Charlie Morton was worth his salt for the first time all season in a six inning outing that saw the Pirates win 4-2 and Morton earn his first win against five losses.
Ryan Church homered (2) for the second day in a row and Octavio Dotel finished the game for his fifth save.
The Pirates conclude their series with the Cubs tonight with Brian Burres against Chicago's Randy Wells....
Pirate Hooks
1) Lots of news to catch up on the Bucco ship,so let's start with the Pirates being unable to work out a deal with the Marlins to keep outfielder John Raynor,so Raynor was returned to the Marlins for 25,000.
Raynor was not a huge upside player,but I would have liked to see Neal Huntington make more of an effort to keep him.
It appears to me that Raynor was lost because the Pirates pitching was being hammered and someone hit the panic button.
I would hate to think that the Pirates could have lost a possibly productive player for the future so Brian Bass could pitch for ten days,which is the way it happened.
2) The Pirates did call up Steve Pearce from Indianapolis,where he was white hot with the wood.Brendan Donnelly was placed on the disabled list to make space.
Pearce was in the lineup and went 0 for 3,but made a remarkable stretch at first base to turn an error into an out.
I am not saying that I believe Pearce is an anchor for the Pirates future,but I would say that he has never been given a full chance.
Let's hope he gets that chance this time....
3) Kevin Hart will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum in a deal that looks worse by second with Tom Gorzelanny pitching well for the Cubbies.
Hart is expected to be ready for Spring Training 2011.
4) The deal with the Cubs last season is easily the worst of the Neal Huntington era as the Cubs have received two productive arms in Gorzelanny and John Grabow,while the Pirates brought in Altoona second baseman Josh Harrison (hitting well in the Eastern League) and two torn labrums.
I am not sure why this regime disliked Gorzelanny so much,but it was apparent from the start.
5) Ross Ohlendorf pitched well for Altoona against Richmond last night in his rehab start.
The Pirates are unsure if the righty will take another rehab start or return to the team next week.
6)Want to know why I think Akinori Iwamura is struggling at the plate?
Watch his stance,he puts virtually zero weight on his back leg and I believe (but not 100 % sure) that is the injured leg from his Tampa time.
His swing is in the Japanese style,but it looks to me that he is really protecting that back leg.
7) Charlie Morton says he dropped the sinker from his arsenal and added the four seam fastball in its wake.
Well,he looked strong last night and as hard as it is to believe the sinker was the cause of his issues,could be......
Not bad for a few off days,everything is now caught up except the Devils season in review and I'll try to have that finished next week.
Photo Credit-Matt Freed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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