Pirates Cove

[mister b]

Karstens actually had no contract coming into spring camp.This bullpen right now is lights out and Hanrahan is the best closer in the league.Forget about the guy is SF.Dont know how this will end up but all I can say now is "Fear The Bones"

I don't know if Karstens can keep this up or not. 2.66 era

I have a feeling that he may get traded before the end of July. We will have to wait and see if the Pirates make any moves as I am guessing that some teams will come calling with their eye on some of our pitchers.

[mister b]

Bucs 7 Blue Jays 6

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Correia gets his 10th win. Ties him with Sabathia, Hammels and Verlander (great company) for the lead in MLB.

Presely gets the callup from Indy for the start in LF and in the leadoff spot he goes 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Not to bad for his first in the show this season. He played 19 games last year.

McCutchen adds a solo HR and the bullpen is just good enough to hold off the Jays as Hanrahan gets his 23rd save (tied for the lead in MLB) in 23 chances.

With the Bucs win and the Reds loss, Bucs break their tie with the Reds for 3rd place and are now 3 games back of the division leading Brewers.

Maholm takes the hill for the Bucs tomorrow.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Jays 2 Bucs 1

Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow was lights out. 1 R on 4 H with 10 Ks.

Maholm was the tough luck losser as he pitched well, on 2 R on 9 H but our offense wasn't there. Bucs had runners on the corners with 0 outs in the 5th and could only plate 1 run. Disgusting.

Karstens takes the hill for the Bucs in the final game. Series tied 1-1. We need the win.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Bucs 6 Jays 2

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Another series win for the Buccos.

Karstens (6-4, 2.65) goes 7 and gives up 2 R on 5 H to complete a great month for him. In the month of June he had 6 starts and went 3-0 with a 1.52 era. Outstanding!

Bullpen comes in and goes 2 innings, 0 R on 1 H to finish it up. Our bullpen has a 3.15 era for the season. That is the lowest era for our pen through the first 80 games of a season since 1990. Good pitching can carry you a long way.

Look for some teams to make some offers for our pitchers before the July 30 trade deadline. IF we trade anybody from the staff, we had better be getting some quality hitters to add some punch to our weak offense.

Offense got some timely hits tonight to plate 6 R on 9 H as we went 3-7 with runners in scoring position. We need more timely hitting to help our lack of solid, everyday hitters.

Defense played a good game and again, Lyle Overbay, does a good job at first. The man can field the ball and makes the other infielders look better.

Pirates have used 42 position players so far this year, the most in the majors, to help out with our injuries. We have had 5 different players start behind the plate. Hurdle likes to call them up from Indy and throw them into the mix to see how they do. Reminds me of the way Jim Leyland manages.

Bucs head to DC for a 4 game set this weekend including a DH on Saturday.

Right now the Bucs are tied with Cincy for second, 2 games back of the Brewers and Cards who are tied for first. Bucs completed the month of June with a 16-11 record. This included 6 series wins, 2 of them against Boston and Philly, 1 split of a 4 game series vs the Mets, series sweep of Houston and the only blemish was dropping 3 against the Tribe. We went from 3 games under .500 (25-28) on May 31 and 6.5 games back in 4th place to 41-39 and 2 games back tied for 2nd on June 30. This was a good month for us. Hope it continues.

Morton takes the hill for the Bucs on Friday vs DC.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Nationals 2 Bucs 1

First game of a 4 game set. Terrible offense by both teams, 6 hits each. Bucs help out by committing 2 errors.

Game was tied after 6 and the Bucs brought in Tim Wood from the pen. Tim's days with the Bucs may be short as this is the 3rd time they have brought him in with the game tied and he has taken the loss. He has not pitched too bad but I think Hurdle may be ready to send him down to Indy for more reps.

A rare doubleheader today. Would be nice to see a sweep. Should be some interesting lineups in game 2 tonight.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Bucs 5 Nats 3 game 1 of DH

Well, Wood was sent down and Lincoln called up. Bucs come from behind and score 3 runs in the last 2 innings to get the win.

Nats 4 Bucs 3 game 2 of DH

Lincoln gets the spot start and pitches well 6 I, 4 H, 2 R and gets shipped back to Indy. Watson blows the lead and allows 2 runs in the 8th and the Nats comeback for the win.

[mister b]

Bucs 10 Nats 2

Bucs split the 4 game series 2-2. Correia gets his major league leading 11th win of the year and the Bucs score 8 runs in the first 2 innings to coast in a laugher. Bucs get 16 hits and were 8-17 with runners in scoring position.

Bucs head for home after going 4-3 in this road trip. Astros come in for a 3 game set starting monday.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[Black Panther]

To quote the late great Bob Prince "How Sweet it is" Do you think we should stand pat or make some deals at the deadline? "Fear The Bones"

[mister b]

To quote the late great Bob Prince "How Sweet it is" Do you think we should stand pat or make some deals at the deadline? "Fear The Bones"

Spme folks want the Pirates to deal for SS Jose Reyes, but he will come at a high price and he will test the free agent market when his contract is up. Love to have him but he is too steep.

Bucs have some contracts up at the end of the year and some of these players are going to cost them, Hanrahan, A. McCutchen, Maholm and Karstens. I think they keep Hanrahan and McCutchen. Maholm and Karstens could be traded for top prospects as their new teams hope they can sign them long term. If the Bucs get some good prospects Maholm and Karstens, they are gone by July 30, especially since Lincoln pitched good the other day and he said he will start or come out of the pen.

Veras could be dealt since his contract is up but with Meek's troubles, the Bucs should resign him and keep him as a setup man.

I really think the Bucco brass has used alot of players on purpose to see who in the organization should stay or go.

Snyder is gone after this year, they buy his contract out. Doumit's contract is up this year too and he gets bought out. Both have injury problems so I think the Pirates may be looking for a top tier catching prospect, with a bat, if someone comes looking at our pitchers.

Of course, we need a SS and I think Alvarez is not going to pan out with all of his aliments.

Bucs would do well to keep their pitchers if possible and must resign Hanrahan and A. McCutchen but they will be high priced.

July will be an interesting month and where we are at in the standings will have a big say in who stays or who goes. If we are still above 500 and have a shot at first, I think the organization lets this group stay together and see how they do the rest of the year and then look at offseason pickups. Right now, I think that is what will happen.

Look for the Dodgers to have a fire sale and the Mets will be dumping some salary too but the Yankees and BoSox will get any of these 2 teams best players for their playoff push.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Bucs 5 Astros 3

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Bucs fall behind 3-1 after committing 3 errors in the 3rd but pound out 14 hits to get the win and go to 3 games over 500 for the first time since July, 1999.

Maholm (5-9, 3.08) gets the win on another quality start (6 Innings, 1 ER on 5 H) and Hanrahan gets his 25th save in as many chances, sets a new Pirates record and ties with the NL leaders in saves.

Another sellout crowd at PNC Park. This was the 4th game in a row for a sellout and the 8th overall this season.

Buc need to have a good homestand as they play 3 each against the Astros and Cubs before the All-Star break.

Karstens (6-4, 2.65) takes the hill tomorrow for the Bucs in game 2.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Bucs 5 Astros 1

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Karstens (7-4, 2.55) goes 7 and gives up 1 R on 7 H for another quality start by a Bucco starter. This was the 34th win of the year for Pittsburgh's starting rotation. Our starters had 34 wins all of last year.

All 5 Bucco runs come from the 7, 8 and 9 hitters. Brandon Wood gets good wood with a 2 R HR and another RBI later. McKenry gets an RBI on a sac fly. Karstens lays down a great bunt on the suicide squeeze for a RBI.

5 runs on 9 timely hits, great starting pitching, solid bullpen and a clean sheet on defense helps the Bucs to their 45th win of the year. Last year, win #45 came on September 3.

Buccos are now in alone in 2nd place 1.5 games back of the Cards.

Bucs go for the sweep as Morton (7-4, 3.63) takes the mound.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Astros 8 Bucs 2

Morton pitched well the first 5 innings for the Bucs but 2 errors in the 6th did him in as Houston pushed 5 runs across the plate. That 1 inning reminded me of last year's team and how we are still a young team that will have it's struggles.

Good news is that we again took 2 of the 3 games in the series.

Thursday is an off day and then the Cubs come to the Burgh for a 3 game weekend set before the All-Star break. We need to win at least 2 of the 3.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Bucs 7 Cubs 4

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Buccos comeback after being down 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3 to score 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to get the win. The big knock came from catcher Mike McKenry who got a 3 run homer (career first homer) on an 0-2 pitch with 2 outs to plate the winning runs. All 4 runs in the 8th came with 2 outs.

This time last month, McKenry was sacking groceries in a super market in Rhode Island looking for a team after being released. Lucky for him, the Pirates had a lot of injuries at the catcher position as we have now used 5 different players behind the plate.

Andrew McCutchen also had a 2 run homer for the Bucs. MacDonald pitched well but a high pitch count did him in early in the 6th.

This was also the 9th sellout of the season, the second in 4 games and the most in 1 season for PNC Park with saturday and sunday's games already listed as sellouts with only SRO tickets remaining.

Correia takes the hill for the Bucs today as we find ourselves tied for 2nd with the Cards 1 game back of the Brewers. We need another win.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[mister b]

Cubs 6 Bucs 3 game 2 of 3

Correia (11-7, 4.01) gets the start but just doesn't have it today as he went for win #12 only lasted 3 2/3.

Bucs only able to plate 3 R on 8 H. On a positive note, again the Bucs start another game with 4 rookies due to their team injury situation and the rookies aren't playing bad ball.

Also, another sellout for the Bucs and McCutchen finally gets named to the All-Star team.

Bucs 9 Cubs 1 game 3 of 3

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!! Another series win for the Buccos!

1 day after being named to the NL All-Star team, McCutchen has a monster game with a deep HR to center and collects 5 RBIs along the way.

Paul Maholm (6-9, 2.96) gets plenty of run support as he goes 7+ innings. If this guy had some run support earlier in the year, he would have been our 4th All-Star this year. He is much better than his 6 wins.

Correia is named to the All-Star team.

Bucs again start 4 rookies, LF, SS, 3B and catcher.

Bucs are 1 game back at the break of the front running Brewers and Cards. Pittsburgh is the most improved team this year at the break. Last year we had a win percentage of .341 and are now .522. That is a +.181 improvement.

Bucs will open the 2nd half of the season on the road @ Houston for 3. Then home for 3 big games vs the Reds and Cards as NL Central play starts to heat up.

Its fun to be talking Pirate baseball at the break and not about how bad we are, but how much better we have become.

72 games left in the season and it is a grind. While the playoffs may not be in the Pirates near future, learning what it takes to become a winner over the course of the whole season is a more realistic goal.

I just hope the wheels don't fall off in the second half. I will be very happy to finish with a winning record and be in the top half of the NL Central at the end of the season.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[Black Panther]

The ship will continue to sail in the second half there's "Nooooooooo Doubt about it"! The rest of the NL will "Fear The Bones"

[mister b]

Bucs 4 Astros 0

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Buccos move into a first place tie with St Louis.

Karstans (8-4, 2.34) pitches a complete game gem. 0 R, 5 H, 2 K and 0 BB on just 83 pitches.

McCutchen gets a 2 run triple as the Bucs manufacture 4 R on just 6 H.

Maholm (6-9, 2.96) takes the hill for the divison leading Bucs tomorrow in game 2 of 3.

LETS GO BUCS!!!

[Black Panther]

The Pirates get a gem of a game eout of Karstens Friday and move into a percentage point lead in the NL CENTRAL.They lose a tough 6-4 decision tonight in Houston.Need to take Sunday's game and win the series...Looking forward to the red series next week!

[Black Panther]

The Pirates steal the spacemen's gold in a 7-5, 11 inning win in Houston today.The Pirates take two of three in the series.The Pirates open up a three game series with the reds tomorrow night.

[Black Panther]

The reds walk the plank and like it Monday night(2-0) and again tonight (1-0)."Fear The Bones"

[mister b]

Bucs 4 Cards 3 F/10

RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!!!

Bucs salvage a win vs the Cards in game 3 as they never quit after St Louis takes the lead 3 different times.

The win keeps the Bucs in a 3-way tie for first in the NL Central with St Louis and Milwaukee.

Buccos have a very tough week ahead of them as they go to Atlanta for 4 and Philly for 3. Both of these teams are in a dog fight for the NL East lead and are the class of the NL.

LETS GO BUCS!!!