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 Matsu
i 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.
i 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.
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.
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