Recap: Walk-off 'Wick. BUCS WIN.

Reds 3, Pirates 4
An unfortunate series of events in the top of the 9th led to the bases loaded for Joel Hanrahan, and he hit Todd Frazier to bring home the tying run. The next batter flied out to center, but the damage had been done and Hammertime failed to record save #40, not to mention losing the win for Jeff Locke. Fortunately, though, all was not lost as in the bottom of the inning, backup-backup catcher Jason Jaramillo doubled with one out and then Ryan Ludwick doubled to deep center to score the walkoff run. In other positive news, Cutch had a double and a triple, and Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer. The Bucs will look for the series win against the Reds tonight.

Recap: Coming Up Short. BUCS LOSE.

It's always bad when your starting pitcher leaves in the 3rd inning, but especially so when the score is 8-1 after 3. Still, the Pirates were able to chip away at the lead until finally the score was 8-5 with 2 on and 2 out for Ryan Doumit in the 8th. Unfortunately, he hit a grounder to short and that was that. The Bucs went 1-2-3 in the 9th. on the positive side, Derrek Lee went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and a solo homer. Ryan Ludwick also homered.

Recap: A Giant Victory. BUCS WIN.

Jeff Karstens bounced back nicely from his terrible outing last time to record a career high 9 Ks while allowing just 2 runs on 8 hits and a another solo home run. Meanwhile, the offense took advantage of 8 walks by Giant pitchers and piled 9 runs on the defending champs for one of the more feel-good victories of the year. Andrew McCutchen alone drew 3 walks and was hit by a pitch, and in his only AB of the game, he hit a 451 foot 2-run blast to left that would prove to be the game-winning RBI. Ryan Ludwick also went 3 for 4, and Matt Diaz showed some rare offense by going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.

VFPH's 3 Stars of the Game

1. PIT Andrew McCutchen, CF: 1 for 1, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 2-run homer
2. PIT Jeff Karstens, SP: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 1 HR
3. PIT Ryan Ludwick, LF: 3 for 4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, double

Play of the Game: Cutch's home run in the 3rd