Pirates see highs and lows in season’s first two games

Written by: Pat Lackey on 8th April 2009

Pirates see highs and lows in season's first two games | read this item

If baseball can be expressed as a microcosm, there’s hardly a better representation of the Pittsburgh Pirates sixteen-year losing streak than the first two games of the 2009 season. On Monday, they fell behind early and raced back for four runs in the ninth inning, helped by Jack Wilson’s bases-loaded go-ahead double, to pull out an exhilarating win. On Tuesday, Ian Snell got pounded from the start, admitting himself that he didn’t have much on the ball. The result was a resounding 9-3 loss that would’ve been much worse had Freddy Sanchez not contributed two hits, including a two-run homer.

And therein lie the Pittsburgh Pirates. Occasional tantalizing highs, followed quickly by crushing defeats that serve as true reminders of why the team is in the position it’s in. The “real” Pittsburgh Pirates are much closer to the bumbling team of Tuesday night, but from time to time the will remind us that they know how to play baseball. Back-to-back nights like Monday and Tuesday are maybe the worst part about being a Pirate fan. A brief reminder of what it’s like to cheer for a good baseball team, followed by the crushing revelation that this team isn’t one of the good teams of memory.

After Monday’s win, I was excited. After Tuesday’s loss, I’ll consider Zach Duke getting Albert Pujols to bounce into a ground-out as a moral victory. Such is life in baseball’s Grand Canyon of fandom.

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Topics: Albert Pujols, Freddy Sanchez, Ian Snell, Jack Wilson, Zach Duke