It was a busy day as the Pirates made a flurry of trades as 4 PM approached. Then the game and the Cardinals beat up on the Pirates recently depleted bullpen.
Jeff Suppan pitched against his old team, though he likley hardly found a familiar face in the opposing dugout. Daniel McCutchen, recently recalled from Indy, got the nod for the Pirates.
McCutchen pitched himself into a lot of trouble, allowing six walks and six hits in 5-2/3. He kept the Pirates in the game by not allowing a big inning. St. Louis scored four runs off him, with one each coming in the second (RBI single from Suppan), the fourth (Suppan reaching on a Garrett Jones error allowing a run to score), the fifth (solo homer from Albert Pujols) and the sixth (sac fly from Brendan Ryan).
Suppan picked up his first win of the season by tossing 5-1/3 scoreless innings. He struck out five and walked none. When the starters departed, the scoreboard began lighting up. Colby Rasmus hit a two run homer off of Steven Jackson in the seventh. Wil Ledezma was touched for five runs in a disastrous eighth inning. Matt Holliday had a two run double and Rasmus added an RBI single in the 8th.
The only highlight for the Pirates came from the recently recalled Jeff Clement who homered in the eighth off Mitchell Boggs.
The Good
Jose Tabata was 3-4 and extended his hitting streak.
Welcome back, Jeff Clement.
The Bad
The bullpen gave up seven runs in 2-1/3 innings.
The Rest
Suppan is 15-3 against his old team. This was McCutchen’s first career appearance against St. Louis.
In addition to his first win on the year, Suppan also had his first RBI of the year.
Tabata had 11 multi-hit games in July, including three games with three hits.
Pujols finished July 2010 with a .267 batting average on the month. That represents his worst month for BA since April 2007.
