Sunday Edition-Buccos gag,Tribe falls and much more!

Well,it is a good thing that the Pirates-Diamondbacks game was not televised.
If I had been watching that,I think I would have pulled valuable chunks of hair out in watching Pittsburgh blow a 5 run lead in the 7th and 8th and lose to Arizona 9-8.
The Buccos WASTE ANOTHER good effort from Tom Gorzelanny,who left the game thinking he was in good shape to snag the W.
Instead of giving Gorzo another inning,Jim Tracy brings in John Grabow (yuck) and watches as he quickly creates a bases jammed situation.
Then to compound his boneheadedness,instead of calling for Damaso Marte to pitch to Tony Clark,
the call is for MARTY MCLEARY???
Who promptly gives a grand slam up to Clark.
Matt Capps gives up two in the 8th and the loss in on.
The loss guarantees Pittsburgh a losing record on this 10 game homestand,they needed a sweep to go 6-4 on it.
Simply put-poor managing and the bullpen is not nearly as effective as Tracy-Littlefield thinks that it is.
If you like Grabow,Chacon,McLeary and even Torres (As a closer),good for you.
I beg to differ..

Since the Bucs were not on TV,I grabbed the opportunity to watch the Cleveland Indians play in the battle of Ohio vs the Reds.
The Reds took the win 10-5.
Two things were confirmed for me-
1-Jeremy Sowers is lacking confidence and is nibbling for strikes,which considering his stuff is not overpowering is a luxury that he cannot afford.
The result there is the beatings that he has taken over his last few starts.
Sowers spot almost has to be the one taken,when Jake Westbrook returns,when you consider how well Fausto Carmona has pitched lately.
2-The Tribe has to feel incredibly stupid every time the Reds play them and they watch Brandon Phillips and think he could still be in Cleveland.
The blame for this miscue goes directly to Eric Wedge,who for some reason never liked Phillips and wanted to keep Ramon Vasquez instead.
How is Vasquez doing by the way?
I dont know,but he is not in the big leagues for sure.
Phillips hit a long 3 run bomb off Sowers,that set the tone for the game-The Reds build a lead,Cleveland chips away and the Reds pull away again.
David Ross,who had a batting average of .190 took Sowers deep for another 3 run shot that pretty much settled the game.
Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta hit solo shots for Cleveland.

Todays pitching matchups
The Pirates send Paul Maholm to the mound against Arizona's Randy Johnson,while
the Wahoo Warriors will throw Paul Byrd vs the Reds ace Aaron Harang.
Both games are 1;00 starts.

Bullpen Notes

My Preakness long shot Circular Quay finished 5th,but again I will not beat myself up over it,as all 3 in the money finishers did not meet my restrictions as a long shot.

In a tediously dull fight,Jermain Taylor kept his WBA and WBC Middleweight titles with a split decision over Cory Spinks in Memphis.
I scored it 115-113 for Taylor,at least I think I did-I may fallen asleep with the lack of action.
In a action filled bout on the undercard-Kelly Pavlik stopped Edison Miranda in the seventh round to establish himself as the top Middleweight contender.
Simply put-the fight of the year thus far.
If any of you have HBO,catch the replay!!

On the topic of Boxing-A note to ESPN,when you are showing a replay of a fight-please quit putting the result on the bottom line during the fight.
Friday,I settled in to watch a Lt.heavyweight title eliminator between Glen Johnson and Montell Griffin.
45 seconds into Round 1,the Bottom Line ran the result-Johnson TKO in the 11th.
Ruined the whole fight-thanks ESPN.

Note to the Cleveland Indians-Drop the hats with the Script I on them.
They look bad and you are the Cleveland Indians,not the Indianapolis Indians,which is the 1st thing that comes to mind when one sees them.

Hey Boston (New York Lite),if you do not want Wily Mo Pena and refuse to play him-do the guy a favor and move him to someone that can use him,like say Pittsburgh or Washington.
I like Pena a lot and never understood why the Boston fans were so upset over the Pena-Bronson Arroyo deal.
I understand now-they gave Arroyo up for a guy to sit on their bench!

Here is a good column by Bob Smizik on why the Pirates franchise should feel even worse about themselves. Pretty dead on,in my opinion.

Back later or tomorrow with notes on today's games and maybe random ramblings.

Photo Credits
McLeary-Peter Diana-Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Phillips-Tony Dejak-AP Photo