Tonight marked the rotation's 5th straight quality start. During this 4-game win streak, the Pirates starters are 4-0 with an ERA of 1.27. They have walked only 3 batters, and none in the last 2 games. The strikeouts haven't been overwhelming, but they've been there at a decent rate (5.4 K/9).
Good pitching streaks like this haven't been all that rare in 2011. However, the offense has struggled to put together consistent good games. They have done just that in these last 4 games. They have scored 5, 5, 10, and 6 runs respectively during the surge and are hitting .282 as a team. They are drawing walks at a good rate (3.75 per game) and are hitting .316 with runners in scoring position. That's a formula for success right there.
It certainly doesn't bode well for the Pirates that Pedro Alvarez is heading to the 15-day disabled list, but they were pretty much going without any production from his before anyway, so it shouldn't hold them down that much.
Andrew McCutchen has been tearing the cover off the ball, collecting 12 hits in his last 30 at bats (.400). Ronny Cedeno has been even better than that, hitting .414 in his last 9 games. Jose Tabata has back-to-back 2 hit games and looks to be getting back on the right track. With those guys getting on base, Neil Walker has had many opportunities for RBIs and he's taken advantage of them, collecting 8 RBI in his last 3 games. Walker is on pace for 108 RBI this season, a ridiculous number for a second baseman. Ryan Doumit is also joining the party, with 6 hits in his last 4 games and he is now the team leader in batting average with a mark of .294.
The Pirates are firing on all cylinders right now and it's fun to watch. After the 6-game losing streak that left a lot of Pirates fan demoralized, they have rattled off 4 very well played games and now have themselves back to 1 game under the elusive .500 mark. Paul Maholm takes the mound tomorrow against Rick Porcello to try to get the Pirates to extend the win streak to 5 and get the team to 23-23.
Here's the updated numbers. The Pirates have raised their team batting average to .240 and have their starters ERA down to 3.97, both numbers are encouraging and traveling in the right direction. Let's Go Bucs.
