Gopher balls shock Bucs 7-6!

Things looked good in Pittsburgh for quite a while as Ryan Doumit had powered two homers (6 and 7) and Paul Maholm was one bad pitch away from a shutout.
But just when you think things are good,Lucy jerks the football away and in the 7th inning,Maholm allowed three solo homers in 4 batters to tie the game at 4.
That set the stage for Lastings Milledge to blast a two run shot off Matt Capps (0-1) with two out in the Washington ninth to give the Nationals the 7-6 win.
The blown save for Capps was the first in 16 opportunities and comes in his 3rd outing in 3 days.
One could make an argument that maybe someone else (Marte?) could have been given this one,but perhaps John Russell figured that this one just could not get away and he wanted his best guy even if it meant short rest.
Pittsburgh had taken a one run deficit and turned it into a one run lead in the bottom of the eighth with two runs off Washington relievers.
Xavier Nady's single scored Jason Bay and Doug Mientkiewicz hit a sac fly to score the tagging Ryan Doumit from third to put the Bucs in a position of needing just three outs for the win.
A great night for Doumit-4 for 4, 2 homers,2 doubles and 3 RBI.
If he can just keep healthy,the Bucs have the rarity of all rarities-a power hitting catcher that hits for average as well.
The downer of the game besides the loss was two homers for Washington's Ronnie Belliard.
I cannot stand him from his days in Cleveland!
The series continues tonight at 7.

I missed posting on the previous days 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks to salvage a split of the four game set.
Zach Duke pitched well (6 innings 2 runs) improved to 4-4 and if he would not have to had to face Mark Reynolds,his numbers would have been even better!
Matt Capps earned save 15 and Bucco RBI went to Luis Rivas,who had two and one each to Jose Bautista,Xavier Nady and Jack Wilson.
The biggest news of a rather dull game was the dustup between Randy Johnson and Doug Mientkiewicz.
There was not much to it and truth be told,in baseball fights there usually isn't much action,but a little flareup is always fun.
Both "combatants" were more than ready to throw the mitts,but again as is usually the case-AFTER the game,in the clubhouse talking to the press.

Pitching Matchup
Washington:John Lannan (4-6 3.47 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Ian Snell (2-6 5.65 ERA) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

Author Eliot Asinof died yesterday at the age of 88 in Hudson NY.
Asinof was the author of the seminal work on the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal with his 1963 book Eight Men Out and was an advisor on the 1988 film of the same name.
The article on his passing mentions his other books and his being blacklisted by the McCarthyites "red hunt" in the 1950's.
Eight Men Out will always be the top book on the 1919 World Series as when the idea came to Asinof to write the book,some of the person involved were still alive and he was able glean information that otherwise would have been lost to the ages.
I could not give a higher recommendation to anyone interested in that part of baseball history.

Long time Vancouver Canuck Trevor Linden retired today after 19 NHL seasons,16 of those were spent on the Pacific Coast with the Canucks.
Linden was never a superstar,but a solid player and a popular player in Vancouver.

My favorite Aunt,Becky sends us this note on the approval of some of the funds needed to renovate Cleveland's League Park.
League Park was the initial home of the Wahoos and has become run down with only a portion of the outfield wall and ticket booth still standing.
Here is an article from last season from the Indians themselves talking about the future of the historic field and our post on the renovation from almost one year to the day!
I have always wanted to go there and snap some pictures,but frankly everything that I have heard about the neighborhood deterred me a bit.
I would like to have a rental to drive away from the area in and the reports that I read indicates that as a definite maybe!!

League Park also has a new group of defenders as the League Park Society was created last month.
This is a tremendous site that gives you all the information that you could want on the Park and why such an important part of both Cleveland and the Indians history needs to be preserved and rehabilitated.
The above pic is part of the eroded grandstand from the LPS site and the site has several other pictures from the area.

I get asked sometimes,since I have such a passion for the Cleveland Indians,why they get short shrift here compared to the Pirates.
The simple answer is this,I like the National League game better and I find myself watching more Pirate games than the Tribe versions.

Tonight will be the last Hagerstown Suns home game of the first half,so I will be there and attempting to finish off a few of the Lakewood Blue Claws for the collection as well.
Plus it is another chance to see the Phillies terrific young prospect Dominic Brown,who I was very impressed with in Lakewood's earlier visit.

Until next time
Photo Credits
Doumit and Shouting Match:Gene Puskar-AP Photo
League Park Grandstand:Russ Haslage-League Park Society