More solid pitching. More sputtering offense. Another late inning spurt. Bucs win again.
Ted Lilly and Jeff Karstens were both strong. None of them left with the desired decision. Karstens gave up a two run homer to Xavier Nady in the third inning. He allowed just those two runs on six hits and three walks in six innings. Ted Lilly entered the 8th inning holding onto a 2-1 lead. He allowed a solo homer to Garrett Jones in the fourth. But in the 8th, he walked Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker followed with his first ML homer for the deciding runs.
Joel Hanrahan pitched the 8th for Pittsburgh to get the win. Octavio Dotel pitched a perfect 9th fo the save.
The Good
Jones homered for the second straight day.
Walker has been a nice boost to the stagnant offense.
The Cubs didn’t attempt any steals against Ryan Doumit.
The Bad
After Karstens singled in the third, Lastings Milledge deep drive into the North Side notch was wasted. There were two outs and Milledge was gunned down going for a triple before Karstens could touch home.
The Rest
After a scoreless stretch of 8-2/3 innings over 9 appearances, Hanrahan had been scored on in three of his last four appearances.
Javier Lopez has now worked 10-2/3 innings without beings scored on over 12 appearances.
Karstens hadn’t started since May 8th. He allowed 9 earned runs in 14-1/3 innings of work as a relief pitcher.
Bucs are 22-31 through 53 games in 2010. At the same point in 2009, the mark was 25-28. In 2008 it was also 25-28.
