Post by joshsbix on Jan 8, 2024 10:45:10 GMT -5
Spirits were high after the first winning sim of the season and when the team announced a new stadium, the fan base blew the roof off the city, partying long into the night. Let's see how the team responded on the field.
5/10
The Pirates looked to build on their offense outburst in game 1 of the series, but it was Colorado that broke out the pitching and hitting in this one, flipping the game 1 score on the Pirates and winning 9-1 to start the Pittsburgh sim off with an L. Sabathia threw 121 pitches and went 8.2 scoreless innings before Dickson came in to get the final out of the game.
Since his 4-4 game on 5/8 Morneau has gone 0-9. The top of the lineup went 0-11 in this one, with the loan run coming in the 9th with back to back doubles to by Sexson and Nieves to break up the shutout.
Kroenke's night was rough as he was relieved in the 5th after giving up 7 ER on 9 hits, including back to back homeruns by Payton and Amercrombie in the 3rd.
Pittsburgh drops to 0-1 on the sim.
5/11
The rubber game between Pittsburgh and Colorado brought 33,121 fans to Mile High to see Brian Anderson matched up against Ian Snell. The fans got the pitching duel they expected as Anderson went 8 giving up a single run and Snell went into the 7th, also only giving up a single run.
It became a battle of the bullpens as the teams were deadlocked 1-1 after Colorado's 6th inning game tying run. Howry pitched a scoreless inning for the Pirates as Kennedy and Davis got the Rockies to extra innings.
The Pirates seemed to have the game in hand in the top of the 11th scoring 2 and taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 11th. However, the Rockies answered with two runs of their own off of closer, CJ Wilson and the game went on. Sadler was left in for the 12th and it cost the Rockies as he walked several batters and it looks like Nieves drove them in to get the POG and the 6-3 extra inning win.
Morneau continutes to struggle gooing 0-2, 0-11 since his 4-4 game, but drew 4 walks. Nieves went 3-6 with 4 RBIs. Erstad stole 2 bases to increase his total to 15 for the year and Morneau swiped a bag to join the double digit steal club.
Pittsburgh improves to 1-1 on the sim and wins another series 2-1.
5/12
Travel Day
5/13
The Pirates arrived back in Pittsburgh to host divisional rival Milwaukee. Milwaukee arrived in Pittsburgh looking to close the gap on division leader STL.
Milwaukee sent Jerome Williams to the mound. Williams pitched with a chip on his shoulder after 3 really tough losses and a no decision in his last 4 starts. The Pirates answered with their #2 starter, Bryan Hebson. Seven starts into the season, Hebson is still looking for the elusive first win.
Hebson pitched well going 6.2 innings, giving up 2 runs, but Williams pitched better, throwing 8 scoreless innings and giving up only 3 hits and striking out 7. Mattes and Barnette threw a scoreless inning each but the offense couldn't get the gears going.
The Pirate bats couldn't get things figured out as Morneau extends his hitless streak to 0-13, going 0-4 in game one of the series. The top 2/3rds of the lineup had 1 hit in this one as Choo went 1-3.
Pittsburgh drops to 1-2 for the sim.
5/14
Milwaukee, looking to build on the momentum of game one broke out the sticks in game 2, scoring 5 runs in the first third of the game and led 5-1 after 3. The Pirates closed the gap after a 3 run 5th and another run in the 8th. Headed into the 9th tied 6-6 CJ Wilson got the call to try to keep the game tied for the last bats. Dale Murphy had a longball off German in the first and bookended it with a 2 run homerun in the 9th.
Milwaukee wins 9-6 and it looks like CJ Wilson's closing days are in serious jeopardy. Pittsburgh falls to 1-3 for the sim and 0-2 for the Brewer series.
Morneau got off the snide in this one going 1-4 and hitting a HR.
5/15
Once again, the Pirates were trying to avoid a sweep. Once again they would be looking to a rookie to try to make things happen. Cory Wade answered the call, going all 9 giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, but didn't get the win after the Pirates gave away a 2-0 lead with 1 Brewer run in the 8th and another in the 9th off of solo shots by Olivo and Peralta, respectively. Wade did get the POG though.
Barnette came in for 1 pitch before being relieved by CJ Wilson who was able to keep the game scoreless into the bottom of the 10th before Elliott Johnson drove in the game winning RBI. Pirates win 3-2 but drop the series 1-2. Pittsburgh improves to 2-3 for the sim.
5/16
After salvaging the final game against Milwaukee, the Pirates head off to a familiar place for most. Jamieson still claims he has never been to Houston, but he should certainly remember this trip.
The growing pains continue for Kroenke as he was relieved in the 3rd inning after giving up 6 runs on 6 hits. The icing on the cake was Ensberg's 2 run blast that extended the lead to 6-0. The bullpen wasn't terrible but the Astros add 2 more runs and cruise to an 8-0 win. Pittsburgh starts the Astro series 0-1 and fall to 2-4 on the sim.
Morneau went 0-4 in this one to extend his cold streak to 1-27 since his 4-4 night against the Padres.
5/17
Morneau's cold streak extended to 1-32, dating back to 5/9 but Brian Anderson took it upon himself to make sure that a lot of offense wasn't necessary. The Pirates got to Wainwright early, scoring 5 runs, 4 earned off of Wainwright and 2 more off of Wandy Rodriguez, and 1 off of both Rauch and Uehara. Pittsburgh cruises to a 9-2 win, despite Morneau's doughnut. Choo went 3-4 with a HR and leadoff man Erstad hit his first run of the season off of Wainwright, giving him 35 for his career. It is one that he will remember for a long time as the bases were full of his fellow Buccos at the time. His grand slam earned him the player of the game and the Pirates win 9-2. Pirates finish the sim 3-4, unable to build on the success of last sim.
Anderson is now 3-4 and the team hopes that he will be able to pull his record back to .500 for the season, during the next sim.
I feel like the back end of the bullpen was exposed this sim. Now that Kenny Powers is back in the dugout after Jamieson threatened him with a breach of contract lawsuit maybe now he can focus on baseball and call up Broadway to replace Penny and get someone at the back of the pen that can save games.
Let's go Bucs!
5/10
The Pirates looked to build on their offense outburst in game 1 of the series, but it was Colorado that broke out the pitching and hitting in this one, flipping the game 1 score on the Pirates and winning 9-1 to start the Pittsburgh sim off with an L. Sabathia threw 121 pitches and went 8.2 scoreless innings before Dickson came in to get the final out of the game.
Since his 4-4 game on 5/8 Morneau has gone 0-9. The top of the lineup went 0-11 in this one, with the loan run coming in the 9th with back to back doubles to by Sexson and Nieves to break up the shutout.
Kroenke's night was rough as he was relieved in the 5th after giving up 7 ER on 9 hits, including back to back homeruns by Payton and Amercrombie in the 3rd.
Pittsburgh drops to 0-1 on the sim.
5/11
The rubber game between Pittsburgh and Colorado brought 33,121 fans to Mile High to see Brian Anderson matched up against Ian Snell. The fans got the pitching duel they expected as Anderson went 8 giving up a single run and Snell went into the 7th, also only giving up a single run.
It became a battle of the bullpens as the teams were deadlocked 1-1 after Colorado's 6th inning game tying run. Howry pitched a scoreless inning for the Pirates as Kennedy and Davis got the Rockies to extra innings.
The Pirates seemed to have the game in hand in the top of the 11th scoring 2 and taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 11th. However, the Rockies answered with two runs of their own off of closer, CJ Wilson and the game went on. Sadler was left in for the 12th and it cost the Rockies as he walked several batters and it looks like Nieves drove them in to get the POG and the 6-3 extra inning win.
Morneau continutes to struggle gooing 0-2, 0-11 since his 4-4 game, but drew 4 walks. Nieves went 3-6 with 4 RBIs. Erstad stole 2 bases to increase his total to 15 for the year and Morneau swiped a bag to join the double digit steal club.
Pittsburgh improves to 1-1 on the sim and wins another series 2-1.
5/12
Travel Day
5/13
The Pirates arrived back in Pittsburgh to host divisional rival Milwaukee. Milwaukee arrived in Pittsburgh looking to close the gap on division leader STL.
Milwaukee sent Jerome Williams to the mound. Williams pitched with a chip on his shoulder after 3 really tough losses and a no decision in his last 4 starts. The Pirates answered with their #2 starter, Bryan Hebson. Seven starts into the season, Hebson is still looking for the elusive first win.
Hebson pitched well going 6.2 innings, giving up 2 runs, but Williams pitched better, throwing 8 scoreless innings and giving up only 3 hits and striking out 7. Mattes and Barnette threw a scoreless inning each but the offense couldn't get the gears going.
The Pirate bats couldn't get things figured out as Morneau extends his hitless streak to 0-13, going 0-4 in game one of the series. The top 2/3rds of the lineup had 1 hit in this one as Choo went 1-3.
Pittsburgh drops to 1-2 for the sim.
5/14
Milwaukee, looking to build on the momentum of game one broke out the sticks in game 2, scoring 5 runs in the first third of the game and led 5-1 after 3. The Pirates closed the gap after a 3 run 5th and another run in the 8th. Headed into the 9th tied 6-6 CJ Wilson got the call to try to keep the game tied for the last bats. Dale Murphy had a longball off German in the first and bookended it with a 2 run homerun in the 9th.
Milwaukee wins 9-6 and it looks like CJ Wilson's closing days are in serious jeopardy. Pittsburgh falls to 1-3 for the sim and 0-2 for the Brewer series.
Morneau got off the snide in this one going 1-4 and hitting a HR.
5/15
Once again, the Pirates were trying to avoid a sweep. Once again they would be looking to a rookie to try to make things happen. Cory Wade answered the call, going all 9 giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, but didn't get the win after the Pirates gave away a 2-0 lead with 1 Brewer run in the 8th and another in the 9th off of solo shots by Olivo and Peralta, respectively. Wade did get the POG though.
Barnette came in for 1 pitch before being relieved by CJ Wilson who was able to keep the game scoreless into the bottom of the 10th before Elliott Johnson drove in the game winning RBI. Pirates win 3-2 but drop the series 1-2. Pittsburgh improves to 2-3 for the sim.
5/16
After salvaging the final game against Milwaukee, the Pirates head off to a familiar place for most. Jamieson still claims he has never been to Houston, but he should certainly remember this trip.
The growing pains continue for Kroenke as he was relieved in the 3rd inning after giving up 6 runs on 6 hits. The icing on the cake was Ensberg's 2 run blast that extended the lead to 6-0. The bullpen wasn't terrible but the Astros add 2 more runs and cruise to an 8-0 win. Pittsburgh starts the Astro series 0-1 and fall to 2-4 on the sim.
Morneau went 0-4 in this one to extend his cold streak to 1-27 since his 4-4 night against the Padres.
5/17
Morneau's cold streak extended to 1-32, dating back to 5/9 but Brian Anderson took it upon himself to make sure that a lot of offense wasn't necessary. The Pirates got to Wainwright early, scoring 5 runs, 4 earned off of Wainwright and 2 more off of Wandy Rodriguez, and 1 off of both Rauch and Uehara. Pittsburgh cruises to a 9-2 win, despite Morneau's doughnut. Choo went 3-4 with a HR and leadoff man Erstad hit his first run of the season off of Wainwright, giving him 35 for his career. It is one that he will remember for a long time as the bases were full of his fellow Buccos at the time. His grand slam earned him the player of the game and the Pirates win 9-2. Pirates finish the sim 3-4, unable to build on the success of last sim.
Anderson is now 3-4 and the team hopes that he will be able to pull his record back to .500 for the season, during the next sim.
I feel like the back end of the bullpen was exposed this sim. Now that Kenny Powers is back in the dugout after Jamieson threatened him with a breach of contract lawsuit maybe now he can focus on baseball and call up Broadway to replace Penny and get someone at the back of the pen that can save games.
Let's go Bucs!
