Game 8: Cards 3 Pirates 2 in 12

So... this one makes me pretty angry. Oh, wait, that's the understatement of the night. I think I need to use bullet points to break the anger up.
  • Randy freaking Keisler. You've got to be kidding me. The dude had no handle on the strike zone for most of the night and we drew one walk. One.
  • Wasted a great start from Gorzy tonight. He looked really good.
  • It was like 9:10 when the top of the ninth started. We were thinking game over by 9:20, back to Duquesne and out of the cold by 10:00. No.
  • Runners on first and second, no out, deep fly ball to Jason Bay on the left field warning track. I instinctively look to second to watch the throw. Instead I see Chris Duncan going in unimpeded. How does Bay not know to throw to second? How does Jack Wilson not know to direct the throw to second? How long have these guys been playing baseball? What kills me is that Bay and Wilson are two of the more instinctive guys on the team. They never screw stuff up like that. How did that happen? Not 2 minutes before I watched them signal LaRoche away from holding Eckstein on first when he was the only runner on. How does something like that happen? It was brain dead.
  • Also brain dead: calling for a Jack Wilson bunt with runners on first and second and no outs. We'll leave win expectancy alone (win expectancy with runners on first and second with no outs in extra innings of a tie game: .848... win expectancy with runners on second and third and one out in extra innings of a tie game: .829, yeah, a successful bunt actually makes us slightly less likely to win), with the infield seriously shifted to play for a bunt, why not just have Jack Wilson try to poke one through? If the runner is in scoring position already (even if it is Brad Eldred), why attempt to bunt the runners over and give Thompson the ability to pitch around Sanchez or Bay if necessary? Why give up an out? Even if it's Jack Wilson at the plate, why take one less shot at getting the necessary single? I don't get it.
  • Still, Sanchez and Bay both K after the botched bunt? Ugh.
  • Jason Bay actually makes a good throw from the outfield, Ronny Paulino drops it. Come on.
  • I've tried to say this before, but Jim Tracy wasn't listening. Let's try again. JOHN WASDIN IS NOT A GOOD RELIEF PITCHER BY ANY MEANS. IF THE GAME IS ON THE LINE, HE SHOULD NOT EVER, EVER, EVER BE IN THE GAME, EVER. Here's what I don't get, why bring Bayliss out in the 9th of a mostly decided game yesterday, leaving him unavailable for today's game? When I saw Bayliss trot out of the pen on Monday, all I thought was "Why bring him out now?" I'm still asking myself that.
Ugh. That was the type of game that bad teams find a way to lose. After Eckstein got on to lead off the ninth, there was just kind of a foreboding feeling. After the Cards tied it up, it felt like the game was over. Just a matter of time.

Fireworks were sweet though.

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