2nd (Now 1st) Place Surprising Rays Visit

The last interleague series of the year came in this past weekend as the Rays visited PNC. Tampa Bay has been one of the surprising teams this year in the majors with a 47-31 record entering the 3 game set with the Buc's and within a game of the Red Sox for the division lead. 3 games later, the Sox struggled in Houston and the Rays would take 2 of 3 from the Bucs and leave Pittsburgh with a half a game lead on the Sox. The Pirates looked moderate in a 3 game series that could of seen a sweep by the Rays if it wasn't for extra inning heroics by Jason Bay (AGAIN) and then were able to tie the ballgame on Sunday before losing 4-3. It wasn't much about the Pirates ability to lose this series, but the fact that the Pirates made some big changes in the rotation and bullpen when Osoria, Snell, and Dumatrait went down with injuries. The Bucs call up TJ Taubenheim who worked game two of the series and threw 6 innings of work, only giving up 2 earned runs. Now is not the time to worry about our .500 run for out Bucco's, do you remember when Zac Duke first came up in mid July back in 2005? He was talked about as a possible Rookie of the Year candidate. Jason Bay took those honors and the Pirates were riding high on talent. 3 years later, here we are in the same position. Except 3 years ago, it was the same Tampa Bay team that came to Pittsburgh in mid June and left after a Sunday afternoon with the Pirates reaching the .500 mark during mid season. Self destruction took care of any talk about a winning season run and the Pirates like every year played seller at the trade deadline and let players like Mark Redman and Dave Williams in what was a lob sided left handed rotation. Sort of like what it is today with Maholm, Duke, Dumatrait and Gorzelanny. That really doesn't have anything to do with 2008, yet those 2005 Bucs did lose 93 games that year and lets hope there is no comparison to this season.

The Pirates got slammed to the turf in game 1 as the starting pitching was flawed and the offense, desite making a nice run at a tie ball game came up short and the Rays would tag the bull pen for some runs and win 10-5. The highlight of the series was on Saturday night when the Bucs would win a 13 inning thriller that was capped off by Jason Bay showing more emotion rounding first base than he has for the past 4 years he's been in Pittsburgh. The Pirates went for the series win on Sunday afternoon bring the game to a tie twice before giving up 2 runs in the 7th after Xavier Nady threw a ball into the 3rd row bleachers along 3rd base. Interleague play is over (except for the Yankees make up game), and to be honest about our Bucco's, they really didn't do all that bad. Let's just throw out the White Sox series and look at the other 9 games. They had a chance to win the series against both the Rays and Orioles and took 2 of 3 from the Blue Jays. They split the 2 games played with the Yankees with a game pending and the AL East isn't exactly the low point of the American League. Every team they played during the inter league series basically held a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of the teams payroll compared to the Pirates. It's nice to see some of the talent the Bucs own showing up at the ball park and putting up some good numbers. Keep your eye on Nate McClouth though, his batting average and production has really fallen off. It's almost scary to see that he once held a solid .300 average and was poking out his share of dingers, and now...well, it's in the high .280's and we've yet to see the power we saw during the months of April and May. They open back up post inter league play against the Reds and return to NL Central division ball, let's see if the Pirates can pick up the slack and pull back within the range of the .500 mark. They currently sit 5 back of reaching .500 and travel to Cincinnati and Milwaukee before coming back home for 3 game sets with Houston and St. Louis. Major League Baseball has thrown in the Yankees make up game for July 10th, that makes 10 straight games without a day off before heading into a much needed All-Star break.

Split the Two; We'll Play the 3rd Later

The Pirates welcomed the Yankees to PNC for a 3 game rematch of the 1960 world series. The Bucco's would have to do with out Bill Mazzeroski, but I think they handled it just fine. Before I go any further, if you read some of my previous blogs from Pirate recaps, they're just recaps. You can just go to ESPN or any newspaper to find a recap and I don't own a degree in journalism (however, I minored in it during college), I don't think my recap bias will draw any readers. So, how about if I do what a blog is SUPPOSED to be used for. Opinion and thought. Is there any set of a games to start that better than the Yankees rolling into "small market" Pittsburgh?

Let's start off by saying, there were supposed to be 3 games, they played 2. And the 2 key players on the starting rotation found themselves on a 2 week vacation via the 15 day DL. Ian Snell is suffering from a strained right elbow. I hope that injury has been looming in his past 9 starts where Snell has yet to find a solid outing. That real big miss will be Phil Dumatrait, who sits for 15 days with some left shoulder bursitis. Dumatrait had been putting up some noticeable and solid numbers for being a rookie who found himself in the bullpen at the beginning of the season. Well, the Pirates can't make it on a 3 man rotation. They can barely make it on a 5 man rotation as it is, so two new comers from Indianapolis found themselves on the starting rotation. Ty Taubenheim and Jimmy Barthmaier made the trip to three rivers for the Pirates series against the Rays and to give the 3 original pitchers in the rotation a break after the current Yankees series. Other than the NY millionaire's rolling into the Pittsburgh, those seemed to be tops in Bucco news. That and; “This Cubs fan sent me an e-mail and said, ‘Big deal. You beat the Pirates.’ I was, like, ‘Wait a minute. Every time I look on the scoreboard the Cubs are playing the Pirates. I think they play them every other day.”—White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, during his team’s three-game sweep of the Pirates. I think Ozzie's right, it does seem like were playing the cups every other day. Then again, it is nice not to see the Cubs for a while as the Pirates are on the verge of leaving the interleague series of 2008 at a .500 record against the AL East. That's not too bad if you ask me.

Anyways, the buzz was in Pittsburgh on a Tuesday night, of all nights as the Goliaths of Major League Baseball walked into the house that tax payers built. Stop, how can you possibly compare a team in the Pirates to a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, MVP, All Star caliber NY Yankees? You can't. Alex Rodriguez alone makes in one year as the entire Pirates pay rolls makes. I'm sure the city of New York would downgrade any idea of a salary cap in baseball. And the Pirates small salary team put up a bunch of hits and some good pitching in a 12-5 thumping of the Bronx Bombers. Ryan Doumit continued his hot hitting ways and Jose Bautista since being benched for a hitting slump has brought his average up over 30 points and added some power. 19 hits later, the Buc's had taken game one of the David and Goliath match-up. Game 2, was a different story. This Joba guy, he's may just be the real deal. With the bill on his hat freshly ironed to horizon flatness, he came out throwing. 6.2 innings and 7 stike outs threw the Pirates off balance and the Bucco's were shut out 10-0. Bobby Abreau and Derek Jeter (who extended his hitting streak to 13 games) each had 3 hits while Abreau pumped in 4 RBI's. We never got to see what the Pirates would do against Mike Mussina, but we seen what they couldn't do against a sports media superstar Joba Chamberlain. The win for Joba was his first as a starter in the bigs and his 2.03 ERA is just about as stout as you can get. Zac Duke on the other hand went 5 innings giving up 4 runs and somehow, still leaving the Buc's within a distant reach of making it a ball game. TJ Beam, who had just arrived from AAA Indianapolis, gave up 4 more in the 6th on a Robinson Cano solo shot and a Bobby Abreau 3 run homer. Welcome to the bigs, TJ. That put an end to any thought of a comeback and the Yank's would tag on 2 more in the later innings and that would officially ink in the return of the shelling from the previous night.

The game 3 winner-Mother Nature. It's gonna be a make up game on either a

Monday or Thursday night when both teams have a day off. It's sure to be a sell out for PNC on a make up game. I wonder what the front office is going to do with all of the money the Pirates pulled in from this series?

So I Forgot A Series Recap; Get Over It

Hey hey, the Bucco's took 2 of 3 from the Blue Jays. Woo woo, it is the Blue Jays, you know? Who cares though, us Pirate fans will take wins in any shape, way, or form. Now, as for the series the Bucco's are currently in..heh, let's just say 38,000+ showed up for Jeter and A-Rod. They saw this guy instead come back and continue doing what he does. The Pirates were 3-3 in interleague play heading into the 3 game set with the Yankees.

Heeeeeeee's Back!

P.S.-We're gonna try something new for out next recaps.

It's been 48 years since the pinstripes have visted the Steel City.

Here's How Competitive They Are

You want a White Sox series recap? Here you go, the White Sox had 22 extra base hits, the Pirates alone managed just 21 hits. The Sox score 37 runs in the 3 game series, thats 2nd most ever in a 3 game set in interleague play. The Pirates blew a 6 run lead after the 1st inning in the very next inning to the White Sox. Oh, and my favorite stat, the Bucco's ERA - 16.00! Amazing, so much for thinking our guys were competitive. 500, is starting to slip away and it's not going to get any easier, next up are the Blue Jays and Yankees. Both series are at PNC, but who cares, we'll be praying the pitching isn't escorted off the field on stretchers. It's not like heads are gonna roll if the Pirates were to lose 9 games in a row. The GM will still hold down the fort on the Allegheny and John Russell should get a 3 year contract extension while Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and more than likely an arm out of the pen will go by the trade deadline. Next year, we should see Jack Wilson, Nate McClouth, Curlin, and Big Brown will all be traded by the Pirate organization. Tired of all the negativity yet? Ok, it's good to know that both the Cubs and Cardinals got swept by the Rays and Royals respectively, however that does leave the Bucs 35.5 games out still. Just think, the Pirates only heartbeat in the Pirate offense come the next 2 years is Freddy Sanchez. Soon we'll be going back to the days of Kevin Young and Jeff Rebolet, because the Pirates are known for making up their players with good prospects. The only guy who's made something of himself, that Sanchez guy. Good Luck Bucco's! These next 7 days are going to hell and a blood bath in the making. I wonder if Jay Bruce will be avaiable at the deadline?

The Steelers Are Smart Investors

Every time you seem to turn on Sports Center, there's another wide receiver on some team who's pissed about his contract. Then, those players use the media in an effort to either be released, traded, or offered a new contract, other wise they'll cross their arms and stomp their feet. In other words, they're opting to not attend training camp or sit out an entire season in order to show the organization how serious they are. That leads me to my next question. What the hell is the purpose of a contract then? Don't you sign these things in order to give an organization your word that you will fulfill your contract to it's full extent? Heck, sometimes those franchises are nice enough to thrown in some incentives if you pass certain criteria during the season. Terrell Owens pulled his crap about 2 years ago when he decided his drive way was the best place for a nice ab workout, and then his agent couldn't seem to find the right question ("Next question, please"). That same year, the Steelers got a scare out of Hines Ward when he started chatting up talk of skipping camp. Well, he shut himself up, went to camp and got a new contract. Result: Super Bowl XL MVP. I'm not saying that if these guys who don't hold out for demands are going to go on and win MVP's, but it certainly is less of a distraction to the team. So far this year, we've gotten word from upset wide outs such as Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, BobbyEngram, Terry Glenn (he's got a different situation), and even the most recent Super Bowl champion Plaxico Burress all unhappy. Wow, this isn't a crisis, it's an EPIDEMIC. Is it irony? No, not really. Look at all of your jag off's that do their little celebratory end zone dances. Tell me the first three that come to your mind. Done? Ok, now tell me how many of those aren't placed in the wide receiver position. Even though I'm not David Copperfield, I can still guess that your answer is zero. You could easily see that these media freaks need the serious attention. They're money hogs and they couldn't live without the attention from all media sources. Is anyone still waiting on the guy who actually holds onto his words and sits out an entire season?

The Bengals have told Chad Johnson to stay at home if he doesn't feel like playing. Hmm, that's nice. Getting paid while you sit at home? Can't beat that. Ohhhh, but look at who showed up to mini camp last week! Laces untied, crossing his arms, and stomping his feet in front o f every camera available. Change your diaper Chad. Go have your ankle surgery and let us know when winning a ball game means more than your "value". Hell, you'd probably buy more grills and gold teeth while working on new touch down celebrations rather than winning a football game. You're a joke.

What about Plaxico Burress saying he doesn't like the direction the NY Giants program is heading. Dude, you just won the Super Bowl. How can you go in the wrong direction when the entire championship team (besides Michael Stahan) is mostly in tact. As John Stossel would say, "give me a break." Oh, time out, Sports Center has just reported Plaxico Burress will attend trianing camp. So much for that hold out, he really gave us all a show with his little media conference. Hold on for a second, can anyone understand anything that guy says? Here's a Plaxico quote "blah, bhke, abau, mmuer, you know what I'm sayin' man? ahuyr blur blah, sushr." And you can take that quote to the bank.

Who else do we have on taps? Oh yeah! Terry Glenn apparently has a conspiracy working against him. Jerry Jones must HATE Terry Glenn. Word is, they want Glenn to sign a little post-it note that says the Cowboys don't owe him money because of his injury last season. Terry's response to signing the dotted line, "ney". Good stuff down there in Dallas. They keep Terrell Owens out of trouble (and relatively happy) and then, this stuff.

35 year old dinosaur by NFL means, wants a new contract. And by dinosaur, I mean Bobby Engram. He feels that after his surprising fluke year, that he deserves more cash in order for the Seahawks to keep him a round as the only wide out threat for Seattle. Heh, I guess the front office over their is really reconsidering their draft picks. Look at it like this Steeler's fans, we've got one of the best ownerships and front offices in the league. They don't put up with the crap that these players dish out and they're smart about the players they draft and pick up. Just ask Bam Morris how his days ended in Pittsburgh. I'll give you a hint, it was the powder white line.

So Much For That; Buc's & Baltimore

Ugh! A chance at .500, heh almost if the leads could of been held up. The Bucco's had a total of 6 leads combined for all three games, and they blew them all. None were as amazing as the 5 run give away in game one. Brian Roberts scored in the first on a double play ball to make it 1-0 Baltimore. The Pirates shot back with 2 in the top of the 2nd when Jack Wilson drove in 2 on a single into center. Doug Mientkiewicz would single in Jason Bay in the top of the 3rd and Jason Michaels followed that up with a 3 run homer and the 5 run lead was set. Phil Dumatrait had a solid outing until he gave up 3 runs in the 5th, giving him 5 earned total. Fernando Osoria and Sean Burnett would both give up two runs a piece on a total of 2.2 innings combined. That raised both Osoria and Burnett's ERA's to an enormous 5.01 and 7.53 respectively, I'm sure that'll win you 82 games. The offense came out like wild fire before being extinguished and the Orioles took it right back at the Bucco's. They came back so big, that they even got a save out of it! Winning 9-6.

In game 2, the Bucco's hels the lead 4 times, only to let it slip away each time. None hurt more than when automatic Matt Capps blew his 2nd save in less than a week. Yet, somehow things were even stranger when all of the Pirate runs were scored via home runs. The Pirates got 4 home runs coming from Xavier Nady, Freddy Sanchez, Jose Bautista, and Adam LaRoche. Yet, with a 2 run lead headed into the ninth, Capps gave up a home run to Oscar Salazar to tie the game at 7 and then allowed Ramon Hernandez to drive in Freddi Bynum to cap off their 4th and final come back. Zac Duke would throw 86 pitches over 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits. John Grabow surprised even more people when he would allow 2 runs on 3 hits in 2/3 innings of work, showing that even the best part of your bullpen will sputter at times. Buc's lose, 8-7.

Sunday afternoon was another example of how fragile this Pirate team can be when Matt Capps struggled in the 9th again giving up 2 more runs on a Brian Roberts home run. Nate McClouth added a solo shot in the 3rd and Jason Michaels added 2 more RBI's later in the inning. Jose Bautista would add an RBI single of his own when he drove in Jason Bay in the top of the 5th. Besides Roberts' 9th inning heroics, the Orioles would get some offensive punch in the 5th when Guillermo Quiroz would homer and Aubrey Huff would add his own solo shot in the 6th to make it a one run game. The Buc's would hold on to this game though, when Adam LaRoche (of all people) would single to center allowing Jason Bay to score and Matt Capps would shut the Orioles down for a second chance in the 10th, Buc's win 5-4.

The Pirates may have lost the series, but if you look at all of these games....man, the Buc's had an obvious chance to sweep the AL East Orioles and what should be a happy day in Pittsburgh. Celebrating .500 will have to wait, but this was a great opportunity blown by the Pirates.

Bucco's & .500

A Little Belief Never Killed Anyone

No, you're not dreaming if you did a double take on the Pirates current season record. The Pirates are 32-33 and I have been covering them and watching them all season. I'm still left with questions as to how they're on the verge of a winning record. But stop, and take a minute to think. If you're at .500, that means you've won as many as you've lost. Simple chemistry, huh? The Pirates starting rotation has been garbage, but at times the bullpen has been stout thanks to the addition of Tyler Yates and John Grabow's outstanding pitching. Grabow carries a 1.93 ERA in 32 appearances and Matt Capps is among the leaders in the NL for saves. It's good to know that if the Pirates carry a lead into the 9th, the Buc's can close it out 95% of the time. At times though, the bullpen has been slapped around a couple times, but they really haven't been costing the Buc's a lot of games. The entire pitching staff (starters & bullpen) combined ERA amounts to a staggering 4.76. Not exactly tops in the majors, but most of that has come from the starting rotation and 3/4 of the starting pitching ERA came from Matt Morris' 5 starts before calling it quits. Tom Gorzelanny's 6.65 ERA catches your eye out of the starting rotation. He's walked 46 batters in 65 innings of work. He's basically the offense for the opposing team each time he pitches. Just ask Dontrelle Willis how his ERA has ballooned this year in Detroit, it's called control and Gorzo is struggling heavily with that. With the bad though, comes the good, and Phil Dumatrait since being converted to a starter since the departure of Matt Morris has been solid. Dumatrait hasn't been pitching deep into ball games but has been very effective in his 8 starts. He carries a 3.44 ERA in 65 total innings (ERA & Innings include relief appearances) and has been pitching with the chances of wins in his past few outings. The pitching for the Pirates at home has been a respectable 3.79 ERA while on the road the Bucco's carry an atrocious 5.99. Not one guy from the starting rotation carries a winning record on the road and Dumatrait's 1-1 record is the best in only 4 road starts. That's sure to reflect the 12-19 road record for the club while being a successful 21-15 at home.

Then there's the other side of the team, hitting. The hitting has been pretty solid lately and Nate McClouth has been having an outstanding season, however, he's fallen off lately. He's still putting up some good numbers and still has putting up some power on the boards. Xavier Nady is still holding down a .312 average and has been crucial in the Bucco's middle of the line up. The Pirates middle of the line up including (and excluding Ryan Doumit) has a combined 37 HR and 149 RBI of the 311 runs produced by the ball club. Jason Bay has pumped in 14 HR, same as Nady, and has punched in 45 RBI's. It seems like he's returning to the Jason Bay that won the NL Rookie of the Year award. If you couldn't tell, I'm pointing out that the Pirates are getting some solid batting from key players up and down the line-up. Jack Wilson has returned from his calf injury and is still batting over .300. Is he going to return to his 200 hit season form? It's hard to tell since he's only played 18 games this season, but it looks promising. Freddy Sanchez on the other hand, was caught in a serious early season slump, but has pulled his average from the Mendoza line up to .240 and has been hitting the ball more consistently since being moved to the lead off spot. He has since been moved around in the batting order, yet he's still producing at a consistent rate. When Wilson went down with an injury the Pirates were moving Luis Rivas, Chris Gomez, and Brian Bixler into the line up for some sort of an offensive punch. They had a hard time finding the batting and the fielding liability they get from Wilson. All three have helped in certain situations, Bixler being the weakest of the links. Bixler had a couple 2 hit games and Luis Rivas had himself a multi-home run game. Chris Gomez would be the guy to go to, as he has carried a .313 average and has still been used since Wilson's return in order to give players some days off. The credit and gold medal of the Bucco line up has to go to Ryan Doumit. The guy was having an outstanding season before fracturing his thumb and finding himself on the 15 day DL. He has since returned where he found himself struggling 1-12 in his first 3 games. That ended quickly when he caught fire and is 9-11 with 4 home runs, 2 doubles, and 7 RBI's in his last 3 games. He's brought his average back up to the .360 range he was at before getting injured and with him being a power, switch hitting catcher, how can that hurt your line up? Doumit has been placed in the clean up spot in the order and it seems to be working out quite well for John Russell. The Pirates offense is 14th in BA, 10th in runs, 15th in HR, and 5th in RBI's for all of baseball, not just the National League. That's pretty impressive. They only trail the Red Sox, Phillies, Cubs, and Rangers in RBI's produced. All 4 of those teams lead their respective divisions.

I'm here to say, that if the Buc's can get some quality starting pitching (which they have lately), the Pirates could find themselves above .500 for good and moving up the standings. Have some faith, the Pirates have the pieces to make a run at something special in this 2008 season where they find themselves on the verge of holding a record no one wants. Most consecutive losing seasons. They have made some moves in the off season, like picking up Tyler Yates, while also picking up a nice commodity in Jason Michaels. A winning season CAN happen, it's just a shame we find ourselves in one of the best divisions in all of baseball with the way the Cubs and Cardinals are playing.

Buc's Pull Up To .500's Mailbox

Wow, we got a lot to catch up on. In a good way this time though. First off, let me say that I was mistaken that about the series with the Diamondbacks. It was a 4 game set, rather than the 3 that I previously thought. Whoops.

Let's start it off with the Bucco's taking the 4th game of a 4 game series with the Diamondbacks, that win would split the the series at 2 games a piece. The Buc's would get some solid pitching out of Zac Duke through 5 innings and the Pirtaes started the offense machine early. The Pirates were going up against crater faced Randy Johnson and an all star arm. Not on this day apparently, Johnson would walk Luis Rivas in the 3rd with the bases loaded to bring home Doug Mientkiewicz. Side note: Every time I have to type Mientkiewiczs' last name, I have to copy and paste it. You try speling it! The D-backs would come right back in the top of the 4th with a Mark Renyolds solo home run, his 87th of the series it seemed. Who is Mark Renyolds any way? The Bucco's would come right back in the bottom half after Jason Michaels walked, Dough (copy & paste) Mientkiewicz singled to push Michaels to third. Jose Bautista's mendoza line batting average came through with a sac fly and the Bucco's put another run on the board. They would lead going back into the bottom half of the 5th 2-1. The Bucco's would tack on 1 more in the bottom of the 5th when Xavier Nady singled in Jack Wilson to make it a 3-1 lead. Then came the 6th, what a crazy little inning this was. Doug (copy & paste) Mientkiewicz would walk and Jose Bautista would single, moving Mientkiewicz to 2nd, and then 3rd on a throwing error by Mark Renyolds. Bautista would also advance to 2nd on the error. After Zac Duke made a horrible attempt at a deep fly ball, Luis Rivas singled to left. Mientkiewicz would score easily and Bautista would try to stretch it out and score. He wound up out at the plate and Rivas would advance to 2nd on the throw home. That would end crater face Johnson's day and the bid at whatever hes pitching for would end. I'm guessing 300 and he's being a thorn in the Diamondback's side. Jack Wilson would come through on the D-backs relief effort with a single to right that would drive in Rivas and the Bucco's extended their lead to 4 with a 5-1 score. That would be it for the Bucco offense as Arizona tried to turn on the kitchen stove for some offense. They would get a RBI producing ground rule double from Chirs Young that scored (there's that guy again) Mark Renyolds. In the top of the 8th the Diamondbacks would get a solo home run from Stephen Drew to bring the score to 5-3. But that would be it, Matt Capps would come in and close all remaining doors off, game. Zac Duke would get his 4th win and the starting pitching would start to turn around from this game. Bucco's win 5-3.

In came the Washington Nationals next for a 3 game set to finish out a homestand for the Pirates at PNC. The series started off in a sour tasting manner when the Bucco's would decide to lose this one. This series also started off Ryan Doumit's insane 3 game series. Paul Maholm got the start and he did a very satisfactory job with it. He would however get some shelling in the 7th but over all he didn't do a typical Pittsburgh start. The first run against him didn't come until the 5th when Ronnie Belliard would hit a solo shot to left. But, it would be the Bucco's getting on the board first again when the Bucs put 3 on the board in the first. Freddy Sanchez would hit a a gorund ball to the shortstop allowing Nate McClouth, who doubled and advanced to 3rd on an error, to score. Jason Bay would single after that and Ryan Doumit would hit the first of his two home runs on the night to put the Bucco's up 3-0. Belliard's solo home run in the 5th would cut the lead to 2, but Doumit would come up in the bottom of the 6th and hit his 2nd home run of the night to take the 3 run lead back. Then came the 7th, an inning that would of made you want to punch yourself. 3 of the first 4 batters in the 7th for Washington would hit solo shots off of Maholm. Maholm's night would be done after throwing just 88 pitches and allowing 4 runs on 10 hits. The Nationals would get another RBI out of Belliard in the 8th giving the Nationals the lead for the first time that night 5-4. Not to be outdone, the Bucco's offense came right back in the bottom half of the 8th with a Nady single to center that drove in Jason Bay and moved Ryan Doumit to 3rd. Doug Mientkiewicz would bring Doumit home on a sac fly to deep right and the Pirates would storm back to take the lead 6-5. Time to bring on Matt Capps, who is about as automatic as they come this year. Not this night though, Lastings Milledge would hit a 2 run home run and the Nationals would take game 1, 7-6. Matt Capps' first blown save this season, he has previously been 15 of 15 in chances.

Game two belonged to Ian Snell who finally pitched like an opening day starter. Snell was the best he's been in his past 5 or so outtings as he went 6 innings giving up one earned run on 6 hits and carded 6 strikeouts. The Pirates would get the offense they needed in the first inning for the 2nd consecutive night. Jason Bay doubled to deep left driving in Nate McClouth. Ryan Doumit would add a solo shot in the 5th, his 3rd in 2 nights, and the Buc's would extend their lead 2-0. The Nationals would get their only run in the 7th when Ellis Duke drove in Felipe Lopez on a single to center field. The Bucco's would tack on some inssuranance and the 2 run lead again int he bottom of the 7th when Xavier Nady lined a single to right scoring Freddy Sanchez. Matt Capps would come to work in the 9th and close it out for his 16th save of the year. Game, Bucs 3-1.

The Pirates would make a charge at .500 after taking the series against the Nationals after dropping the first game. The Pirates would win game 3 of the series Thursday afternoon and push their record to 33-34. The Pirates offense would come alive again and Tom Gorzelanny would put up some solid pitching numbers for a staff that had previously been struggling. Ryan Doumit (of course) kept the fire burning as he led off the scoring in the 1st with a 2 run homer that would also score Freddy Sanchez. Gorzelanny would help his own cause in the 2nd when he drew a bases loaded walk that would score Mientkiewicz. Nate McClouth would follow that up with a sac fly driving in Chris Gomez and the Bucco's were on top quickly 4-0 through 2 innings. However, Ellis Dukes would triple in the top of the 3rd driving in Christian Guzman to make it a 4-1 game. The Bucs would get 2 more runs in the 5th when Jason Bay would hit a sac fly to bring home Gorzelanny and Ryan Doumit would back that up with a single driving home McClouth and the Pirates were in serious command at 6-1. The Nationals would claw back with 3 runs in the top of the 6th when Christain Guzman had a 2 run single and Ellis Dukes drove in Dimitri Young. Ryan Langerhauns would score to make it a one run game off a single from Guzman again but the Pirates would add some Progressive to their lead in the bottom half of the inning. Jason Michaels doubled to deep left to bring home Chirs Gomez and the Pirates would have a 2 run lead heading into the 9th. Matt Capps would get the day off and Damaso Marte would close it out and the Pirates are one win away from .500. They made it tough for them as the Pirates head to Baltimore (32-33) Fathers Day weekend for a three game series. From there, the Bucco's head to Chicago for a series with the AL Central leading White Sox. Winning, doesn't come easy.

The Bucs Swing and Miss at .500

The Diamondbacks rolled into PNC this past weekend for a 3 game set with our Bucco's. It was going to be a tough test against the NL West division leaders. To make things worse, it didn't start off with the best vibe either when Brandon Webb was scheduled to start the opener Friday night. Good luck beating that guy.

Friday night soon came...what a bummer. It was a flawless Webb against a struggling Ian Snell, this had the makings of a "turn off the TV" situation. Well, it wasn't. Ian Snell had a very confusing outing. It was productive to an extent, but far from efficient. Snell lasted 5 innings on 107 pitches and giving up 2 runs, 1 of those earned. Take it as you wish, but at least he didn't surrender his 6+ ERA. The D-Backs would tag Snell with a Stephen Drew RBI double and an Orlando Hudson sac fly. 2-0, Arizona through 4.5. To bad it was ALL Brandon Webb though. He was unreal and perfection at it's finest. He would even help his own cause in the 6th with a run scoring single. He would be in the game only one more inning after that, pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 hits and 1 ER. That one run would be the only Bucco run of the night that was credited to a Jason Bay double, driving in Freddy Sanchez. The pirates would muster 3 hits in their final 3 innings, but no dice. Brandon Lyon would close it out and hand the Pirates another digit for the loss column. It's hard to get to Brandon Webb, but he was all business.

Game 2 started out as a classic Tom Gorzelanny outing, giving up 3 runs right out of the gate. Gorzo gave up 3 runs in the second by walking 2 and giving up 2 hits. Both Conor Jackson and Chris Young has RBI producingg singles and Mark Renyolds hit a sac fly to put the D-backs up 3-0 through the first. The Bucs were going to have to play catch up....again. Well, they did just that and it's starting to become very impressive. It would start in the 3rd when Nate McClouth doubled to drive in Adam LaRoche. The Buc's would ass two more runs over the next two innings starting with a Jason Bay home run in the 4th and Nate McClouth home run in the 5th, both their 14th of the year. After 5 innings, the Bucs had clawed their way back to a tie ball game. And Slowly but surely, Gorzelanny kept the Pirates in the game by giving them 7 strong innings and only giving up the 3 runs from the 1st. All the fun would end when automatic John Grabow stepped in to pitch the 8th and then came back in the 9th. It would be the only hit Grabow would give up in his outing, but it would wind up being the game winner when Chris Snyder would hit a solo home run to lead off the 9th. Brandon Lyon would break out his mop and clean up the bottom of half of the inning for his 14th save. Game, 4-3 Arizona. I'm starting to think we need Ozzie Guillen to have a chat with our starting rotation.

Game 3, trying to avoid a sweep and the Pirates would get it done. The chance to welcome the Washington Nationals into PNC with a winning record was not to be. Instead the Pirates were just trying to keep things close for a change. Phil Dumatrait took the mound and added himself another solid outing. Dumatrait went 5.2 giving up 2 ER on 4 hits and he seems like the only guy who feels like winning out of the Pirates rotation. Now if we can just get Ozzie to talk to the rest of the rotation, since John Russell doesn't care to bring it to any ones attention. Conor Jackson got things started in the first by scoring on a passed ball. 1-0 Diamondbacks. Then came the 4th when Ozzie Guillen rang the Pirates dugout. They had themselves a good heart chat and the Buccos came out and put 5 on the board. 5 runs on 5 hits that included 3 doubles coming from Adam LaRoche, Jose Bautista, and Jason Bay. Mark Reynolds would hit a solo shot in the top of the 5th to get some offense on the board for the D-backs, but Jack Wilson would get that run back on a RBI single in the bottom half of the inning. Mark Reynolds would add his second homer of the game in the 8th, it also brought home Conor Jackson, and just like that it was a 2 run game. Top 9 called for Matt Capps. Result: Save. Game, Bucco's 6-4 and the Pirates have won 30 games. If they weren't in the same division as the Cubs and Cardinals. People might actually be talking about the Bucs. Sadly it's not so, as usual.

Hangin' In There; Buc's Take 2

Our attention for the summer, until Steelers training camp and the free agant deadline for the Pens, will be on our battling Bucco's who sit at 28-30 (9 games back of Chicago). Our chants now shift from Let's go Pens to Let's go Bucs!

After a road trip that saw the Pirates struggle at times and the pitching deteriorate, the Bucs returned home. It didn't get much better from the start of their first game against the Astros. they would drop game one of the series 2-0 and Phil Dumatrait, who seems to be the only pitcher worth starting lately, pitched 6 effective innings. Dumatrait gave up 2 runs over 6 innings off of 7 hits. The offense sputtered and the Astros' Wandy Rodriguez was as sharp as a tack going 6 innings giving up only 5 hits. It was a quiet game and the Astros got their offense from the usual suspects of Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman. Both had a double and an RBI each. Game, 2-0 Astros.

Game 2 of the series saw an unexpected hero step up. The Buc's got help from catcher Raul Chavez who drove in 3 runs as our Bucco's cruised to a 5-2 win. Zac Duke went a good distance as he had one of his best outings in a long time. Duke went 7.2 giving up 2 runs in a strong outing. Matt Capps got his 12th save and the Pirates also got some help from an Adam LaRoche RBI single and a Nate McClouth single. But, it was Chavez's night, going 1-3 and adding a sacrifice fly. The Pirates continued to struggle with Lance Berkman as he went 2-4 and raised his average to .384. When you look at the Astros middle of the lineup, it's amazing they're not nipping at the Cubs doorstep. Kaz Matsui has come off the DL with some consistency, then comes the star power in their line up. The next 3 batters of Tejada, Berkman, and Carlos Lee are sure to put some offense on the board in any organization. The Astros boast a solid new comer in Hunter Pence as he bats .294 with 7 homers and 32 RBI's. It wasn't enough on this night, Buc's take game 2.

Paul Maholm was on the mound for another start that looked like a typical evening for the Bucs. Maholm gave up 3 early runs and the Bucco's had to play catch up again. Jason Michaels got the Pirates on the board with a 3 run shot to give the Pirates an edge of 3-1 and Maholm some breathing room. Side note: Jason Michaels' last two at bats have both been home runs consiting of 7 RBI's, nuts. The lead would soon dissipate as the Astros would tack on 2 more runs. Of all people Brandon Backe drove in a run and Hunter Pence added a sac fly one batter later. The Pirates would need more offense it seemed and Maholm wasn't showing any signs of help from the mound. The offense would come in the 5th as Jason Bay tripled to deep center that drove in Nate McClouth giving the Pirates that edge they needed, 4-3. Paul Maholm would settle down and throw a total of 86 pitches through 8 innings of work. 76% of the pitches Maholm would throw were strikes. Matt Capps closed it out for his 13th save and the Pirates were once again back in reach of .500 for the next series.

It's gonna be tough for them though as they start off Friday night Against Brandon Webb who has only lost two starts. His last outing was picture perfect, a complete game shutout. He's gone the distance twice this year and has gone 8 innings two other times. It doesn't get any better, Ian Snell is 0-5 in his last 9 outings with an enormous ERA of 6.70. His last win came on April 12th against the Reds, OUCH! Ryan Doumit was activated today, he may start as the Pirates open a 4 game series with the NL West division leading Diamondbacks and a 3 game set with the Nationals.

In Jay Bruce News:

-He's cured cancer in only 7 starts since being called up from the minors.

-Ted Williams has come back to life to watch his offspring perfrom.

-He's apparently on the Pirates rosters since Yahoo! decides to link his picture in the Pirates photo gallery.

-Jay Bruce will soon find out what a slump is and I'll be the first to laugh.

-The Reds are in last place of the NL Central, but that's ok, they have Jay Bruce. I didn't know that one of the worst teams in MLB could have so much publicity for one player. Bruce this, Bruce that.

-If he makes the All-Star team and either Nady, McClouth, Bay, or even Matt Capps doesn't get invited. There will be an ever lasting war on the name that is Jay Bruce.

It's Over. It Hurt's. But It Was Fun.

We were that close to another chance.

Game 6 came to a screeching halt and Pens nation went dull and silent. We had lost the cup. We were so close, but it just wasn't meant to be. We sat in our chairs or stood blank and silent, just like the live feeds of Evgeni Malkin on all fours or Marian Hossa just sitting against the boards. It stung and it stung really hard. We knew that after a 2-0 deficit and what the Detroit Red Wings were capable of doing with the puck that it was going to be tough. REAL tough. We scared them, a little, in game 3. Yet the Pens would flinch first in game 6 and it may have cost them a chance at game 7, but let us not forget how huge this year was for the Penguins, the fans, and the ownership.

First off let's start with the Penguins; What a young core of talent we saw on hand this year. Sidney Crosby coming back from a serious injury for the first time in his career. How was he going to play? Would he still be the same 'ol Sid sliding around on the ice and making plays happen? Yeah, we saw that, he's still REALLY good. What about Evgeni Malkin? We knew the kid was good, but just how good? I think we got one heck of a ticket for that show. When Crosby went down, Malkin took the bull by the horns and went after team.. after team...after team. He possesses the shooting touch and he owns the ability to make sweet cross ice passes as we saw so much of to Peter Sykora and Ryan Malone. Another 100+ point scorer for the Penguins and another player to value for the Pens. I could go on forever with the forward progress of each player this year like Sergei Gonchar, turning in one of his finest seasons ever both defensively and offensively. Brooks Orpik, went from a liability to owning the blue line. Kris Letang stepped in and made a difference, certainly via shootout. Ty Conklin, where would this team be without that guy? Marc-Andre Fluery and his strong return, flawless. He showed last year wasn't a fluke, he is the real deal. Rob Scuderi, just like Orpik, he came in and played a defensemen's defense all season. What a great guy to have on your blue line. Ryan Whitney continues to form into a great offensive defensemen while also playing himself a solid blue line. Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbott, and Jarko Ruutu played their pivotal rules on the checking line. Peter Sykora added some depth to the winger position. He wasn't exactly what the Penguins were looking for, but it sure did work out. Then there are the mid season pick ups of Hal Gill, Pascal Dupuis, and Marian Hossa. This is where we start to shift the conversation to the ownership.

The ownership made it very clear to Ray Shero that this was a great opportunity to take a chance for the cup. So Ray Shero packed up a talented winger in Erik Christensen and a fun guy who held a special place in a lot of Pens fan's hearts, Colby Armstrong. Shero also added last years first round pick Angelo Esposito and a 1st round pick this year. Now THAT was going all out. The Pens dumped a lot of talent and loyalty into that trade to pick up both Hossa and Dupuis. Noone would have ever thought they would add so much depth. Not only Hossa, but Dupuis. He may have found himself a home in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career if he continues to play the same way he did this year. The Pens picked up Hal Gill on a draft choice because Toronto was to have said; "they were glad to get rid of him." Thanks Toronto, we'll take him. Gill played a shutdown role on the Pens penalty kill and man did he ever shut it down. The Penguins were struggling on the PK and with the additions of Gill, Dupris, and Hossa (all PK specialists) the PK tides were definitely changing. Those 3 pick ups made it very clear that the Penguins wanted to win the Stanley Cup this year. Well, it didn't work out, but you can't blame the front office for not trying. The ownership also made it very clear that they were willing to take losses (in money) over the next two years, so that they could max out the salary cap in players to make this team competitive for the cup each and every single year. Wow! All I can say to Mario Lemiuex and the guys in the front office, as fans....Thank You. It's hard to find a team who's willing to put money aside and say "build me a winner."

We've spilled our guts out all season and throughout the playoffs, but now it's time to say goodbye. Goodbye to the chance of lifting Lord Stanley's dinnerware, goodbye to the season, and perhaps to some current Penguins. If some of those guys like Pittsburgh and feel that sometimes winning feels better than money, they're more than welcomed to stay.

What a season! It was awesome, I can't wait to see what's in store for October.

Once Upon A Time In Game 5...

Someone tell me this wasn't a good story, I dare you. I was preapred for the worst. I had already made the cheesecake I told my girlfriend to buy, because I knew that after this game I would be ready to eat my feelings.

First off, let's start with the Pennsylvania lottery. The daily number - 7171. This will be put to good use of irony later on.

This was it, game 5 and down 3-1. "The Cup" was in the house with the purpose of presenting it. The Red Wings at one point in the 3rd period were just seconds away from taking the Stanley Cup, yet, it wasn't meant to be and the Penguins would play the heartbreak role for Detroit's fans.

The Pen's got things started off with the same fashion as game 4, Marian Hossa strikes first on a superb fore checking play by Pascal Dupuis. After cutting off a Detroit defensemen from the puck and sending the biscuit over to Crosby. Sidney Crosby would shuffle the puck up to Marian Hossa, who was stationed a top the right circle and settled a partially blocked puck. Hossa then turned the puck to the forehand only to find his favorite left post, this time though...the post is on our side, he buries it. Then, 6:04 later, Adam Hall found himself in a pounding down low situation himself on a fore check when he also put the puck on net that was stopped before Nikalas Kronwall tried to clear the puck to the corner. The puck was redirected by Hall's skate (and hard work ethic too) up over Chris Osgood's shoulder for a 2-0 lead and the Penguins were in serious business after 1 period of play.

(Side note: 4 of Adam Hall's 6 career playoff goals have come against Detroit.)

Period 2 saw an early Detroit goal from Darren Helm when Rob Scuderi layed down his life in a attempt to block Helm's shot, only to have it carom off his leg and past the paint via 5 hole for a 2-1 Pittsburgh edge. The remaining period had some good solid grinding, with Detroit of course, being Detroit with their puck possession and shots on net. Besides the jaw dropping skilled marksmanship of Darren Helm, the only serious plays of the 2nd came late in the period when both Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar went down with some injuries. Malone took a knuckle ball of rubber to his nose only to leave the ice at the end of the 2nd with blood dripping from his face.(see picture left) Sergei Gonchar, had his own issues after he fell and slid into the boards hard towards the end of the 2nd too. Gut check time would come for Ryan Malone in the next period as he would step on the ice for the start of the 3rd. Gonchar on the other hand, he had some serious issues I guess, because he just adds to the drama of game 5 later on.

Period 3....oh crap. Detroit came out all business. They got on the power play early and would take serious advantage of it and score on a redirect from Pavel Datsyuk to make it a 2-2 game. Less than 3 minutes later, Brian Rafalski would put a dagger into every black and gold individual with a shot from the blue line only to find mesh, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 lead. For most of the 3rd period, the Rafalski goal seemed like the game clincher.

Act III, Pt. I, enter the 6 on 5 empty net with just over a minute to go. Meanwhile, billy white gloves was breaking out the Cup for it's final cleaning and the hoover was brought out for the red carpentry. The Penguins looked like they wouldn't get anything set up or put pressure what so ever on Chris Osgood. Henrik Zetterberg picked off his 8,473 pass of the series shorthanded and had a chance to stop the world from turning on an empty net. He failed, thank god. And the Pen's came back up ice and were on a rush. The puck got bounced around from Sidney Crosby over to Marian Hossa who was putting on some moves that would of made Jason Taylor blush. He worked his way around two Detroit defenders and behind the net. Hossa would put on his best power move from his bag of tricks and somehow get the puck on net, and he did. Maxime Talbott was there and it was Monday....(AKA) trash day. Talbott never played cute with the rebounder, and man, did he ever SLAM it home. Game tied, with 34.2 left.

In that time left Detroit had put some serious pressure on Fluery to make some saves to push this game into OT for some orange slices and a breather. Then the end of the 3rd came and ESPN's shot chart for Detroit looked like a pedophile emporium on watch dog neighbor.net.

I don't really know how to describe the next 50 some minutes of hockey other than; heart pounding. Game 5 was on the line and a chance for the Penguins to take it back home with a chance to even the series up in game 6. The Penguins would draw two penalties in the first two extra frames because of goalie interference. The knob jobs in the NBC booth were furious with the calls by repeatedly saying "What was he supposed to do?" Both times, making reference to the fact that Marc-Andre Fluery was plowed over like he was hit by an 18 wheeler! Here's an idea for the NBC broadcast crew, here's how the penalties could have been avoided....it's simple; they could have stopped. They weren't pushed into the crease or throw down into Fluery, the Red Wings simply followed their shots to the net, then ran Fluery over. Jags. In other OT hockey news; midway through the 2nd OT, Peter Sykora taps his chest to his teammates on the bench and says "I'm going to score." Balls, pure elephant balls to say something like that.

Act VI, Pt. II, enter the Hero scene. In this case their were tw0 and at this point we had played 100 minutes of hockey including 2 OT's. Speaking of; overtime hockey on national TV is great, due to the fact their are no TV timeouts and there are no commercials until the end of play in each OT. Flawless stuff, it was like watching the Masters on Sunday, wuth about 3 minutes of commercials an hour. I'm glad to, because for a second there I was forgetting how that new Edge shave gel actually worked. I digress however, anyways. Enter the hero(s) and the antagonist, Marc-Andre Fluery was already present with 50+ saves and Jiri Hudler (antagonist & one ugly fella too) felt his name hadn't been called enough during the game, so he decided to take Brooks Oprik's bottom lip off with his stick. There was blood and that's a 4 minnur for Detroit. The Pen's were on the the PP and the hero's appear. Sergei Gonchar returns to the bench after missing parts of the 3rd and all of the OT's with an injury no knows anything about. He obviously can't shoot the puck because he had about 2 or 3 chances to on the penalty to Hudler. Who cares, pure guts to be out on the ice for your teammates. So, here's how it went down, it's called tic-tac-toe. Gonchar would find Malkin (#71, wink wink) who then would find Sykora (#17, wink wink) at the right circle where he waited for about a day and a half before firing off a wrister top shelf, only to sink every single octopus' loving hearts in Joe Louis Arena.

If you believe in irony or numerology, the PA daily number was 7171, and a lot of people were pointing to Evgeni Malkin for some sort of life or fire. It was close in game 5, but who cares, Pens win 4-3! A good man once said "Whether you're a mother or whether you're brother, your stayin' alive. Stayin' alive." We can all thank the Bee Gee's for that...breathe in, breathe out and a long night comes to an end, but WHAT A GAME, HUH?!

Pirates in Review

I've been a little lazy with my Bucco recaps and I started thinking...162 recaps is stupid. So I'll start off where I stopped. I left off with the Buc's losing game one of a three game set with Cincinatti, it wouldn't get much better. The Bucco's would drop the 2nd game 9-1 before breaking out the ugly sticks in game 3, winning 7-2. Phil Dumatrait got the win and he has gotten progressively better. Against the Reds, Dumatrait, went 7 innings with no earned runs. The Buc's starting pitching was dismal and it didn't start out much better in St. Louis for a 4 game series. I was happy to see the Bucco's get out of Cincinnati. The Jay Bruce chatter was really getting annoying, in his 6th career game he was already being compared to Ted Williams and Hank Aaron. Give me a break.

The Pirates have been putting up some decent amount of runs, but the starting rotation is in the dumpster. Zac Duke gave up 3 runs right out of the gate in the first 2 innings, you can't play from behind every game. It doesn't work. The Bucco's are on the verge of being a competitive team a top the NL Central. They average 5 runs a game while the pitching gives up 5.5 Going into the 2nd game of the series, the Buc's UNLOADED. In a standing room only game (100.7% capacity according to ESPN), Luis Rivas went ballistic. He made the most of his 5 opportunities, going 2-5 with a grand slam in the 19 hit pounding of the Cardinals. Paul Maholm added a solid outing going 6.2 giving up only a run. The usual suspects of McClouth, Nady, and Jason Bay adding some solid hitting in what looked to be a dynamic top half of the batting order.

The Pirates would succumb to reality with a horrible outing by Ian Snell, who's arm has apparently fallen off someone in the Allegheny River. He went 4 innings giving up 8 hits and 6 earned runs. That's not gong to work.

The Pirates would end up splitting the 4 game set with St. Louis, thanks to Jason Michaels single at bat in the 7th inning. Again, it was the pitching. Tom Gorzelanny coughed up 4 runs in 6 innings. But that's OK. Jason Michaels, in a pinch hitting roll for Tommy G, hit a top 7 grand slam to tie it up for the Pirates. Jason Bay, one inning later, put on his Superman underwear and singled in the game winning run. Bucco's would win, 5-4.

If you stop and look at this Pirates club, they're 27-30 in what is a potent NL Central, what a tough year for them to look at ending a losing streak on the verge of setting an MLB record.