Cubs steamroller Pirates again

The Pittsburgh Pirates were brushed aside again by the Chicago Cubs and were crunched to the tune of 13-6 at Wrigley Field.
Zach Duke was ripped in losing his first decision of the season (0-1) and has not struck out a batter in either of his last two starts.
I don't want to get into too much detail on the game other than giving Ryan Doumit a tip of the cap for his two homers in the game (3 and 4),but I would like to comment on a few issues.
Adam LaRoche has struggled with the bat in both of his seasons in Pittsburgh,but not with the leather.
But now it seems that his effort there is lacking yesterday,he non-chalanted a low throw on a double play attempt that then eluded him and then he jogged after it.
That miscue would have ended the inning,instead the Cubs continued to add runs.
I have not been a person that has been overly hard on the struggles of Adam LaRoche,but if things like that continue-Look out.
As bad as LaRoche is, one can argue that he is not even the worst player in the Pirate infield.
Jose Bautista has been bad with the stick as well and his glove handling has been far from stellar as well.
If Neil Walker was doing anything at Indianapolis (he is not ), I would be calling for him to be in the lineup.
Bautista still playing shows just how weak the Pirates and their system is,after all it is not like Bautista is Mike Schmidt and his job is secure on past production.
The Pirates simply have no better option and that is not good news.
The Bullpen was pounded around some more in the contest as Franquelis Osoria allowed 5 runs in a inning and Damaso Marte gave up 3 runs in his inning.
Marte just goes to show why you do not give long contracts to relievers,one cannot count on their reliability from year to year and the same goes for trading them when they are at the peak of the marketability as well.
The Pirates return to PNC Park tonight for a two game visit from the Florida Marlins at 7 in an attempt to stop the losing streak at 5 games with Matt Morris.
So much for those thoughts.

Pitching Matchup
Florida:Mark Hendrickson 3-1 3.97 ERA at Pittsburgh:Matt Morris 0-1 7.02 ERA.

Bullpen Notes

I have working on the Browns and Seahawks draft needs and will get them posted before Saturday's NFL Draft for those of you that come here for the football talk.

The Toronto Argonauts signed once dominant wide receiver
David Boston to a contract.
The former Buckeye was once a tremendous pass catcher for the Cardinals,but has become injury plagued and ineffective the last few seasons.
I do not think Boston's game is a good CFL fit,but who knows..........

Not only will Winston-Salem be moving into a new ballpark next season,but they will also have a new name.
The current name (Warthogs) will be dropped in favor of a new unannounced name.
I kinda liked the name and logo,but the uniforms and colors (red,black and neon slime green) were pretty bad.

I have been adding some stuff to the slow day pile.
Look for upcoming features on some of things and people that have been important to me at various times in my life.

Until tomorrow

Photo Credits
Doumit:Nam Huh-AP Photo
Boston:Washington Post
Warthogs:Winston-Salem Warthogs