CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
Perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the Pirates season happened yesterday as long awaited prospect Pedro Alvarez made his debut. Unfortunately his debut was marred by six errors in the 7-2 loss.
Alvarez went 0-2 though he did score after being walked in the fifth inning. And from his performance tonight it is clear the Pirates have him as part of their foundation for the future, but will take some time for both Alvarez and the team to get there.
The loss tonight can be blamed on the usual suspects. Duke struggled again on mound giving up five earned runs in his 5 and 2/3 innings and the offense went quiet scoring only two runs on five hits tonight.
But the story of the night was the six errors all coming in the seventh inning or later. Surprisingly the errors did not cost the Pirates the game, rather it added to their misery.
The Pirates committed errors in the seventh and eight inning, but were able to rebound from those mistakes, but down 5-2 in the ninth they committed 4 of their 6 errors allowing two runs to score in the process. In fact White Sox left fielder Juan Pierre would advance to each base on or during an error by the Pirates.
Each infield position except for first baseman Garrett Jones had an error during these final three innings.
The Pirates have lost 10 straight, which ties the longest under John Russell management. His 2008 team also lost 10 straight in August of that year.
