With 3 in the 9th, Bucs Win Again

I know it's only Spring Training but I can't help getting excited when I see the Pirates rally for three runs in the 9th inning to pull off a come-from-behind victory. This is the sort of resiliency they showed often last year, and since they also rallied from 8 runs down against Boston the other day, maybe this is just the sort of trait this group of Pirates exhibit, in a general sort of way. The kind of trait that will be evident during the regular season, perhaps. I have to keep telling myself that it is still only March, and these games don't count, and I'm bound to be a little disappointed once the calendar changes, but I'm enjoying this nonetheless.

In today's game, roster hopeful Jeff Salazar clubbed the go-ahead three run home run with one out in the ninth, leading the Pirates to a 6-5 win. Granted, the homer was off fringe player Blaine Neal (I looked him up; he has not pitched in the majors since 2005). But a clutch hit is a clutch hit. Also, Steve Pearce and Brian Bixler each had 3 hits. Zach Duke made the start and pitched very well: 3 2/3 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strike outs. Dave Davidson made his first Spring appearance since returned from his stint on team Canada in the WBC. Davidson stuck out the only batter he faced. The Phillies scored all of their runs today off Daniel McCutchen in an inning and a third. With Virgil Vasquez looking good all of the sudden, McCutchen's starting to slip in his bid for a rotation spot.

I have failed to mention Duke much this Spring. The memories of his impressive debut in 2005 have faded and I've grown to think of him more as the struggling hurler from the past couple of years. However, Duke has been great this Spring. He signed his first big contract this off-season and he's been virtually guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation to start the year. A pitcher with E.R.A.'s the past three regular seasons of 4.47 ('06), 5.53 ('07) and 4.82 ('08) should seem like he has to earn his way onto a big league roster. But Duke has stepped up so far with an E.R.A. of 1.86 through 9 2/3 innings. Because of this, I decided to check out Duke's Spring history. In 2005, Duke posted an E.R.A. of 3.75 in 12 innings. In '06, 7.96 in 26 innings, along with 44(!) hits allowed. In '07, his E.R.A. was 7.02 in 16 2/3 innings and last year it was 3.86 in 14 innings. The correlation between Duke's Spring and Regular Season performances is somewhat evident. Last year would appear to be an aberration, however, Duke did shave nearly 3/4 of a run off his E.R.A., and I would consider that progress. So, I'm feeling pretty good about the rotation for the year. I don't expect Duke to come close to repeating his performance in '05, but if he can keep his E.R.A. in the neighborhood of 4 or so, he would definitely have earned his spot.