Pirates vs. Mets series preview.
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Crimson's Ghost
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Pirates vs. Mets series preview.
Game One Friday 7:10
J.A. Happ (0-1 8.39 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (10-11 4.76)
Game Two Saturday 7:10
Charlie Morton (7-4 4.48) vs. Jonathan Neise (7-9 3.46)
Game Three Sunday 1:10
Jeff Locke (6-7 4.43) vs. Matt Harvey (11-7 2.61)
First things first, the Pirates avoided disaster by not getting swept by the Cardinals yesterday. Winning one game leaves the divisional lead by the Cardinals at six games, and at least leaves things at striking distance. The Pirates certainly are not in the best position to overtake the Cardinals, but with fifty some games left, six head to head games left, and a six game deficit, it leaves the door open slightly.
Now the Pirates head to Gotham to take on the red hot Mets. The Mets are 10-2 in the month of August and have overtaken the Nationals for first place in the NL East. New York has won games with a great pitching rotation that has really come together in recent weeks, and heading into tonight's game what sticks out to me is that the Pirates avoid Noah Syndergard and Jacob DeGrom this series. The Pirates will have to face Matt Harvey on Sunday afternoon, but the Pirates teed off on him earlier in the year, so there is some hope there.
The Pirates are not a very good road baseball team, and it is certainly not encouraging the three probable pitchers the BUcs are trotting out there this weekend. JA Happ will make his second start with the Bucs, and hopes things go a little better this time. And of course, the double personality pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke will also throw this weekend. You never know what you will get out of either one, Morton seems more capable of having a better start these days, and hopefully he can give them a good one this weekend.
Aside from pitching, the Pirates offense is really good these days. Andrew McCutchen followed up a player of the week campaign with three big hits in St. Louis including an RBI double last night. Cutch is leading the league in hitting with runners in scoring position, and now finds himself with 77 RBI's, third most in the NL. Gregory Polanco has been on fire the past month, and now finds his average at .258, raising it from .231 at the All Star break. Polanco holds a seven game hitting streak and is one of the hottest hitters in the league the past week.
Quietly, Aramis Ramirez has been hitting the ball. In his past seven games, Ramirez has 10 hits and is hitting a .385 clip in that stretch. He still has not been a very good addition overall, but maybe he can turn it back on for the stretch run. An interesting thing with that is they announced he may get some reps at first base, and Pedro Alvarez promptly torched the Cardinals all series long. Pedro went 6-12 against St. Louis and belted two home runs, and the ultimate question remains with him, what in the heck do you do with him? Pedro broke the game open yesterday with that home run, but had some costly defensive plays throughout the series. Bad defense or not, if he continues to be that power bat, he will find himself in the lineup.
This is a big series for a variety of reasons. The Bucs are going against one of the best teams in the league, and they have to do it without Cole or Liriano to throw one of the games. The everlasting uphill battle of trying to catch St. Louis rages on, and now they have to hold off the red hot Cubs. Basically from this point forward, every game is going to be dramatic and meaningful.
J.A. Happ (0-1 8.39 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (10-11 4.76)
Game Two Saturday 7:10
Charlie Morton (7-4 4.48) vs. Jonathan Neise (7-9 3.46)
Game Three Sunday 1:10
Jeff Locke (6-7 4.43) vs. Matt Harvey (11-7 2.61)
First things first, the Pirates avoided disaster by not getting swept by the Cardinals yesterday. Winning one game leaves the divisional lead by the Cardinals at six games, and at least leaves things at striking distance. The Pirates certainly are not in the best position to overtake the Cardinals, but with fifty some games left, six head to head games left, and a six game deficit, it leaves the door open slightly.
Now the Pirates head to Gotham to take on the red hot Mets. The Mets are 10-2 in the month of August and have overtaken the Nationals for first place in the NL East. New York has won games with a great pitching rotation that has really come together in recent weeks, and heading into tonight's game what sticks out to me is that the Pirates avoid Noah Syndergard and Jacob DeGrom this series. The Pirates will have to face Matt Harvey on Sunday afternoon, but the Pirates teed off on him earlier in the year, so there is some hope there.
The Pirates are not a very good road baseball team, and it is certainly not encouraging the three probable pitchers the BUcs are trotting out there this weekend. JA Happ will make his second start with the Bucs, and hopes things go a little better this time. And of course, the double personality pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke will also throw this weekend. You never know what you will get out of either one, Morton seems more capable of having a better start these days, and hopefully he can give them a good one this weekend.
Aside from pitching, the Pirates offense is really good these days. Andrew McCutchen followed up a player of the week campaign with three big hits in St. Louis including an RBI double last night. Cutch is leading the league in hitting with runners in scoring position, and now finds himself with 77 RBI's, third most in the NL. Gregory Polanco has been on fire the past month, and now finds his average at .258, raising it from .231 at the All Star break. Polanco holds a seven game hitting streak and is one of the hottest hitters in the league the past week.
Quietly, Aramis Ramirez has been hitting the ball. In his past seven games, Ramirez has 10 hits and is hitting a .385 clip in that stretch. He still has not been a very good addition overall, but maybe he can turn it back on for the stretch run. An interesting thing with that is they announced he may get some reps at first base, and Pedro Alvarez promptly torched the Cardinals all series long. Pedro went 6-12 against St. Louis and belted two home runs, and the ultimate question remains with him, what in the heck do you do with him? Pedro broke the game open yesterday with that home run, but had some costly defensive plays throughout the series. Bad defense or not, if he continues to be that power bat, he will find himself in the lineup.
This is a big series for a variety of reasons. The Bucs are going against one of the best teams in the league, and they have to do it without Cole or Liriano to throw one of the games. The everlasting uphill battle of trying to catch St. Louis rages on, and now they have to hold off the red hot Cubs. Basically from this point forward, every game is going to be dramatic and meaningful.
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Crimson's Ghost
- Moderator Team
- Posts: 11116
- Joined: June 24th, 2011, 10:43 am
Re: Pirates vs. Mets series preview.
Starling Marte has me worried. He only has one home run since July 1, and I start to wonder if all these hits on the hand have been bothering him more than he lets on. His stats have remained fairly consistent, as he hangs out in that .280-.295 batting average, but the power numbers have taken a dip the past month and a half.
Speaking of injuries, Jordy Mercer is 2-7 in two rehab games in Indy and Josh Harrison is 1-8. Apparently Harrison has one start at third and one at second. He is expected to see some starts in right and left field also.
Speaking of injuries, Jordy Mercer is 2-7 in two rehab games in Indy and Josh Harrison is 1-8. Apparently Harrison has one start at third and one at second. He is expected to see some starts in right and left field also.