Pittsburgh Pirates: Overcoming One Bugaboo in Arizona

The Arizona Diamondbacks used to be a team, against which the Pirates had trouble winning games. But the recent winning series, in Phoenix, augurs well for the Bucs against this team. More to the point, it may be a sign of better things to come against other bugaboos, that happen to be somewhat similar teams.

The two teams seem to have similar profiles for now: good pitching, light hitting. These attributes make the Pirates more like a National League West than Central team. In such situations, the slightly better of two teams often wins a disproportionate share of games, because it "dominates" the other in one or both categories, without allowing the other team to retaliate anywhere.

In Phoenix, the Pirates extended their opening streak of not allowing or scoring more than five runs to 12 games. They lost the first game, and had their starter knocked out at the end of the first inning of the second due to injury, but the bullpen held on for eight miraculous innings for a one-run win. In the third game, Brad Lincoln pitched possibly the best game of his career for another one-run Pirate win.

The Pirates are only slightly better than the Diamondbacks. But the fact is the Bucs outplayed the Snakes in both categories: hitting and pitching. This is very different from a situation in which one team hits decidedly better, and the other pitches better. One or the other function is likely to dominate of a particular night, leading to a victory for the team that performs better in that category.

These results against Arizona bode well for the Bucs in the season series, because the remaining four games will be played int Pittsburgh. While its possible for the Pirates to lose 0-4 or 1-3, a more likely result is 2-2 or even 3-1 at "home," making them a favorite against Arizona in 2012.

The next hurdle for the Pirates is in its own division, against a good-pitching, somewhat light hitting Milwaukee Brewers team. In the past, the Brewers have dominated the Pirates in both categories, and hence, season series. Since 2006, Pittsburgh has never won more than five games a season against Milwaukee, and sometimes as few as one. Pittsburgh has had similar, though less severe problems, against the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, also in its own division.

The season is still young, and the Pirates will need to prove themselves one series at a time. But the two winning series against the Phillies and Diamondbacks, one of them on the road, give them cause to hope.