After taking three out of four from the defending NL Central champion Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates took their 8-8 record into Sun Life Stadium in Miami last night to battle the Florida Marlins. However, their momentum was stopped dead in its tracks as the Buc’s ran into one of the best pitchers in the game, Josh Johnson.
Coming into Tuesday’s contest, the Pirates knew runs were going to come at a premium. Florida ace Josh Johnson had only allowed eight hits in four starts leading up to the game last night and needless to say, he did not disappoint. Working ahead of batters and mixing in his array of off-speed pitches made Johnson nearly unhittable.
Pirates’ batters were clearly baffled at the plate early on as Johnson took a no-hitter into the 5th inning before being broken up by a Garret Jones single off the top of the right field fence. Pitchers like Johnson don’t come around often and it is certainly a shock to see such a big man throw as hard as he does with finesse to spare. Nibbling at the corners all night, the Pirates struggled putting much good wood on the ball. Johnson would finish with nine strikeouts in seven innings of work and only surrendered two hits.
Granted, there are only a handful of these shutdown guys in the game, but knowing that, Pirates hitters should have jumped on Johnson early in the count. Too many times did they take a called first strike on a fastball. Once Johnson gets that pitch over, he’s in the drivers seat for the rest of the at-bat. Pittsburgh hitters cannot allow the pitcher to dictate at-bats like such. Swinging early in the count is imperative against a pitcher like Johnson because although it may not drive his pitch count up, it certainly gives the hitter a better chance at getting a quality pitch to hit hard.
Like anything else, it is all a learning experience. The Pirates got their first taste at a legitimate, bona fide Ace. If they hope to right the ship it is going to take solid performances against top of the rotation guys from the entire lineup. The Pirates are not good enough to depend on the three-run homer like many teams do. Hopefully with this loss Pirate hitters can learn and make adjustments for the next time they face a pitcher of the highest caliber.
The Pirates take on the Marlins again tonight at 7:10 pm.
written by Shane McFarland
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