Beer Men Walk to Victory
The Brewers dominance over the Pirates continued as Ian Snell was unable to get the ball over. He walked five and gave up three doubles in five innings to allow Milwaukee to score five runs. He was pulled after walking the first two hitters in the sixth inning. Jesse Chavez relieved and threw 15 of his 22 pitches out of the strike zone. He was charged with one run during the three run sixth that blew open a 3-2 game.
The Pirates were unable to do much against Jeff Suppan. He went 5-2/3 and allowed five hits and three runs. One of those hits was a dinger from Freddy Sanchez.
J.J. Hardy drove in four runs for Milwaukee.
The Good
Sanchez continues to swing the hot bat.
Andy LaRoche’s BA is now higher than his brother’s. Wait, maybe that isn’t so good.
The Bad
Snell’s wildness. The animated scoreboard at Riverfront stadium used to play a “Walks Will Haunt” message showing a ghost strolling to first base whenever a Red was walked.
Two games under .500
The Rest
This was the seventh time that Hardy has driven in four runs or more in a game. Last time was 7/6/08 when Milwaukee pounded Zach Duke.
This was Suppan’s sixth straight winning decision against Pittsburgh. He has not lost to them since 8/11/06 when he was with St. Louis. His career mark against the Buccos is 13-3 – his most victories against any single opponent. His career mark at PNC is now 10-5.
Sanchez’ third homer of the year gives him 15 XBH on the season. His fifteenth extra base hit in 2008 didn’t come until June 14th.
The Pirates surrendered ten walks in the game. Last time they gave up more than that was 9/18/08 when they yielded 11. The Pirates gave up nine walks to Milwaukee earlier this year on 4/28. Milwaukee got 8 walks from Pittsburgh on 4/27.
On the flip side, the seven walks that Pittsburgh drew is a season high.
Weeks Homer in the 9th Puts Brewers on Top
The Pirates bullpen faltered in the worst possible way. The bullpen blew a lead of two runs in the 8th only to watch the offense put one on the board in the bottom half. But that skinny margin heading into the 9th wasn’t enough as Matt Capps allowed a three run homer to Rickie Weeks that broke a 4-4 tie.
Paul Maholm had allowed just one run through seven. After giving up a one out walk in the 8th he was pulled. One out later, the Brewers rallied against John Grabow with a two run double from Ryan Braun tying the game.
The Pirates came up with a clutch hit of their own with Jason Jaramillo doubling in Ramon Vazquez in the home half of the 8th.
But that wasn’t enough for Capps. He loaded the bases with a single and a couple of walks before allowing the tying run to score on a sac fly from Notre Dame’s Craig Counsell. Weeks followed with his game winning tater.
The Good
Maholm was sharp again. He struck out seven and walked one while giving up five singles and a double.
Speaking of doubles, Freddy Sanchez added two more to his season’s total – 12.
Andy LaRoche hit his first homer of the year.
Nate McLouth had three hits.
The pitching staff reached a season high with 10 whiffs.
The Pirates scored off of Yovani Gallardo.
The Bad
The Pirates to longest standing bullpen stalwarts both failed.
The Rest
This was the first time that Capps allowed four earned runs in one appearance. The only time he allowed four runs was 9/6/06 when the Cubs notched four runs (but just three earned) off of him.
Capps’ last blown save at PNC was 6/10/08 when Lastings Milledge hit a two run, two out homer to win it for Washington.
