As I begin to write this post, the Pirates are in Philadelphia down by 7 after the Phillies went up 8-0 in the first two innings, lighting up starting pitcher Charlie Morton like the liberty bell in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park. While the Phillies series is a different story, let's return to the four days in Atlanta. If the Pirates wanted to leave any town any sooner, it had to be Atlanta.
A week that started with a two hour rain delay during a national television broadcast on ESPN Monday Night Baseball, and resulted in a win before the clock struck midnight. The next day, the weather was better, but dark clouds soon formed as the game went into extra innings. A late night affair that became the longest game in the history of both teams, and ended in the ugliest way possible. It was already enough the Pirates has no runs in the last 18 innings of that game, but umpire Jerry Meals, who became a top trend on Twitter and also received a special tagged trend #jerrymealssaysitssafe, which I and many had fun with, made one of the worst calls in the history of baseball, making Jim Joyce's safe call to ruin a no-hitter in Detroit look bleak to Meals' blunder in the 19 inning marathon.
While I and the rest of the baseball loving world blasted Jerry Meals on television, radio and social media sites, the Pirates went back to work to stay close with Milwaukee and St. Louis in the NL Central. Much to our dismay, the game went into extra innings once again. Upon this, I tweeted Pittsburgh sports columnist and 93.7 The Fan's Joe Starkey jokingly asking him the name of the home plate umpire that night, which he retweeted. Of course, the game didn't go any longer as the Braves made the bottom of the 10th batting practice working with Leroux on the mound and Joel Hanrahan for the second straight night not being used in key situations. I guess you could say that Sid Bream was laughing wherever he is now.
Although the Bucs couldn't win the rubber match the night before, the Pirates got help from Andrew McCutchen and saw Kevin Correia beat Derek Lowe in the pitching match-up, while picking up an RBI early in the game.
After that recap, we can now look at what we learned from our long visit in the deep South.
1) Lyle Overbay is Useless: For all the free passes Overbay has received by many in the media, his performance finally made people realize that he flat out sucks. 1 for 8 in the 19 inning game on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning made you react to him stepping up to the plate like you would a pitcher (NL fans only feel this, sorry AL fans).
2) Pedro was Average: Wasn't expecting the world from Alvarez, but he did OK. Good defense, despite the routine ground-out that ended in a ground-rule double. He came up big in different situations. The Bucs need more from him if they wanna stay toward the top of the Central.
3) Is Steve Pierce Even There? Pierce has been as productive as Lyle Overbay. Not much of a comment, but many would take him over Overbay at first in a heart beat.
4) Daniel McCutchen: The 6th starter?: OK, I know he won't be the 6th pitcher in the rotation the Pirates would add, but his 5+ innings in extra's on Tuesday was impressive. It took Jerry Meals to spoil the effort. May I add that he lasted as long as James McDonald and Charlie Morton have in their past few starts.
5) THE PIRATES NEED A BAT!: This road trip is a challenge for this team. What seems to be a bigger challenge is the Pirates front office having to actually make a move and pick up a hitter to spark a Pirates offense that is more cold than warm. The only thing standing between GM Neil Huntington and a trade to keep the Pirates relevant through September is the black sheep of Pittsburgh sports, Bob Nutting. This would be a great moment for the C. Montgomery Burns of Pittsburgh to share his wealth with the fan base by picking up a bat in exchange for some measly prospects. God forbid, we give away a prospect. If the Pirates do, they only risk having a more productive offense. Then again, that's my opinion, and I don't work the books for the Pirates. If the Pirates make a move by Sunday, get a player like Derek Lee and make a run at the division title but come up a game or two short, I think Pirates fans would be content with that. But I think everyone would like that division title to go along with a winning season, which is what we've really wanted for 18 years.
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