Well, so much for that. After an encouraging 8-run outburst last night, the Pirates were shut down completely by Johnny Cueto today. Cueto struck out nine Pirates in eight innings, holding the Bucs to just four singles and only one walk. Against Jeff Karstens, that effort was plenty to get the Reds their second win in the three-game series against the Buccos.
So the offense is a problem. It’s a big problem. Not only were the Bucs shutout in two of three games against these Reds, they failed to register an extra base hit in both of the shutouts. They haven’t hit a home run in a week now, since Adam LaRoche’s two dingers against the Padres closed out the series win in San Diego last Sunday. It’s hard to imagine the offense having a worse week.
On the bright side, Jesse Chavez and Evan Meek continued to pitch very well today, shutting out the Reds over the last four innings after Karstens got yanked. Maybe the offense will be as bad as we expected coming into the season, but hey, that doesn’t mean the bullpen will be!
Yep. I’m grasping at straws. What’s that? The Brewers are coming back in to town tomorrow? Crap. This is why the MLB plays a longer schedule than the NFL, I guess.
