Thursday, July 5th, 2007 by Adam Wagner
A Winning Streak?
Well, well, well, just as I was getting ready to turn in my Pirates’ fan card they go out and win a few ballgames against the best (or second-best, depending on whether you live in New York City or not) team in the National League. The two aces came through nicely and a replacement level pitcher did something that a former phenom had not been able to do all season, namely get hitters out. The Pirates’ 5-3 victory yesterday and 6-3 triumph today are very good, certainly, but remember that the Pirates own the Brewers in PNC and that they are still nine games under .500 (38-47) and that the Brewers are the first team with a winning record that the Bucs have won a series against all season.
The fact of the matter is that the Pirates have two of the best pitchers in baseball right now and the single hottest hitter, who does the same thing this time every year. There is no question but that Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell both belong in the All-Star Game. These two have beaten some of the best teams in baseball while pitching for one of the worst teams in baseball. For proof of just how good the two have been, look at their records (7-5 for Snell, 9-4 for Gorzelanny). Perhaps the most impressive fact about this series, though, is that Gorzo and Snell clearly did not have their best stuff in the beginning of the game, whether it was the Brewers’ three-run first yesterday or Gorzo’s struggling through five or six innings, according to Doumit, today’s catcher. Both pitchers battled through it and got better as the game went on (look at Ian Snell’s final batter/battle with Prince Fielder yesterday; if you need evidence of a pitcher having cajones, there it is) and that is what ace pitchers must accomplish. As good as the two pitchers were the past two days, though, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit have been better.
LaRoche is finally putting the team on his back and becoming the leader that has been missing since Jason Bay started sucking. This was perhaps most evident when LaRoche told the fans to lay off of Bay, as they have started booing the struggling leftfielder on a regular basis. The effort is appreciated, but the message not so much. Bay just doesn’t look right out there and if there is something wrong with him it is his responsibility and that of the organization to make sure that he is okay. He is, after all, the star of the team and should be treated as such. LaRoche, however, seems to be remembering what it feels like to be on a team that plays winning baseball from his Atlanta days and is going to do all that he can to somehow replicate that here in Pittsburgh. His efforts must be given props and, hopefully, with a lot of luck they will turn out to be successful.
LaRoche is becoming a more aggressive hitter, something that the rest of the team is already a little bit too much of. Maybe they should take a cue from their newly minted slugger of a first baseman and change strategies at the plate, with LaRoche becoming more aggressive and everyone else becoming more patient.
Speaking of other Pirate hitters, Xavier Nady came through with a three-hit day today and was 4-for-7 over the last two games, further solidifying himself as the team’s most valuable (well, for the moment consistent, player). Ryan Doumit continued to rake, blasting two balls out of the yard over the last two days, both from the left side of the plate. Honestly, why does the dangerous lefty even try to hit right-handed? The difference is so profound that Doumit goes from being a solid starter as a lefty to being borderline as a righty.
This series is certainly something that the Pirates can take pleasure in, but they must set their goals higher than having another winning second half. They should be aiming at the Brewers and that has to continue tomorrow with the second-place Cubs, apparently a dangerous team now instead of the cute little toy that they were before, coming into PNC
Park for a three-game set before the break. Tomorrow, the Pirates will send the possibly resurgent Paul Maholm to the mound against the even more dramatically resurgent Jason Marquis. Seems like bad news, but then again so did the Brewers.
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