GameDay #14 at Dodgers
2008-04-15 17:34:00
Pirates (7-6) at Dodgers
(5-8)10:10--Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesMatt Morris (0-1, 5.25) vs. Hong-Chih Kuo (0-0, 0.00)[MLB.com GameDay]I'll add in my thoughts, but first, here's Jesse:Before we look at Game 2 of the series, let's see how my predictions went. And YES I DID stay up to watch the game. My breakout pick (Jose Bautista) was 2/4 with a homer. DeWitt did not do much, but did have an RBI single. Also, Freddy did go 3/5 (three hits like I said). I apologize for telling you that the Bucs would win 7-3; they still won, but it was 6-4.---------------Now let's look at Game 2. The pitching match-up is Matt Morris against Hong-Chih Kuo, who has not started a game yet this year. I do not know much about this guy, except for that he replaced Esteban Loaiza in the rotation and he does not see
Game 13 Recap--Pirates 6 Dodgers 4
2008-04-15 14:57:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]YEAH!!!That was my reaction when I woke up this morning and heard the ESPN Radio 10-second summary of this game, because no, I'm not crazy enough to stay up till 1:30 AM to watch the Bucs when I have to get up at 6:00. But you can bet I was fired up when I heard what happened.Zach Duke did what he's done all three starts this year: bend without breaking. He gave up 3 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings. The alarming part: No K's. The good part: he kept the Pirates in the game. If Duke can keep this up the Pirates' rotation all of a sudden looks really promising.Jose Bautista (as Jesse correctly predicted) drilled his first homer of the year to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead. An ugly inning that included a balk and passed ball gave the Dodgers
one back. They would scratch anothe
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Gameday #13 at Dodgers
2008-04-14 14:01:00
Pirates (6-6) at Dodgers
(5-7)10:10--Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesZach Duke (0-0, 2.13) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1, 2.13)[MLB.com GameDay]-------------------------Jesse handles the preview for this one:-The Pirates' confidence is overwhelming coming into this series. They've been getting good starting pitching, are hitting the crap out of the ball, and are finishing games strong in the 'pen. With 2 very good starts already, Zach Duke is very anxious to make his third, which is good to hear. We are going to need all the confidence we can get against this strong Dodgers line-up--despite Los Angeles' recent struggles at the plate. They are not going to hit the long ball very often with this squad, but they will get on base and steal like crazy. Both Ryan Doumit and Ronny Paulino's ability to throw
Game 12 Recap--Pirates 9 Reds 1
2008-04-13 19:15:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]--------------------Lots and lots of positives coming out of this one. First things first: We won. Next:SWEEP!--Ok, in all seriousness, this was a key win for the Pirates. They are back to .500 at 6-6. They roughed up rookie stud Johnny Cueto for the first time in his career. Ryan Doumit greeted him with a bomb, and Xavier Nady (my vote for MVP if the season ended today) chipped in with yet another. Once Cueto departed, Bay jacked his 3rd homer, all of those coming this homestand. Quickly a close 2-0 game had become 9-1. All this without Freddy and LaRoche (well, maybe that helped). -Tom Gorzelanny pitched today without good stuff at all. All he had was a mid 80's fastball and mediocre movement, but his location was so good the Reds could not hit the ball hard
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Gameday#12 vs. Reds
2008-04-13 08:46:00
Reds (6-6) at Pirates (5-6)1:35--PNC Park, PittsburghJohnny Cueto (1-0, 2.03) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (0-1, 10.80)[MLB.com GameDay]--------------------------------The Bucs look to bring out the brooms today to leave Pittsburgh back at .500. It will be difficult.-Tom Gorzelanny needs to rebound after REALLY exploding in the home opener. He'll have to do so against young Reds phenom Johnny Cueto, who has been excellent this season. [ESPN]---------It's the first Sunday game at PNC this year. They're giving out a kids Jason Bay shirt. --Will we have our first real (non-home opener) crowd of the year? Unlikely. It's 42 degrees outside right now. Attendance has been absolutely pathetic this year so far, even for the Pirates.--We can leapfrog the Reds in the standings with a win today.--The Pirat
Game 11 Recap--Pirates 4 Reds 3
2008-04-13 08:31:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]Just a solid win.Ian Snell takes the ball into the 7th inning. Pitches well--not awesome, not bad. About what you'd expect from Ian in a tight game like this one.The Pirate offense and bullpen would do just enough to get the job done.Super-clutch hitting from--once again--Xavier Nady and Nate McLouth (a key RBI each). The other 2 came from Ronny Paulino, who actually looked pretty comfortable at the plate today, going with pitches and driving them the other way. Shockingly, he also managed to hang on to a throw home from the outfield (Nady) to tag out Corey Patterson in the first inning.Doug Mientkiewicz made his first career start at 3rd and looked fine there. I'll take him there over Bautista any day.Great use of the bullpen by John Russell. Each reliever came i
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Gameday #11 vs. Reds
2008-04-12 16:42:00
Reds (6-5) at Pirates (4-6)7:05--PNC Park, PittsburghBronson Arroyo (0-1, 5.91) vs. Ian Snell (1-0, 3.75)[MLB.com GameDay]----------------------------------The Pirates look to take control of a key series with their stud, Ian Snell on the hill tonight.--It's Fleece Blanket Night at the park. Hopefully that will bring in a few more than the bobblehead did last night.--Arroyo, the former Pirate, has declined since his days of dominance with the Reds and Red Sox. He's struggled this year and is 1-3 against the Pirates.-The game is on TV tonight, at long last (it seems).--ENEMY BLOG OF THE DAY[Red Reporter]--The weather looks a bit better than it did last night, so far at least.--AFTERNOON GAMESThe Brewers roughed up Santana in a win at Shea. Struggling Detroit lost again to the White Sox,
Game 10 Recap--In Person--Pirates 1 Reds 0
2008-04-12 10:10:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]--------------------Amazingly, I was one of the VERY few people last night who decided to head out to rain-soaked PNC Park last night in lieu of staying home and watching the Pens win again.--Also amazingly, I don't regret it.------------------------------We walked into the stadium just after 7:05, hustling up to our seats only to find the game wasn't going to start for 20 minutes. It had clearly been raining all day, but it had stopped about an hour before and we thought the game would at least get under way on time.---At 7:25, Paul Maholm tossed the first pitch. He escaped a shaky first inning with a nifty double play ball. The Pirates did nothing on offense. One note. Luis Rivas is absolutely terrible. Most of us already know this, but last night he made his 4TH ER
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Gameday #10 vs. Reds
2008-04-11 13:39:00
Reds (6-4) at Pirates (3-6)7:05--PNC Park, PittsburghEdinson Volquez (1-0, 1.69) vs. Paul Maholm (0-1, 9.00)[MLB.com GameDay]--------------------No TV again tonight (the Pens play Game 2).--Weather looks bad [Google].--It's Manny Sanguillen Bobblehead night.First bobble of the year. [pirates.com]---By the way, we play the Reds.[logoshak]They're 6-4. Edinson Volquez starts. Never heard of him, but he pitched well in his first outing this year.Maholm starts for the Bucs. If you recall, his last outing went something like this:Leadoff HR; 9 STRIKEOUTS IN 5 INNINGS (career high); Error; Grand Slam; Loss.He wasn't as bad as his line indicates. Here's hoping Paul backs that up tonight.This is a BIG series. Any hope the Pirates have of staying in contention early and even staying afloat for
Game 9 Recap--Pirates 3 Cubs 7
2008-04-11 13:04:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup][Wiki]----Swept.3-6.Matt Morris and the Bucs held their own, holding a 3-2 lead after 5. It was 7-3 after 5 and a half.
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Gameday #9 vs. Cubs
2008-04-10 15:59:00
Cubs (5-3) at Pirates (3-5)7:05--PNC Park, PittsburghRich Hill (0-0, 3.00) vs. Matt Morris (0-0, 5.40)[MLB.com GameDay]-------------------------------The Bucs look to avoid a sweep in their first divisonal series of the year.Unlikely to be easy with Matt Morris, arguably the greatest weakness of our rotation, especially once you add in the fact that the Bucs' bullpen has to be exhausted.Let's hope Morris can pitch like he's paid to pitch, at least for tonight.--Ironically, his opponent is RICH Hill, who is 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA vs. the Pirates. The lefty had a breakout campaign last year, and looks to move the Cubbies to within 1 game of first place with a win tonight.----------ENEMY BLOG OF THE DAY:[Bleed Cubbie Blue]--------------If you've been living under a rock, the Pens won last night,
Game 8 Recap--Pirates 4 Cubs 6
2008-04-10 14:50:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]--------------------------Wow.--Nobody would have ever guessed that this game would turn into a grueling marathon well into the night after 7 innings of this one.--Starters Zach Duke and Ryan Dempster were brilliant. Duke allowed 8 hits and 1 walk, but recovered nicely, leaving stranded men on base nearly every inning. Duke also notched 6 K's and kept the Cubs' best hitters off balance. He escaped a 7 inning, 115 pitch outing with only one run surrendered. -He was in line for the loss. Ryan Dempster tossed 7 scoreless.1 hit.---In the top of the 8th, Franky Osoria came in for some solid relief. He appeared to be out of an inning when LaRoche made a diving stop on a shot down the line, but the flip to Osoria bounced off his glove. It was right there, Osoria just didn
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Craig Wilson Returns to Pirates Organization with a AAA Deal
2008-04-10 14:26:00
[NY Times]-----------Jesse:-I am very pleased to inform you all that on Tuesday, the Pirates
signed Craig
Wilson
, their former 1st baseman, to a deal that will send him to Triple-A Indianapolis. He spent six years with the Pirates and then was traded for Shawn Chacon. Craig wanted to come back! This is why I love this guy. He had success, and we just dealt him away......but then 2 years later he still wants to play in Pittsburgh? There are not many people that pursue opportunites with the Pirates because they have been very subpar for 15 years, but this guy just clearly loves to play here. I would really like to see Craig come back and make it through the minor league system to replace Doug Mientkiewicz. I cannot speak for the rest of you, but I really want to see Craig Wilson in a Pirate
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, Organization
Gameday #8 vs. Cubs
2008-04-09 14:15:00
Cubs (4-3) at Pirates (3-4)7:05--PNC Park, PittsburghRyan Dempster (1-0, 1.50) vs. Zach Duke (0-0, 3.18)[MLB.com GameDay]------------------------------------------------------It's Opening Night at PNC Park. I doubt it will be anything like Opening Day.--IF you're going tonight, the Outfield Box seats will be half price ($10 instead of $20) for students who show a college I.D. Also, hot dogs will cost just a dollar for all fans.[pirates.com]------Zach Duke owns the Cubs (knock on wood): 4-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 55.2 innings.--He almost had a hit on Monday, too (I still can't believe that call).---Ryan Dempster (former closer) has been converted to a starter. Why? Who knows, but he was effective in his first outing in a win over Milwaukee (the Brewers' only loss so far).-----The
Pictures from Opening Day at PNC Park
2008-04-08 18:10:00
Evan snapped these photos throughout the day. Enjoy.--Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs' newest Japanese star. We had a good view of him from right field.----On the Bucco side in RF, here's NL Player of the Week Xavier Nady.----View of McLouth playing left once we moved there late in the game.----Weird looking fan with a sign.----Hall of Fame Club----More Hall of Fame Club.----Yep, it was Opening Day.----Teams and the colors line the infield.----Tom Gorzelanny throws the first pitch.
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Game 7 Recap--In Person--Pirates 8 Cubs 10
2008-04-07 20:03:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]-----------------------An excerpt from my recap of the Pirates' crazy win in Game 1 over the Braves;-Let me start with this: last night's opener was the most ridiculous baseball game I have seen in my entire life. If anyone disagrees with me, I'd like to hear your tale.-Now, there's competition, and amazingly, it came from another Pirate opener.Yesterday was pretty darn ridiculous.----------------------------------I'll try to go in chronological order:--PREGAME:Upon entering the ballpark (via CF gate) and picking up our free magnetic schedules (Woo-Hoo), we immediately noticed the steps leading to the new, aforementioned Hall of Fame Club (taking the place of Outback Steakhouse). Since we were an hour early, nobody was on the field, and it wasn't too crowded, we heade
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Gameday #7 vs. Cubs
2008-04-07 10:00:00
Cubs (3-3) at Pirates (3-3)1:35--PNC Park, PittsburghTed Lilly (0-1, 7.71) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (0-1, 4.50)[MLB.com GameDay]----------------------HOME OPENER!!!---I will be in the house to witness my first ever opener. Should be fun. Hopefully we'll have pictures.---PNC Park makes its 2008 debut. [allposters.com]---------"America's best ballpark" should be raring to go, especially with Pirate management fired up with the new "Hall of Fame Club" in left where the Outback used to be. This upscale grill/bar will be open to all fans and has been completely remodeled to feature better views of the game. I'll check it out soon, if not tomorrow. --[pirates.com]----------Donnie Iris will sing the National Anthem:-[pamelamortimer.com]-----Bill Mazeroski will throw out the first pitch.-----------
Game 6 Recap--Pirates 9 Marlins 2
2008-04-06 18:37:00
[MLB.com Wrapup]-----------------------A huge crowd was on hand for this one:-[ESPN]------------The Bucs avoided the brooms at the very empty Dolphin Stadium on Sunday, thanks in large part to a brilliant start from Ian Snell. Snell tossed just 6 innings but notched 10 K's, one short of a career high. Most importantly, he picked up his first win of the year, as the Bucs knocked around Dutchman Rick VandenHurk and the back end of the Marlins
' bullpen. One extremely interesting move John Russell made prior to this ballgame: the lineup. Russell benched struggling Bay and LaRoche, giving Mienkiewicz a start at 1B and inserting Nyjer Morgan in center, moving McLouth to left. Morgan led off, McLouth hit 3rd, followed by Doumit and Nady (who hit his 3rd homer). It worked out beautifully. Even tho
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, Pirates
Gameday #6 at Marlins
2008-04-06 11:07:00
Pirates (2-3) at Marlins
(3-2)1:05--Dolphin Stadium, MiamiIan Snell (0-0, 6.00) vs. Rick VandenHurk (0-0, 9.00)[MLB.com GameDay]---------------------Not too much to say about this early Sunday afternoon start.--It's the first day game of the year. --The Pirates need to win. Here's why:-We can't get swept by the freaking Marlins.-Ian Snell is much better than whoever this VandenHurk guy is. I think he's Dutch.-We need to get back home at .500 (especially after taking the first series)----------Game not on TV today thanks to the Pens' last game. They need to win to get the #1 seed since Montreal won last night. If the Pens win (vs. the Flyers) they face Philly in the playoffs. If they lose, they face Ottawa.---------Kansas and Memphis won last night. Championship on Monday night.--Home
Game 5 Recap--Pirates 3 Marlins 7
2008-04-06 10:41:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]---------------------It was a tale of two Paul Maholms last night.That was clear in his very first inning of work.He started off his season by giving up a moon-shot to Hanley Ramirez on his second pitch.He quickly struck out the next three batters.--The Pirates and fans should be pretty encouraged from what they saw last night. Maholm scored a career high in K's (9) in only 5 innings. He looked super-effective for nearly the entire outing.--One problem: the gopher ball.--Particularly a grand slam from Mike Jacobs (his second game winning homer in two games) that snapped a 1-1 tie in the 5th. --True, it probably wouldn't have happened were it not for a fielding error by Maholm earlier in the inning, but one swing turned what should have been a fantastic outing for Pau
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, Marlins
Gameday #5 at Marlins
2008-04-05 16:37:00
Pirates (2-2) at Marlins
(2-2)7:10--Dolphin Stadium, MiamiPaul Maholm (0-0, 0.00) vs. Mark Hendrickson (0-1, 10.80)[MLB.com GameDay]--------------------------After last night's disaster, the Bucs really need to pick up a W tonight. Paul Maholm will make his season debut a couple days late, but he is all systems go. Maholm got off to a terrible start last year but recovered nicely with respectable numbers in the late season. Here's hoping he stays hot.-----For the Fish, it's Mark Hendrickson, who is very tall. At 6-foot-9, this nobody was actually the Marlins' Opening Day starter. That didn't work out so well, as he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings to the Mets. Hopefully the rest of the Pirate offense can get on track against him tonight.--He's pitching today instead of tomorrow because th
Game 4 Recap--Pirates 4 Marlins 5
2008-04-05 14:05:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]If you ignored the fact that they were playing the lowly Marlins
, the Pirates had every reason to lose this game. Matt Morris pitched. Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche stunk once again (combined 0-8). Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson both sat, and were replaced by Chris Gomez and Luis Rivas. Yet, the Bucs were indeed playing an awful team with an awful pitcher, and found themselves in a good position to win. The Pirates had leads of 3-0 and 4-3, but both quickly evaporated at the hands of the overpaid Morris. (Alright, his line after the game doesn't look TOO bad--5INN 3ER 8HIT but he still did not look sharp. Plus, he was facing the Marlins.)---Once again, the usual early-season heroes (Nady, McLouth, Doumit) did their thing to produce some offense, but after 8 innings it was
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Gameday #4 at Marlins
2008-04-04 15:35:00
Pirates (2-1) at Marlins
(1-2)7:10--Dolphin Stadium, MiamiMatt Morris (0-0, 0.00) vs. Scott Olsen (0-0, 0.00)[MLB.com GameDay]-----------------------Dolphin Stadium is not exactly a feared ballpark to visit, unless you don't like orange.- [andrewclem.com]------------This would be, like, a good crowd for tonight. Last year the Marlins packed in 16,919 per game. The year before was even worse, only 14,384.Are the Pirates probably in 2nd to last? (too lazy to check) Yeah.Is that still pathetic. Yeah.---------------------[eteamz]Scott Olsen starts tonight for the Fish, who lost 13-0 the last time they took the field. [Bucs Dugout] on the matchup:"The Pirates get off easy playing in Miami this early in the year. It should be a lovely night, with lows around 75 degrees. I bet Scott Olsen won't e
Game 3 Recap--Pirates 3 Braves 2
2008-04-04 15:13:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]How about 2 extra inning wins (over a solid team) in the first three games of the season! Great game for the Bucs last night, and they're now 2-1, in a tie for first place in the Central. I'm going to skip over most of the first 7.5 innings (since I did those [live]), but here are the rest of my thoughts on the Pirates' second win:-----------------So, what was that about the bullpen being a problem?[Mondesishouse]The Pirate bullpen was fantastic for the first time this year last night, coming in relief of another pleasant surprise, Zach Duke. Although he couldn't finish the 6th inning, Duke was sharp, but he still only struck out one and allowed 10 hits (but only 2 earned runs). Anyway, the 'pen was the real story. Franquelis Osoria was huge in cleaning up the mess Duke
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, Braves
Pirates at Braves--Game 3--(first 7.5 innings)
2008-04-03 18:07:00
I'll do what I can tonight, but for now I'm going to do my best for some form of a liveblog(for now, at least).--Feel free to comment with any and all of your thoughts as the game unfolds.---PREGAME---Wow. It's raining in Atlanta and nobody is in the Turner Field stands. Looks emptier than a Pirate weekday home game at PNC (and that's saying something)--Also, the announcers are now telling me that Mike Hampton won't actually start. Apparently the Braves
scratched him late and will start reliever Jeff Bennett. No word on the reason for that, but now we haven't figured out if the Bucs will change their lineup after the switch from a lefty to a righty.--Hampton's not pitching because of a "very sharp pain" he encountered while warming up. After a short delay, it looks like we're ready to go.
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, innings
GameDay #15 at Dodgers
2008-04-16 15:48:00
Pirates (7-7) at Dodgers
(6-8)10:10, Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesPaul Maholm (0-1, 4.35) vs. Brad Penny (1-2, 3.86)[Fox GameTrax]For anyone wondering, I switched to Fox GameTrax because it's a little more convenient and is one, updating page that gives relevant info before, during, and after the game. The MLB link doesn't come up until right before game time. If you want to follow the game live on the internet, MLB.com or ESPN.com is the way to go.Time for a little fella we haven't brought out since the third game of the year: [rubberducks.org]Yep, it's rubber match time. Amazing this is only our second one of the season. Hopefully the Pirates can come out on top and continue to hover above the .500 mark, rather than constantly try and climb back up to it.We'll have Paul Maholm on the hi
Game 14 Recap--Pirates 2 Dodgers 11
2008-04-16 14:56:00
[Pirates
.com Wrapup]Yeah, as the score indicates, this was an ugly game.Matt Morris is officially killing us in two ways. We always knew we were paying the guy too much (thanks, Littlefield) but (at least some) fans hoped or thought that he would be a mediocre, back-end of the rotation guy who can usually keep the game somewhat close.0-2 with a 7.02 ERA doesn't exactly fit that description.The Bucs' winning streak is snapped at 4 and their record drops to .500 at 7-7. Wait a sec, we're complaining about being .500? It could be worse, people.Kuo was strange in this game. He gave up a leadoff hit to McLouth (who has a hitting streak spanning all 14 games this year) and got 2 quick outs. Then he walked Bay, Nady, and Paulino to force in a run. Bautista struck out. For the next three innin
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, Recap
Out for the Weekend
2008-04-17 05:00:00
Unfortunately, I'll have to snap my streak of GameDays and Recaps for every game due to a trip this weekend.-I don't have time to put together a recap of Wednesday night's late game, and once I'm gone I don't know how often (if at all) I'll be able to post.-There'll be a massive Weekend
Recap when I get back.--ALSO on the trip, I'll get a chance to see the Pirates take on the Cubs at Wrigley on Saturday. There will definitely be a huge description and pictures upon my return.---For top-notch Pirates coverage while I'm away, check out these three blogs:[Bucs Dugout][Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?][Pittsburgh Lumber Co.]--Go Bucs.
Weekend Recap--Games 15-18
2008-04-21 15:26:00
Here are your finals for the 4 games I didn't get to write about while I was away: Wednesday Night: Dodgers 8 Pirates 1Friday Afternoon: Cubs 3 Pirates 2Saturday Afternoon (I was in attendance): Cubs 13 Pirates 1Sunday Afternoon: Cubs 13 Pirates 6UGLY!!I'll go based on what I can remember. These aren't the kind of games I want to go back and research.Wednesday: Maholm had a terrible first inning. A few bunt singles, a base hit off the pitcher's foot, an infield hit, a walk, and a MISSED TAG by Jose Bautista. I never saw the play, but apparently he had a runner trapped in a rundown and was too lazy to bend down and make the tag, allowing the runner to escape by ducking and losing an easy out. After the first, it was 4-0. That would do it.Friday: The Pirates actually played a relatively
Read more: Weekend
, Recap
, Games
Game 19 Recap--Pirates 4 Marlins 10
2008-04-21 20:51:00
[Box]None of us were right. For the definition of "wishful thinking" see the predictions section of last post. Matt Morris is awful. 0-3. 8 runs in 4 innings. Tonight he came out throwing strikes. The Marlins
hit it. Hard.The Pirate offense came from Nady, Paulino, and Morris himself. Bay, LaRoche, and Sanchez continue to struggle. The best moment of the game came when we were down 10-2 in the 8th when McLouth singled in his final AB to extend his hitting streak to 19 (every game this year).The Bucs will be in last by the end of tonight unless Houston blows an 8 run lead over San Diego.
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