Pirates still punchless in losing 7th in row
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The Pirates' offseason wish list, as far as offense goes, is to add a left-handed power bat.
That would be welcome, no doubt. And if that player happens to possess some hybrid combination of Barry Bonds' eye, Ted Williams' efficiency and Babe Ruth's majesty, it might even catapult the team into contention.
When viewed through a prism other than pure fantasy, though, it clearly will take much more, as was evident again in a 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros yesterday at rain-soaked PNC Park.
The Pirates managed four hits in Roy Oswalt's seven silent innings, then one against the bullpen. That gave them zero runs and eight hits over the final 19 innings of Houston's three-game sweep.
"We couldn't do anything offensively," manager Jim Tracy said. "We had two guys get all our hits."
Three belonged to Jack Wilson, who quietly is batting .301 since the All-Star break. The other two came from Jason Bay. The rest were a combined 0 for 24 with eight strikeouts.
And that underscores the primary problem with the offense: It is partly the lack of power, partly the lack of strike-zone command, but largely a lack of depth. If the usual suspects falter -- as happened yesterday when Freddy Sanchez went 0 for 4 to drop his National League-best average to .344, just four points ahead of the Florida Marlins' Miguel Cabrera -- there is little fallback.
Consider that the Pirates, even while going 35-34 since the break, have seen their offense diminish from that 30-60 first half: They scored 4.56 runs per game before the break and have 3.97 -- lowest in Major League Baseball -- since then. Home runs are down from 1.04 per game to 0.68. The batting average, which ranks near the league's middle, is down from .266 to .259.
During the losing streak that is now at seven, they have been limited to two or fewer runs five times.
Still, perhaps because of a recent tendency toward timely hitting, the team's view of the offense is upbeat.
"We are definitely growing," Tracy said. "On most days, when you look up there, you'll see hits on the board. And baserunners. And these guys that we have, they're going to keep getting better. Now, are there some things we need to look into? And could that make the situation much, much better? Sure, it could."
He paused.
"But are we talking about a number of things? Uh-uh. No. It's close. It's a lot closer than a lot of people want to think."
Bay was asked how much that coveted left-handed power bat would mean, particularly to him and Sanchez.
"It would be huge," he replied. "If you look at what we have, we probably don't have the sexiest lineup in the league, but we score some runs. If you put one more bat in there ... we might not go from four runs a game to 10, but it might get us one or two more. And, as you've seen, when we pitch like we can, we'll be in position to win a lot more games."
This one seemed winnable for a while, but only because Tom Gorzelanny was perfect through 41/3 innings. But, after a strikeout of Luke Scott to open the fifth, he lost control the rest of the inning and gave up all three of Houston's runs and all three hits.
Chris Burke, Jason Lane and Adam Everett singled, the latter bringing the game's first run. Brad Ausmus was hit by a pitch to fill the bases, and Gorzelanny walked Oswalt on five pitches.
"I was just trying to throw it in there and let him hit it," Gorzelanny said. "I approached him a lot differently than I should have."
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photosFreddy Sanchez went 0-for-4 yesterday after recording six hits in the first two games against the Astros.
Click photo for larger image.
More Coverage:
Pirates Notebook: Bay would have welcomed more clutch
Scouting Report: Cincinnati Reds
Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic
Matchup: Pirates (Zach Duke 10-14) vs. Reds (Aaron Harang 15-11), 7:05 p.m.Where: PNC Park
TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh / KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.
There were fewer than 500 in the stands after a rain delay pushed the starting time from 12:35 p.m. Eastern to 4:01 p.m. -- believed to be one of the longest delays to start a game in Pirates history. LAST GAME: Last night, Sanchez went 0 for 4 against the Astros..
Freddy Sanchez,Pirates.344
Miguel Cabrera, Marlins.340
Matt Holliday,Rockies.331
NEXT GAME
After another out, he walked Morgan Ensberg on a full count to put the Astros up, 3-0.
Gorzelanny, making his third start since missing a month to elbow tendinitis, put up two more zeroes to finish with seven innings.
"I don't think there's any doubt in our mind that his arm is as sound as can be," Tracy said. "He just had a little lapse and, against Roy Oswalt, that's all it takes."
For sizzling Houston, the victory was the ninth in a row and, coupled with St. Louis' 9-4 loss to Milwaukee, moved the Astros within a half-game of the first-place Cardinals.
First pitch of the game was delayed by an epic three hours, 26 minutes because of rain. The unusually long wait was to accommodate the Astros, who would have had to fly back to Pittsburgh Monday -- the day after the regular season -- if a makeup game were deemed necessary.
"I kept looking at the weather reports in here, and I applaud the Pirates and umpires for showing a lot of patience," Houston manager Phil Garner said in his office. "I don't think anybody really wanted to come back."
Not many wanted to come in the first place, apparently: Only about 500 of the 12,671 who bought tickets were in attendance.
First Published September 29, 2006 12:00 am
