Pirates 3 Mets 2
Update: Welcome, Deadspin readers. More on the game is here and pictures are here.
Ohhhh, Deadspin.
Prior to the start of the game, my friend and I were walking down Federal Street trying to find the bar designated as the meeting place. Being a poor college student who can't afford the likes of Hi-Tops, Firewaters, etc. regularly we didn't really know what we were looking for. Then we saw the 222 Bar, shitty as can be with a cracked plastic sign. We knew we were at the right place. Once we get in and figured out who the Deadspinners were, things started slowly, as we were a group of people who only know each other by internet handles. As expected, however, the beer starting flowing, a picture of Will on a popsicle stick was unveiled, and at 7:05 we decided we should probably have one more round before heading over to the ballpark (though we all acknowledged that by doing so, we were risking seeing the Tom Gorzellany injury that seemed inevitable but never came).
As we made our way up Federal Street to actual go into the game (and get our Jack Wilson Road Uniform Bobbleheads, of course!) we saw fireworks in centerfield and assumed that it could only mean a Jason Bay home run. We were right. We were also not surprised to find that it only tied the game. Without tickets near each other, we claimed a trashcan for ourselves with a very obstructed view of the game (we could see one of the baseline scoreboards). We piled up our bobbleheads, wondered if we could list them on Ebay from the park, and of course drank beer and dug into a giant pile of chili-cheese fries. Finally in the fourth inning we claimed a spot on the rotunda. From there we could ridicule stupid jerseys in the bleachers, serenade Jason Bay with an off-key version of O Canada! and take part in lots of other general jackassery, like everyone revealing all at the same time that they were certain that Shane Youman was a white guy until we saw a picture of him (Pirate fans know their overaged, semi-prospects, what can I say, I was as guilty as everyone else).
The game itself was more or less an after thought (what would you expect), but it was a helluva game. Gorzellany and Youman combined to give the Pirates a very good start, combining for 7 innings and only giving up 2 runs and 6 hits (though they did walk 3 and strikeout only 3, 2 of each for Gorzo, one of each for Youman). Somehow Marte came in and didn't blow it, and Capps finished things off. For 7 innings the offense was mostly the Jason Bay show, with his solo homer in the second and his double in the fifth that lead to Doumit singling in the second run(in an unrelated note, games like this are what kill me when people complaining about Bay's "clutchness"... he struck out in the bottom of the ninth, but the only reason that mattered at all was what he did earlier in the game) providing all of our scoring before the ninth. Still, Joe Randa and Ronnie Paulino managed to pull off the walkoff win in the ninth with a walk and a laser of a double towards the notch off of Aaron Heilman, which ensured that the Pirates would be the only team celebrating on the field at PNC for at least one more day.
Ohhhh, Deadspin.
Prior to the start of the game, my friend and I were walking down Federal Street trying to find the bar designated as the meeting place. Being a poor college student who can't afford the likes of Hi-Tops, Firewaters, etc. regularly we didn't really know what we were looking for. Then we saw the 222 Bar, shitty as can be with a cracked plastic sign. We knew we were at the right place. Once we get in and figured out who the Deadspinners were, things started slowly, as we were a group of people who only know each other by internet handles. As expected, however, the beer starting flowing, a picture of Will on a popsicle stick was unveiled, and at 7:05 we decided we should probably have one more round before heading over to the ballpark (though we all acknowledged that by doing so, we were risking seeing the Tom Gorzellany injury that seemed inevitable but never came).
As we made our way up Federal Street to actual go into the game (and get our Jack Wilson Road Uniform Bobbleheads, of course!) we saw fireworks in centerfield and assumed that it could only mean a Jason Bay home run. We were right. We were also not surprised to find that it only tied the game. Without tickets near each other, we claimed a trashcan for ourselves with a very obstructed view of the game (we could see one of the baseline scoreboards). We piled up our bobbleheads, wondered if we could list them on Ebay from the park, and of course drank beer and dug into a giant pile of chili-cheese fries. Finally in the fourth inning we claimed a spot on the rotunda. From there we could ridicule stupid jerseys in the bleachers, serenade Jason Bay with an off-key version of O Canada! and take part in lots of other general jackassery, like everyone revealing all at the same time that they were certain that Shane Youman was a white guy until we saw a picture of him (Pirate fans know their overaged, semi-prospects, what can I say, I was as guilty as everyone else).
The game itself was more or less an after thought (what would you expect), but it was a helluva game. Gorzellany and Youman combined to give the Pirates a very good start, combining for 7 innings and only giving up 2 runs and 6 hits (though they did walk 3 and strikeout only 3, 2 of each for Gorzo, one of each for Youman). Somehow Marte came in and didn't blow it, and Capps finished things off. For 7 innings the offense was mostly the Jason Bay show, with his solo homer in the second and his double in the fifth that lead to Doumit singling in the second run(in an unrelated note, games like this are what kill me when people complaining about Bay's "clutchness"... he struck out in the bottom of the ninth, but the only reason that mattered at all was what he did earlier in the game) providing all of our scoring before the ninth. Still, Joe Randa and Ronnie Paulino managed to pull off the walkoff win in the ninth with a walk and a laser of a double towards the notch off of Aaron Heilman, which ensured that the Pirates would be the only team celebrating on the field at PNC for at least one more day.