CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
Last night was just not Zack Dukes night. The reliable Duke had his first bad start of the season in route to an 8-0 loss. In the five plus innings he pitched last night, he allowed 7 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), 4 walks, and 3 homeruns. In addition he also struck out three batters and hit a batter during his start.
But as lousy as Duke was yesterday it was Brewers pitching that really stole the show. Starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo’s would get the game started by strikeout ten batters and allow only three hits in his five innings of pitching. His replacement Villanueva would strike out an addition three batters allowing just one hit in his two innings before turning it over to the setup man Coffey and closer Hawkins that were perfect in their rolls shut out the Pirates.
This harps on a larger problem, as the Pirate’s cumulative batting average is .237 ranking them 22 in the Major League. Some experts point to the fact the Pirates 4 though 6 hitters, Garrett Jones, Ryan Doumit and Jeff Clement, are not producing.
After getting off to a great start against the Dodgers, Jones is batting .208 and has not homered in the past 12 games.
Doumit is batting .214 and already has 12 strikeouts this season. Doumit did get a hit today, but that makes just 3 hits in his last 25 attempts.
Meanwhile Clement is struggling as a newcomer, hitting .135 and his have little success getting the ball out of the infield.
With the Pirates struggling to get any runs on the board the 4 though 6 hitters are going to have to start pulling more weight in the batters box otherwise they might find themselves facing competition for their starting spots come May.
The Pirates finish up their home stand Thursday at 12:35pm.
