Pirates In 1st Place in July! Karstens, Walker, McCutchen All Amazing



Yep that picture above is coreect. Your Buccos are in 1st place on the NL Central and we're in mid-July! No your not dreaming and neither am I. The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Houston Astros 4-0 in Houston in their first game back from the All-Star break.




post-gazette.com



The Pirates offense struck early, with Alex Presley leading off with a single, then stole second base. Presley then reached home to give the Buccos a 1-0 lead thanks to a RBI single by Neil Walker. That's Walker's 60th RBI of the season. He's on pace for over 100!

 The 1-0 lead would be all the Pirates would need thanks to a marvelous outing by starting pitcher Jeff Karstens. Karstens pitched a complete game shutout, throwing just 83 pitches! Karstens, now (8-4) on the season become the first Pirate to win five straight decisions in a season since Matt Capps in 2006. He has an ERA of 2.34 this year, but has been dominant in his three starts against the Astros, going 3-0 with an 0.41 ERA.

(Side note) Karstens' 83 pitches in a complete game shutout is the fewest in a 9-inning shutout since Aaron Cook only needed 79 in 2008.



Karstens is clearly the Pirate's best pitcher. If you disagree you just don't understand baseball. Go to the game when he pitches. He controls the pace of the game. Yes Charlie Morton has better stuff, a lot of pitchers do, but Karstens mental toughness makes him the better pitcher. If the Pirates have one game to win they have to give Karstens the ball.

As for the offense, the Pirates are still getting bye on small ball. They still don't have the power they need, but Andrew McCutchen has been an absolute superstar lately. McCutchen's two-run triple to center field came in the third inning and scored Presley and Chase d'Arnaud to make it 3-0. McCutchen now has 10 RBIs in his last five games.

I now believe McCutchen and Walker are one of the best hitting tandems in the National League.

The Pirates win mixed with with St. Louis's 6-5 loss to Cincinnati and Milwaukee's loss to the Colorado Rockies, means the Pirates are in a first-place tie with the Cardinals. This is the latest in a season the Pirates have been in first-place since July 17th, 1997!

So who's fired up! Do you believe now? Are you jumping on the bandwagon? There's plenty of room! Paul Maholm gets the ball tomorrow night. This is starting to get really, really exciting.



Lets Go Bucs!

Bonus thoughts:

Lyle Overbay stinks. I would either move Pedro Alverez to 1st base or allow Steve Pearce to be the 1st basemen when he comes back. I would trade to Overbay for anything. I mean a new washer and dryer. Dump his salary so PNC Park can drop the cost of Blue Moon drafts by a dollar.

Should the Pirates trade for a catcher? McHenry seems solid. Ryan Doumit is eventually going to come back, isn't he? Do you need a good hitting catcher to compete in the playoffs? I don't think so.

Should the Pirates get a right fielder? When Jose Tabata comes back they could just move either he or Presley to right. I don't see a problem with that.



The Pirates either need Alvarez to come back and hit for power consistently or need to get a proven power bat in this lineup. They might be a 30-90 guy away from being a real contender in the National League.

The Pirates should do whatever it takes for Paul Maholm to pitch only at home and Kevin Corriea on the road. Revise versa they suck.

After this season, the Pirates need to stop having dumb promotions like "Dog Night" at PNC Park. F Dog Night, F your dog , and F you if you like it.

Raise the Jolly Roger!



Raise the Jolly Roger!