CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
Many things can change over the course of a season that can benefit a team. A different opponent every three games, about 50% of the games are at home, or even a change in roster can help out a team that is struggling. Well for the Pirates a change in scenery, opponent, or roster does not make the Pirates any better. In fact they just cannot stop losing.
The Pirates dropped another game yesterday, this time to interleague foe Detroit. The 6-2 loss was the Pirates sixth straight. They have also dropped 12 of their last 15 games.
Poor pitching and little hitting again was the story of the night.
Ross Olhendorf was looking for his first win of the season. Olhendorf now 0-4 in his starts was again inconsistent. While possibility the most talent pitcher on the Pirates roster, he continued to struggle with pitch control and consistency. He struck out six batters in his six inning of pitching and when he was focused went head to head with Detroit ace Justin Verlander, retiring 11 of the first 14 batters he faced in last nights game.
But when Ohlendorf struggled in the fourth and sixth innings he was beyond bad, giving up all 6 earned runs and more than half of DetroitÕs 12 hits in those two innings alone.
The fourth inning was a good example of his Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde composure. After getting the first two batters out, he gave up a solo homerun to Brennan Boesch. After that he gave up a pair of doubles and a single to give Detroit the 3-1 lead. While Ohlendorf raw talent in going to continue to gain him praise, he is going to cost his team even more games unless he learned to shrug off some of these bad plays early before they turn into game killing rallies.
Meanwhile the Pirates were held to five hits in last nightÕs ball game. The Pirates two lone runs came in the third and eighth innings off of plays by or that involved Andrew McCutchen. He finished 2 for 4 with an RBI and run scored. His RBI double with two outs in the second gave Pirates the early 1-0 lead. Then in the eighth inning McCutchen lead off the inning with a double. He would eventually score off a Garrett Jones RBI single that would come three batters later.
The Pirates will hopefully rebound tomorrow and end their losing streak Saturday evening as they continue their interleague series with Detroit.
