Game 118: Pirates 3 Brewers 1

SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!

I still think that this team isn’t as bad as their recent skid indicated and this sweep of the Brewers certainly makes things seem a little better after 12 losses in 13 games. Paul Maholm pitched well tonight and got some nice defense behind him. Delwyn Young turned a couple solid double plays, Lastings Milledge made a really nice play to cut a ball off in the gap in left center and make a throw to second, and we all in all played solid baseball tonight.

Nothing has been as surprising as the play of Ronny Cedeno, though. I knew his glove was decent enough, but he’s now hit four homers in 18 games as a Pirate to go with some very good defense. He made a very nice play ranging to his right tonight and backed it up with a strong throw that made a tough play look routine. I’m sure the power surge won’t continue, but he’s certainly been a pleasant surprise who’s played well enough that I’m more interested in him than I am in Argenis Diaz in 2010.

This sort of thing is both what’s most important to watch down the stretch and why I think this team is more interesting than they get credit for. The team is full of guys like Cedeno (and Young and Garrett Jones and Steve Perace) who aren’t necessarily bad players (though they’re not necessarily good ones either) who all have a chance to make an impression on a team with a lot of open spots. If they’re not good, at least they’re interesting to watch.

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