MLB Pittsburgh Pirates Hopelessly Outmatched By Di

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A "reversal of fortune" in 2007 over 2006 (from Astro dominance to Pirate dominance) following the retirement of some of the Astros' better players may foreshadow what happens here next year.,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

After having started the season 3-0 against Cincinnati, the Pirates have gone all of 2-7 against the Reds since then. Although the opening series makes the Bucs a very competitive 5-7 for the season, that took place before Cincinnati had found its stride.
Pittsburgh lost the first six games against Houston in Minute Maid Park (by mostly narrow margins), but then won two of three at home by very large margins. Houston is a weak team, and just got weaker with the trades of a bunch of their best players for prospects,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], doing what the Pirates did a year or two ago,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and what they should have done earlier.
What's worse, the win, (and one of the losses against St. Louis) was by only one run, while the remaining four losses were decisive (by four runs or more).
The Pirates lost their first four games to the Brewers, but after that have been a respectable 5-6 against this team, including having broken a string of more than 20 consecutive defeats at Miller Park.

The Pirates finally appear poised to make progress against some National League Central teams. But this recovery is embryonic and uneven, suggesting that the Bucs will have trouble holding their own, even in this weak division. Newton Heath initially played on a field on North Road, close to the railway yard. the original capacity was about 12,000,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but club officials deemed the facilities inadequate for a club hoping to join The Football League. Some expansion took place in 1887, and in 1891 Newton Heath used its minimal financial reserves to purchase two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators. Although attendances were not recorded for many of the earliest matches at North Road, the highest documented attendance was approximately 15,000 for a First Division match against Sunderland on 4 March 1893. A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on fifth September 1889.

The Pirates aren't as overmatched elsewhere in the rest of the NL Central division.

Chicago is not only aging, but is the one team in the NL Central the Pirates can actually beat. Even otherwise weak Buc pitchers like Charlie Morton, Jeff Karstens, and Brian Burres can quash this team's hitting.

But this past week shows why the Pirates won't be contenders anytime soon. They were swept in a three-game series against the former division-leading Cardinals in St. Louis, then lost two of three against the now-leading Cincinnati Reds at home.
Milwaukee is a stronger version of Houston, but should suffer at the end of 2011 with the loss of Prince Fielder, after having already lost Ben Sheets.

There was no such opening series against the Cardinals,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and the Bucs are 1-5 against them so far, with the one win coming at home. In fact, it is the Cardinals' stronger showing against the Pirates that has kept them in competition with the Reds in the division.
And the inability of the Pirates to win even one game recently against San Diego at home demonstrates they wouldn't be very competitive even if they made it to the playoffs by some miracle. The Bucs have done better against weaker NL West teams.

Manchester United was formed in 1878 by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath as Newton Heath LYR Football Club. The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but by 1888 the club had become a founding member of The Combination,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a regional football league. However, following the league dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892 to 93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the LYR from its name. After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division. Bob Levey Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.
In an earlier post, I pointed out that the Pittsburgh Pirates were showing signs of life against the three weaker opponents of the National League Central. This was because the Pirates could actually win, in some cases, and came within a run or so in other instances, suggesting that a stronger version of the team could win such games outright.
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