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#41
06-27-2013, 05:57 AM
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Obviously, they're winning at a pace that is going to be extremely difficult to sustain.
Following this team all year, The oddsmakers have been very tough on them. I can't tell you how many times I checked the odds before a game, certain they would be a favorite, only to find them a dog. Still, it's scary how much better this team is now than the Pirates teams of the past two years. This team is loaded with exceptionally good young players. Garret Cole is getting a lot of buzz because he's a #1 overall draft pick and can throw 100MPH several times a game, and do it down in the strike zone...most guys with maxed out radar clockings keep their fastball in the top half of the strikezone at best, or usually way above it. He was throwing 100MPH at the bottom and in the zone last start. Still, there's no way that he's one of the five best starting pitchers on the team right now. And if you put him in the bullpen, he's probably the 5th or 6th best option there imo. He leaves way too many balls in the middle of the zone. The pitching has been so otherworldly good...it's crazy. I haven't followed much baseball at all, but I certainly think Pirates pitching is no fluke and will continue to hold up. 
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#43
06-27-2013, 08:48 AM
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As long as they don't endure another monumental collapse, I should be OK.
These games have been very fun to watch, even when I've had no money riding on them. A sure sign of getting old is when you're getting entertainment out of watching low-scoring pitching duels on TV.
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#44
06-28-2013, 05:49 PM
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Quote:
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#45
06-28-2013, 10:04 PM
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I agree. Things even look more unsettling in Right-Field now that Snider fouled one off of his foot and is out of the game getting X-rayed.
Still, another big Pirates win is looming...even though Cole continues to struggle at locating pitches in the spots where he needs to put them. 7 straight wins for the Pirates!
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#46
06-30-2013, 04:40 AM
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8 wins in a row.
20 games over .500 First team to 50 wins. The current streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons (the longest in the history of any of the four major sports) is obviously toast. Now five straight home sell-outs. The crowds look pretty rowdy as well. The big home crowds and success will be especially key for Jeff Locke. He was not getting some calls on pitches that brushed the corner earlier in the year. He's got a lot of walks for someone who is tremendously accurate, because he tries to be too fine and almost never gives in. Everyone is expecting Locke to hit a wall and regress... I don't see it. He's a different pitcher than he's ever been since adding a turn to his delivery. Quite a few of his walks wouldn't have been walks if K-Zone graphics were used to call balls and strikes instead of live umpires. With a rowdy sell-out home crowd and the kind of stats he's posted this season, he's going to start to get more respect from the home plate ump. If the 50/50 calls turn his way in the second half of the season, he will prove the real deal, at least.
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#47
06-30-2013, 09:50 PM
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Great extra inning win today for the Pirates. Kind of sucks they had to get Locke up in the bullpen to pitch the 15th if it went that far, supposedly he'll skip his scheduled start on Tuesday because of all the work he did getting ready and they'll have to juggle the rotation around this coming week.
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#48
07-01-2013, 06:25 AM
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It's crazy that Locke is going to miss his scheduled start on Tuesday just because he warmed up between innings in the 14th inning.
The Pirates Bullpen ("The Shark Tank" as they're called) pitched 12 scoreless innings yesterday, giving up just 2 hits and allowing 0 walks. 9 wins in a row for the Pirates, seven of them came after this thread was started. Thankfully a day off today, as the bullpen got gassed yesterday because of the early rain delay.
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#49
07-02-2013, 08:33 AM
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Doug...do you know who is supposed to pitch tonight, or did they change direction and give Locke the ok to make his scheduled start? They're showing Locke at around a -165 on the line currently. I was thinking they might go with Cumpton tonight since they have used him a few times before as a spot starter but haven't heard or seen anything either way yet.
Last edited by Duvalier : 07-02-2013 at 09:53 AM.
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#51
07-02-2013, 10:35 PM
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Cumpton's young ... but he's started 3 MLB games now, and looked very good his first two times through the line-up in every game, and was pounded his 3rd time through the line-up in every game.
He has a losing record on a VERY good AAA team this year, and he's been hammered his 3rd time through the line-up in all 3 starts at the MLB level. I think his future is going to be as a long reliever from the bullpen if he doesn't start to put it together in the near future.
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#53
07-11-2013, 03:45 PM
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Another great job by Liriano last night. He certainly has exceeded my expectations so far this year.
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#54
07-14-2013, 12:48 AM
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Big win for the Bucs tonight. Tied for the best record in the MLB one game before the All-Star break.
Sadly though, Locke will miss his scheduled start tomorrow. His pitching performances have been absolute art this year. He's not shaken Russell Martin off once all year, Martin calls it, and he locates it with incredible precision and never gives in, no matter the count and no matter if the home-plate ump isn't calling strikes on pitches nicking the edge of the corners. It's Garret Cole instead tomorrow, who is the Anti-Locke ... and "locates" all of his far more electric stuff, right down the middle of the plate.
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#55
07-21-2013, 08:12 PM
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Locke improves his record to 9-2.
He gave up just 1 hit in 6 innings, lowered his ERA to 2.11 and broke his 17th bat of the season, on the road in Cincy. More importantly, the Pirates hit with runners in scoring position for the first time in recent memory.
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#56
07-21-2013, 09:51 PM
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It was a great job by Locke. I hope he can keep it up.
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#57
07-23-2013, 10:02 PM
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All-Star closer Jason Grilli injured in Pirates' 6-5 victory over Washington
The music was quiet. The discussions were hushed. And, at his locker, Jason Grilli stared ahead, not even flinching as passing teammates patted him on the back. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...ionals-696455/
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#58
07-27-2013, 10:52 AM
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Quote:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...-weeks-697001/
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#60
07-30-2013, 11:25 AM
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__________________
"A person who saw no important difference between the fire outside a Neandrathal's cave and a working thermo-nuclear reactor might tell you that junk bonds and derivatives BOTH serve to energize capital" - Nathan Israel
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