Erik Bedard allowed four earned runs, three on solo homers, as the Pirates struck too late losing to the Nationals 7-4 on Wednesday night. Gio Gonzalez, a free agent pickup from Oakland whom the Pirates showed interest in, struck out 10 Buccos in 7 innings to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Adam Laroche was the Bucco-killer again with a home run and four runs batted in. Josh Harrison, the only real bright spot in the ballgame, was 2-4 with a home run and three runs batted in as well. The Pirates fell to 3 games below .500 with a record of 17-20.
The Nats struck first in the opening inning on a Ryan Zimmerman RBI groundout scoring Bryce Harper, who tripled the at-bat before. After an Ian Desmond solo home run, Josh Harrison drove in Yamaico Navarro with a single to bring the score within a run at 2-1 in the 5th.
Bedard struck out 4 consecutive batters before allowing back to back solo home runs to Adam Laroche and Xavier Nady, two former Bucs, as the Nats took control at 4-1.
Once again the Pirates struck back as Josh Harrison homered to left field with a runner on base inching the lead back to a one run deficit at 4-3. But Evan Meek, who was called up today for Alex Presley, walked three batters before giving up a bases loaded double to Adam Laroche in the bottom of the 7th to shut the door for good. Casey McGehee added a sac fly in the 8th as the final score ended at 7-4 Nats.
Josh Harrison is making a case for more playing time with Clint Barmes still struggling. Harrison has driven in 7 runs in his last 18 at bats. Not games, at bats. Barmes has driven in 6 runs on the entire season. Harrison provides a spark the Pirates may be lacking, and it is going to be hard to keep him out of the lineup in the next few days.
Look for Harrison to see more starts in the upcoming days as the Bucs will finish a 2 game set in Washington tomorrow night.
Posted by Rick Bauer
Please, some thoughts on Evan Meek.
ReplyDeleteI think it is all mental at this point for meek. He's seen a drop in his velocity and gets behind hitters too much. He's overthinking and just not pitching like the all star he was in 2010. At this point you have to stick with him but i think that should only be in mop up type duties for now. Let him pitch without the game on the line and get some confidence back. There's a chance Hammer is traded at some point so Meek's success may be vital.
ReplyDelete