Lazy play sinks Bucs 6-5

Sometimes when you lose a game,the play that is thought of first is the play at the end and sometimes it is when a seemingly insignificant play comes back to haunt you from earlier.
Last night was one of those as the Pirates rallied to come close to a win but not enough in a 6-5 loss to the hated Phillies.
With the Phillies leading 5-0,Pat Burrell slapped a single to left.
Jason Bay then tossed a lazy throw with nothing on it to second.
Except the throw was nowhere near second and Brian Bixler had to leave the bag to go chase the ball and Freddy Sanchez never covered the bag.
Burrell smartly took second since it was given freely and scored on a two out single.
Seems insignificant right?
Whats the difference between 5-0 and 6-0,an ass kicking is an ass-kicking either way.
Well,when you rally with 5 runs,it is the difference between a loss and extra innings.
Zach Duke allowed 6 runs in 6 innings in falling to 0-2 and Duke was involved in what I would call a blunder by John Russell.
The Pirates put up three runs in the 4th and cut the lead to 6-3 on a Jason Bay solo homer (5), hits by Ryan Doumit and Xavier Nady.
Nady would finish the night with 3 RBI as his single would score the other two Pirate runs later in the game.
But back to Russell-with runners on the corners,down by three and two outs,Russell allows Duke to hit instead of a pinch hitter and basically decided to strand the runners.
Duke was easily retired and the inning concluded.
I could understand if this was a 2-1 game in the 4th,but Duke had already allowed 6 runs,what was the advantage to allowing him to hit in this situation?
Dumb,dumb,dumb.
The Pirates did get good outings from the pen as Damaso Marte,John Grabow and Matt Capps combined for three shutout innings.
The series continues tonight at 7 with Matt Morris against former Lakewood Blue Claw Kyle Kendrick. Wow

Pitching Matchup
Philadelphia:Kyle Kendrick (1-2 5.59 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Matt Morris (0-3 9.15 ERA) 7:05

Bullpen Notes
The crowd was loud last night and a large contingent of Phillies fans were there.
Nice to see that the rivalry lives despite the blind eye of baseball.

On the downside-The V-8 uniforms were back.Ugh.
The Pirates in red vs the rival Phillies.Double Ugh.

We will be in Frederick for the Keys game vs the Potomac Nationals.
Coverage here tomorrow.

If I have time,I may be back later for some thoughts on the Seahawks first and /or second round picks.

Photo Credit
John Heller-AP Photo