There was no walk off homer tonight and the Pirates two arguably best hitters as of late (Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez) went hit less. But one man was on his game in a big way. Jeff Karstens spun a gem to give the Pirates their first four-game sweep since they swept Milwaukee in May 2006 and the first four-game sweep of the Astros since July 1979.
“For young kids out there watching a guy pitch, that’s what it was,” Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle said. “It was location, command, changing speeds and staying out of the middle of the plate. Very efficient outing.”
Karstens was also happy with his performance in his third game back from the disabled list. He worked eight innings allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out eight Astros. But why pull him after the eighth inning?
“Just so we could have questions,” Hurdle said jokingly. “It’s his third start of the season actually. He’s re-booting his season. We did have a little discussion. I think if it were anyone but Joel (Hanrahan) getting the ball, he may have balked at it, but eight up and downs for him, last time it was seven. We thought it was a good place to end it for him tonight.”
Karstens however, thought he could have finished the game off.
“It’s one of those things where I felt like I could have (finished), but if a guy gets on they bring Hanrahan in,” Karstens said. “I know if I were a reliever, I wouldn’t be very happy that I would have to come in and clean up this guys mess. Just give him a clean inning, let him do his job and we got the W.”
Karstens feels he is getting back to where he needs to be, but said he couldn’t do it on his own.
“I can’t say I’m doing it all on my own,” Karstens said. “Rod and McKenry, I had Rod the first game and I can’t say enough about the job McKenry is doing behind the plate. The first game, I felt I was a little behind the hitters and stuff like that.”
It would be easy to say the Pirates are now 10 games over .500, but when is the point that we stop mentioning how many they are above? If they reach 20 games, do we say the Pirates are now 20 games over .500 at 56-36? It looks like this team is here to stay.
“It’s your job with the media to mention what our record is and it’s the fan job as well,” Jared Hughes said. “I think in terms as us as players, we have to take it one game at a time definitely. Do we really have to focus on what our record is? No, we have to focus on winning tomorrow.”
Hughes does however feel that this team will be in the running when all is said and done.
“Yes,” Hughes said with a wide-eyed smile. “Definitely. I didn’t get here until September last year, but I can tell you right now, this group of guys we have are in shape and ready to finish.”
Regardless of how many over .500 they are, the team just keeps winning and continues to improve on their Major League best 27-13 record at home.
To finish off the unofficial first half of the season before the All-Star break, the Pirates will welcome in the San Francisco Giants and a plethora of good pitching. The good news, they miss Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner. The bad news, they still have to face Barry Zito, Ryan Vogelsong and Tim Lincecum – three former All-Stars and two former Cy Young winners.
“Good pitchers make less mistakes,” Drew Sutton said. “That makes it even more important to take advantage when they do make mistakes. You’re going to need some breaks facing pitchers like that. You really just have to bear down and grind out the at bats against their really good pitchers.”
Taking the mound for the Pirates in the series opener will be Erik Bedard (4-9, 4.57 ERA) as he looks to rebound from a rough stretch of starts. Opposing him will the be the aforementioned Zito (6-6, 3.84 ERA) for the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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