Blown. Bucs SWEPT

	R	H	E	LOB
	5	14	1	6
	6	12	1	8

The Pirates found yet another way to lose a baseball game, having leads of 4-0 and 5-1 blown.  Not even having one of the best hitting days in weeks could help them win this game.  Only Ryan Church was held off the bases, and while Cutch's hitless streak continues, he was able to score a run after taking a walk.  5 Pirates had 2 or more hits: Jose Tabata (3 for 5 with a run), Garrett Jones (3 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Ryan Doumit (2 for 4 with a run and an RBI), Lastings Milledge (2 for 4), and Bobby Crosby (2 for 4).  Jeff Karstens had yet another solid outing with 3 runs (2 earned) allowed, but the bullpen let him down.  Evan Meek, arguably the best reliever in the league and certainly the best on the Pirates, let 2 runs score to tie the game.  He didn't get the call on a strikeout, but he still had an opportunity to leave the inning intact.  In the 9th, new reliever Steven Jackson let the walkoff single that won the game for the Rangers, and the Bucs were swept. Sigh.

Yuck. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	6	1	7
	13	17	0	13

Never trust a pitching matchup to go the way it's expected to when it comes to the Pirates.  Paul Maholm only lasted 1+ innings and gave up 7 R, 7 H, and 4 BB in that span.  Dana Eveland was equally horrible in long relief.  The rest of the bullpen was solid.  GFJ's hit streak was snapped.  Bobby Crosby had 2 hits to run it up to 8 hits in 3 games. Terrible game.

Double Up. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	10	1	8
	6	7	1	5

Another very frustrating game to watch.  Ross Ohlendorf was perfect through 3 innings, and then fell apart, giving up 2 homers and 4 runs.  Despite getting hits from all but 2 Pirates (Tabata, who reached on a Fielder's Choice in the 9th, and McCutchen, who went 0 for 4), the Pirates were yet again unable to bring home more than 3 runners.  Garrett Jones went 2 for 4 with an RBI, extending his hitting streak to an NL-best 12 games.  Bobby Crosby is on a ridiculous hitting tear, garnering 3 hits for the second time in as many games and an RBI in each.  No reason to switch him out for Cedeno at short at this point, as his defense is comparable to Cedeno's.  Pedro got his second MLB hit, a soft single to RF.  The bullpen came back down to Earth again, with only 1 K, 2 ER, 1 HR, and 4 walks.  Hopefully the Pirates can get back on track tonight with an easier pitcher on the Rangers' side and Paul Maholm, the Bucs' most consistent starter, on the mound.

Closing on a High Note. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	11	3	8
	5	8	0	7

Finally get a couple wins in a row.  Short recap as I've been really busy since Sunday and haven't had a chance to put anything together.  Pirates win back-to-back games by more than 2 runs since May 5-6, which featured Charlie Morton's only win and an 11-1 drubbing, both against the Cubs.  Sort of a weird game as Bobby Crosby went 3 for 3.  Garrett Jones went 2 for 3, and Pedro hit a sacrifice fly to score the winning run.  The bullpen also appears to be righting the ship, with 4 Ks, 3 hits, and no walks.  All good stuff.  And Brad Lincoln had a nice outing too, even if he didn't get a decision.  Just 3 ER and 1 walk, although he did allow a HR on 8 hits. Keep it going boys.  It's nice to see the young guns contributing in a positive way, and to see the Pirates luck is changing, if only a bit.

Afternoon Blues. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	6	10	0	9
	1	6	1	7

As I've mentioned several times already, I hate afternoon games.  This isn't the 1960's.  Baseball is a night sport and it affects a player's rhythm when they have to play a game until 10:30 at night and have to be up training early the next morning.

The other reason I hate afternoon games is that the Pirates never seem to win them.

Newly acquired pitcher Dana Eveland was average, lasting 5 innings and allowing 3 ER, 6 hits, and 2 walks.  The bullpen, usually our strongest aspect, allowed 3 runs to score, essentially putting this game out of reach.

The offense was awful.  Only Bobby Crosby was able to manage more than 1 hit, going 2 for 4.  The only run was a Jason Jaramillo sac fly, scoring Milledge.

While the Pirates did take the series win against the Cubs, they're going to have to win a lot more games if they have any chance of sniffing .500 again.

Rocco game. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	1	4	0	8
	2	7	1	9

It's funny how this game went from "man, I can't believe the Pirates only have 1 hit" to "wow, I can't believe they've only allowed 3 hits this late."  But that's pretty much how the season has gone, compressed into one game.  As Pirates radio man Rocco DeMaro said (paraphrasing), "You can pretty much count on it that the Pirates will get 2 runs.  The question is whether or not they can hold the opponent to 1."  That's exactly what happened in this game.  Ross Ohlendorf had his first truly great game, going 7 innings allowing 3 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks and striking out 6.  Evan Meek and Octavio Dotel combined for 1 hit and 3 Ks in the final 2 innings.  Meek got the W as the score was tied when Ross was relieved, but the fake W definitely goes to Ohlie.  Garrett Jones broke his long streak of games with no homers with a solo shot in the 6th (his 32nd RBI), and Bobby Crosby added a pinch-hit RBI to take the lead in the 8th.  Jones and Walker both went 2 for 4, and Neil's average is now .321 with 28 at bats, the best average on the team currently.  His OPS is .809, third behind Cutch and Doumit.  The Bucs snap a 5-game losing streak which is good, but they still have a lot of ground to make up as they're still in double digits in games under .500.  With the win today, the Bucs move into first place on the all-time Memorial Day wins list (they were tied with the Cubs previously).

Meatloaf. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	6	1	6
	4	8	1	9

I think we all knew that this streak was too good to last for very long.  The Pirates just aren't good enough to dominate teams for long stretches of time.  This time, it was a lack of offense (again) and a rare bad outing by the bullpen that did the Bucs in.  Though as people are wont to note, Meatloaf said that 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Cutch continued his hitting streak by getting one in this game.  Bobby Crosby got two hits.  Ross Ohlendorf had a good outing by only allowing 2 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 Ks.  Evan Meek's only run allowed was unearned, keeping his pristine ERA intact (.03 lower now, at 0.72).

However, it was Taschner's allowed run in the 8th that did the Bucs in.  They couldn't get anything going in the 9th, but really, that was the story all game apart from the 3-run 2nd inning.

GAME.

Another Shutout. Bucs SWEPT

	R	H	E	LOB
	5	10	0	5
	0	4	0	2

Simply an awful few days for the Burgh.  The Igloo closes with a heartbreaker, and the Bucs get swept by a team that they swept earlier in the year.  The weather was perfect for it though - cold, wet, and miserable.

The game was essentially the same as last game.  Bucs' offense failed to do much of anything.  You could tell this one was over after the 1st inning.  It was just that kind of game.

The Commies took a 4-0 lead through the 2nd, and tacked on another in the 4th.  Bullpen returned to its normal great form after Duke got yanked after only 5 innings, allowing 9 hits and 2 homers.  The bullpen allowed 1 hit and struck out 6.  Once again the problems lie with our starting rotation and the hitting.

Oh my, the hitting.  The best hitter today was Garrett Jones, going 2 for 3.  I hope those 2 hits means a return to the GFJ we all know and love, because he certainly has been in a slump lately.  After a bright start to the season and briefly leading the league in homers, his power bat has gone mostly quiet.

Aki Iwamura, despite doing decent earlier in the season, now has an average of  .169 and an OBP of just .267.  That's not good enough for the leadoff position.  He hasn't gotten a hit since May 7, and hasn't even been ON BASE since a walk on May 9.  He has just 2 hits and 4 walks in the entire month of May.

Steve Pearce got a hit today.  Still haven't seen anything from him that indicates he can hit the ball the way he did in Indianapolis.  He looks a lot like he did at the end of last year.

Lastings Milledge has performed okay, but still haven't seen anything that resembles the power hitter he was supposed to be.  He still is the only player eligible for the batting race on the Pirates to not have a home run yet (insert joke about the home run that wasn't).  Hell, Bobby Crosby has a home run.  Aki Iwamura has 2.

Batting needs to get infinitely better for the Bucs to have any chance this year, but I think most of us knew it wasn't going to happen this year anyway.  I'd still take a miracle from my beloved Buccos any time though.

Sorry for the downer post today, I'm still shocked about the Pens.  With June should bring some new faces to the Pirates' major league club.  Can't get here soon enough.

Morton's Good Start. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	2	5	0	4
	4	10	0	5

Charlie Morton had his first good start of the year, the start we knew he was capable of after his excellent starts last year.

Garrett Jones had 2 RBIs to lead the Bucs scoring.

An attempted rally by the Cubs in the 4th was cut short.  Ryan Church added an insurance homer in the 6th.  Relievers did the rest.  Best bullpen the Buccos have had in years.

GAME.

---

Miscellaneous shit

A very fast game, it ended in only 2 hours and 21 minutes.

No less than 4 Buccos had 2 hits, in addition to Ryan Church's home run: Bobby Crosby, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, and Ronny Cedeno.

Neither team had a single walk, but there were 3 players hit by pitches.

Steve Pearce had quite a few nifty defensive plays, but couldn't duplicate his AAA hitting prowess, going 0 for 3.

Bucs look for the sweep later tonight. A win would mean they jump to 3rd place in the division.

Bad Luck. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	3	8	0	6
	9	16	0	7

Frankly, it's amazing that the Pirates ended up with a 0 in the Error column, because there were defensive breakdowns in droves.  On the other side of the game, it seemed like no matter how impossible it was for the Dodgers to make a play, they were able to pull it off.  Like the Crosby play.  LaRoche reaches first on an infield single. Okay, that's pretty good.  But then Crosby hits a bloop down the third base line and somehow Belliard makes a ridiculous stretching catch after running from third base.  LaRoche, who is absolutely stunned at this point, is almost to second.  He quickly runs back to first only to be called on a putout, even though the first baseman had his foot off the bag.

That wasn't the only play LaRoche was involved in.  In the bottom of the fifth, LaRoche leaps up to make the catch at third, getting Russell Martin out, but nobody notices that Xavier Paul has somehow wandered over to second.  Andy throws to first and Paul should have been out, but no one argues.  One play later Ethier hits his 2-run homer, and that's the only highlight you'll see from that inning.

Just a frustrating game to watch.

GAME.

---

Miscellaneous shit

Andrew McCutchen apparently got his ankle hurt on a play in the 3rd.  hope he'll be back sooner rather than later.

Garrett Jones had 2 hits, 2 runs, and an RBI to lead the Pirates.  Andy LaRoche had 2 hits as well.

Jeff Karstens got a hit.  His average is now .250.

Relief was not good allowing 3 ER.  Brian Bass did not look particularly strong in his 2 IP, but he's still a work in progress I guess.

Bucs go 3-7 on this road trip.  Not exactly stellar.  Maybe a home stand is just what the doctor ordered.

Meltdown. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	6	12	1	7
	15	12	0	4

Wow.

This one hurts.  I'm pretty glad that this one wasn't on TV.

Started out as a decent game, like most losses.  McCutch hit a solo home run in the 3rd, and the Bucs were up 4-2 by the end of the inning.

But then the inning from hell occurred.  Daniel McCutchen, Hayden Penn, and Jack Taschner combined to allow 13 runs in the same inning, tying the Bucs all-time record for most allowed in one inning.  I won't be surprised if Dan McCutchen doesn't get called back up from AAA for a very, very long time.

Arizona was held scoreless after that, but it didn't really matter at that point.  Bobby Crosby hit a fairly meaningless two-run homer in the 9th, but this game was already over long before then.

Very few positive things to take from this game, or this series.  Just have to move on to San Francisco and hope that series can get the Bucs back on track.  Bucs still have 2nd place in the NL Central, albeit it's no longer outright.  Hey, at least we're doing better than Houston, who is a putrid 0-6 so far.  If St. Louis loses to Milwaukee tonight we're only 1 game out of first.

GAME.