[Insert Witty Title Here]

I liked Salomon Torres last year.  I’m not liking him so much this year – especially tonight.  I could have gone to bed at 10:30pm if he hadn’t blown his 3rd save of the season (out of 9 opportunities) tonight.  Instead, when he came into the game in the 9th with a 3-1 lead, he promptly gave up 2 runs to even the game.  This led to a 16-inning marathon, which didn’t come to an end until after 11:30pm.  Fortunately, Shawn Chacon and John Wasdin turned in outstanding work out of the bullpen.  Chacon pitched 4 scoreless innings and Wasdin pitched 2 scoreless innings to keep the Pirates in the game until the Pirates’ offense could do something.  After too many 3 up/3 down innings, the Pirates finally got some hits in the bottom of the 16th inning.  The rally was capped by Adam LaRoche’s single, driving in Jack Wilson to end the game.  The hit lifted LaRoche’s batting average to a lofty .106.

It’s not a good thing that Torres has blown 1/3 of his save opportunities.  It’s also not a good thing that LaRoche is only hitting in the .100 range.  At the risk of repeating myself, the Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez trade is not looking very good right now.  If LaRoche doesn’t turn things around, they’re going to put Brad Eldred at 1st and send LaRoche to AAA.  I don’t know what they’re going to do about Torres.  Maybe they’ll make him a setup guy and give the closer role to Matt Capps.  Hopefully, he’ll get his problems sorted out.  However, if he keeps blowing saves, Jim Tracy will have no choice but to shake things up.

The two-game series against the Cardinals has seen the Pirates in good form.  Their offense has been hot early and their pitching has been solid enough to make the early lead stick.  Yesterday, the Pirates scored 3 runs in the first inning and held on to win it 3-2.  It was a nail-biter, since Salomon Torres found himself with the bases loaded, facing Albert Pujols in the bottom of the 9th.  Fortunately, he got Pujols to pop it up to end the game.  Today, the Pirates scored 2 in the first inning and 3 more in the 3rd off Adam LaRoche’s 3-run homer.  The Pirates wound up winning 6-1.  I was encouraged by the performances of both Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny, who seemed to have good presence and command.  I was likewise encouraged by seeing some offensive production from people who have been relatively quiet until this series.  Now, if we can keep the offense coming and if we can avoid pitching performances like Zach Duke’s from last Friday, in which he allowed 5 runs in the first inning, we might be able to end the season above .500 for the first time since 1992.  Only time will tell, but I like what I’ve seen the last couple of games.

On Tuesday night, Pirates closer Salomon Torres blew the save, which paved the way to the Cardinals’ extra innings win over the Pirates.  On Wednesday, Torres gave up the game-winning hit, to seal the Cardinals’ sweep of the Pirates.  In addition, by the end of Tuesday’s game, Adam LaRoche’s batting average had fallen back below .100.  The fact that Torres isn’t looking sharp coupled with LaRoche’s struggles at the plate is making the Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez trade look worse every day.  After a hot start, the Pirates have lost 5 out of their last 6.  With Wednesday’s loss, they drop below .500 for the first time this season.  Unless they get their offense going (e.g. more than 2 runs/game), things may only get worse.