A two run homer by former Hagerstown Sun Jesus Flores in the 6th gave the Washington Nationals all the runs that they would need to hold off a Pirate rally,avoid the sweep and defeat the Bucs 3-2..
The Pirate runs came on two seventh inning sacrifice flies by Jack Wilson and Ryan Doumit.
Paul Maholm pitched well over seven innings,but was the loser to fall to 4-11 on the season.
Maholm has been pitching better of late,as he has pitched seven innings in his last 4 starts,so there is still some hope for him,unless Jim Colborn decides to "help" him out.
The Brewers come to town Monday,so prepare for some posts here and elsewhere that wonder why a team in a smaller market,spends more money and has a more successful farm system.
Meanwhile,in Cleveland-Cliff Lee went 8 innings,picked up the win and moved his record to over the .500 mark in a 3-2 win over Tampa.
Lee allowed just 1 run,while closer Joe Borowski allowed the other in getting his 24th save.
I still believe that Borowski will wind up,sooner or later being the Tribe's achilles heel.
Tampa's James Shields struck out 10 in his 6 and a third innings.
Pitching Matchups
Milwaukee: Jeff Suppan (8-7) at Pittsburgh: John Van Benschoten (0-2) 7:05
Tampa Bay: Andy Sonnanstine (1-2) at Cleveland: Fausto Carmona (8-4) 7:05
Bullpen Notes
The Hagerstown Suns beat the visiting Lakewood Blue Claws last night 6-5.
Kind of a blah game,no one especially stood out,but did meet a visitor from Northern Virginia,Luke Erickson.
Luke and I had a great evening of conversation ranging from the state of the game to pet peeves in baseball scoring and of course the general marketing incompetance of the Hagerstown Suns.
Pleasure getting to meet you,Luke.
Well,I was half right on the Devils free agent losses-they did lose Scott Gomez as I expected,but the surprise was the loss of Brian Rafalski to the Red Wings.
I thought that the Devils would be able to keep Brian,but the lure of home proved too great.
At least he will be in the Western Conference,so they will not play against him much.
The same cannot be said for Gomez,who talked about going west,but instead took the money from the Rangers.
Gomez signed a 7 year deal with the Blueshirts.
The Rangers also signed Chris Drury in another disappointment,but the Rangers do this all the time and it rarely works out for them.
The Flyers signed the other big free agent center in Buffalo's Daniel Briere.
They signed him for 8 years!
Good luck with that,if he does not pan out,that is a long time to be stuck with a huge contract.
So the Devils two biggest rivals seem to have improved on paper already,while the Devils look weaker at this point.
I am anxious to see what the Devils are able to come up with now.
Zach Duke to the DL.Thanks again to Jim Colborn.
Shane Youman comes up from Indianapolis to replace him in the rotation.
Jeff Heimberger now can ask Youman if he plays major league baseball for the Pirates.
In a real shocker,if it happens,LeCharles Bentley announced that he will be reporting to training camp.
Bentley was expected to miss the 2007 season.
If indeed,he is able to pull this off,the Browns offensive line could be a real powerhouse.
I am skeptical for now,but hopeful!!
Until Later!
Photo Credit
Flores-AP Photo-Keith Srakocic
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