The Pirates are looking to capitalize on the historic outing by A.J. Burnett last night in hopes of taking the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Think historic is a bit much? Not so fast. Burnett became the first pitcher since Nick Maddox on September 13, 1907 to throw at least seven shutout innings, striking out least seven in his Pirates debut. Yes, it was historic.
The other big acquisition from the off-season Erik Bedard will take the mound today for the Pirates. Bedard, 0-3 on the season, has suffered from a lack of run support this season. The Pirates average 1.06 run support for Bedard this season, dead last in the Majors. Compare that to 14.29 that Clay Buchholz receives from the Red Sox to put it in perspective.
Bedard has kept his head about the lack of support, but it has to be taking it’s toll on him. Bedard has done a good job of getting ahead in the count this season and establishing his curveball early. In his last start, he got in too many three-ball counts against Arizona, and will have to limit those today. Without Alex Presley or Rod Barajas in the lineup today, it’s important for Bedard to be on point once again to give the Pirates their best chance at winning.
Taking the mound for the Cardinals will be their opening day starter Kyle Lohse. Lohse has an impressive 2-0 record and a .89 ERA for the Red Birds so far on the season. With Chris Carpenter still recovering from injury, and Adam Wainwright still trying to find his groove, Lohse has served as the teams interim ace early in the season.
Three things to watch:
1) The Pirates offense – With Pedro Alvarez carrying the team last night (that just sounds weird), the Pirates will need to get at Lohse early to have success. If Bedard gives up two runs and falls to 0-4 on the season, you have to wonder how long he’ll keep up the ‘that’s the way it goes’ front.
2) Pirates bullpen – Juan Cruz, Tony Watson, Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan pitched two scoreless innings last night to preserve the win for the Pirates. The bullpen has been exceptional all season, but has also been overworked early on. If Bedard can give them six-seven strong, the bullpen will look to keep the Cards off the table once again.
3) Execution – Last night, the Pirates blew an opportunity late in the game with a blown double steal by Alex Presley and Jose Tabata. Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said that he gave the players the green light, and that he may have gotten greedy, but they need better execution on the backend of the attempt. The problem I have with it is the Pirates had just a two-run lead and had their best player, Andrew McCutchen up at the dish. Yadier Molina made a great throw to gun out Tabata at second and end the threat.
St. Louis Cardinals (10-5) at Pittsburgh Pirates (6-8)
Kyle Lohse (2-0, 0.89 ERA) vs. Erik Bedard (0-3, 2.65 ERA)
First pitch 1:35 p.m. ET
Pirates lineup:
McLouth 7
Tabata 9
McCutchen
Walker 4
Jones 3
Alvarez 5
Barmes 6
McKenry 2
Bedard 1
Photo credits: Getty Images
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