Pirate catchup

The Pirates have went 1-2 since our last post.
Various reasons for missing time range from missing the rain shortened six inning loss to the Mets to a commandeered PC by Rachel and just a general lack of time/sleep.
So this will be a general note covering the rain loss,the 2-1 win over Johan Santana and the Mets and the 10-2 rear kicking yesterday by the Cardinals.
The Cardinals series continues with Paul Maholm (7-12) against the Redbirds Adam Wainwright (17-7).

The rain shortened loss wasn't a big loss for me as it turns out,but I was looking forward to seeing Jon Niese against James McDonald.

The encouraging part of the win over the Mets had to be the power shown by Lastings Milledge and Jose Tabata with each drilling a solo homer that made the difference in the win.
Both Milledge and Tabata's main questions with the bat were going to be how much power could they produce and one game certainly doesn't answer those questions,but considering who they hit them off of (Johan Santana ),one has to be encouraged a little bit.

Zach Duke allowed a single run in seven innings as he got the "duke" in Sunday's win.
Duke pitches well against the Mets as he is 4-1 lifetime with an ERA under three.
One school of thought is this-Duke's stuff is eminently hittable and many of the Met hitters aren't the most disciplined around.
That type of team is just the type that Duke should have a chance of success against.

Less said the better about the loss yesterday,but I do feel bad for Ross Ohlendorf,who was removed in the first inning with a shoulder injury and picked up the loss (1-11).
Ohlendorf walked and allowed a single to the first two batters and then left the contest.
An MRI will taken today to check for any possible issues.
Considering this season,if anything is found at all,his season should be shut down.
Ohlendorf's numbers are very similar to last season's stats,which weren't exactly Cy Young material,but better than 1-11 for sure....

Before yesterday's game Jeff Clement was placed on the DL with knee soreness and Justin Thomas was recalled from Indianapolis.
Thomas was expected to be around for a week or so as a needed bullpen arm.

The Post-Gazette is reporting that if Ohlendorf is placed on the DL that the expected replacement will likely be Charlie Morton-Yay.

Look for an interview with Wilbur Miller and our updated top 15 Pirate prospect list over the next week or two.

Back later with a look at the tape of the Browns loss to the Rams.