The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to a solid start to the 2011 MLB season. They won their first two road series of the year against two divisional opponents Chicago and St. Louis. They flopped in their home opener Thursday night though, losing 7-1 to the Rockies at PNC Park. And now they trail Colorado 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday evening. So not all’s been perfect despite the encouraging start to the year.
But the first real taste of bad news came in the third inning Friday when starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf took himself out of the game. The Pirates cited via Twitter that Ohlendorf pulled himself due to discomfort in his right shoulder. What’s troublesome is the possibility that Ohlendorf re-aggravated the same injury that forced him to sit out the final six weeks of last season.
Something was clearly not right with Ohlendorf, as the Rockies raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning behind Jason Giambi’s first home run of the year, a two-out, three-run shot to right field. He fared better in the second and third innings, but opted to shut it down after recording just eight outs on 53 pitches.
Stay tuned here and at Bucs Dugout for more news on Ohlendorf’s status, as well as how the Pirates Friday night game with the Rockies concludes.