The Pirates and Diamondbacks close out their 2011 season this afternoon at 3:40, when Ross Ohlendorf takes the mound against the team that drafted him. Ohlendorf will be hoping to build on a strong start against the Dodgers that may have represented some progress for his comeback tour of 2011. As usual, I think the thing to watch here is his velocity, both in terms of where it tops out and where it sits.
The Diamondbacks are starting some guy named Wade Miley, who has awful strikeout and walk numbers in Arizona this year in six starts and who really only broke out in the minors this year at the age of 24, repeating Triple-A. I don’t know much about him, obviously, but I’m both unimpressed and expecting the worst given the way the Pirates have been hitting lately.
A win this afternoon will give the Pirates 70 wins. The Pirates haven’t won 70 games since 2004. I’m just stating facts here and trying to not actually think about how 1.) sad it is that the Pirates haven’t won 70 games since 2004 and 2.) will break the 70-win plateau with a team that’s arguably the most depressing Pirate team since the 2003 edition.
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