Hey, we won't blame the pitching for tonight's 5-2 loss to the Stro's. Poor Chris Jakubauskas was working with two out in the first when Lance Berman lined a shot that appeared to catch Jaku behind the ear.
He was downed for the count, and is under observation in a Houston hospital now. We pray he recovers well and quickly. The Pirate pitching staff, though, may not recover for awhile.
Jaku was brought up because of an overworked and already injury-bitten pitching corp needed some innings; instead, they are now completely discombobulated.
DJ Carrasco came in cold, and as to be expected, was smacked around. Still, he got into the fourth, and it was 3-1 at that point. For DJ, it was his eighth outing, and he already has more innings under his belt than anyone but Zach Duke and Paul Maholm.
The rest of the Astro damage was done against Jack Taschner, who was making his ninth appearance and gave up a two run homer to Pedro Feliz. They even brought in Daniel McCutchen to work an inning.
It may have been his day to work between starts; then again, with the way he's been going, the suits may be looking to add him to the bullpen. There have been those who believe that's where he always belonged, and the way the teams have hit him the second time around in the order may add some credence to that assumption. We'll see.
But it was a game that the Pirate attack needed to pick up the pitchers. Instead, they got just seven hits - six singles and a Jason Jaramillo solo homer - struck out ten times, and placed an almost impossible burden on the relief corps that's seen more overtime than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team is gonna have to make a move with the pitching. If McCutchen doesn't go Tuesday, it will likely be Brian Burres again. They don't seem in a rush to bring up Brad Lincoln or Donnie Veal, and Kevin Hart worked yesterday. Ohlie better get well soon.
The Pirates have now dropped five in a row, and to division rivals. The position players are all back; they have to help prop up the staff until it regains full strength.
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