Well, that was exhausting. With Mark Melancon “unavailable” last night (we’ll see where things go from there), it seemed like the Pirates were in great shape after Rob Scahill got the last out in the sixth inning for Vance Worley. Caminero in the seventh, Hughes in the eighth, Watson in the ninth with a 4-1 lead seemed like a solid enough route, even after Caminero had trouble against these Cubs on Monday. Caminero pitched through a wintry mix of weather in the seventh inning that was so thick that my computer suddenly had trouble processing the image on its screen, but then Hughes (who’s been excellent this year), came in and ran into a ton of trouble, giving up a single to Antony Rizzo, a walk to Kris Bryant, and then two more singles to Starlin Castro and Miguel Montero. At that point, Tony Watson came in with a two-run lead, the bases loaded, and no one out, managed to escape the jam with only one more run scoring, then got through the ninth without incident. It shouldn’t have been that difficult, but I suppose a win is a win.
Before Hughes’ eighth inning adventures, it seemed like the main two things to talk about would be Francisco Cervelli, who continued his hot start at the plate with a key run-scoring double in the middle of the Pirates’ two-run second inning, and Gregory Polanco, who hit a laser-beam home run over the Clemente Wall for his first homer of 2015 to go with an early-game double. Polanco’s hit quite a few balls right on the nose against the Cubs this week, and I was wondering after that first inning double when we’d see him put a ball in the seats. As frustrating as this Cubs’ series has been, at least the Pirates’ offense has looked solid against Travis Wood and Jason Hammel.
Suddenly, I feel like I’m flashing back to last late-April/early-May. The Pirates are hitting the ball hard, they’re scoring runs, and once their starting pitcher comes out of the game, I have no idea what’s going to happen. Let’s hope that this game was a step in the right direction, even though it was a pretty rough road to the end and I have no idea what they’ll do for a bullpen this afternoon.
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