Pirates Win 4th Straight, Barely Climb Out of Cellar

With last night's ugly, ten-inning victory over the hapless Nationals, the Pirates picked up their fourth win in a row, and sixth win in their last 8 games. The win, coupled with the Astros loss to Milwaukee, moved the Pirates into fifth place, albeit by only percentage points. I make a point of this because there's no telling how long the Pirates will be ahead of anyone in the standings. It's a good feeling, too. And, in what may actually be somewhat of a pitcher's duel, the Pirates can win their third consecutive series, and fifth straight game, with a win today. Paul Maholm starts for Pittsburgh against John Lannan. Though these two are arguably the best starters on their respective teams, their career numbers against one another are not pretty. Maholm vs. Washington: 0-2, 6.12 ERA. Lannan vs. Pittsburgh: 0-2, 7.00 ERA. So, maybe that pitching duel's off.

Also, I'd like to take a quick look at the Bucs' offense. Most people, myself included, felt that this year's offense would be noticeably worse than the pre-trading-deadline offense of 2008. With Jason Bay and Xavier Nady being replaced by Nyjer Morgan and Brandon Moss, that made perfect sense. Well, thus far in 2009, through all 39 games, the Pirates have scored 182 runs. Through 39 games in 2008, the Pirates scored 185. The difference is negligible. But can the Pirates of 2009 sustain this level of offensive fortitude? Certainly if they keep playing the Nationals and Rockies. But, seriously, as a team, they can. If you look over their individual hitting statistics for the season, no one is clearly outperforming their own capabilities, and I'm including Morgan here, since it's no shock that he can hit .300 and steal bases, though his gradually increasing walk total is a pleasant improvement. If anything, some players are performing below their own standards: Adam LaRoche we know will pick it up later this year, but Eric Hinske is homerless in 59 at bats and Ramon Vazquez is hitting just over .200. And don't forget, Ryan Doumit will return around the All-Star Break.

So, yes, the offense can keep it up. That I'm not too worried about. And the starting pitching, that's sustainable too, as Maholm hasn't gotten it going yet, and I still think Snell will find some consistency. What troubles me is the bullpen. Can they keep it up? It's entirely possible, which is a horrifying prospect.