Home Warriors

One night after pushing a pin into the artificially inflated playoff hopes of the Atlanta Braves, the Pirates put the squeeze on another fringe playoff team, the Houston Astros. The 5-3 victory came in the Friendly Confines of PNC Park, where the Bucs are 33-30, and a solid match for most teams in the NL.

The game followed what has suddenly become a satisfying formula: decent starting pitching
(6 2/3 IP, 3 ER from winner Paul Maholm), timely hitting (3 hits for Jason Bay, who is emphatically back on track; 2 hits and 2 runs scored for Chris Duffy, who is showing signs of settling into his leadoff role), and shutdown relief work, with another suspense-free ninth from Mike Gonzales (24 for 24 in save opportunities).

The Astros were struggling coming into the series, having lost nine of 12. The Pirates have been quite good at extending the misery of struggling teams this year. Of the six series they have won since the All-Star break, all but one have come against teams in the midst of a rough patch:

• July 14-16: The Washington Nationals had lost four of five.
• July 17-19: The Colorado Rockies had dropped seven straight.
• July 24-26: The Milwaukee Brewers had lost nine of 11.
• July 28-30: The San Francisco Giants had dropped four straight.
• August 11-13: The St. Louis Cardinals had lost 10 of 14.
• August 21-23: The Atlanta Braves had split their previous six games.

The numbers demonstrate the weakness of the National League, which in turn offers some hope for the Pirates in the future. In the past, dominant teams beat up on lesser lights like the Pirates, particularly in August and September as the playoff races heat up. It appears this year, however, that a struggling team with playoff aspirations facing the Pirates will not be able to count on easy victories -- particularly in Pittsburgh.

As the Buccin' Ear noted above, some of the elements of a truly competitive team appear to be coalescing for the Pirates, although it is far too early to get overly excited. The team needs to nurture its young pitching, keep the bullpen intact, and let the current lineup play out the season so that a reasonable evaluation of the team can be done during the winter. The fans have not deserted this team, and management needs to reward their patience in the offseason by making acquisitions based on strategic improvement (e.g., settling the uncertainty in right field and adding some lefthanded pop), not on merely patching holes, which of course has been their pattern in recent years.

The Pirates also need to take a reasoned look at why they have played so poorly on the road this year. Is the 17-48 record an aberration or a sign of poor preparation or some other shortcoming? Common sense says that a bad trend that persists over 65 games isn't an accident.

Other views: Writing for sportsillustrated.cnn.com, SI baseball correspondent Tom Verducci has this to say about the Pirates' young pitching staff:

"I like Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny and Paul Maholm, even if they still look raw, but I just don't know if any one of them is going to be a No. 1. What the Pirates need to do is keep running these guys out there, the way the Braves did with Tom Glavine, the Cubs with Greg Maddux and the Twins with Brad Radke, while managing their innings on a year-to-year basis. History tells you at most two of those guys will stay healthy and be consistent front-line starters, but you can only know that by sticking with them. I also think it's very important for the Pirates to get an older veteran who can counsel them. One of the underrated stories of this year is how important Kenny Rogers has been to the young Detroit staff. That's the kind of influence -- and innings-eating -- a young staff like Pittsburgh's needs."