You had to wonder how long this would last and it was the world champs who put finally put the Pirates in their place. After a 4-2 start, Pittsburgh now sits at 4-5 after three straight losses to the Cardinals.
In all of the games, the pitching was there but the hitting wasn’t in a 2-0 loss. The Pirates were shutout on Monday and held to just three hits. Ian Snell had a nice start in which he gave up just a single run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts, but for all that, he ended up with the loss.
Yesterday, the Pirates blew a two game lead as Salomon Torres finally showed a chink in his armor when he gave up two runs in the ninth to send the game into extra frames. Then in the twelth, John Wasdin gave up the game winner in the twelth. A very good start by Tom Gorzelanny went to waste as he threw seven shutout innings and he gave up just four hits. Jose Bautista hit a solo homerun and Freddy Sanchez had three hits and a run in the 3-2 loss.
Today it was more of the same. Paul Maholm threw a solid game and gave up two runs on six hits in five innings and the game went into the ninth tied. Then Torres again blew the game and gave up a solo homerun as he took his first loss of the season. Chris Duffy had three hits and Jason Bay walked three times in the 3-2 loss.
The Pirates get a day off to regroup and then a struggling Giants team will roll into town. Zach Duke will get the start in the opener and this will be the only time all season Barry Bonds and his homerun parade will roll into town.
