CRAP!!! LSU brought Landry in from CF as a 5th infielder, but a "swinging bunt" to Dean, who flips to the catcher too late to get the runner heading home, and the deal is sealed. LSU loses it's first series in a year, and the first time losing a series at AU since 1998! We have GOT TO STOP STRANDING RUNNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
well this week has really been a bad one for LSU pitching. i don't understand what the problem is there, we have capable pitchers. i think they're just drained. auburn also just did all the little things you have to do to win. they hit the homer when they needed, got the bunt down when needed, and made the pitch when they needed. dean and landry both had terrible series at the plate, and the uncertainty at 3B continues to hurt us in the bottom of the lineup. i say quit fiddling around and just start dozar at third. if we keep on with juggling the lineup like we have been, it's only going to hurt us in the long run. need some continuity over there. dozar isn't the most solid player defensively, but i think that he brings a lot of promise to the plate. but i can see why mainieri is playing the more solid defensive players at third because errors and fielding are starting to become big problems. i do think, however, if dozar was in the lineup everyday, he would go on a tear similar to how Nola went on a tear at the end of last season, and into the postseason. dishon is starting to be productive at the plate too. so offensively, i think we're OK, but the pitching and errors... pitching and errors. i guess no one can take away what auburn did though. they're a damn tough team, i guess that just shows you how good south carolina really is this season! they may be the best team in the SEC if not LSU.
i can see why people say this when we strand 13 runners, but really, it's about pitching. you can't score 10+ runs every outing. 5 or 6 really should be plenty enough. pitching is becoming a nightmare. probably just because these guys have been playing a helluva lot this week (plus a friggin 12 inning game.) these guys are just worn out, and it doesn't get easier with tulane and bama. character building time of the year for sure.
I'm not referring to only THIS game. Stranding runners has become the norm lately. Remember the USM game? That game should've NEVER gone to extras. And we've stranded runners all weekend, too. Ross pitched very well today, and got NO help. I agree pitching is a problem, but it wasn't the problem today.
not only do we not bunt, it seems we dont practice fielding them either. we got burned a couple of times by the bunt this weekend. one really bad to score a run to end the game.
When you have baserunners on base EVERY inning, you will naturally strand a lot of them. I'd imagine the Yankees probably led the bigs in runners stranded last year. That's just how it works. I'm with Jay B. It's about pitching. Scoring 6-10 runs a game becomes a strain in time.
Well, it was the chance Mainieri took by not walking that batter. Either make the 9-hole batter force a good bunt or hit the ball into the outfield, or walk him and have the force out at home, denying the bunt. Walking him though brings up the top of the order. My thoughts are that if you force your opponent to swing the bat against Ott, you have a better chance. Though, looking at the situation, with the bases loaded or runners on the corners with no outs, your chances are VERY low. This game was lost in the middle innings. I do feel for Ross though, he came in and pitched very well for 4 innings. I just wish he hadn't been put in position to lose the game in the 9th.
I'm not saying the pitching isn't an issue...but stranding runners was the issue today. Ross pitched well, and got no help from the offense. Of course you're always gonna strand runners, but not like this. As JayB stated, Dean and Landry were practically non existant this series, as was Mikey.
