Duke to be Called up, Start

WASHINGTON -- Zach Duke, the Pirates' top pitching prospect, will make his major-league debut Saturday in Milwaukee.

That is the day Oliver Perez would have made his next start, but he broke his left big toe kicking a laundry cart Sunday in St. Louis and will miss three to six weeks.

Management has said that the pitcher who takes Perez's spot Saturday would be the one who stays in the rotation at least until Perez's return.

Duke, 22, is a left-hander with exceptional poise and control who nearly made the Pirates' roster out of spring training. He was assigned to Class AAA Indianapolis, where he led the International League in victories with a 12-3 record and 108 innings.

The Pirates also considered using recent recall Ian Snell, a right-hander who also spent much of this season starring in Indianapolis, but he will remain in the bullpen.

Thanks to another Buccos fan for sending this to me!

Pirates Tumble in Standings

With the two losses against Washington this week the Pirates have slipped to next to last in the National League Central Division. The Pirates had been in either 3rd or 4th place for much of the past 2 months. The Cincinnati Reds remain firmly in last place in the division.

Snell's Big Chance?

With the recent developments in the Pirate's pitching staff one has to wonder if the planets have aligned themselves just right for recently called up pitcher Ian Snell. Snell known for his impressive slider at AAA Indianapolis was called up to the majors earlier this week originally thought to mosly be in the bullpen but recent developments have possibly changed that.

With the self-inflicted injury to Oliver Perez and the call up of a position player instead of another pitcher one has to think that the Pirates intend to give Snell some starts. And by calling up a position player to replace Perez's spot on the roster the Pirates are showing confidence in Snell and their other starting pitchers to beable to carry one less pitcher in the bullpen.

The last 6 games of this road trip should prove alot about the state of the team's pitching.

Original section316 content

Altoona Back in 1st, Gets Complete Game

To counter the bad pitching news about Perez here is some good pitching news from the Pirate's world.

June 26, 2005 - Tom Gorzelanny tossed his first career nine-inning complete game with a three-hit shutout to lead the Altoona Curve back into first place with a 7-0 win over the New Britain Rock Cats Sunday night in front of a packed house at Blair County Ballpark. Altoona (41-34) ended a three-game losing streak with the win and jumped over Erie back into first place in the E.L. South.

From www.altoonacurve.com

Perez on 15 day DL

This was emailed to me by a fellow Pirates news reader just now so its hot off the press! Interesting that they call up a position player to relpace him.


Pirates place LHP Perez on 15-day disabled list
June 28, 2005
WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Oliver Perez's temper has landed him on the disabled list.

On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates placed their ace lefthander on the 15-day DL with a broken left big toe, which was suffered when he kicked a laundry cart in the clubhouse following his start against St. Louis on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Perez allowed four runs, seven hits and a season high-tying five walks in six innings against the Cardinals in a game the Pirates eventually won in 10 innings.

It has been a frustrating season for Perez, who has posted a 6.16 ERA in 15 starts after ranking sixth in the National League with a 2.98 ERA in 30 starts last year. Despite allowing at least four earned runs eight times, Perez has a record of 6-5.

Perez, whose 239 strikeouts last season were fourth in the NL and the third-highest total in team history, has 81 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings this year.

Acquired along with 2004 NL Rookie of the Year Jason Bay in the deal that sent outfielder Brian Giles to San Diego in 2003, Perez is 26-30 with a 4.25 ERA in 85 career outings, including 84 starts.

To replace Perez on their active roster, the Pirates recalled outfielder Nate McLouth from Class AAA Indianapolis of the International League. McLouth was hitting .306 with five homers, 32 RBI and 23 stolen bases with Indianapolis this season.

Name The Team Round Two

Receiving nearly 5,000 submissions in the initial phase of the club’s “Name the Team Contest”, the State College Professional Baseball Club, which will be owned and operated by the Altoona Curve, has announced the top seven nicknames. The seven names that have advanced to the next phase of fan voting are:

Black Bears... Common animal found in the forests of Central PA
Copperheads... Snake indigenous to Central PA
Miners... Named for Pennsylvania’s rich mining history
Mountain Bats... Name combining local landscape with baseball tie-in
RidgeRiders... Alliterative name referring to area mountain ridges
Sliders... Name has baseball tie-in; also a common species of turtle
Stags... Adult male whitetail deer found throughout Central PA

To Vote go to StateCollegeBaseball.com

Weekly vs 2004 for June 27th

The Pirates slipped slightly from last week in comparison to how they performed last year, sliding from 5 games better then last year to 3 games better then last year.

The Pirates as of Monday the 27th are 74 games into the season:

34 - 40 = Current W-L at this point
31 - 43 = W -L at this point in 2004

Date that it took to reach 34 wins in 2004: July 2nd.

Slow Trade Period?

According to ESPN's Peter Gammons don’t look for a lot of trade activity this year due to fewer teams being in financial problems and more teams still being in the mix of things for division and wildcard races. Below are some quotes from Dave Littlefield that were in the article:

"In years past," says Littlefield, "we had to move contracts and get our payroll down. We got it down $20 million. Now we're right where we have to be. We don't have to move payroll, our attendance is up 20 percent and we now want to start winning. There is no one we have to move. We have an option on Jose Mesa for next season, and I think it's good for Mike Gonzalez to break into the closer role with Jose [on our team]."

Littlefield brought up right-handed pitcher Ian Snell this weekend, has lefty Zach Duke sitting at Triple-A Indianapolis with a 12-3 record in 16 starts and will get right-hander John Van Benschoten and lefty Sean Burnett back for the 2006 season. "We need some more power and production," Littlefield says. "But we're getting better. This winter we can start to do some things. For now, I'm not interested in Double-A prospects. If someone wants to make a trade, it has to be for someone who can help the Pirates now."

For the whole article go to Peter Gammons Page

Duke records 12th victory

Zach Duke became the International League's first 12-game winner, pitching 7 2/3 innings on Saturday night as Indianapolis defeated Toledo, 8-3.

Duke yielded three runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. The 22-year-old left-hander joined Midland's Dallas Braden as the only 12-game winners in the Minor Leagues. Six of Braden's victories came in the Class A California League.

Over his last five starts, Duke is 4-0 with a 2.65 ERA.

Source: Minorleaguebaseball.com

Snell Promoted from AAA

Following the Bucs' 8-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night, the team announced that right-handed pitcher Ian Snell would be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis before Sunday's series finale.

Snell was 9-2 with a 4.06 ERA in 15 starts with the Indians, highlighted by a no-hitter against Norfolk on May 15. Earlier this week, the 23-year-old was named to the International League All-Star and the United States Futures Game squads.

A starter throughout his Minor League career, Snell made two relief appearances and one start with the Pirates last September. He'll begin his second tour with the Bucs pitching out of the bullpen.

For more on Ian's call up go to Pirates.com

An Interesting Look and Take on Interleague

From USA Today.
PITTSBURGH
When the Pittsburgh Pirates put out their schedule in March, Matt Aland couldn't believe his eyes: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were coming to PNC Park for a weekend series in June.

"We ordered tickets right away, and I had this date circled on my calendar," says Aland, who became a Devil Rays fan because of their colors and logo.

"I'm for the underdogs. I like the Pirates and the Devil Rays. My friends didn't want to come because the Yankees aren't here. If the Yankees were here, I probably wouldn't be here."

Aland might be in the minority. But then, everyone seems to have an opinion on how baseball's interleague play, in its ninth season, should be scheduled.

Continued...

Bucs Hold on as Card's Rally Falls Short

The Pirates(33-38) broke an 12 game losing streak to the Cardinals(45-27) winning last night 11-7 in a game that untill the 9th inning was not as close as the final score would indicate.

The Pirates had jumped to an 11-2 lead by the 6th inning, that was trimmed to 11-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. In the 9th Cardinals scored 3 more runs and were threatening for more untill Rick White earned his 2nd save of the season in relief of Torres who had come on for starter Dave Williams in the 7th.

Game Notes:

• Umpire Rick Reed was replaced behind the plate by second-base umpire Ted Barrett in the bottom of the fifth inning as Reed was forced to go to a local hospital for precautionary reasons after being struck in the head by a foul ball in the top of the fifth.

• StL starter Morris (8-1) suffered his first loss of the season after being tagged for six runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk in three-plus innings.

• leading, 3-1, in the third inning, the Bucs tacked on another pair of runs when Cardinals left fielder Reggie Sanders dropped what should have been the final out of the frame on a fly ball by Jack Wilson.

Four Indians Named to IL All Star Team

From indyindians.com

[June 22, 2005]
Indianapolis pitchers Zach Duke, Ian Snell and Mark Corey and outfielder Nate McLouth have all been named to the 2005 International League All-Star Team, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon. The top players from the IL will square off with the best from the Pacific Coast League in the 18th Annual Triple-A All-Star game on Wednesday, July 13, at Raley Field in Sacramento, Calif. The contest will be televised live on ESPN2. The Indians (44-28) have completed their most successful first half of the season since 1988 when the Tribe owned a 47-25 record at the midpoint of the 144-game regular-season slate.

Gonzo on DL, Johnston Called up

The Pirates placed Mike Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Left-hander Mike Johnston was recalled from AAA Indianapolisto take Gonzalez's spot on the big league roster.

Bucs Can't Hold on, Lose 5-4

Missed chances at the plate, namley leaving the bases loaded at one point, and another two home runs by former Pirate Jose Guillen added up to a 5-4 Pittsburgh(32-38) loss to the Nationals(42-30) on what was otherwise a perfect day for baseball yesterday.

After exploding for 11 runs on Tuesday, Pittsburgh on its way to another big offensive game. Jason Bay tied the game at 2 in the first inning with his 13th home run of the season. Two batters later, Rob Mackowiak bounced a 460-foot blast into the River. Matt Lawton then sent one deep in the second inning, it looked as though the Pirates would breeze to their sixth consecutive home series win. But the lead would not hold as the Nationals came back to and then went ahead in the 8th where they would stay.

The Pirates missed their chance to win their 6th home series in a row and now head out on the road for a 4 game series against division leading St. Louis, to whom the Pirates have lost to the past 12 times they have played.


Perfect weather but not a perfect outcome.

Pirates Rip Nats 11-4

The Pirates(32-37) rebounded from Monday's game to rout the Washington Nationals(41-30), 11-4. The previously inept Pittsburgh offense erupted for 14 hits and reached double digits in runs for the third time this season after being held to 17 runs in the previous seven games. Nine different Pirates players either drove home or scored a run. Lawton had 5 RBI’s during the night which offset getting picked off at 1st early in the game and Perez pitched through the 1st 5 innings to earn the win.

The Pirates will try to make it 2 of 3 this afternoon as Josh Fogg(4-3) will take on John Patterson(3-2) at 12:35.

Carolina League Pitcher of the Week

From Minorleaguebaseball.com

Derrick Van Dusen, Lynchburg
Carolina League Pitcher of the Week
2 G, 2 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 2-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 14 SO, 0 SV

The Carolina League has been good to Derrick Van Dusen. The Lynchburg lefty won his third and fourth consecutive decisions for the Hillcats last week, allowing just one run on six hits in the two games combined. After going a perfect 6-0 with a 1.64 ERA with Kinston in 2004, Van Dusen is now 4-2 with a 3.83 ERA. His first outing of the week was good -- one run and five hits allowed over six innings -- but his second start was great. The Mariners' 2000 fifth-round pick allowed just one hit in eight innings while striking out nine in a 4-1 win over Salem.

Non Baseball Directly: Cope Retires

This is not Pirates or baseball related directly, but Myron did deal with the Pirates when he was doing daily news for Channel 4 and when he had his nightly talk show on what was then WTAE-AM radio.

PITTSBURGH — After having spent 35 years as a color analyst in the Steelers radio booth, Myron Cope, 76, is retiring.

Yesterday, at a meeting Cope had requested with management of Steelers flagship stations WDVE-FM and 970-AM Pittsburgh, along with Steelers management, Cope informed both parties of his decision to call it a career.

"For 35 years Myron has carved out a special place in the hearts and minds of Pittsburghers and Steelers fans everywhere," said Gene Romano, senior vice president of programming, Clear Channel. "He is truly a broadcast legend."

Pirates fall to Nats 7-4

The Pirates(31-37) fell behind early to the Nationals(41-29), giving up 6 runs in the 1st 5 innings including two home runs by Jose Guillen. The Pirates rallied late scoring 3 runs in the 7th but were un able to close the gap, giving up the 7th run off of a Church singled to center scoring Guzman.

Daryle Ward kept the Pirates' streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit alive at 68 with his two-out double against reliever Gary Majewski in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Pirates will try to even the series up tonight as Oliver Perez(5-5) will face off against Ryan Drese(5-6).

Weekly vs 2004 for June 20th

Even with the horendous road trip last week the Pirates are still ahead of where they were at this point last year,

The Pirates as of Monday the 20th are 67 games into the season:

31 - 36 = Current W-L at this point
26 - 41 = W -L at this point in 2004

Date that it took to reach 31 wins in 2004: June 29th

We are five games better at this point then we were in 2004.

Hiatus till Sunday

Well after being swept by the Yankees I shall need to go into hiding for a few days, well actually work commitments call me away for a few days so I will be not posting anything here until Sunday. Here is to better luck in Bean Town for the Bucs as they take on the Red Sox for a three game series to finish out their 2005 Interleague games.

Bucs Swept by Yanks

Oliver Perez's winning streak came to an end at 4, as he gave up six runs in five innings in the Pirates(30-34) 6-1 loss to the Yankees(33-32). Michael Restovich's one run homerun in the fourth was the only run the Pirates managed to score on Randy Johnson. Johnson went on to pitch a complete game for the Yankees and send the Pirates to Boston with a 4 game losing streak.

Notes:
The Pirates having never hit a HR in Yankee Stadium in any of the 5 World Series games against the Yankees in New York, hit 2 on Wednesday and 1 on Thursday.

Michael Restovich's solo shot in the fourth Thursday extended the Bucs' streak of collecting at least one extra-base hit in every game this season.

Bucs Fall Hard

The Pirates 1st outing at Yankee Stadium in 45 years was not a happy one as they gave up 9 runs and were shut out last night by the Yanks dropping their record to 30-32 as the Yankees improved to one game under .500 to 31-32. Kip Wells allowed seven runs -- six earned -- in 4 2/3 innings. Mike Mussina no hit the Pirates thru the 1st 4 innings until Daryle Ward's single broke up his perfect game in the fifth inning.

The Pirates, who are still looking for their 1st home run ever at Yankee Stadium, will try to turn things around for game two tonight.

DH in NL Parks for Interleague?

For all of us who hate the DH here in the NL seems that Bud has not gotten the memo quite yet. At least according to this article in USA TODAY where the idea of the DH being used in National League parks next year and not in AL parks for interleague games.

DH rule could flip-flop for interleague games
By Hal Bodley, USA TODAY
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig favors reversing use of the designated hitter for interleague games next season.

Under Selig's proposal, which will be considered during the offseason, the DH would be used in National League parks instead of in American League stadiums.

The DH, adopted in 1973 by the AL, is used by NL teams only when they play in American League parks — in the World Series, All-Star Games and interleague contests.Continued.....

Pirates take on Yankees

The Pirates(30-31) will be in Yankee Stadium Tuesday for the 1st time since the 1960 World Series to take on the Yankees(30-32) for a 3 game series. The Pirates will send Kip Wells (5-4 3.39) against Mike Mussina (6-4 4.33) to see who between the two teams will get their 31st win of the season. Game time is 7:05 and will be on FSN Pittsburgh

Just a little fact.

Stumbled across this on SI.com in Peter King's article.
(For being a football writer he has alot of baseball tidbits he throws in)

FACTOID OF THE WEEK THAT MAY INTEREST ONLY ME

It is June 13. Washington and Pittsburgh have combined to win 66 games. The Red Sox and Yankees have combined to win 63.

Mackowiak 2nd

NL Leaders, Batting Average
As of June 13th

.377 Derrek Lee, ChC
.347 Rob Mackowiak, Pit
.338 Miguel Cabrera, Fla
.335 Nick Johnson, Was
.329 Clint Barmes, Col

Weekly vs 2004 for June 13th

This week we have the most dramatic difference up to this point in compairson to last year.

The Pirates as of Monday the 13th are 61 games into the season:

30 - 31 = Current W-L at this point
26 - 35 = W -L at this point in 2004

Date that it took to reach 30 wins in 2004: June 28th

We are four games better at this point then we were in 2004. Part of the reason for the fairly large disparity in the date it took us to get our 30th win this season compared to last is that we have only one rainout in 2005, compared to 8 already by this time last year.

Pirates Buying Not Selling This Year?

PITTSBURGH -- The month or so leading up to the July 31 trading deadline is always a busy time for Pirates GM Dave Littlefield.

In the past few seasons, other teams have contacted the Bucs' GM hoping to add a veteran to their rosters in anticipation of a playoff run. And while those calls haven't stopped, Littlefield's response to them is a little different this time around.

"I think there is a general feeling in the industry of, 'Let's check in with Pittsburgh. Maybe they're going in the same direction that they have the last couple of years,'" said Littlefield. "We relay that we're not."

For the rest of this go to Pirates.com

The Stand that Would Never End.....ended

Well back to down below .500 the Pirates slid this afternoon. All in all it was a good home stand, better then most probably would have thought the Pirates were going to have if you asked them two weeks ago.

All and all things went well even with the loss today to drop the team back below .500. The offence came alive more then earlier in the season and also the team played well when the crowd at PNC Park was large, which in times past had not always been the case.

So while we are back to a game below .500 all in all you have to feel good about the team and where they may be going this season.

The System is Down

Well, was down. Had a little internet problems this past weekend, well actually just on Sunday, that’s what I get for procrastinating and not putting anything up on Saturday! So missed all the fun of the weekend, well at least about talking about the good parts of Friday and Saturday.

Oh and found that the problems were do to a bad cable tv cable that would drop the signal now and then to the cable modem, so got that all fixed!

Bat Name, not Batman

Interesting article about how instead of their names some players put nicknames and other random things on their bats. The most interesting thing about this is that Brian Meadows is one of the players they mention. Interesting that someone who thus far has no at bats this season and only 35 total in the 4 seasons with Pittsburgh would go thru the steps to get bats with a nickname stamped in them, or even have enough bats to have "some" customized this way and some not.

Here is the link for the article: Bat Names

Restovich gives first base a shot

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Joe Rutter

The Pirates new backup first baseman has never started a game at the position -- either in the major or minor leagues -- but he's working hard to acquire some on-the-job training.

Outfielder Michael Restovich spent a portion of Tuesday afternoon working with infield instructor Alvaro Espinoza on his footwork and throwing.

It was the second day in a row that Restovich worked out at first with Espinoza.

"It's a way to get into the game," said Restovich, who has made eight starts in the outfield since being acquired last month from the Colorado Rockies. "Anything I can do to get myself in the lineup is a good thing, and I told them I'd be happy to do it."
The Pirates were left without a backup first baseman when Ty Wigginton was optioned to the minors Saturday night. Restovich said management approached him about learning the position.
Go To Trib-Live.com for the rest of this article.

Bombs away!

In a home run heavy game the Pirates came back from a 5 run deficit to win 6-5 against the Orioles to even the 3 game series at 1-1. The O's jumped ahead lead by 4 solo shot blasts, hitting one each in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th innings. Their 5th run came on a Jay Gibbons single scoring Miguel Tejada in the 6th.

Then the Orioles bats fell silent and the Pirates awoke. The Pirates scored 2 runs to cut the margin to 3 then Daryle Ward hit a 3 run blast in the 8th to tie the game. Jack Wilson followed 2 hitters later with a solo shot to left to put the Pirates ahead where they stayed as Mesa pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 17th save of the year.

The Pirates close out the series tonight at 7:05 with Wells (4-4) facing Chen (5-3).

News and Notes

Freddy Sanchez was missing from Pittsburgh's lineup Monday with tightness in his groin. the Pirates anticipate Sanchez will return very soon. Sanchez has hit safely in nine of his past 11 games, going 14-for-43 (.326) with six doubles and five RBI.

After starting the season with a 3-10 record at PNC Park, the Pirates have won nine of their last 15 games in Pittsburgh.

RHP Kip Wells has rebounded from a dreadful start to become a consistent member of Pittsburgh's starting rotation. After allowing 16 runs in his first three outings, Wells is 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA over his last nine starts.

From ESPN.com

Draft Day 1

The Pirates drafted 18 players Tuesday, listed below. For more on the draft check Pirates.com.

1. Andrew McCutchen, CF, Fort Mead (Fla.) High School
2. Williams Corley, RF, Mississippi State
3. James Boone, CF, University of Missouri-Columbia
4. Brent Lillibridge, SS, University of Washington
5. Jeffrey Sues, RHP, Vanderbilt University

6. Cameron Blair, 2B, Texas Tech
7. Justin Vaclavik, RHP, University of Texas
8. Steven Pearce, 1B, University of South Carolina-Columbia
9. Mark Moeves, RHP, Northern Kentucky University
10. Derek Antelo, RHP, Nova Southeastern University

11. Christopher Jones, C, Cal State Long Beach
12. Jason Delaney, LF, Boston College
13. Matthew Swanson, RHP, UC Berkeley
14. Albert Laboy, CF, John I. Leonard (Fla.) High School
15. Jarred Bogany, CF, George Bush (Tex.) High School

16. Eric Krebs, RHP, Alvin Community College
17. Darren Newlin, RHP, University of Central Florida
18. Ryan Searage, LF, Eckerd College

Pirates - Yankees Pitching

I will get to the sad-sad story about last night's game later today. But found this and thought it was interesting. Peter King for the most part writes about football for si.com but usually during other sports seasons has thoughts, reflections about what’s going on in the world of baseball, hockey and basketball. He has a chart that compares the salaries to era of the Pirates and Yankees starting rotations. Interesting, and its about 2/3 the way down the page so take a look!

Peter King at SI.com

PS: There is also a bit on the 3rd page of his article about his visit to PNC Park.

Hurlers at Toona' Too!

The Pirate's have, to take some liberties with a Lou Pappan saying "Pitchers, pitchers, pitchers, and you gonna like it!" with there being some up and coming prospects at Altoona to go along with those in Indy. According to Minorleagebaseball.com

Paul Maholm, Tom Gorzelanny and Matt Peterson combined are 9-6 in 24 starts with a combined era of 4.72. While all three are young and still have a ways to go before they are ready for the bigs or even AAA, they are all progressing well and some ahead of expectations of where they should be at this point.

Read more about the Curve arms at Minorleagebaseball.com

Snell winning streak hits 9

Undefeated Indianapolis starter Ian Snell extended his winning streak to nine games on Sunday with a 5-3 victory over Charlotte at, appropriately, Victory Field.

Snell (9-0) allowed three runs on four hits, walking three and fanning six over seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.93 and tying teammate Zach Duke for the most wins in the International League. The 23-year-old right-hander has the best record in Triple-A and leads the league with 77 strikeouts.

Read more at MinorleageBaseball.com

Weekly vs 2004 for June 6th

This week things improve somewhat and looks better then it has the past two weeks.

The Pirates as of today (Monday) are 55 games into the season:

26 - 29 = Current W-L at this point
24 - 31 = W -L at this point in 2004

Date that it took to reach 26 wins in 2004: June 17th

We are two games better at this point then we were in 2004.

Weather Arives

Thanks to the Weather.com and their services to those with personal websites I have been able to add a window with the weather for Pittsburgh as an aide to those who plan on going to a game. This way you know if to wear shorts, bring a coat or umbrella! So there should be no excuse for NOT going to a game!

Pirates take 2 of 3 against Atlanta

Oliver Perez pitched 7 good innings and earned his 4th win as the Pirates beat the Braves 5-2 Sunday afternoon. Perez gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 7 as he evened his record at 4-4 for the season. Mesa relieved Perez to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 16th of the season as the Pirates improve to 26 and 29 and the Braves fall to 30 and 26.

The Pirates bats that were missing last night came alive early as they went ahead 1-0 in the 1st inning. They fell behind 2-1 in the 5th when Perez gave up a 2 run home run to Ryan Langerhans to put the Braves up 2-1. But they would not be behind for long as Matt Lawton hit a solo shot 438-foot homer that bounced into the river to even it up at 2-2. Lawton on the day was 3 for 4 with a single and a double to go along with his home run. The Pirates went ahead for good with a Rob Mackowiak hit a 2 run home run of his won. Jason Bay provided the last run in the 7th with a sacrifice fly that scored Lawton.

The Pirates face off against the Orioles in interleague play Monday at 7:05 for the start of a 3 game series.

McClendon's Schedule Woes

McClendon brought up the other day what has been in the back of fan's minds ever since the inter-league schedule came out for this year, that being the Pirates seem to have gotten hosed, and hosed good.

I for one have heard many complain about the Pirates inter-league match ups, not just this year but in general. The Pirates get the double whammy of not being in a big market that has a cross-town team ala New York and the Bay Area, nor do we have what Major League Baseball deems to be a "natural rival" like the Marlins and D-Rays. So right off the bat there are no intriguing match ups for fans to get excited about. And now we FINALLY get to play the Yankees.... but in New York and instead we get Tampa at home.

McClendon does make a very good point with how one of the ways that baseball sold us on inter-league was that it would help small market teams by bringing in different teams that they have not seen before so fans can see all the stars. But what it has turned out to be is a way for the big market teams to play over-hyped in-city games against each other and let the small market teams play the other small market teams.

You can read more about what Lloyd had to say in the article that was in todays Post Gazette. Post Gazette.com

Wigginton optioned to AAA

PITTSBURGH -- Following their 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night, the Pirates optioned third baseman Ty Wigginton to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled catcher Ryan Doumit.

Wigginton, Pittsburgh's Opening Day third baseman, lost his starting job after hitting .145 in April. He was expected to see even less playing time after the emergence of Freddy Sanchez.

Read the rest of this story at Pirates.com

Heartbreaker

The Pirates wasted a perfect outing by Mark Redman, losing to the Braves 1-0. Redman pitched 8 scoreless innings being relieved by Gonzalez who gave up the game's sole run in the 9th when Julio Franco drove in Brian Jordan. The Pirates had the bases loaded twice during the game and both times Ward ended the inning, with a double play in the 6th and a ground out in the 8th. The Pirates will try to salvage the series with a win tomorrow at 1:35.

Lawton One to Watch in June

According to SI.com Pirates outfielder Matt Lawton is one of "Fantasy's best June hitters" based on his performance thus far this season. For the link to his stats and a photo, as well as other "must have" fantasy players for June go to
SI.com

We're Streaking!

The Pirates made it 3 in a row at home against the Marlins last night with a 9-1 victory. The win brought Josh Fogg above .500 to 4-3 and gave Solomon Torres his 1st save of the season after coming in for Fogg in the 7th inning. The story of the night though was the hitting, with Mackowiak, hitting a 7th inning grand-slam to give him 4 of his 5 RBI for the night and Jack Wilson going 4 for 4 for the night, scoring twice.

With this win the Pirates have extended their home win streak against Florida to 9 games and they will try to make it 10 tonight and sweep the home series.


Mackowiak's Grand Slam