You know, I thought I wrote this up last night (meaning I did write this up last night), but I have no idea where the post went. It’s clearly nowhere to be found on the internet. Anyways, some days, everything just clicks. Yesterday was one of those days for the Pirates. Before the game started, I wrote two things:
- [Andy LaRoche] certainly looked like someone that’s ready to break out a little bit last night.
- Do you think someone will mention to John Russell that Monroe hit .138/.219/.230 against lefties last year in basically the same role that he’s playing for us? I hope so.
So I’m hitting .500 with pre-game predictions. I think I can live with that, given Craig Monroe’s six RBIs yesterday. Before his six RBI explosion in the sixth and seventh innings, Andy LaRoche doubled in the first run for the Pirates, then added another double, a single, and another nice play in the field. Does he actually have a switch that someone threw on Thursday? I think he might.
The story of yesterday’s game was Ian Snell, though, because of the seven shutout innings he threw at a hobbled Braves’ lineup. Sort of like Paul Maholm on Friday, Snell’s final line didn’t look great (just three strikeouts to go with three walks over seven innings), but it certainly got the job done as it kept the Pirates ahead until Craig Monroe decided to dial up 2004.
I know the Braves’ lineup is pretty punchless without Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar, but three shutouts in the first five home games? This is kind of weird.
