OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Let the Kids Play

[cheesedanish87]

This feels a lot like last night's game so far.

Not taking advantage of these early opportunities.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

This feels a lot like last night's game so far.

Not taking advantage of these early opportunities.

Hopefully they do not give 10 runs past the 7th...

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, Weaver is living on the very outside edge of the zone and getting the calls. Hard to blame Bell too much because that's not a strike. Somebody needs to come up and sit on that outside pitch and just slap it down the line for a double. Still mostly doing a good job of working the count and getting good counts to hit in, but Weaver's a lot like Williams in terms of weak contact.

Impressive work from Williams to make sure and keep the damage to a minimum. We should have another run or two: Melky got screwed, and Frazier should have went all out if he was going to commit.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

This is bad.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

This is bad.

Reynolds hits for ,500... gets injured

 

[DanielPlainview]

This team is cursed

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I've already seen this episode!

 

[Scandale du Jour]

I've already seen this episode!

A few times.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Dyson should have struck out. Not much Williams can do in this inning except keep trying to make pitches. Luckily Escobar stayed at second and we might have a chance to limit the damage again.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

You almost couldn't script this as more on point and cliched for this absolutely cursed franchise.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Great AB from Cervelli there, but can Tucker square up vs a reliever? This feels like a big spot, Arizona's backend is pretty solid, but sometimes inheriting a guy, all it takes is a little bit of luck for it to turn into an opportunity to score multiple.

I'm not feeling very optimistic.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Alright. A lead-off walk. That means...a double play is coming.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Somebody hit a home run please

 

[DanielPlainview]

Ugh. The Pirates hits-to-runs ratio must be horrendous

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Not trying to excuse the offense, but half of that inning was on the unbelievably brutal umpiring. He screwed Frazier and then called the same exact pitch a ball one time and a strike the other vs. Bell. He's been bad all night, which only adds to the terribly thin margin for error we have self-imposed.

This won't be an absolutely devastating loss, but certainly will begin to cement a narrative about lack of execution and continued offensive woes. It doesn't help that Melky Cabrera would have had a HR in just about every other stadium.

Maybe we'll see some Cole Tucker magic in the 9th. Holland's numbers indicate he's been dominant, but I don't quite believe that.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

24 SOs in 56 ABs for Kang... ouch!

 

[DJ Spinoza]

There's not even any point in making a comment. We all know exactly the problems, and they were compounded by Hurdle inexplicably pinch hitting an ice cold Kang and an umpire who was abysmal all night. Tomorrow's even closer to a must-win, but this series has all the makings of the kind of momentum destroyer that we saw last year in road series vs. Philly and Washington.

 

[Winger for Hire]

"Ride or die with the vets"

-Clint Hurdle, probably

 

[DanielPlainview]

I am really surprised by Kang so far. Hopefully he picks it up soon and goes on a tear to make up for the slow start. They need his pop and against-the-grain hitting he brought before.

 

[TNT87]

No offense again.

 

[Winger for Hire]

No offense again.

None taken

 

[cheesedanish87]

I just don't get Hurdle.

I'm actually a believer in Kang, but i don't understand how you pinch hit Kang in that spot.

Another game of no offense.

I can't be the only one thinking about how much of a good fit Jones would be on the Pirates.

Jones signed for almost the same amount as Chisenhall.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

The savagery of the situation is that not only are we facing injury on top of injury and a lineup that just can't find consistency in the literal sense of healthy players, but then we're getting brutal umpiring, and a volatile situation with no margin for error which Clint can interject with his own stupidity as the cherry on top. All told, it's still not the end of the world – Brewers or Cards having a guaranteed loss softens the blow slightly – but the frequency of these kinds of games early on seems foreboding.

We might not have a an extensive 15-30 stretch or something, but we might be looping towards a slower drain back towards .500. We're now 2-3 on the homestand, and fighting to at least secure 3-4. There's a big difference between 3-4 and then 1-2 in the Dodgers series for a disappointing but not god awful 4-6 stretch. That washes more easily into a 162 game schedule, even though almost every single team will throw up a 3-7 at some point. Let's hope this isn't our time.

The optimistic spin on this is that Kela and Rodriguez are building good appearances, and everybody will lose these kinds of games. Just feels like the walls are really starting to crumble down.

 

[KIRK]

I just don't get Hurdle.

I'm actually a believer in Kang, but i don't understand how you pinch hit Kang in that spot.

Another game of no offense.

I can't be the only one thinking about how much of a good fit Jones would be on the Pirates.

Jones signed for almost the same amount as Chisenhall.

I can explain him as a manager to you in two words, if that helps . . . HE SUCKS.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Apparently Hurdle's defense of the move was that Kang had seen Holland before and Holland has reverse splits, which is true, but I'm still not quite sure I buy it. In fairness, Tucker did have some moments tonight where he was looking more like a rookie, but I think the move to Kang makes more sense if there's nobody on and we need a hail mary HR to tie it.

In any case, we've lost our edge on the division, as the Cards beat the Brewers again and will be going for the sweep tomorrow. They are trending up, and face the Reds in their next series, although the Reds have also improved as of late.

I'm honestly at a point where I'll be relieved just to stop the bleeding and salvage a game in this series, and take my chances with a really tough road series in LA to still steer this 10-game stretch to a solid conclusion.