Goose eggs and rain

Thanks to a two hour rain delay,I was able to at least listen to last night's Pirates game in St.Louis against the Cardinals.
Sadly,the Pirates offense wasted some superb pitching and lost 1-0 in ten innings to the Redbirds.
Javier Lopez (2-2) allowed the game winning run in his only inning (officially a third of an inning).
Daniel McCutchen (1-4) pitches tonight for Pittsburgh against former Pirate Jeff Suppan (0-6 in looks to be a stellar matchup of ERA that range from Suppan's 6.16 to McCutchen's 8.58.

Pirate Hooks

1) Five hits in ten innings,none for extra bases and zero runners beyond second.
That shows you the type of night that the Buccos had.

2) Hard to blame Neil Walker for bobbling the Brendan Ryan hit that ended the game.
With the infield in to cut off the run,the ball is right upon the fielder and everything has to work perfectly to have a chance to throw the runner out.
Ryan Ludwick was running on contact,so even with a smooth play,the likelihood of gunning Ludwick down at the plate was small.

3) The Pirates had to be encouraged by the pitching (Lopez excluded) as Jeff Karstens allowed just seven hits in six scoreless innings and Evan Meek along with Joel Hanrahan combined for three more without a run or hit.
Hanrahan struck out the side.

4) Looking at the year for Meek and Hanrahan thus far,I would be more than Ok with either moving into the closer role if Octavio Dotel is traded today.
I know Hanrahan's closing stint with Washington was spotty,but I would like to see either of these two get a chance to close,especially if it means bringing in more talent.

5) Erik Kratz gunned down all three Cardinals that attempted to steal.
That is worth noting considering the Pirates issues with that this season.
Kratz is the first catcher to accomplish that feat since Keith Oisk in 1999.

6) Kratz shouldn't get too comfortable nor should Ryan Doumit as it appears Pittsburgh is close to obtaining Chris Snyder from Arizona.
Snyder would give the Pirates a defensive upgrade from Doumit and an offensive player that equals Doumit and far surpasses Kratz.
My questions are these-Is Snyder being brought in ship elsewhere or could Doumit's days be numbered?
I don't see room for both for 2011...

7) Trade deadline today with Paul Maholm mentioned in rumors from the Dodgers,Mets and Padres.
Nothing on Zach Duke,which might be the pitcher I would prefer to move of the two.
If a Pirate deal occurs,I'll be back later with an update.

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Photo Credit-Tom Ganham-AP