Pirates vs. League's Best Pitchers

After a big time 12-2 loss yesterday, the Pirates are set to face Roy Halladay and the Phillies again tonight. Zach Duke takes the mound for the Pirates tonight, and I'm sure he knows that he has to have a great outing to have any chance of winning this one. The Pirates offense has been miserable this year, and Roy Halladay has been spectacular. Those things would normally add up to a loss for the Buccos, but they have shown the ability to play extremely well in games against big time pitchers. Let's take a look at some big time games last year when the Pirates faced the league's best pitchers.

June 2, 2009 against Johan Santana
2009 wasn't the best year for the 2-time Cy Young Award winner, but the 3.13 ERA and the 7.9 K/9 were still pretty impressive. Johan had 9 losses last year, and one of them came in this game against the Pirates. Santana pitched 6 innings and gave up 7 hits and 3 earned run to the buccos. Jason Jaramillo hit a home run in the 5th inning of that game, and Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche added RBIs of their own in the 6th inning to put the Pirates on top for good. The Pirates were very good at making contact that day, as only 3 batters (LaRoche, LaRoche, and Duke) struck out. They were also pretty patient at the plate, making Johan throw 85 pitches in those 6 innings. That game was played early in the year and only 3 of the Pirates that played in that game are currently on the roster (Andy LaRoche, Jason Jaramillo, Zach Duke). Duke had a very good outing going 7 strong giving up 1 run on 8 hits. He did not strike out 1 batter but he only walked 1. He earned the victory that day, probably one of the more satisfying ones of his career.

June 28, 2009 against Zack Greinke
Zach Greinke was one of the biggest surprises of the 2009 season, winning his first Cy Young award while posting an outstanding 2.16 ERA and striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings. On June 28 of that year, the Pirates gave him a good run for his money, but Greinke's Royals came out on top 3-2. Greinke went 6.1 innings that day, giving up 2 earned runs on 7 hits and striking out 3. 5 of those hits were picked up by someone named LaRoche, 3 for Adam and 2 for Andy. The other 2 hits came from Nyjer Morgan and Jack Wilson. The Pirates showed decent plate patience, seeing 80 pitches (50 strikes) from Greinke, who is one of the best control pitchers in the game. However, the Pirates didn't draw 1 walk. Andrew McCutchen was in the lineup that night and went 0-4. Charlie Morton made the start for the Pirates that day and went 5 innings. He surrendered 3 earned runs on 7 hits to the Royals, struck out 3 and walked none. The Pirates did lose the game by a run, but made a pretty valiant effort. The Royals bullpen shut them out for 2.2 innings after Greinke left the game and didn't allow a hit.

July 17, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
This one was probably one of the most memorable games of the Pirates 2009 season. Lincecum came into Pittsburgh and brought in a lot of fans just to see him. He is probably the most exciting pitchers in the league to watch and was coming off of a fantastic Cy Young season where he posted 2.62 ERA and 10.5 K/9. Garrett Jones gave Lincecum quite a rude welcoming into PNC Park when he hit a home run over the left field wall in the first inning to put the Pirates up 1-0. From there Lincecum was great and finished with the line of 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned, 10 strikeouts and 1 walk. Paul Maholm matched him pitch-for-pitch that game, one-upping him with 8 innings and allowing 1 unearned run on 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking none. That game would go to 14 innings and end with Garrett Jones' 2nd homer of the game. That late-night walk-off blast was one of the Pirates top highlights of the year and was a very exciting game for all who watched it.

July 27, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
Just 10 days after that game, Lincecum took the hill again against the Pirates. This time was a different story, Lincecum pitched a complete game giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 15 more Pirates. The Pirates RBIs came from Garrett Jones and Ryan Doumit that night, but it wasn't enough to get the win and the Pirates fell 4-2. Paul Maholm put together another pretty solid outing that night, going 6 innings giving up 8 hits and allowing 4 runs. He struck out 3 and walked 1. While that outing is respectable, it's not what you need to defeat one of the game's best pitchers.

The common denominator in those 3 games was the Pirates inability to score off of the relievers the other team sent out. The game against Greinke could have easily been won had they just settled down and get some runners on base and got a couple big hits against the Royals less than spectacular bullpen. It would seem that once a stud like that is out of the game, the hitters would have a new intensity to go out and be productive, but it didn't happen in any of those games.

That all leads us to tonight, when the Pirates face Roy Halladay. "Doc" is 6-1 this year with a 1.59 ERA, averaging 7.5 K/9. In his illustrious career, Halladay has an unheard of 52 complete games, he has 3 already this year. He has thrown over 100 pitches every game since Opening Day, and has averaged 114 pitches in his 3 complete games. Those games weren't against the best offenses (he faced the Astros, Braves, and Mets) but still impressive nonetheless. Halladay will probably not face another offense as bad as the one he will face tonight all year long. Seriously folks, the Phillies bullpen probably doesn't even have to show up tonight. However, stranger things have happened, the Pirates pitching has been very good in games against big pitchers, although it will be more of a challenge tonight against the big time offense the Phillies have, but that's why they play the games.

Roy Halladay has faced the Pirates 2 times his career, once in 2003 and once in 2008. The game in 2008 was a great one, as the Pirates beat the Blue Jays 1-0 in 12 innings. Halladay went 7 shutout innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 7, but Zach Duke (coincidentally) matched him by going 7 innings of his own, giving up 6 hits and striking out 4. The Pirates struggled against the bullpen again, but found a way to scratch out the winning run in the 12th when Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and scored on an error by shortstop John McDonald.

If the Pirates are going to win tonight and clinch their first winning road trip since 2007, Zach Duke is going to have to be nearly perfect. I wouldn't expect to be seeing any Pirates cross the plate while Halladay is on the mound, but it's possible that they could scratch out 1 or 2, which will have to be enough for Duke. It's very unlikely, but it should be fun to watch nonetheless.

Let's Go Bucs!