Yay Zac Brown Band

Actually a really good Bucco game last night.
Karstens was money.

Andy Diaz Freddy and Hinske all produced.
Freddy is just destroying the ball right now.

The bullpen tried to give it away... Gorzelanny's honeymoon is over-- he still sucks

Capps' first game back-- also very shaky
Skyblast was bangin.
Band Sucked.
Go Pens.

Pirates Lost, Again

Bullpen blew a 2-2 tie by giving up 3 in the bottom of the 8th.

No run support for Duke again.

Jack and Freddy were giving the day off.

Nate was 0-5.

Ramon Vazquez was 3-4.

Astros are coming to town.

Pirates Lost

It was rainy.

Freddy got 2 hits.

Snell Sucks.

Didnt watch it-- Was on the phone with The Prince of Whales.

Yes.

What a Game...

I mean what a weird, incredible game.. Such a game that it deserves two Different Responses

• First Lets Start with Freddy who had probably the best game out of a pirate that I had ever seen. 6-6- 3 R.B.I.'s- 4 Runs and played really spectacular defense. The catch and throw to start the throw to Jack on the double play to bail Meek out was incredible.
• The weirdness of the game started early in the bottom of the 1st when Theriot makes a terrible sequence of base running errors, which resulted in Neverett and Bob Walk openly ripping him apart.-- Which then lead to a 5 inning discussion on how bad Bob Walk's tie was tonight. I personally didn't think it was as awful as he made it seem
• Mr T. was in attendence behind home plate in a customized 'Mr. T.' jersey.. and wait for it, an American Flag Bandana and American Flag pants. What a Patriot.

Top 10 picture of all time.. omg

• Maholm and Dempster.. 2 Solidifided aces both got rocked.
• Sweet Lou Pinch hit Zambrano.. Which Lead to the Pirates changing pitchers to counter this move.-- The pitch Chavoo struck out Zambrano with might have been the best pitch of the year. an 89 mph slider that broke about a foot and a half and ended at his shoelaces.
• Gorzelanny has pitched in 4 games this year.. and got a decision in 3
• Andy Laroche is hitting .298-- this includes the double play he grounded into with the bases loaded with a pitch in the dirt when Dempster walked 3 stra-- its just going to get me angry.
  
• Freddy Sanchez rose his Batting Average 24 points.. He is 4th in the league in At Bats
• The Cubs scored 5 Runs in their 6 previous games.. They tallied 7 through the 1st 4 innings
• The Pirates had 2 runs in the 27 innings prior to Jack Wilsons 9th inning game tying home run on the North Side yesterday.. They have responded with 12 in the past 9 innings.
• Jaramillo had 3 more hits and has reached base safely the past 10 games-- Diaz and Jaramillo-- what pickups
• Delwyn Young= a trade Dave Littlefield would have never done or had a clue who he even was. What a tool.
  
• Sean Burnett recorded his 1st save
• Nyjer Morgan almost homered.
• Looking at Lou Piniella is just humorous

Rabble Rabble Rabble.. Freddy was out though

• Matt Capps almost got his arm severed by the line drive that took him out of the game. The only real somber point of this game, because Capps looked in prime form. His 2 previous pitches were 95 and on the paint.
• The Cubs had approximately 100 players taken out of the lineup less than an hour before the game
• Nyjer Morgan looked like he got shot when he fouled a ball off his foot in the 8th inning. Nate has fouled a ball off the same spot on his foot the past 2 games.
  
• Season high 18 hits.
• The bullpen worked 5 innings only allowing 1 run, with the use of 7 different pitchers. Yates being out= glorious
• Anyone else cry when they saw the, "John Grabow warming up in the bullpen" graphic.--Soriano almost took him deep on the 1st pitch.
  
• 3 Hours and 36 minutes to complete this one.. longest of the year
• Craig Monroe is 0-13 pinch hitting this year-- he is hitting .333 (15-45) when starting.
• 371 pitches to complete this game.. 203 by the Cubs
• A-Rod went 5-5. The Devil Rays were up 10-2 in the 9th.... and Lost. David Price started, and threw 100 pitches into the 4th inning before getting pulled. wow
• Red Hats looked really terrible on the Royals-- Carpenter is back= Cardinals win the World Series. Said that before the season started.
  
• Neverett and Bob Walk are truly a treat to listen too. Neverett just makes Greg Brown look that much worse. Honestly, this game was made that much more exciting because of their ability to say anything, and not hold anything back about either side. They have meshed great so far this year.
  

Freddy & Co.

The Pirates headed North in Chicago to take on the Cubs for the start of a second 3 game series in the Windy City. The series started in pleasing fashion with a 10-8 victory. 12 pitchers were used, 7 by the Pirates, in an offense heavy game that produced 28 hits and 18 runs.

Maholm went 4 innings, threw 94 pitches and gave up 7 earned runs on 7 hits.
Tom Gorzelanny got credit for the win when he pitched a scoreless 6th after the Pirates took a 9-7 lead.
Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, John Grabow, and Matt Capps all got credit for holds, pitching a combined shutout 2 1/3 innings.
Capps left in the bottom of the 9th when Geovany Soto lined one back to the mound, hitting Capps directly in his right elbow.
Sean Burnett came to the rescue and got the final 2 outs of the game, earning his first career save.

The offense produced a season high 18 hits, atleast 1 by each position player, and one-third by Freddy Sanchez (who was a triple shy of the cycle).

Andy LaRoche and Jason Jaramillo were both 3-5.
Freddy Sanchez and Nate McLouth both went deep, hitting their 4th and 8th homers of the season respectively.
6 Pirates had atleast 1 RBI.

Game Stats/Notes

• Freddy Sanchez: 6-6, 2B, HR, 4 runs scored, 3 RBIs.
• Freddy became the first Pirate to have a 5 hit game since Brian Giles in 2000, and the first Pirate to have 6 hits in one game since Wally Backman in 1990. He is the 2nd player this season to have 6 hits in a game. Before tonight, Sanchez's career high for hits in a game was 4.
• Coming into Chicago, Freddy was 5 for his last 36. He is 9 for his last 13 and raised his average back up to .320.
  
• Andy LaRoche: 3-5, 2B, 10 game hit streak, knocked in his 21st RBI of the season.
• Matt Capps was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for X-Rays, when examination at the stadium was inconclusive about structural damgae. Results are awaited.

Chicago White Sox Series Review:

For the first 18 innings of the series on the Southside the Pirates were scoreless. That is about all that needs to be said about the 1st two games. Two pitchers that noone has ever heard of shut the bucs out. The pitching was there but the offense was non existent.

Hinske ended the drought with an RBI double in the 1st inning of the 3rd and final game, and not another run was scored before Hinske also hit a solo shot in the 8th to cut the lead to 3-2. Bobby Jenks made quick work of Brandon Moss and Diaz-- who looked solid again today. Then Jack Flash steps up without a home run all year and smacks a fastball into the 10th row to tie it up. Jenks had not let up a run in a save situation the entire year.

Nyjer Morgan doubles on the 1st pitch.
Delwyn Young drives him in.
Capps strikes out the side in the 9th-- As stunned after this as the Wilson homerun
Game.
*As the Blackhawks realized that the ChiSox had just given up a lead in the 9th, they decided it would be a good idea to just screw the city of Chicago, and ESPN Chicago completely and let the Wings destroy there lives.

Notes:

• Sanchez and Nyjer finallyyyy hit in the finale. Terrible through the 1st two games.
• Have to somehow get Delwyn Young and Craig Monroe more starts
• Every player in the finale had a hit, 6 with multiple hits
• Grabow is 3-0 to go along with his +5 E.R.A.
• We continue our Tour of Chicago with Maholm Tomorrow vs the Cubbies on the North Side
• Hinske> Adam LaRoche
• Andy LaRoche is hitting .287 with another 10 game hitting streak--- Just think about that and remember the first 6 games of the season when he couldn't hit off of a tee.
  

Wild finish

Freddy Sanchez scores the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th on a wild pitch.

The Pirates won their 5th straight tonight, bringing their record to 19-21, as they crawl their way back to .500

Paul Maholm went 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, 1 run, and struck out 7.

Andy LaRoche went 3-4.

Freddy Sanchez went 2-4 and scored in the top of the 9th to put the Pirates ahead 2-1 when Joel Hanrahan threw a bases loaded wild pitch.

John Grabow earned the win and Matt Capps the save in the bullpen's 3 inning, 2-hit, shutout performance.

The Nationals committed 2 errors tonight, 6 in the series so far.

The Pirates offense has been rather hot in the nation's capital...31 hits in 3 games.

Snell is on the mound tomorrow as the Pirates look for the 4 game sweep of the Nats and to extend their win streak to 6.

Offense Comes Through Again

The Buccos won their 4th in a row behind the offense once again.

Karstens (6 innings, 4 Runs, 2 K's) was staked to a 5 run lead behind a 3 run first, and a 2 run Andy LaRoche home-run (wtf?); before Adam Dunn answered with his own bomb in the 4th inning. Karstens gave up 3 runs in the 6th before getting lifted with the lead 5-4.

Burnett blew the lead in the 9th after a wild pitch allowed Nick Johnson to score after he tripled to lead off the inning.
LaRoche doubled to bring in 2 runs in the top half of the 10th and Brandon Moss singled to bring in a 3rd run of the inning to secure the lead and the game.
Gorzo shut the door with a perfect 1 1/3 innings including the final out of the 9th when he K'd Willie Harris to end the Nats Rally.

Notes

• The LaRoche's went 4-7 and brought in half of the Pirates Runs.
• Brandon Moss is finally finding his swing, going 2-5 with 3 RBI's
• Gorzo looked really good.. His slider had some bite that we had not seen for about 2 years.
• Jack followed his 4-4 effort, going 0-4.
• The Nats defense is awful.. Pretty embarassing actually
  
• Maholm Tonight=5th in a row. Mark it down
  

Pirates score 10+ runs second game in a row.

The Pirates won their third straight tonight, thanks to another big inning at the plate.


A Craig Monroe 3 run homer gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning. Then the Nationals scored 5 in the bottom of the 5th, including back to back home runs by Nick Johnson and Ryan Zimmerman. The Pirates answered with 5 runs in the top of the 6th.

Top 6

• Jack Wilson drove in Adam LaRoche and Robinzon Diaz with a double.
• Brandon Moss doubled, scoring Jack Wilson.
• Moss scored on a Delwyn Young single.
• Nate McLouth doubled, scoring Young to bring the score to 8-5, Buccos.

The Pirates scored 1 in the top of the 8th off the bat of Delwyn Young again. Then 3 in the 9th when Andy LaRoche drove in his older brother with a single, abd Ramon Vazquez doubled in Andy LaRoche and Jack Wilson.

The bullpen only gave up 2 runs in 4 innings of relief to preserve the win for Ross Ohlendorf.

Game Stats

• Jack Wilson: 4-4, 2 2B, 3B, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs
• Ross Ohlendorf (W): 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BBs, 1 K, 2 HR...not a solid performance, but got the support from the offense. sloppy. but then again, a win's a win.
• The Nationals committed 4 errors, but 11 of the 12 runs scored by the Pirates were earned runs.
• Adam LaRoche: 0-3. drew 2 walks and scored 2 runs though...RBIless since May 13th.

Pens took a 1-0 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals...

Karstens vs Martis tomorrow.

"7th Heaven"

Down 4-1 going into the bottom of the 7th, the Pirates knew that their chances to produce some runs were winding down and it was time to make something happen. Opportunity knocked, they answered. 10 runs, 9 before getting an out, in the bottom of the 7th propelled the Pirates to an 11-4 victory over the Rockies, their 2nd straight to win the series.

Obviously an offensively-loaded game, every position player made 5 plate appearances as the Pirates recorded 15 hits today.
Adam LaRoche was the only player to make a plate appearance and not record a hit, (Zach Duke included).

Game Stats/Notes

• Zach Duke (W): 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 Ks, 2 BBs
• Nate McLouth: 3-5, was a triple shy of the cycle. 4 RBIs.
• Andy LaRoche: 2-5, recorded 2 RBIs on his 10th double of the season.
• Freddy Sanchez went 1-13 this weekend, with his only hit coming at his last at-bat of the day in the form of his league leading 15th double of the season.
• Ryan Spilborghs committed 2 errors in the Pirates 7th inning rampage. 1 dropped fly ball, and 1 throwing error that allowed Freddy Sanchez to score and Nate McLouth to advance to 2nd.
  

Minor League: May Update

AAA Indianapolis

• Currently 17-19 and on a 3 game win streak.
• Andrew McCutchen: .286 avg, 8 doubles & triples. 1 for his last 17, including two 0-5 performances in the last three games.
• Neil Walker: .233 avg, 10 doubles, 21 RBIs. Hit a bases clearing, pinch hit double in the 8th inning today to cap off a come from behind victory against the Syracuse Chiefs.
• Shelby Ford: .193 avg. Has 4 hits in 38 at bats in 10 games since May 7th.
• Daniel McCutchen: 2-2 in 6 starts. 3.90 ERA, 32.1 IP, 30 Ks, 14 BBs
  

AA Altoona

• Currently 12-24, lost 2 straight.
  
• Daniel Moskos: 2-2 in 6 starts. 4.41 ERA, 34.2 IP, 12 Ks, 14 BBs
• Jeff Sues: 1-2 in 11 relief appearances. 1 save. 5.18 ERA, 24.1 IP, 23 Ks, 7 BBs
• Jose Tabata: Hasn't played since April 28th after being placed on the DL.
• Brad Lincoln: 0-3 in 7 starts. 2.87 ERA, 37.2 IP, 36 Ks, 9 BBs
  

A Lynchburg

• The first place Hillcats are 23-13 with a 1.5 game lead over 2nd place Potomac.
• Pedro Alvarez: .214 avg, 7 HR, 31 RBIs, 38 Ks. 9-38 since May 7th.
  

Maholm Screwed Again

Maholms Line: 7 Innings Pitched- 5 hits- 1 Walk- 4 K's- 0 Runs
Matt Capps' Line: 1 Inning Pitched- 5 Hits- 0 K's- 3 Runs


This is not the same Matt Capps that we have seen in the past. There is obviously something wrong with him, it might be the arm, it might be his psyche but either way something is going to have to change because he is just getting hit all over the park right now. Our 3 ''guaranteed relievers to make the team in Spring Training have ERA's of: 8.18- Capps. 7.50- Yates. 5.63 Grabow. When things are going this bad you need to have the balls to make changes.

The offense wasn't great again expicially when in need for a clutch hit nobody could deliever--again.

Notes

• Robinson Diaz had 2 more hits. He has had at least 2 hits in every game since he has been bumped into the #5 hole of the order.
  
• Why J.R. is still pinch hitting Vasquez in late game situations in beyond me.
• Chavoo and Burnett each had sub 3 ERA's-- Just sayin.
  

12 Hits- 1 Run.

Pirates Lost.
At the Vet's All Day.
Sorry for no recap.
Rockies Tonight at home then we head to Washington to face the Nationals.. We could get right back to .500 with a couple quick sweeps.
Maholm has to have a bounce back

Oh, What A Night

The Pens celebrate their 6-2 Game 7 victory over Ovechkin and the Capitals in Washington.

The outfield celebrates the Pirates 5-2 victory over the Cardinals

Oh what a night for Pittsburgh indeed.
The Pens owned Washington on their own ice to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. And the Bucs won their 2nd straight against the Cardinals in pleasing fashion.

Pirates

--In 6 innings of work, Ohlendorf held the Cards to 1 run on 2 hits, 5 Ks, no walks.
--The bullpen held up in 3 innings of work, including Matt Capps getting his 6th save of the year.
--Freddy Sanchez went 2-4 at the plate, and was crowned with Sportscenter's #1 "Top 10" play when he robbed Pujols of a base hit with a diving stab up the middle.
--The Pirates managed 11 hits and 5 runs off the Cardinals pitchers tonight..

Game Stats

• In his second game back from the DL, Jack Wilson went 3-4 with a RBI and a run scored
  
• Adam LaRoche was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI. LaRoche was also robbed of a homer, but instead of by an outfielder, by a replay official. 1 of 2 overturned tonight.
  
• Ohlendorf (W): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 5 Ks
• John Grabow pitched an inning of relief tonight, and went 1,2,3. Instead of letting the game get out of hand and making a comeback nearly impossible for his offense.

Jeff Karstens and Mitchell Boggs are slated to pitch in the series finale tomorrow night. Both pitchers are coming off No Decisions in their last outings. Boggs' last outing was against the Pirates where he went 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 earned runs. If Karstens provides a quality start and the offense continues to beat up the Cardinals pitching, the Bucs can come off of an 8 game losing streak with a 3 game sweep of the Cards.

Nyjer Morgan Does The Stanky Leg

Zach Duke said after the game that the Pirates have a chance to win 15-20 games in a row.
No Comment.
Cut what I do know is that if Zach Duke pitched every day then there would be a much greater chance of that.
After his 8 inning, 4 hit, 1 run performance last night, Duke raised his record to (4-3) and a 2.52 ERA which comes out to 8th best in the N.L.

The rest of the game was all Pirates after the Pujols bomb in the top of the 1st.
Brandon Moss out of nowhere went 3-4 with his first home run of the year
Adam Laroche ended a 1-30 slump with a home run in the 6th, but still went 1-4 striking out twice
Robinson Diaz hit 5th last night, the highest a catcher has hit since the Doumit injury, and he responded by going 2-4.-- The acquisitions of Diaz and Jaramillo have both shown to be 2 very good moves by Huntington in the past year acquiring depth at catcher off of the waiver wire.

Notes

• Wow is it nice seeing J. Wilson instead of B. Bixler playing shortstop. Such a relief.
  
• Brandon Moss making a sliding catch=Stunned
  
• 5 different players had R.B.I.'s including Duke who started the 2nd inning rally with a 2 out RBI single.
• During Matt Capps' cardiac 9th inning, Nyjer Morgan was dancing.. I don't know if he should be more focused on the game, or if it is a sign that a Pirates player is finally looking like he is having fun playing. Not sure.
• Karstens Tonight.
• Go Pens.
  

Anybody hear an echo?

The Pirates aren't breaking records, they are just beginning to sound like a broken record that is repeating the same song over and over and over. That song just happens to the Losing song and today it played for its 8th consecutive game, a 8-4 loss that completed a 3 game sweep by the Mets.

Bullpen woes continued. Snell left the game after 6 with the score 3-2. Sean Burnett gave up an unearned run in the 7th thanks to a error by Brian Bixler. Grabow gave up 4 earned in the bottom of the 8th.
The infield desperately misses Jack Flash...and the lineup needs Doumit to come back and start producing immediately..that can't happen soon enough.


There was some glimmer of offensive hope today though.

• Robinzon Diaz was 3-4.
  
• Delwyn Young started at 2nd base today for Freddy Sanchez, and continued to show promising things at the dish. D. Young went 2-4 and drew a walk.
• And Nate the Great looked normal today. The Gold Glove-All Star was 2-4, with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored including a 2 run yard ball in the top of the 9th.

I know you can't expect a guy to bat 1.000, but Brian Bixler, please get the bat on the ball. 0-3 with 3 Ks? Thank Ramon Vazquez for saving you from the Golden Sombrero.

And finally, Mrs. LaRoche: We at Lemonaaadehere, would like to wish you a Happy Mother's day. I'm sure Adam and Andy wished you one and told you they love you, but they sure didn't play like it, both going 0-4. Adam is 4 for his last 38. Maybe he confused May for his career norm of April.

The Pirates have Monday off. Hopefully it will be a day of well rest and the bats can come back thriving, starting off a 6 game home stand against St. Louis on Tuesday with Zach Duke on the hill.

Skid Hits.... A Bunch

Rough times for the Pirates right now.
7 in a row, and 12 of 13, 1 win in May.
Just when Paul Maholm, arguably the one thing that has been a success during the streak is on the mound to end everything-- 10-1 happens a few hours later.

Adam LaRoche has made his decently hot April seem like years away, goin 1 for his last 24.
Our infield is desperately missing Jack Wilson.
Our Lineup is missing Wilson and Doumit.
Everyone is missing when we were in the race for the division.
You know things are going weird when Andy LaRoche may be your most reliable hitter right now.
McLouth looked like he may have gotten banged up on a swing and a miss. Cannot lose him for another game.

Blah
Get at 'em tomorrow.

Pens Owned Tonight

If you watched the Pirates game tonight:
a.) Congratulations.
b.) Check The Blog Roll for a recap because we didn't watch.
c.)Suck it Ovechkin
d.) Pujols is good... Really Good

Series Preview

The Pirates, on a 3 game losing skid, head to St. Louis tonight for the 8:15 start of a night/day 2 game series. The Cardinals have lost their last 3 as well. Should be an interesting two games.

Star Watch

• Albert Pujols: 7-14 against the Pirates this season. Pujols has 30 RBIs and 10 Home Runs (both 1st in the NL) and is batting .333.

Probable Pitchers

• Tonight: Duke (3-2) vs Mitchell Boggs (1-0)
• Tomorrow: Ohlendorf (3-2) vs Todd Wellemeyer (2-2)
  

anddd make that 17

Pirates lost their 17th in a row to the Brewers tonight.
Nice Double Play Turn by Freddy

On that note, let's talk about how terrible the ball boy is on the 3rd base side of PNC Park.

• He epitomizes everything that is bad about the Pirates Organization.
  
• When he goes to catch a ground ball it looks like he is taking a dump.
• His glove after catching a ground ball looks like a shovel at the beach with all the dirt in it.
  
• When he actually catches a ground ball, he becomes the happiest person in America.
• After making said catch of foul ball, he in turn becomes a dictator over who receives the ball, seriously. Just watch.
• His Socks.
• Obviously a cake eater because he didn't get that job on skill.
  
• Batting Glove on throwing hand.. Need I say more?
  

16 and Counting.

Depressing.

Andy LaRoche hommered.
Yates Grabow and Capps just aren't getting it done- period.

Brandon Moss: I don't care if you finally got another RBI, when you are down 2 runs in the 8th inning with the bases loaded please at least make an effort on a fly ball that Steve Blass referred to as; "Being in the Air Forever". What an awful, embarrassing play.

Feel bad for Maholm because he was spectacular in this one.

Cueto-ed

We have hit two of the hottest pitchers in our previous two series finales. Starting with Gallardo in the finale in Milwaukee with his unreal performance and ending with Cueto in the this finale.
Cueto went 8 innings giving up a mere 4 singles and striking out 9. Although unlike in the game vs. Gallardo, Cueto did not have to homer to give his team the necessary run support.

Karstens didn't have it today. He worked slow, walked 4. 95 pitches through 5 innings just ain't gettin it done.

The upside from the pitchers point of view is that we may have found some sort of a long reliever. We have all heard the one complaint from our bullpen this year-- other than Yates, is that if our starter's don't keep going deep into games then we will have a very big problem dealing with a lot of short inning men that will need to eat up long innings. Even if a starter goes down with a minor injury early in the game, say the 3rd inning, our bullpen would be in disarray for the next handful of games. Evan Meek may have solved some of that problem after going 3 innings and only giving up one hit, although he did walk 2. Chavoo threw a scoreless 9th

Andy LaRoche lead the team with 2 singles. That's about all that happened.

Notes

• Freddy looked awful today going 0-4, striking out twice.
• Gallardo vs. Mahom Tomorrow; better wake the bats up, gonna be a helluva game.
  
• Ovechkin is a douche-- Go Pens
  

Saturday Night Fever

Reds starter Micah Owings after the Pirates put up 4 in the bottom of the 1st.

Coming off the 4-0, 5 hit loss last night, the offense came ready to play, tallying 8 runs on 13 hits. 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st got the Pirates off to what you could call a good start. In his second game back from an oblique injury, linchpin Nate McLouth looked to be in prime condition going 3-5 and making a few solid defensive plays, including a bullet to third that would have been a definite outfield assist had Andy LaRoche not dropped the ball.

The left side of the infield, Ramon Vazquez and our favorite LaRoche brother (Andy), produced 4 runs despite going a combined 1-6 at the plate. While Adam LaRoche stayed hot at the dish going 2-3.

Ohlendorf earned his third win of the season, going 6 innings while holding the Reds to only 3 runs, all coming off a Alex Gonzalez homerun in the 4th inning that dinged the Left Field foul pole. The bullpen wasn't at its best tonight, but did well enough to preserve the win. Burnett, Grabow, and Capps pitched the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings respectively. Grabow gave up an unearned run in the 8th, and Capps gave up 2 earned off of 5 hits in the 9th.

Game Notes

• McLouth: 3-5, 3 runs, 1 RBI & 1 SB
• Adam LaRoche: 2-3, 2 runs
• Ohlendorf (W): 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 Ks
• The Pirates are now 4-0 on Saturdays, outscoring opponents 38 to 9.

Tomorrow afternoon will close out the series with the Reds before the Brewers come to town for a brief 2 game series. Karstens is scheduled to start against Johnny Cueto. His last time out against the Buccos, Cueto gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits in 6 innings, and struck out 9.

Goose Egg Repeat

The one question I ask myself after this game is-- Why does John Russell keep bringing Tyler Yates, and his 9+ E.R.A. into games that we still have a chance of winning. It is astonishing how bad he is. Maybe it is because of the fact he was given a job in spring training and didn't have to compete as hard? Probably because his velocity last year was consistently 97-- now he is lucky to hit 94, and when it is 94 it's right down the middle. Burnett comes in and strikes Jay Bruce out immediately... why not bring him in at the beginning of the inning?

As to the rest of the game, Duke was great-- giving up 1 run in 7 innings.

The offense-- not great. Again. Haven't scored in 22 Innings. Bronson Arroyo isn't that good.

Started great, back to back singles then McLouth who returned from a 6 game layoff ended all hopes of a run when he either decided to not run out a double play he could have easily beaten out, or he is still hurt. It is obvious that he just didn't run it out because in the 9th there were no effects as he beat out an infield single.

Notes

• Back to .500-- Don't fall below it.
• Ohlendorf tomorrow