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C & # 39; was Clint Hurdle & # 39; s fault, no?
He shoots Jameson Taillon after seven sweet sleeves, a reasonable number of steps of 85, and a two-point lead exploded in minutes. There was no need to spoil the success and without this manager, the Pirates would not have ended up losing, 5-4 in 10 races, Wednesday night at PNC Park.
Except …
Except that's the second start of the season for Taillon, he just gave up a first home run in the seventh, just like it happened when everything turned in the opening game in Cincinnati the last week, and all concerned had expressed the hope that he I would do nothing more than overcome this hurdle right in front of him. What he did. After Paul DeJong & # 39; s home circuit opened this seventh inning, Taillon has dug deeper for a ground exit, a flyout and the softer sliders to freeze Dexter Fowler.
"It's a tough question," Taillon replied diplomatically when asked if he could have continued. "With those two guys in the back of our paddock, I really understood it, I felt fresh and everything else, my count was good, but I did not fight at all on it." More nights than ever, these guys at the back take care of us. "
Yes. That was it.
Hurdle saw the same thing saying, "I think he felt like competing and putting us in a very good place. That was what I thought. The last time he entered the seventh and we could not finish. This time, he finished seventh and I think we all felt confident going forward. "
Hm. I am good with this explanation of both. This is not Hurdle 's fault. Absolutely not Taillon's fault.
Must have been Keone Kela & # 39; s fault, then:
Because, taking the ball for the eighth, he walked Kolten Wong on four courts, pitched the ball one to Harrison Bader, then that meatball in the center of the square above that sailed in St. Louis's pen to equal the score, 3-3.
"That's not how I wanted it to go, of course," Kela told me much later.
Or maybe it was Nick Burdi fault. He arrived in the 10th, spewed a triple Wong, a walk and a starting single for Tyler O Neill.
Or maybe it was Francisco Liriano fault. He took over for Burdi, launched a wild pitch and did not bother to cover the plate as Bader returned home, pulling his exasperation visible on Francisco Cervelli.
Or maybe it was bats as a collective. The Pirates managed a complete blow after the fourth inning and, even when they boarded, they would combine 1 of 14 with riders in scoring position.
We have enough guilty people up there?
Should this have been presented as a checklist?
Well, if I had opted for a multiple-choice format for this column, my mark of check would have always gone elsewhere: it was the entirety of the bottom of the 10th, when the Pirates were defeated by their real underlying issues.
The St. Louis office seemed extremely willing to make the game immediately. Cervelli is distinguished and, after an outing, two other walks have loaded the bases and … JB Shuck, Erik Gonzalez and Pablo Reyes.
Oh really.
Shuck traveled a distance of five credits to reduce the deficit to 5-4. Gonzalez fell into a 0-2 count, then appeared, and Reyes went down to end the match.
"It was frustrating," Gonzalez told me. "We wish that ends better."
I bet Bob Nutting, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington wish it ended better, too. They really hope to win. They simply do not prioritize profits and, in the case of baseball operations, they simply do not know what they are doing in terms of recruiting and developing talent internally. If they were in one or the other of these situations, they would never, in all conscience, have started a season with Shuck, a 31-year-old companion who spent half from last summer in the Pacific Coast League; Gonzalez, a 27-year-old career player, who has never won more than 136 batting goals in a major season. and Reyes, a disjointed but severely limited utility, 25 years old, who came out of René Gayo & # 39; s The Latin American system has bailed out the sad writing for more than ten years.
That's what happens, my friends. I always prefer digging right at the root, and that's the core.
Oh, and that:
C & # 39; Paul Goldschmidt, the superb first-baseman who shoots very hard, stalking Gonzalez's pop-up impressively in foul territory, then throwing the ball back to force Jung Ho Kang return to third place and prevent the tied race. And he wears this uniform because the Cardinals, based in a market almost the same size as Pittsburgh and home to one less franchise in the major leagues, acquired it at Christmas and signed it for a $ 130 million deal. dollars over five years.
That's more than double the size of the biggest Pirates contract, which, yes, is still From Jason Kendall Expansion of $ 60 million almost 20 years ago.
Passion and priority to win are not everything, but they matter. Payroll is not everything, but it is important. Writing / development is not everything, but it is extremely important that the first two are not there.
Looking to blame?
Look no further. Already. All the rest is noise.
• I know, I know, if only they had a healthy life Lonnie Chisenhall …
• The Pirates have a total of two of their own first-round picks in the current lineup: one, of course, is Taillon, the No. 2 pick in 2010 which was an absolute must-not choice Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. The other is Kevin Newman, first choice of the team in 2015. He has not yet made his appearance this season and, in the fateful 10th round of this match, he was finally used … as a precision runner.
• It's not easy not to like Gonzalez, I'll give him as much. He is as charming as they come.
His evening began in style with this long-winded jewel in the first round …
… and then grew up in the second with this triple clutch:
I asked if maybe he sits down a bit.
"I think so, it's easier now," he replied softly. "Everything is new, I'm trying so hard, I just want to help."
• This is not one that the Pirates hit at the very beginning. Miles Mikolas ranked among the top baseball pitchers in Major League Baseball in 2018 at 18-4 with an average of 2.83 equation points, ranking seventh overall. So, hitting three runs on seven hits in five innings is not a bad thing for a formation you expect so little.
But then … poof!
• Nothing in Taillon's night was more impressive than the bite bonus of his slider:
• It's crazy early, so that should not matter as the Brewers, the 2018 Center champions, leave for a 6-1 start. But that could too.
• I am not sold at the box office, but I am not convinced that it is a failure. Richard Rodriguez gave up a terribly untimely home run in Cincinnati, and Kela did the same here. Monday's blast dealt only with infield infield defense.
• That being said, the blown leaders are alarming: after six innings, the Pirates had 65-6 in 2018 and they have already recorded three defeats in four games. They were 69-3 in 2018 in the lead after seven innings, and there are already two.
• They pile up here, they have an average of .207 as a team with three homers and a dozen extra hits in 140 batting goals. Meanwhile, starting pitchers have a life of 1.88. If they could meet at .220 / 2.20, it could work.
• Much too much country music is played at PNC Park. Seriously. This is Pittsburgh. To play Foghat or go home.
Homistek hunter and I address myself to:
• I will be at the rink on Thursday night. If & # 39;Cotton-Eye Joe"Do not count as a country – and I do not think that's the case – it will be a safe area.
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