Week 8

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This week was good because we won 5/6 and swept the red sox. It was bad because we lost our catcher and now have no catchers ML ready. Were now 11 games out of first and 8.5 out of the WC. Were also still underperforming based on our pythag record. Time to get hot.

The Mets pitching staff has seemingly turned into the best in the league. The Metropolitans ran off an outstanding 9 game winning streak before falling to the Braves in a close contest. They swept Marlins and took 3 of 4 from the Braves. This week the Mets outscored their opponents 30-15, showing the consistency of both the lineup and the rotation/bullpen.

The Mets starters were the stars this week. Barry looked like the Barry Zito of old, throwing a 9 inning, 3 hit shutout of the Braves this week. John Maine threw 2 8IP/1ER games, allowing 3 and 7 hits to the Marlins and Braves, respectably. Thomas Diamond is back in his stroke, shutting out the Marlins for 7.2 innings.

This week had the Orioles licking their lips.... two series at home against two of the worst teams in baseball, the Red Sox and White Sox. The week can be summed up by saying we outscored these two teams 61-9 over 6 games.

Game 1 vs the Red Sox was a 21-4 blowout, with Carlos Delgado going 4 for 5 with 3 Home Runs and 8 RBI. The team totalled 18 hits and 8 HR in this game, with 5 other players hitting home runs. O's followed this up by winning game 2 14-3, with the big firepower coming from James Loney, who went 4 for 5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Gotay chipped in 3 RBI, Delgado hit a Grand Slam, and Lester picked up his 6th win by giving up 2 runs in 6.2 IP. The offense slowed down in game 3, scoring only 2 runs, but Jerome Williams went 8IP giving up just 6 hits and 0ER for his 5th win.

Against the White Sox we gave up 2 runs in the 3 games. Livan pitched his second CG Shutout in a row, giving up just 3 hits over 9 innings. The offense scored 6, behind home runs from Ryan Howard and Luke Scott. In game 2 the Orioles got 15 runs on 12 hits and 5 walks, with some help from the White Sox who booted 3 errors, resulting in 11 unearned runs (yikes!). Loney had 5 RBI, and Howard and Renteria each knocked in 3. The pitching ace of this game was Zach Duke, who went 8IP with just 1 earned run. Game 3 was a pitching battle, as soon to be Long Reliever Travis Chick showed he belongs in the rotation somewhere. Chick went 8IP, racking up 6 Ks and giving up just 3 hits, 0BB, and 1ER. Chris Britton continue to dominate, pitching a scoreless 9th to lower his ERA to 1.08 and pick up his 11th save.

Next week we go on the road for our first test in a while, as we travel to Seattle for a series, and then move on to Texas to face several former teammates in a 4 game series.

This week was a disaster for the Cubs losing all 7 games to the Cardinals and Pirates as well as losing C.C. Sabathia for the rest of the year and Jose Castillo for the next week and a half. Hopefully top prospect Rolando Pascual can take Sabathia’s place in the rotation.

A Solid Week for the Pirates

May 30, 2010

PITTSBURGH, PA. (AP) - The Pirates finally looked like a professional ball club this past week as they've won 5 out of 7 and now have a 5 game winning streak. Their longest of the year so far.

Right now, the pitching is being thanked for their current hot streak. The pitching staff posted a 1.57 ERA during this winning streak, including two nasty shutouts.

"We're kind of in a groove right now," Pirates starting pitcher Matt Morris said. "I think we're just feeding off each other's success and just maintaining that sense of victory. We know we're a good team, it was always just a matter of putting it all together."

Next up for the Pirates, they head back on the road for a three game series against the Brewers and then a three game series against the Dodgers.