Houston @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 16, 2010 ) Houston 5, Pittsburgh 2
Another terrible season just keeps getting worse for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The hapless Pirates will be looking to snap a seven-game slide when they face the Houston Astros again on Saturday.
With 17 straight losing seasons under its belt, Pittsburgh is now locked in a tight battle with the Baltimore Orioles to see which franchise can lose the most games this season and grab the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.
Last in the majors in runs scored and 29th in staff ERA at 5.10, the Pirates have been an embarrassment on both sides of the ball this season despite breaking in a slew of talented prospects.
Former first-round picks Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Lastings Milledge and Andrew McCutchen all dot the lineup along with former top prospects Jose Tabata and Andy LaRoche. While McCutchen has proven himself to be a keeper and Walker and Milledge have both shown flashes recently, the others have yet to establish themselves in any way.
Tabata and Alvarez were called up last month and will be given much more time to get their feet wet, but the losing attitude permeating the organization certainly hasn’t been a positive thing for the long list of prospects that have come before them.
The Astros are no one’s idea of a strong organization either. They currently sit 16 games below .500, but have had no trouble with Pittsburgh, winning each of the seven meetings between the teams this season by a combined score of 38-15.
Houston took the series opener on Friday, 5-2, as Brett Myers toyed with the Pirates through 7 2/3 strong innings.
Bud Norris will get the chance to do the same on Saturday as he looks to establish some consistency in the second half. The 25-year-old right-hander showed some flashes of dominance in the first half - allowing one run or less three times - but got knocked around plenty of times as well, yielding four earned runs or more seven times.
Norris has piled up the strikeouts - 69 in 63 1/3 innings - but has had trouble limiting base runners with 31 walks and 70 hits allowed. He made one start against the Pirates in his 2009 rookie campaign, earning a win after surrendering one run and six hits in six innings while striking out seven.
The Pirates will counter with hard-luck right-hander Ross Ohlendorf. The Princeton grad is just 1-7 on the season despite allowing three earned runs or less in nine of his 13 outings. The Pittsburgh offense has done the 27-year-old no favors, averaging just over two runs per game in Ohlendorf’s starts.
He was on the losing end on July 8 against Houston, allowing two runs - both on solo homers by Lance Berkman - in seven innings while striking out five. Unfortunately Roy Oswalt was even better on the other side, tossing a one-hit shutout. Ohlendorf is 0-6 in his career against the Astros with a 6.55 ERA in eight games - six starts.