Lloyd Braun gets greedy. Bucs WIN

	R	H	E	LOB
	4	10	0	10
	6	12	1	8

This one was neck and neck until the 7th.  That's when the Bucs took the lead for good.  Legend, Doumit, and Steve Pearce hit 3 straight RBIs, scoring Milledge, Cutch, and GFJ.  Twice in this game the Beers had the bases loaded, but it was all for naught.  The bullpen was great again, even if D.J. Carrasco had a bit of trouble in the 7th, allowing 1 run to score.  After that it was 4 straight Ks, 2 each by Javier Lopez and Joel Hanrahan.

In the 9th, Lloyd Braun bunts a quick ball, realizing that LaRoche was playing deep.  He steals second as Prince Fatass strikes out for the 3rd time, but then he gets greedy.  Not realizing that Andy LaRoche, who had been playing the shift to right for Fatass, was still holding the ball that was thrown to him by Doumit, he tries to steal third.  Andy quickly turns around and makes the tag.  2 quick outs in a weird little double play.
McGehee flies out after that and Dotel earns his 9th save.

GAME.

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Miscellaneous shit

Steve Pearce went 3 for 4, raising his average from .167 to .273 in the process.  Hope this is the start of a return to the way he was hitting in AAA, because it was really starting to look like he was going back to the way he hit at the end of last year.

Garrett Jones went 2 for 4 and Andy LaRoche went 2 for 3 with a walk.  That's good news for Andy, who was in a bit of a slump after being red hot earlier in the year.

The bullpen combined for 6 Ks in just 3 innings of work.  Brian Burres added another 3 as the starter.  He also had an RBI, a pretty rare thing for a pitcher.

Bucs look for the 2-game sweep tonight.

Morton's Meltdown, Part Deux. Bucs LOSE

	R	H	E	LOB
	8	9	1	8
	1	6	1	7

Not much to say about this one.  Charlie Morton was god-awful and only pitched for one inning, giving up 6 ER.  Brian Burres was slightly better, giving up 2 ER and 3 hits in 4 innings.  Relief after that was solid for the Bucs, with Carrasco, Taschner and Lopez pitching 4 straight hitless innings.

The problem was the Bucs offense, with Lastings Milledge hitting the Pirates' only RBI.  That's not going to get it done.  Although to be fair, Morton's pitching didn't give them much of a chance to get into it, as the game was basically over after 2 innings.

GAME.

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Miscellaneous shit

Andrew McCutchen had a 3 hit, 1 run game and now has a hit in 8 of the 13 games the Pirates have played.

Lastings Milledge has a hit in 5 straight games, and has a hit in 10 of 13 games.

I still believe that Morton can do well, but it might take some time in the minors or relief pitching to get him back on track.  The problem is that Ross Ohlendorf is still on the DL and the Pirates really don't have anyone else to start other than Brian Burres and, if you're really optimistic, Jeff Karstens.  Brad Lincoln is not ready to make the jump from AAA just yet.  So for now, Morton is the best out of that bunch, and he will continue to get the start.

This was a bad loss, no doubt about it.  But there are still two more chances in the series for the Bucs to get a win.  Duke starts next, and should have a good chance to get a win.  Daniel McCutchen must have a really strong game in his start to pull out a win, but it is still possible.