Saturday, July 23, 2011

Notes

RHP Kevin Correia (11-7, 4.04) goes against the Redbirds' LHP Jaime Garcia (9-4, 3.11). The game starts at 7:05 PM and will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Ronny Cedeno SS, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Steve Pearce 1B, Matt Diaz RF, Brandon Wood 3B, Mike McKenry C, Kevin Correia P.

Pearce gets the call at first in what we assume will become a platoon situation with Lyle Overbay if he plays to profile and Chase d'Arnaud gets a seat in favor of Wood. Cedeno moves into the two hole; there are really no other fits within the lineup.

  • The Pirates will wear their Homestead Grays throwback unis tonight. Now if they can only channel into Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and the gang...
  • Why has Matt Diaz turned into an opposite field hitter with no power? Dejan Kovacevic of the Tribune Review provided a two word answer: bat speed.
  • Albert Pujols 27th homer at PNC made him the active leader for long flies at the Park. It's also the most he's hit at any opponent's field.
  • Pennant fever at its best: DK tweeted that the Pirate FO must step up and make a bold move to improve the team; Charlie Wilmoth of Bucs Dugout cautioned against going all in for 2011. A civil war of words has broken out on Twitter (both guys are highly respected in the Bucco media/blogger community and political debaters could take away a Pittsburgh lesson in disagreeing without being disagreeable). Kovacevic says pull the trigger: there are impact players available for a combo of cash and lesser prospects without specifically naming any, though we're sure he's right. Wilmoth says the teams' best days are ahead of it; don't jeopardize the future. The biggest hurdle for both sides is that they would like to see some action now while the Pirates are involved in a tough stretch of games, but selling teams try to maximize their returns by taking bids until the deadline is well near nigh. Still, it's not a debate often enjoined in Pittsburgh.
  • You think a successful stint in the show doesn't translate? Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects tweeted that LHP Daniel Moskos has pitched eight shutout innings since being optioned back to Indy, with one hit allowed, two walks, and six strikeouts.
  • Ramon Vazquez was released from the Blue Jays' AAA team and Robinzon Diaz was assigned to the AA Frisco Roughriders by Texas. Those guys were part of the Pirate bench in 2009; how times have changed. But the Jays do like another Pirate castoff. They just called up LHP Wil Ledezma according to Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports.


New Bucco vid snipped from "Pirates of the Caribbean." Nice job by the PR folk at PNC; it sure fired up the fans last night. 

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