seems likely to be his last after getting bombed for 6 runs over 4 innings. The bullpen kept the Pirates in the game and the offense responded late scoring 5 runs in the second half of the game to walk it off in the bottom of the 11th. Justin Morneau seems to be fine after the city collectively held their breath over his ankle. He went 4-6 in this one, a double shy of the cycle. Pirates win 8-7 to avoid the sweep and to end their 3 game losing streak and are 1-2 for the sim. On to San Francisco.
4/29
Pittsburgh bats showed signs of life in game 1 at AT&T park as 62,396 people showed up for cap day. Matt Cain and Cory Wade faced off in a battle of young pitchers. Their age showed. Cain went 4.1 innings giving up 7 runs, 6 ER while Wade went 6.2 innings giving up 8. Crazy enough, the game was scoreless after 3 innings before the Pittsburgh offense broke through in the 4th for 3 runs powered by Sin Shoo Choo's 3rd homerun of the season, SF answered with 1 in the 4th. Pittsburgh exploded again for 4 more runs in the 5th. Sexson went deep for a 3 run HR. The wheels fell off in the 7th as SF scored 7 to close the gap to 10-8 but couldn't make the final push. Pirates win 10-8 as Howry got a Hold and Mantei picked up his first save of the season. Pittsburgh wins the series opener, their second in a row, and improve to 2-2 for the sim.
4/30
Looking to make some progress in the W-L department, Pittsburgh hoped to build off of the momentum of the last couple of games. Kroenke got off to a slow start allowing 2 runs in the first inning but settled down to go 8, giving up another 2 spot in the 6th. C Flores answered the call in the 8th with a 2 out, 2 run homerun. SF tied the game in the bottom of the 9th as Villareal blew the save opportunity and Troy Glaus hit his second homerun of the game in the 11th to walk off for the win. Pittsburgh drops to 2-3 on the sim and 1-1 in the SF series.
5/1
Pirates start May looking to bounce back from another tough extra inning loss. Brian Anderson would get the rotation going for another turn. Anderson has pitched well enough to be 4-1 but finds his record at 1-3 coming into this outing. He pitched like he wasn't going to leave the decision up to the offense, going 9 giving up a single earned run, in the first inning. He struck out 9 and was robbed of player of the game by Richie Sexson's 2 HR, 5 RBI game. Pirates improve to 3-3 on the sim and 2-1 in the SF series with a 5-1 win.
5/2
Hope was high as hundreds of Pittsburgh fans made the flight from Pittsburgh to SF to see if the Pirates could get a series win and a winning sim. Hebson has pitched pretty well, with a sub 4.00 era but he continues to hunt for his first win of the season, coming into 6th start with an 0-3 record. Fans felt that after a tough start the last time out, Hebson was poised. However, SF had other plans as they got to him early and often, scoring at least a run in the first 5 innings. Billingsley pitched 8 scoreless before being lifted after 133 pitches, rightfully earning the player of the game award. Logan closed out the shutout and Pittsburgh drops to 3-4 on the sim and 6-21 for the season.
The offense seems to be coming together slowly. There will be changes at the end of the bullpen before today's sim. The further we fall out of contention the hotter Morneau talks get. Get your offers in this weekend.
