Hey, you really didn't think Jeff Karstens was actually gonna win a game, did you? He put together his usual performance, six innings of hang-tough baseball, and got his usual reward - this time a loss instead of a no-decision.
Karstens hasn't won since June 19th. Since then, he's had six losses and three no-decisions in his last nine starts.
He gave up two runs, both in the second frame, when Ryan Ludwick homered and the pitcher, Wade LeBlanc, drove in his first MLB run with a two-out single. The inning should have been over, but Ronny Cedeno's flip to Neil Walker for the third out force pulled him off the bag.
JK only threw 86 pitches and retired the last dozen Padres; he was yanked for a pinch-hitter. And it cost; Wil Ledezema and Chris Resop each gave up a run in an inning of relief, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-1 loss.
Karsten's got a not too shabby (for a fifth starter) 4.39 ERA, but a 2-8 slate. Oh well, if it makes him feel any better, you can't really count on the Bucco bats to thunder all that often.
They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving runners on the corners in the second and third innings and a pair on in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Garrett Jones hit into a ninth-inning DP. The Bucs collected just seven hits, not nearly enough to offset their eleven K's.
San Diego only had six knocks, but two left the yard and they were 2-for-2 RISP. Ludwick was the main thorn in the Pirate side last night; he bopped a pair of solo homers.
James McDonald goes against Kevin Correia tonight.
-- Pedro batted cleanup for the first time in his Pirate career. He went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
-- "Nellie" King, the former Pirates pitcher, broadcaster and Duquesne University sports information director and broadcaster, died today at the age of 82.
King pitched for the Pirates from 1954-57, and broadcast with the Gunner and Jim Woods from 1967-1974.
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