The Ghost of Buccos Past

Seven games gone. Five games behind second-place Cardinals. Cubs are on a five-game winning streak.

Ouch.

PNC Park has been almost full every day this week for the series against the Cubs. The fans are still behind the Pirates, even though the past two weeks of baseball have been almost more than we can bear—filled with blown calls, extra innings, rain delays, Clint Hurdle making seriously questionable decisions, and falling from seemingly probable wins into the gutter (all on top of our new first baseman Derrek Lee sitting out last night due to injury.) The only thing that didn’t happen this week in Pirates baseball was an asteroid hitting the stadium.

Last night was the tipping point in a downward spiral for the Buccos. The fourth inning gave me and many others hope that the losing streak was over. They were down, 4-0, coming into the bottom of the fourth when they struck back with an unbelievable six-run inning. I screamed more in my living room during that inning than I think I did the night of 19 innings … or any other night this season.

It began with Garrett Jones' double on a fly ball to right field. Neil Walker grounded out, but Jones advanced to third to be driven in by Ryan Ludwick. Awesome. Pirates on the board. It was a start.

Pedro Alvarez singled. Ryan Doumit, two games in on his return from injury, singled. Xavier Paul brought in Ludwick. 4-2. Then, the magic started.

Brandon Wood walked to bring pitcher James McDonald to the plate. McDonald was batting .079 at this point in the season. Yikes. Clutch situation here with the bases loaded. McDonald slams one to center and doubles. All runners score. I almost drop my laptop on the living room floor.

Andrew McCutchen doubles, scores McDonald. 4-6. I scream and scare my child. Jones back at the plate for the second time in the inning. Slams one to right. Going, going, screaming (“Get out! Get out!), going, caught. Groan. Inning over. But the Pirates have the lead.

What happened in the eighth inning can only be described as a nuclear meltdown in pitching. McDonald leaves the game after the seventh, and Daniel McCutchen comes on in relief. Loads the bases. No outs. This is not good. Shaking my head.

Jason Grilli comes in. Aramis Ramirez scores Reed Johnson despite an incredible sliding catch by Andrew McCutchen on the line drive. See ya, Grilli. In comes Joe Beimel. Fans wondering if Joel Hanrahan should just be used for six outs instead of the normal three. He’s good for about 25 pitches. Give Hammer a chance.

Beimel walks Carlos Pena. Later, Beimel. Here comes Jose Veras. I’m reaching my own nuclear meltdown on my couch. Another run scores. Finally, a pop out to second and a strikeout, and the inning is over. 7-6. Damage is done.

Pirates scoreless in the bottom of the eighth before we finally see Hanrahan on the mound for the first time in what feels like months. Three up, three down. Bottom of the ninth. Last chance. Steve Pearce at .227, batting for Hanrahan in a do-or-die situation? Good grief. No dice. I don’t need to recap the rest.

The hardest part of watching last night's game was the footage of McDonald in the dugout. After McDonald departed the game in the seventh inning, he drenched himself with two cups of Gatorade and danced a bit. He was pumped up, leaving the game with a lead. Pitcher after pitcher in the eighth, McDonald looked like he could murder the entire bullpen. End of game as he exited to the locker room, he looked completely beside himself.

Hurdle has made a lot of questionable decisions in the past week in pitching, batting and base running calls. Our pitching situation went from out-of-this-world to lying in the dirt. But Buccos fans are holding on. We have to. This season is too important to us. If we fall off of the wagon now, the team may not be able to recover. You cannot underestimate the power that fans have over the performance of their team. Keep filling that stadium.

Pirates play the Padres in a few hours. As The Doors once said, “The time to hesitate is through.”