And to Capps It All Off…

See how the Pirates’ closer came in, and three outs later, the game was over and the Pirates were congratulating each other?

See how he–closed–out the game, and the Pirates did not have to worry about winning the game, but losing the 9th inning?

See how there wasn’t a picture of Matt Capps in any Pittsburgh newspapers today, giving a tight-lipped, frustrated stare toward the outfield wall?

This was a great game , too, that we played well and should have been able to call a win.  Jimmy’s stop made me almost fall off a bar stool.  Happ pitched like Happ does.  Paul Bako took us to the twilight zone with his second home run.

The stars were aligning, my friends, but we still dropped 2 out of 3 to the Bucs, and come home tonight to face a team that is much more dangerous and in a much more worrisome spot in the standings.

Upward and onward!

Pedro jumps on the hill tonight, in what will be his first REAL test to see if having him around past September will be worth it.  Chances are, if his past starts are any indication, we’ll see Jamie come trotting out tonight, as well, and to be honest, having them both contribute worries me a lot less than one or the other.

We are in a position where putting a hurt on the Braves is key.  Not just in the standings, where we could bury them with a sweep (I should really have learned by now that saying “sweep” before a series only ends with my pride being riddled with shame-bullets), but we’ve dropped eight out of twelve to these guys this year.

That looks like even more in numerical form:  8 out 12.  Or, 8/12.

Yikes.

Anyway, if we were going to drop a series in embarrassing fashion, its good that it was to a team that isn’t in serious contention or in our division.

The Braves, however, deserve our attention.  Not that I am trivializing these Pirates, but heading into September in the middle of a pennant race is not the time to fall into a downward shame-spiral.

These Braves are no joke, and they’ve been capitalizing on our mistakes all year.  “Mistakes” have pretty much defined us, as we play good baseball for 90% of a game, only to put a poorly timed bobble or pitch out there that turns out to be just enough to ruin everything.

The keys of the game:  LOCK IT UP.

If you want to be a playoff team, start playing playoff baseball.

We may see, Lidge, but…at least there won’t be bees.

I’m assuming, again.

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