Of course, things are worse than they seem. The Pirates got drilled again. But the real story is that Neil Walker was drilled in the back of the head by the thigh or knee of Ryan Church and had to leave the game. Hopefully it isn’t anything that’ll keep him out too long.
It started okay, then got worse, then got okay again and then went down hill quickly.
Started okay – Bucs score twice in the first off of Oakland Starter Ben Sheets.
Got worse – Brad Lincoln with no help from a two out error from Walker gave up two first inning runs, too
Got okay again – Ryan Doumit’s RBI double in the third gave the Pirates a short lived lead
Down hill – Lincoln gave up the lead by yielding three hits and a walk in the third and then a triple and a sac fly in the fourth
Oakland batted around as part of a seven run seventh that blew the game wide open. D.J. Carrasco, Javier Lopez and Brendan Donnelley combined to scatter three outs among six hits, two walks and a wild pitch. The A’s score two more in the 8th off of newcomer Justin Thomas to seal it.
Lincoln gave up three earned runs (five total) in six innings. He walked two and whiffed one. Ben Sheets was the winner. He gave up four runs on 8 hits in six innings.
The Good
Walker was a triple shy of the cycle before getting hurt.
Welcome Justin Thomas.
Doumit and Garrett Jones each had two hits.
The Bad
Walker getting injured.
Pedro Alvarez earned the Golden Sombrero
Lincoln remains winless.
The Rest
Oakland shortstop Cliff Pennington had his fourth game with three or more RBI in 2010.
Sheets is now 9-8 versus Pittsburgh.
Like Walker, Coco Crisp also missed the cycle by a single knock. Crisp needed a tater.
Thomas made his Pirates debut. He was acquired off waivers from Seattle last fall. According to the 2010 Bucs Media Guide, Thomas went to a high school in suburban Toledo and now lives in a rural area south of Cleveland.
Former Buc Rajai Davis was 0-3 hitting out of the 9 spot for Oakland.
This was the 14th time in 2010 that the Pirates whiffed 10 or more times in 2010 (there were 28 occurrences in 2009). Buc hitters were walkless for the 7th time in 2010 (happened 8 times in 2009). Twice this month the Pirates have had a dozen or more whiffs and no walks (thanks Strasburg!).
