Great starting pitching. Great bullpen. Great defense. Just enough offense to make it work.
It was the formula that worked for the Pirates earlier this year. And though it is not the ideal recipe for sustained success (would it kill a team to get a few insurance runs, now and then) over the course of an entire season due to fluctuations of a tremendous number of variables, it could do wonders for a team down the stretch, and *ahem* in the post-season.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, these are the Cubs we're talking about. But the road to the postseason goes through the Cubs 7 times, and if you don't take advantage, your post-season stay may be painfully short.
Here are the first 4 of those 7 games, and the first 4 games of an 11 day homestand. The last homestand for the Pirates in 2013.
12 September - Cubs 1 Pirates 3 - Would you have believed me if I told you this would be the most comfortable win the Pirates would have all series?
What if I also told you the Pirates would win the series?
Jeff Locke came into this game looking to improve on his last start in St. Louis, a serviceable appearance and a decent return to the rotation against a solid lineup. Now he'd be facing the Cubs, a team with a medium-to-not good offense (21st in OPS).
Jeff turned some heads tonight. He had all of his pitches working, the change and the curve looked especially good, both in placement and movement, and his fastball was enough to get him by. This was really the first time we saw pre-all star break Locke since, well, the all star break. Honestly. He looked really really solid. The Cubs are no juggernauts offensively, but they're not pushovers either, and Locke dominated. 7 IP 1 ER 3 H 1 BB 5 Ks. 61% strike to ball ratio (which is about league average). Really heartening to see just 1 walk, control seemed to be getting away from him for a while. Also only 3 hits is fantastic, the Cubs just were off-balance all night, which is what Locke needs to do against the lineups he faces.
This was more than a serviceable start. He might not be this good each time out of course, but if he can stay within the boundaries of his last start and this one the rest of the way, he'll be giving the Bucs a chance to win each time out, and more. Great to see.
Byrd, Alvarez, and Mercer provided the RBIs in this one. Mercer knocked in Barmes after Clint singled in the eighth, nice little bit of SS offensive attack there. Mercer also made a fantastic play deep in the hole at short to get Jeff Locke out of the 6th inning. Nice scoop by Morneau too on that play, nice having him at 1st defensively so far.
Melancon closed it out for the save. Win #85.
13 September - Cubs 5 Pirates 4 - Too bad this ended in a loss, because the 4th inning was insane.
Score is 3-0 in favor of the Cubs.
Pedro Alvarez (who's starting to heat up a bit lately, at just the right time let's hope!) hit a ball deep to right-center, which took a weird bounce off the top of the wall. The Running of the Bull began, and Pedro steamed around the bases for an inside the park home run. Replays later showed that the ball bounced off a fan's hands, but no fan interference was called and the Cubs didn't even argue.
Almost immediately after, Martin pulled a ball deep into the left field seats.
And then, Garrett Jones, given a spot start in right field, launched a HR to center. 3 straight homers to tie the game. Absolutely crazy.
The Bucs took the lead in the 6th on an error. It was 4-3 after 6.
Morton was decent, coming off his abysmal start against the Cards. He made it through 5 innings and gave up 3. You'd like more length, but he kept the Pirates in it.
Wilson did his job in the 6th, but Grilli couldn't make it out of the 7th. He struck the first two guys out, but walked Valbuena on an at-bat that included a borderline pitch called a ball that could've ended the inning.
Then Grilli served up a 2 run shot to Anthony Rizzo. 5-4 Cubs.
Grilli has not looked amazing since his return, he hasn't seemed to be able to finish off innings. However he hasn't looked awful either, despite his decreased velocity. In his 3 IP since returning from the DL, he's racked up 4 strikeouts and walked 2. I think he's just been tiring faster, and as a result can't get out of an inning without giving up a couple hits unless it goes perfectly.
Grilli is a key piece to the bullpen, and I would love to see him settle into a role where he can be used in high-leverage situations. Unfortunately, he isn't there yet even though we thought he might be, and in this instance it came back to bite the Bucs.
The Pirates put a runner on first in each of the last three innings, but couldn't do anything else. Tough loss.
14 September - Cubs 1 Pirates 2 - What would Gerrit Cole do after the best start of his career thus far, the one that nabbed 82?
Cole was great again. Racking up another bushel of Ks, 7 in total. Cole gave up a first inning RBI double, that would've been a 2 RBI double if not for a stellar wall to plate relay by the Bucs. Cole settled down quickly after that, only allowing 3 runners to reach in the 2nd through 6th innings. He also struck out the side in the 3rd.
With the Pirates knotted in a 1-1 tie, Cole allowed the first two runners to reach in the 7th, and after a sacrifice the situation was 2nd and 3rd with one out. Cole got pinch hitter Dioner Navarro to strike out on a 96 mph fastball middle-in, and then induced a ground ball from Starlin Castro to the shortstop, also on the fastball, to get out of the inning unscathed. Cole was pumped, screaming and pounding his glove, he is so fun to watch.
Cole is just toxic when he has his slider working and is comfortable with it. He's been getting more comfortable with it recently, which is why his K% has skyrocketed, very cool to see. Cole still relies on his fastball the most though, which is why you see him go to it in higher pressure situations like the on in the 7th. However, as he's been using his breaking balls more, his fastball has gotten more potent, as the batters can't just sit on his fastball anymore. He pitches way better when he has his slider working next to a 96mph fastball than when he's not using his slider next to an 100mph fastball. The drastically high speeds and the movement differences really throw hitters off. The crazy part is he's still improving. Love it.
I also want to note a stellar play that Pedro made at third, where he knocked down Darwin Barney's line drive, picked it up on one bounce, and fired the ball to first with his momentum carrying him into foul territory. Pedro has had many errors this year, but he's still very good defensively over at third, because he can make crazy plays like that thanks to his great arm.
Tabata hit a HR in the 6th to tie the ballgame (Tabata's done a great job in the absence of Starling Marte), and Byrd hit an opposite field go-ahead homer in the 7th.
Watson got a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th. Melancon allowed a runner on a wild pitch strikeout (Melancon has just been filthy this year), but erased him on a double play to end the game and get Cole the victory.
Win #86.
15 September - Cubs 2 Pirates 3 - Liriano was great again. He actually had a no-no going for a while (into the 7th) but you could tell he was running out of steam even before then. He then allowed a homer to Castillo which tied the game at 2. Tough ending to a great start, but still a very good start overall.
Bryan Morris came into a tie game to relieve Liriano with an inherited runner on 1st, terrifying me briefly, but Morris actually retired the next 3 batters in a row. Also a good sign from a guy who's been struggling. I'm still very wary of him coming into high-leverage situations, but a few more appearances like the one today would do wonders for my opinion of him and the state of the bullpen as a whole. I'm not counting on anything from Morris personally, but anything good would obviously be a huge plus.
Justin Morneau knocked in the lead-taking run in the eighth, driving in McCutchen (who was hit by a pitch, then advanced to second on a single by Byrd) for his first Bucco RBI.
I love seeing different guys step up every game. It's obviously some guys more than others, but it says a lot about the Pirates this year that they can look to anybody on the team and say he has gotten a big hit for them when it counts, it shows that it's a dynamic team with contributors up and down the lineup, way different than we've seen in years past when it's been McCutchen and 6 or 7 no shows.
Also wow, that Byrd guy, huh. Man, what's gotten into that guy?
Farnsworth (look at me, saying I didn't want this guy pitching in high leverage situations near the end of a game) pitched a fine 8th, only walking a batter. And then Melancon came in. By then it was already over. 1-2-3 inning. Win #87. Bucs take the series.
Recap: Overall, great starting pitching (Locke, Cole, Liriano). Great bullpen (Watson, Wilson, Farnsworth, Melancon). Great defense (only one error, and a bevy of fantastic plays).
3 of 4. A successful weekend no doubt.
The Cards kept pace thanks to their 2 of 3 series win over the hapless Seattle Mariners (the Cards won a game in 10 innings over the weekend on a passed ball, yeesh) and the division is still tied at the top. The Bucs now host the Padres for 4 while the Cards head to Colorado for 4. Slightly easier matchup for the Bucs, but not by much. It's gonna be awfully tough to keep pace with the Cards when the Reds series start up. Gotta keep flooring the accelerator.
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