With starting pitching like this, who needs a bullpen? Earlier today, I expressed my slight displeasure over the Pirates trade of relief pitcher Brad Lincoln to Toronto for outfielder Travis Snider.
I was a little concerned about how the departure of Lincoln, owner of the lowest ERA of any relief pitcher in MLB, would hurt the team's extraordinary bullpen.
Well, after two straight games of watching the entire pitching staff get pounded to the tune of 22 runs, Pirates ace A.J. Burnett gave the boys in the pen the night off with a one-hit masterpiece against the Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field. Burnett took a no-hitter into the bottom of the 8th inning before it was broken up with a two-out single by pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas.
More importantly, tonight's 5-0 win by the Pirates snapped a modest two-game losing streak as Pittsburgh evened the series in Chicago with an eye towards taking the rubber-game tomorrow afternoon.
Speaking of expressing my displeasure, I certainly did that in the offseason when the Pirates acquired the veteran Burnett in a trade. Sitting here tonight, I couldn't be more glad to have been wrong about that deal. Burnett has been a stud all season and a mentor and leader in the clubhouse. And tonight may have been the most important game of the season for the Pirates, who are looking to end 19 straight years of losing and make the playoffs for the first time since 1992. It was a year ago at this time that Pittsburgh was in the throes of a 10-game losing streak.
Thanks to the stopper Burnett, we won't have to worry about history repeating itself.
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