I am not too sure how they are doing it, but Pittsburgh is still only a game and a half out of First Place. They survived a grueling series with the Atlanta Braves that saw a 19 inning game, 10 inning games, a two hour rain delay, and finally a 47 minute rain delay for good measure. Through it all, the Pirates managed two wins against the second best team in the National League. The Pirates scored 12 runs over the course of 47 innings in Atlanta. They did manage to hold Atlanta to 9 runs, but still this series made it more evident than ever that they can not score. This team does not have the fire power to get by, but they have the grit, and now apparently the bullpen to squeeze out some wins. Pitching can only take you so far, and more of the same from the Atlanta series seems to be on the way this weekend in Philadelphia. The Phillies will trot out Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, arguably the best 1-2 punch in Baseball since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. The Pirates will send out their overachieving bunch of starters and their makeshift lineup against one of the most successful National league clubs over the past five seasons.(While St. Louis and Milwaukee got Houston and Chicago this week) But at some point, this staff will not be able to string together all these great starts in a row. At some point they will have a pedestrian start, and this offense does not have the firepower to overcome a starting pitcher giving up five runs early on. I know asking prices seem out of hand right now, but something needs to be done. The race is upon us, the deadline is Sunday. Something needs to happen, or this dream season will remain just a dream. Looking to the starting Pitching matchups, and a preview of this weekend's series against the Philadelphia Phillies...
Tonight 7:05, Charlie Morton (8-5 3.69) vs. Roy Halladay (12-4 2.55)
The master and the apprentice in a sense. Halladay has been a consistent and dominant starting pitcher in this league for some time now. Charlie was a guy that was labeled as a guy with "great stuff" but never had it figured out. Well it seems he has this year, after using Halladay's pitching motion and mechanics(see below). Halladay is still by far the better pitcher, but Charlie is much better than last season. Its a testament to both pitchers to how good they really are. Halladay's mechanics saved Morton's career, and Morton's ability to adapt to different mechanics deep into his career is also impressive. Should be fun to watch, but Philly has the distinct advantage Pitching wise and also with the bats. Although they struggled against San Francisco this past series, the Phillies still have guys like Utley,Rollins and the ever dangerous, Ryan Howard.
Saturday 7:05, James McDonald (7-4 3.95) vs. Cliff Lee (9-7 3.05)
McDonald is coming off an impressive performance on ESPN's Monday Night Baseball setting a career high in Strikeouts with 9. The knock on him is that he does not go deep into games, but if he can keep providing six innings a night, its hard to complain. Cliff Lee has lost his past two decisions and has not been quite the same since his dominant June (5-0, 0.27) but still is one of the best the league has to offer.
Sunday 1:35, Jeff Karstens (8-5 2.41) vs. Vance Worley (7-1 2.02) Not sure where the Phillies are finding these guys, but this guy is their 5th starter. He is 23 years of age and is coming off a complete game three hitter. Karstens has been outstanding for Pittsburgh. He does not have special stuff, but he works quick and changes speeds. He gives you what he has, and it seems like teams can not hit him. This caps the series of great pitching matchups.
-Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both find themselves in the Playoff race. (Phi-First in East) (Pit-Second in Central)
-Both teams have been linked to Hunter Pence, He could be in Philadelphia before Sunday
-Pittsburgh has gone 5-5 in what was labeled as their toughest stretch in the season.
-The Phillies have gone 8-5 since the All Star Break
-Andrew McCutchen is 1 of 6 players with 15 Homers, 60 RBI's and 15 Stolen Bases.
-Neil Walker has Three straight Multi-hit games, yet only 1 RBI in those games.
-Chase Utley is batting .343 over his last 10 games.
-Pittsburgh will face Chicago and San Diego next week, much easier than this past week's grueling schedule.
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