Buccos win late,lose late.Devils blanked by Flyers

Here is today's regular post to catch up on news.
There will be a later post on yesterday's Lynchburg-Frederick game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won and lost by the sword over the last two days,as they defeated the Braves 4-3 in 10 innings on getaway day in Atlanta and lost on a Mike Jacobs home run in Florida to lead off the bottom of the 9th in Miami.
The win was noted for some unusual happenings as Atlanta Mike Hampton injured himself in warmups (Mike Hampton?Injured? Nah..) and Brave manager Bobby Cox using pitcher Chris Resop in left field for one battter so that he could retain Resop to face Xavier Nady.
The move did not pay off as Nady smacked the game winning hit,but it still made for interesting viewing.
Jack Wilson injured himself running to first base,so after John Russell removed Freddy Sanchez after the 6th-the Bucs had Luis Rivas and Chris Gomez as the pivot combo.-UGH.
The Pirates took the early lead on a Freddy Sanchez grounder that scored Nate McLouth in the 3rd and built on that lead one inning later when Ronny Paulino's double scored Jose Bautista for a 2-0 lead.
The Braves knocked Zach Duke from the game in the 6th with three runs,which cost the team Duke and cost them the lead as well.
Duke allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in his five and two third inning outing,but allowed 10 hits.
Duke was the most hittable pitcher in the league last year and Thursday did not help that.
But to be fair-Duke was left in about 15 pitches too long,when it was obvious that he had nothing left.
Let's hope that this is just the learning process of a rookie manager.
Jack Wilson's singled tied the game in the 7th and Wilson pulled a calf and hopped down the line to first on the play.
Wilson missed last night's game and no word on his weekend availability.
Xavier Nady won the game on a 10th inning single that scored pinch runner Nyjer Morgan and continued his excellent series in the Peach city.
Tyler Yates earned the win (1-0) with a hitless 9th and Matt Capps returned to form by closing the game with a scoreless tenth for his 1st save of the season.

Pirate Hooks
Gold:Xavier Nady-Game winning RBI
Silver:Tyler Yates-1 dominant inning,Win
Bronze:Zach Duke-Serviceable outing

The Pirates then jumped on the Marlins in the second with 3 second inning runs paced by a two run single by Chris Gomez and Nate McLouth's double to score Gomez.
But Matt Morris allowed Florida back into the game with 3 runs over the second and third innings to tie the game.
Ryan Doumit blasted his first homer of the season in the 4th to re-take the lead at 4-3 and the Marlins promptly tied it in the bottom of the inning on Adam LaRoche's throwing error.
Neither team would score after that until the game winning homer by Jacobs off losing pitcher Franquelis Osoria (1-1) for the 5-4 Marlin win.
Before the game,the team announced the signing of Matt Capps to a contract that basically gave him more money in return for buying out his first year of arbitration in 2 year,3 million dollar contract.
I like the thinking in avoiding a arbitration year,but yet not a long commitment from such a volatile position.

Pirate Hooks
Gold:Ryan Doumit-3 hits including homer
Silver:Nate McLouth-RBI,Stolen base
Bronze:Phil Dumatrait-2 and a third scoreless innings pitched.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Paul Maholm (first outing) at Florida:Mark Hendrickson (0-1) 7:05

The New Jersey Devils floated through a game in Philly,were hammered after the game by Brent Sutter and staggered out of town with a 3-0 loss to the Flyers.
I missed the game and I do not think that I missed much,so here is a quote from Sutter on the effort.
“Outside of our goaltender, we had a lot of bad players tonight,” “No sense of passion at all.”
Just what you want to hear going into the playoffs,but perhaps a wake up call.
The Devils finish up the regular season tomorrow against possible playoff foe,the Rangers at 3:00.

Devils Pitchforks
Gold:Marty Brodeur-for doing what he always does.
Silver:Brent Sutter-for telling it the way it is and avoiding coachspeak.
Bronze:None.

Bullpen Notes

Ohio State dusted off UMass 92-85 to win the NIT Championship.
Four Buckeyes finished with 17 or more points led by Frosh Kosta Koufos with 23.
Koufos was named tournament MVP amid rumors of a possible return home to Greece to play pro basketball in his native country.

The Hagerstown Suns have won their first two games in Salisbury against the Delmarva Shorebirds in exciting fashion.
They look to be an interesting and exciting team this season,I hope the town gets behind them.
Erik Arnesen pitched in 3 relief innings in the opener,allowing 0 runs and fanning five.

The Seattle Seahawks filled their vacancy at kicker with the signing of veteran Olindo Mare from the Saints.
Mare spent 11 years with Miami before his one year stay in New Orleans.
Mare is not a bad kicker,but certainly is not up to the level of Josh Brown.

Photo Credits
Nady-John Bazemore-AP Photo
Doumit-J.Pat Carter-AP Photo
Koufos-Henry Ray Abrams-AP Photo