Rookie Brubaker dazzles in Virtual Pirates' division clincher

 


I will be serving as general manager/manager of the Pirates in a 2020 season simulation along with 29 others using Out Of The Park Baseball. Feel free to check here for regular updates. I realize baseball is a lot less important than what is going on in the world today but perhaps it can provide a diversion for a few moments.

MILWAUKEE – The supposed worst wound up finishing first.

Rookie JT Brubaker pitched eight strong innings and Colin Moran had four hits to lead the Virtual Pirates to an 8-2 victory over the Virtual Milwaukee Brewers and the National League Central title Friday night at Virtual Miller Park.

The Virtual Buccos were universally picked to finish last in the division by pundits coming into the season. Instead, they are division champions and headed to the National League Division Series.

The Pirates (89-65) extended their lead to 9 ½ games over the Brewers with nine games to go, clinching on the second-place finisher’s home field.

That led to a wild scene in the visitors’ clubhouse as the Pirates celebrated their first division title – real or virtual – since 1992.

Brubaker (3-2), a rookie, gave up just two hits in a 104-pitch outing. He also had six strikeouts and three walks.

Clay Holmes finished with a scoreless ninth inning. He struck out Avisail Garcia swinging for the last out.

Moran sparked a 16-hit attack that included three by Gregory Polanco. Marcus Semien added two hits and two RBIs and Josh Bell and Kevin Newman also had two hits each.

Moran got the clinching party started with an RBI single in the first inning to open the scoring against Adrian Houser (11-13). Moran hit another run-scoring single in the sixth inning that stretched the lead to 6-2.

Semien’s two-run double in the second make it 3-0.

The one bit of bad news came in the first inning when oft-injured Jarrod Dyson was shaken up while making a diving catch. He was forced to leave the game.

Bench coach Craig Wilson, always one to work every angle, agreed to a promotional deal with Oakley on Friday afternoon. The company provided goggles to the Virtual Corsairs to use to shields their eyes during the champagne-drenched celebration.

Wilson had said Thursday that he would did not plan to celebrate a division title all that much because his focus was on winning the World Series.

“I was just kidding,” said Wilson, drenched in bubbly. “We’re partying hard and we should. Winning the division is difficult. Our guys have gotten after it hard every day since the first day of spring training. They deserve to celebrate this as much as they want. The manager, too. He won with a team that was supposed to lose 100 games this year. He might be the greatest skipper ever, even better than Jim Tracy. This team might even be better the 2004 National Western Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers.”

The Pirates are currently in line to play the Virtual Washington Nationals in the NLDS in two weeks. The Nationals (90-63) lead the NL East by four games over the Virtual Atlanta Braves and five games over the Virtual Philadelphia Phillies.

The Virtual Los Angeles Dodgers (105-49) have already clinched the NL West and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

The middle game of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday night, provided the Virtual Pirates sober up by then. Joe Musgrove (13-7, 3.65) will face left-hander Eric Lauer (7-2, 2.91).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hall of Fame voting becoming more chore than honor

Image
The honor is never lost on me. Sometime just after Thanksgiving every year, the enveloped arrives in the mail from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. Enclosed is my annual Hall of Fame ballot as I am part of the electorate that consists of all members of the Baseball Writers Association of America with 10 years of continuous service. I have been voting for 24 years now and do not take the responsibility lightly. Being elected to the Hall of Fame changes people’s lives and demarcates the great players of the game’s history from the very good. When I get ready to cast my vote, I always pause to appreciate the significance. Voting for the Hall of Fame is something I enjoyed for many years. It was fun to look at the various candidate’s careers – study their statistics, recall personal observations, talk to peers from their playing days – before casting my ballot. However, the fun is being squeezed out of the task with each passing year. So many of the c
Read more

Bob Nutting and PirateFest

Image
A number of people have been in touch on social media or emailed wanting to know why Bob Nutting was not at Piratefest at PNC Park on Saturday morning/afternoon and but at the Pitt-West Virginia game on Saturday night. As a matter of disclosure, I wasn't at Piratefest and haven 't been there for years. I have no interest in it and, from a professional standpoint, don't find any value in attending. Nevertheless, I contacted Pirates spokesman Brian Warecki to ask about Nutting's whereabouts Saturday and he said the owner was on hand for a portion of Piratefest. This  was his response. "Bob was at Piratefest, along with his wife, for a few hours in the morning. He chatted with our players and mingled with season ticket holders." I also followed up by asking why Nutting did not take part in any of the Ask Pirates Management sessions as he has done in other years. This was his Warecki's response: "Ask Pirates management is exactly that, daily
Read more

Playing the Pirates' 2020 season anyway

Image
Hi there, As everyone knows, opening day of the Major League Baseball season was supposed to be on Thursday. However, like most of the rest of the world, the coronavirus pandemic has changed those plans. I have been asked to simulate the season using the game Out Of The Park Baseball 21. I will be the general manager/manager of the Pirates. We will play the original schedule, which means I'll make my managerial debut Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Virtual Tropicana Field. If enough people are interested, I'll post a small blurb on each game. I realize there are more important matters in the world but perhaps it can serve as a diversion for a few minutes. Stay safe, John
Read more