Power Pros Forum

go Pirates!

and another random question is how is Cedeno doing? It looks like you won that trade because Cabrera hit like 10 more homeruns with you and hit .80 or so more points according to his 2012 stats and the stats when you got him from the Indians a couple of pages agi

National League Championship Series Preview - Florida Marlins Vs Pittsburgh Pirates





Unless you were a Dodger's or Cub's fan, this was the matchup you wanted to see to decide the National League champion. It's 2011 rematch of the NLDS back when the Marlins were the fairytale 88-win team who lost in 5 games to the Pirates. But this year the Marlins won their first ever NL East title and are tied for the best MLB record with their opponent, the Pirates, both 95-67. As with the Dodgers, the Marlins have a dynamic explosive offense who scored the most runs in the majors with 961 runs but they had the 3rd best ERA in the National League too at 4.19. The Marlins offense was something special though. Carlos Delgado had a record season hitting 56 homeruns and batting .321, he also got help from Hanley Ramirez(.321 AVG, 21 HR), Coghlan(.310 AVG), Hermida(35 HR, .304 AVG), Uggla(33 HR) but they also have speed too. They had 6 players over 10 steals in Helms, Coghlan, Maybin, Hermida, Uggla and Ramirez who had 27 steals to lead the team. The rotation has a dangerous 1-2 in Johnson and Nolasco. Johnson won 18 games while Nolasco was the same story with Anibal Sanchez this season in no run support. Their back end of the rotation has Garland but the last 2 starters are a question. They have an OK bullpen led by Leo Nunez(3.21 ERA) and closer Matt Lindstrom(2.12 ERA, 26/28 saves). The first two games will be hosted by Florida as they get home field advantage in the series which is huge considering they're a huge homerun hitting team with a close left field fence when at PNC Park, left field is the deepest left field in the majors likely. But for the Pirates it will come down to what it always come down to for them in the postseason, will good pitching beat good hitting.

Down Below are the rotations:



Florida Marlins

SP - Josh Johnson : 18-4, 3.18 ERA
SP - Ricky Nolasco : 14-4, 2.69 ERA (Game 1 Starter)
SP - Jon Garland : 10-5, 4.06 ERA
SP - Sergio Mitre : 5-4, 4.75 ERA (19 GS)
SP - Andrew Miller : 5-5, 5.83 ERA (14 GS)


Pittsburgh Pirates

SP - Anibal Sanchez : 14-5, 2.90 ERA
SP - Zach Duke : 16-8, 4.03 ERA
SP - Kyle Lohse : 12-6, 3.77 ERA
SP - Paul Maholm : 12-9, 4.11 ERA
SP - Rich Blackburn: 9-5, 4.75 ERA

National League Championship Series Game One




Pittsburgh Pirates(0-0)
Florida Marlins(0-0)




Delgado's Two Homeruns Back Nolasco's Complete Game Gem



October 13 -- The Marlins got off to the start they wanted to in this NLCS while controlling this game one from the beginning. The Marlins started off hot. Cameron Maybin singled in the 1st run of the game and Jeremy Hermida singled in another in the 1st inning to make it 2-0 and then 3-0 after an RBI single by Hanley Ramirez in the 2nd inning. The Pirates scored their first run on a Cabrera RBI single in the 3rd inning which would prove to be the Pirates only run of the day against Ricky Nolasco. After Cabrera's single, Carlos Delgado took over. The guy who hit 56 regular season homeruns hit a homerun in the 5th inning to make it 4-1 and then hit another in the 7th inning to make it 5-1. Ricky Nolasco had only 14 regular season wins but a dazzling 2.69 ERA and he made great use of that run support tonight by pitching a complete game gem giving up only one run. On another note Rocco Baldelli had to leave the game in the 4th inning after fouling a ball off of his foot, he is fine according to whats doctors said after the game and he'll be ready to play Game 2 tommorow.



1 - 5





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | -- | R | H | E
PIT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 1 | 8 | 0
FLA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | 5 |14| 2





WP: Nolasco (1-0) | LP: Sanchez (0-1)
HR: Delgado(2,3)




Cabrera: 2-4, RBI
McCutchen: 1-4, SB, R
Ikari: 1-4, 2B
Werth: 2-4
Sanchez: 5 IP, 3 K, 4 R (L)



Delgado: 2-4, 2 HR
Ramirez: 2-4, 2B, RBI
Maybin: 1-4, RBI
Hermida: 3-4, RBI
Paulino: 2-4
Nolasco: 9 IP, 2 K, 1 R (CG, W)

National League Championship Series Game Two





Pittsburgh Pirates(0-1)
Florida Marlins(1-0)




Pirates Can't Hold Leads As Baker Gives Fish Walk-Off In 10 Innings



October 14 -- The Pirates couldn't shake off a Game One loss and only felt loss after blowing some leads that should have been kept and now they go back to Pittsburgh down 2 games to None. The Pirates scored against Garland in the first with an RBI groundout by Jayson Werth, Doumit homered in the 3rd inning and by the 5th inning it was 4-0 Pirates. But it all went downhill from there. Zach Duke was working on a perfect game through 4 innings retiring the first 12 hitters he faced but the leadoff man in the bottom of the 5th and Dan Uggla homered to end that streak and make it 4-1. But nothing could go right for Duke in that 5th inning, he gave up 4 runs with the last being on an RBI single by former Pirates Ronny Paulino to tie it at 4-4. But Garrett Jones would hit his 3rd postseason homerun and first of the NLCS in the 6th inning to take a 1-run lead. But that would be all for nod when the Marlins got an unexpected power source in the 7th inning when Wes Helms homered off of Heath Bell to tie it. But the Pirates got a spark from Delywn Young when he hit a pinch hit single in his 1st ever postseason at bat to get the 1st man on in the 10th inning, 2 hitters later Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI double to take a 6-5 10th inning lead looking to tie the series. But Cabrera's effort would be wasted. Gaby Sanchez came off the bench for the Marlin's and delivered a game-tying double off of Huston Street who blew his 2nd save of the 2012 postseason. Backup catcher John Baker singled into left field, the throw from Werth was a little off but only a second late but it was a second too soon as the Marlins now lead 2-0 in the series as we had back to Pittsburgh.



6 - 7





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |10| -- | R | H | E
PIT | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -- | 6 |19| 0
FLA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -- | 7 |12| 0





WP: Nunez (1-0) | LP: Street (0-1)
HR: Helms(1) Uggla(2) Doumit(2) Jones(3)




McCutchen: 4-6, 2B
Cabrera: 3-5, RBI Double
Jones: 3-5, HR, 2B
Doumit: 3-5, HR
Werth: 2-5
Duke: 6 IP, 5 K, 4 R



Baker: 1-1, Walk-Off Single
Uggla: 1-5, HR
Helms: 2-4, HR
G.Sanchez: 1-1, PH RBI
Hermida: 2-3, 2B
Garland: 6 IP, 2 K, 4 R

ugh. Come on, you can do it!

National League Championship Series Game Three





Florida Marlins(2-0)
Pittsburgh Pirates(0-2)





Change Of Scenery Does Wonders As Maholm Dominates Marlins



October 16 -- This NLCS Game 3 featured a matchup between two pitchers who had dominated in their first postseason start in 18 game winner Josh Johnson and lefty Paul Maholm. It was a pitcher's duel to say the least as only 3 Marlin batters had hits but it the only run would come from an unexpected source. Mike Fontenot made only his 1st postseason start and he delievered with 2 outs in the 7th with an RBI double to make it 1-0. Paul Maholm made use of that and pitched 8 shutout innings to make his postseason ERA 0.89 so far and Huston Street would retire the side on 7 pitches to give the Pirates a chance down 2-1 in the series now.



0 - 1





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | -- | R | H | E
FLA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 | 5 | 0
PIT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | --| -- | 1 | 8 | 0






WP: Maholm (2-0) | LP: Johnson (1-1) | SV: Street (4)




Hermida: 2-3, 2B
Ramirez: 1-5
Coghlan: 2-3
Johnson: 7 IP, 4 K, 1 R (L)



Fontenot: 1-3, RBI Double
Baldelli: 1-3, 3B
Werth: 2-4
Maholm: 8 IP, 3 K, 0 R (W)

once the season ends I'll tell you but I'm guessing that I ended up winning that bet unless Cedeno somehow hit 14 or more homeruns

and I'll probably have one last update for today coming up...

National League Championship Series Game Four





Florida Marlins(2-1)
Pittsburgh Pirates(1-2)





Clement Ties Series With Biggest Hit of his Career In Dramatic Ending



October 17 -- After last nights 1st win in the NLCS, the Pirates looked to tie the series or risk being down 3 games to 1. The Pirates led in the 2nd inning with a homerun by Ryan Doumit but in the 5th inning Carlos Delgado delivered for Florida hitting a 2-out grand slam homerun to left field to give the Marlins a 4-1 lead against a pitcher who was surprisingly dominant in Andrew Miller. The Pirates finally chased Miller from the game in the 8th inning with a solo homerun by Jayson Werth to make it closer at 4-2 but that would seem like a big deficit going into the 9th. But the Pirates got two man on in the 9th inning to give them a chance but they were 2 outs away from being down 3-1 in the series. The Pirates gambled and sent Jeff Clement off the bench for his 1st postseason at bat. The gamble worked and Clement hit the biggest homerun(it could also have been his game 6 homerun in the 2011 NLCS that would prove to be the game-winner) of his career pretty much saving the Pirates season, that 3-run shots erased the 2-run deficit for the Marlins to win 5-4 and give the Marlins a heart breaker of their own to tie the series.




4 - 5





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | -- | R | H | E
FLA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 4 | 8 | 1
PIT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -- | 5 | 9 | 0






WP: Gregg (1-0) | LP: Lindstron (0-1)
HR: Delgado(4) Doumit(3) Werth(3) Clement(1)



Delgado: 1-4, Grand Slam
Coghlan: 2-3
Maybin: 2-4, 2B
Helms: 1-3
Miller: 7 2/3 IP, 4 K, 2 R



Clement: PH Walk-Off 3-R HR
Werth: 1-4 HR
Doumit: 2-4, HR
Lohse: 5 1/3 IP, 4 K, 4 R

Yay! This is good stuff.

National League Championship Series Game Five






Florida Marlins(2-2)
Pittsburgh Pirates(2-2)





Blackburn Delievers In Spot Start To Send Pirates Back To Florida A Win From Pennant



October 18 -- With no starter except Rich Blackburn able to go today for the first time this postseason, the Pirates went with Blackburn who hurled one of his best games with the Pirates to make Pittsburgh a win away from a second straight NL Pennant. But it didn't start well out at all, Hanley Ramirez sent Blackburn very deep as the first batter of the game to make it 1-0 but McCutchen tied up the game with a 2nd inning triple. Blackburn would not allow a run in a total of 6 straight innings after that. He would get help from his offense in the 5th inning with a go-ahead 2-run homerun by Garrett Jones and they would extend their lead in the the 7th with Andrew McCutchen's first postseason homerun and a 2-run shot from Jayson Werth to score 3 runs against former Pirates Ross Ohlendorf and make it 6-1. The Pirates sent Denny Bautista out for the 9th inning up 6-1 and Game 2 hero John Baker singled in two runs to make it 6-3 and the Pirates would have to bring Street in and he would retire the 2 hitters he faced en route to a 6-3 win and a 3-2 series lead after sweeping their 3-game home stand of this NLCS.




3 - 6





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | -- | R | H | E
FLA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -- | 3 | 8 | 0
PIT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | --| -- | 6 |13| 1






WP: Blackburn (1-0) | LP: Mitre (1-1) | SV: Street (5)
HR: Ramirez(2) McCutchen(1) Werth(4) Jones(4)





Ramirez: 2-4, HR
Baker: 1-1, 2-R Single
Delgado: 2-4, 2B
Uggla: 1-4, 2B
Mitres: 5 2/3 IP, 3 K, 3 R (L)



McCutchen: 3-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBI
Werth: 3-4, 2-R HR
Jones: 1-4, 2-R HR
Doumit: 2-4, 2 Doubles
Fontenot: 2-3
Blackburn: 6 IP, 5 K, 1 R (W)

National League Championship Series Game Six





Pittsburgh Pirates(3-2)
Florida Marlins(2-3)




Helms Comes Up Clutch To Send NLCS To Game Seven In 17-Inning Marathon



October 20 -- It was the longest game in postseason history and the Marlins came out victorious with a flair for the dramatic. The Pirates built up a 3-0 lead in the 3rd with a 2-run single by Ikari who has struggled this postseason(.174 AVG) and then a homer by Werth who continues to be the star of this postseason. But this had game written all over it as Sanchez retired 9 straight hitters to begin the game but Uggla started a 4-run spark with a 2-run homerun and then a few hitters later Ronny Paulino made it 4-3 with an RBI triple, the final two runs wouldn't have happened if it had not been for an error by Garrett Jones. Ricky Nolasco dominated again going 8 innings this time. Matt Lindstrom blew a save in Game 4 and Garrett Jones homered in the 9th inning to tie it off of him to make their closer 0-2 in save attempts this postseason. But the bullpens dominated as the game continues to go on with a key play coming in the 12th when Mike Fontenot was thrown out at the plate when Vazquez doubled off the wall, Coghlan threw to third and Helms gunned it home to get him at the plate to keep it 4-4. The Pirates struggled to handle their bullpen and they called on Kyle Lohse to pitch 3 innings but with no pinch hitters left in the 16th, their best hitter on the bench in Zach Duke came off the bench but grounded out. Duke was the only rested starter left so in a potential game 7 he would have to pitch, he had to face one hitter until he could get switched though. And that's where Wes Helms homered to end the 17 inning marathon and send this NLCS to a Game 7. For Duke he is going to star game 7 a day after giving up his first career wak-off homerun which is a story going into tommorow, all the Pirates can hope for is for Duke not to keep that on his mind or the Pirates may be in trouble in the winner take all, loser go home Game 7.




4 - 5





- - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17| -- | R | H | E
PIT | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 4 |19| 1
FLA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -- | 5 |18| 0





WP: Tankersley (1-0) | LP: Duke (0-1)
HR: Helms(2) Uggla(3) Doumit(5) Jones(5)




Werth: 4-8, HR, 2B
Jones: 4-6, HR
Ikari: 2-7, 2-R Single
Cabrera: 3-8, 2B
Doumit: 1-7, 2B
McCutchen: 1-8
Sanchez: 6 IP, 4 K, 4 R(2 ER)



Helms: 2-7, Walk-Off HR
Uggla: 2-6, 2-R HR
Paulino: 3-7, RBI
Ramirez: 3-7
Coghlan: 1-7, RBI
Nolasco: 8 IP, 5 K, 3 R