Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Game 112: D'Backs 13 Pirates 7

There's little more frustrating in baseball than to run out to a nice lead on a good starter, only to watch your own starter give it all right back to the other team. The Pirates picked up three runs in the first last night on a nice little rally spearheaded by Brandon Moss's two run double. Yoslan Herrera immediately went to work giving the runs back. At one point early in the second inning, the Pirates were still up 3-1 and Mark Grace (in the D'Backs booth) remarked, "And the amazing thing is that he's only thrown eight strikes so far! I am not enjoying watching this young man pitch."

Apparently, neither was John Russell because Herrera was gone after a two-run infield single (not a typo) and Jason Davis was in. It's not much of a surprise that Herrera's back in Altoona today with a corresponding roster move coming. Jason Davis managed to hold things together for a few innings, but he gave up a run in the fifth, Denny Bautista gave up one in the sixth and seventh, and Tyler Yates and John Grabow gave up six in the eighth. And that's a 13-7 loss, folks.

There is one highlight from the night. Commenter BW Zimmerman, who lives in Arizona, was at the game and managed to meet the Pirate fans that I believe got some air time on FSP last night. The guy in the Sid Bream jersey with the huge mustache is classic Pittsburgh. It's a nice reminder that you're never as far from home as you think you might be.