It wasn’t pretty at all (here’s a link to a photo – warning: this is gross) as recent minor league recall Chris Jakubauskas was hit in the side of the head by a line drive in the first inning off the bat of Lance Berkman. He is being kept overnight in the hospital for testing and evaluation.
D.J. Carrasco came in with two men on following the injury to Jakubauskas. He was greeted by a two run double from Hunter Pence. In the fifth Pedro Feliz crushed a two run homer off of Jack Taschner.
The Pirates offense was kept in check (again) by Wandy Rodriguez. He gave up two runs (one earned) in 7-1/3. Jason Jaramillo hit a solo homer for the bulk of the excitement. Matt Lindstrom loaded the bases in the 9th but escaped without allowing a run.
The Good
Andy LaRoche had two hits – both singles – in his first action since 4/16.
Andrew McCutchen was moved to third in the line up and delivered an RBI single for the Pirates first run. He also threw a guy (Cory Sullivan) out at the plate.
The Bad
The decimated pitching staff. Hurry back, Ross Ohlendorf!
The losing streak continues at five in a row.
The offense continues to sputter.
Aki Iwamura’s slump continued. He was 0-3 with a walk and was thrown out at the plate in the third.
The Rest
Last time a Buc starter failed to get three outs was 5-28-08 when it happened to Tom Gorzelanny. As far as I can tell, the last time a Buc starter left in the first inning due to an injury was Kip Wells also in Houston on 9-5-04.
Feliz’ last dinger was 9-29-09. Jaramillo’s last round tripper was 6-26-09.
Rodriguez pulled his career mark against the Pirates to 5-4.
Jakubauskas was making his first appearances since 9-25-09. According to the 2010 Bucco media guide, he played at four different colleges and then spent all or part of five seasons playing for independent league teams (including the Golden Baseball League). Anyone mind if I root for him to make a full recovery to pitch effectively? Gotta like that story.
