Pirates fall to Twins

The Pirate offense was again ineffective in a 5-1 loss to Minnesota yesterday as the Bucs completed the road section of interleague play.
Zach Duke fell to 7-5 and only a Adam LaRoche ninth inning single avoided the shutout.
The Pirates are in Denver tonight to kick off a three game set against the Rockies with Ross Ohlendorf hooking up against Jason Marquis.

Pirate Hooks

1) No television from either the Pirate or Twin network,so not much I can add from personal viewing.
I will be following tonight's game via the XM from work,likely miss tomorrows game and will see the Sunday finale'.

2) Zach Duke pitched well enough in allowing three runs off six hits,but Nick Blackburn was better in firing a complete game.
Other than the meaningless ninth inning run,Blackburn was flawless..

3) Tony Sanchez was assigned to State College and will play with the Spikes for a week before moving on with an assignment to West Virginia.

4) The Pirates indeed inked second rounder Brooks Pounders to a contract yesterday and the bonus of 670,000 was the exact slot recommendation of MLB>
What a surprise.

5) Nyjer Morgan's fifth inning error was the first by the Pirate outfield all season.
That just goes to show you that short of absolutely botching a flyball,outfielders are rarely charged with errors.

Photo Credit
Duke:Jim Mone-AP Photo
Pounders:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette