Throughout the course of a Major League Baseball season, there are bound to be plenty of spectacular pitching performances. Sometimes the pitcher rises to the occasion; sometimes the offense is just dreadful. Both instances were far too common for the 2012 Pirates. Here’s a look at ten different occasions where the Bucs recorded three hits or less…
1. March 18th, 2012
Final: Twins 10, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: One
The Bucs’ hitting woes started way back in spring training. Francisco Liriano (ironically enough) led the way with five no-hit innings. A few other pitchers got in on the action, but Liriano did the most damage. Brandon Boggs had the lone hit.
2. April 5th, 2012
Final: Phillies 1, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Two
They started the season off on a lousy note, wasting Erik Bedard‘s solid debut on Opening Day. The Pirates were shut down by 2010 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay. The afternoon got off to a promising start, as Alex Presley and Jose Tabata notched back-to-back hits in the bottom of the first. But they couldn’t get anything else going, and not a single hit was recorded the rest of the game.
3. April 13th, 2012
Final: Giants 5, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: One
Friday the 13th was capped by an abysmal performance in San Francisco. James McDonald – yes, the pitcher – was the only Pirate to find the hit column. Matt Cain dominated with 11 strikeouts as he went the distance. Cain went on to pitch a perfect game against the Astros in June.
4. May 6th, 2012
Final: Reds 5, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Three
The Pirates turned in a sloppy Sunday performance to drop the series against the Reds. Neil Walker, Nate McLouth, and Jose Tabata had singles in the 3rd, 4th, and 7th, respectively. The Bowling with the Bucs event was hosted after this rough game.
5. May 18th, 2012
Final: Tigers 6, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: One
Leading up to the weekend series in Detroit, one simple question was on the minds of Pirates fans: when does Verlander pitch? When it became known that the reigning American League Cy Young and MVP would be taking the hill on Friday night, tons of jokes and predictions were tossed around. The Bucs’ offense was so bad to that point in the season, it was almost guaranteed that Verlander would dominate. A collective sigh of relief was let out when he walked the second batter of the game, Neil Walker. No perfect game for you, Mr. Verlander. But the no-hitter was still on the table… and remained in tact for the remainder of the night. Verlander settled in and was virtually untouchable. He carried the no-no into the ninth, and retired Michael McKenry on a groundball. However, Josh Harrison came to the rescue for the Pirates and ended the no-hit bid after eight and one-third innings.
J-Hay instantly became Detroit’s most wanted. Clint Hurdle offered this bizarre quote after the game:
“I’ve wanted to be part of Tigers history since I was a little kid, and I almost was tonight”
6. July 23rd, 2012
Final: Cubs 2, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Two
The club went on a tear through June and July and put up quite a few stellar offensive performances. They broke down on July 23rd, however, as Notre Dame product Jeff Samardzija limited the Bucs to just two hits. They entered the night with a record of 54-40. From that game to the end of the season, they were just 25-43 – meltdown mode.
7. August 11th, 2012
Final: Padres 5, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Two
San Diego absolutely embarrassed the Pirates on Friday and Saturday of the August series at PNC. James McDonald blew a huge lead in the series opener, and Jason Marquis almost no-hit the Bucs on Skyblast Saturday. Marquis alone had as many hits as the Buccos, going 2 for 4 on the night. Travis Snider led off the seventh with an infield hit to end Marquis’ run, and Pedro Alvarez knocked a long single an inning later.
8. September 18th, 2012
Final: Brewers 6, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Three
A three-game, mid-September series against Milwaukee opened in horrendous fashion. Clint Barmes singled in the 2nd inning, and Neil Walker notched two singles later in the game. The Pirates couldn’t muster anything against Yovani Gallardo and the Brew Crew, as their record dropped to 74-73.
9. September 26th, 2012
Final: Mets 6, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Three
The Bucs didn’t show up in the Big Apple on September 26th, as Jeremy Hefner threw seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball. Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez (twice) collected singles for Pittsburgh. The next day resulted in R.A. Dickey‘s 20th win of the year, and the following night was even worse…
10. September 28th, 2012
Final: Reds 1, Pirates 0
Bucco Hits: Zero
September 28th will go down in PNC Park history, as Homer Bailey no-hit the Pirates in front of 34,796 fans. The Collapse 2.0™ came to a big finish on the final weekend of the season. Bailey’s no-no handed the Pirates their 81st loss, which sealed the deal for a non-winning season.
It was a rough year at the plate for the Bucs, and these 10 games are a pretty good reminder of their troubles. A recurring theme you may have noticed is that the Pirates seemed to get blasted in these games. They lost seven of the games by five runs or more; the total score of all ten: Opponents 47, Pirates 0. Another pattern is that all 18 Bucco hits recorded in these ballgames were singles. Hopefully the Pirates avoid so many appalling losses in 2013.
Photo: Gene Puskar/AP Photo
