Pittsburgh Pirates: Regular season results – MLB September 2011 part 3
Pittsburgh Pirates had done a remarkable job to pull off a sensational series win against Houston Astros and they were looking continue their impressive run in a three match series against Florida Marlins as well. With a decent 66-77 win-loss record, the
NL Central team were sitting on a very decent position in the wild card standings table.
Clint Hurdle and his men were confident of winning their third straight series in September 2011 but as it turned out, they were unable to win a single game.
The Pirates made too many unforced errors in the opening game to let the opposition team establish complete control over the contest. The pitchers couldn't control the flow of runs as the Marlins posted 13 runs on the board.
Hitters also failed to take advantage of hitters-friendly conditions and the Marlins secured a comprehensive 13-4 win to take 1-0 lead in the series. Clint Hurdle was very disappointed with the way his team played and he aimed to turn things around with
a solid performance in second game of the series.
However, the Pirates continued to struggle in game two and the Marlins secured a comfortable 3-0 win to take a decisive lead in the series. Hopint to turn things around, the pitchers did a great job to restrict the Marlins to a very small total. However,
the batters failed to handle the pressure once again.
The Pirates were thrashed in third and final game as well as they suffered yet another embarrassing series sweep. The Marlins dominated almost all aspects of the game and they made their rivals’ game play look completely ineffective.
Looking to restore some of the lost pride, the Pirates displayed some high quality baseball in game one of their next three match series against St. Louis Cardinals. Against their arch rivals, they raised the level of their game play to end their three match
losing streak.
"Poise is the word I kept using over and over in the dugout to describe Aaron," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "He had a slow heartbeat. He looked polished out there, like he had done it a number of times. He stepped into a difficult situation against
a really good team and did well. We're proud of him."
"We were able to do some things we haven't been able to do against them, getting some timely hits, getting some hits with runners in scoring position, running the bases aggressively," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
Holding their nerves, Hurdle’s side clinched a thrilling 6-5 win to get off to a decent start. Jason Grilli picked up his second win of the season to give Pittsburgh’s fans something to cheer about.
Continued in part 4
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