It was not hard to imagine the Pirates getting beaten tonight. Todd Wellemeyer was 3-0 in five starts against Pittsburgh in 2008. Zach Duke has been underwhelming since his rookie campaign and he hadn’t beaten St. Louis since tossing a complete game eight hitter back on August 11, 2006.
Naturally, Duke pitched solid ball for 6-1/3 innings, giving up three runs, but just one earned. St. Louis scored two runs with the help of two miscues from Ryan Doumit. He had a passed ball and the rare catchers interference in innings in which the Birds notched two of their three tallies off of Duke.
The offense, however, didn’t let Duke’s efforts go to waste. The Pirates put up four runs in the second off of Wellemeyer with five singles and two walks. Nate McLouth added a two run tater off reliever Brad Thompson
Freddy Sanchez had four hits and an RBI. Jack Wilson had four hits and knocked in two.
Andy LaRoche sat down tonight. Are two games enough to say he is struggling? Don’t disagree with the move. A third straight bad game might put him in a month long funk. Here’s hoping he breaks out of it.
