Pirates crush Cardinals 14-4

The Pittsburgh Pirates scored 4 runs in the first inning and 5 more in the third to gain control of their game vs the Cardinals 9-0 and cruised to a rain filled 14-4 win in St.Louis.
Xavier Nady cleared the bases with a first inning double to score 3 of the first inning runs and was singled home himself by Jose Bautista to give Pittsburgh the lead that they would never surrender.
Luis Rivas hit his first career Grand Slam (3) to salt the game away in the third.
Rivas must think his job is in jeopardy and is trying to save it with his recent power surge,in any case his spurt at least makes him a little easier to take in the lineup as it appears that Jack Wilson has injured himself again.
The Buccos added two more homers,both of the two run variety with Freddy Sanchez (2) connecting in the fifth and Ronny Paulino (2) slugging a sixth inning shot.
The Paulino homer was especially funny as Rick Ankiel kept circling himself around the ball like it was a routine fly,almost corkscrewing himself into the turf before looking astonished to see the ball disappear over the fence.
Paul Maholm pitched very well in getting the W and improving his record to 3-5.
Maholm allowed just 1 run and 4 hits over six and two thirds,whiffing 5 and walking NONE!
Very nice to see that.
The series continues today at 2 before concluding on Monday night.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Ian Snell (2-4 5.46 ERA) at St.Louis:Braden Looper (6-4 5.05 ERA) 2:15

Bullpen Notes

An interesting article in the Los Angeles Times on Rollin Stewart.
Stewart would be better remembered as the guy in the rainbow wig that always showed up on televised games in the 70's and 80's.
Stewart now serves three life sentences for a hostage taking incident in 1992 and says that he"despised sports" and was never a fan.
After reading the article,it seems like Stewart needs to be in some type of facility for a long long time.

Our man in Japan,Brandon Siefken asks us to post this prediction.
I am hesitant to do this as it exposes Brandon to future ridicule,but as requested.
"The Reds are going to the World Series".

The Post-Gazette is reporting that the Pirates prefer Pedro Alvarez by a slim margin over Tim Beckham as their first pick in Thursday's draft.
Pittsburgh is hoping that Tampa takes Beckham to make their choice easy.
I know how they feel,I was just in that exact spot yesterday!

I have the pictures of Allentown now and will try to get my thoughts on our visit the next time I get a chance.

Until tomorrow
Maholm:Tom Gannam-AP Photo