This Bud's for Pittsburgh

John Russell shuffled his lineup for hitters two through five last night in Houston and for two batters,the move looked pretty good as Andrew McCutchen tripled and Garrett Jones homered (17) off Bud Norris for a 2-0 Pirate lead.
Norris then shut the water off for the evening as he struck 14 Pirates out over the next seven innings and his offense did just enough against Paul Maholm (7-11) to give Norris and the Astros a 3-2 win.
Houston goes for the sweep this afternoon with J.A.Happ (2-1) against Jeff Karstens (2-8) for Pittsburgh.

Pirate Hooks

1) Remember this note from a few weeks back?
Bud Norris has the type of arm that you just don't give up on and I love the makeup of Norris.
Anytime Houston wants to trade this guy,I am listening for the Pirates or Indians.

2) Paul Maholm pitched well,except he couldnt seem to get Hunter Pence out.
These things happen,some players you own,other players own you.
In any case,Maholm could have used some help with the bats..

3) Key to the game was in the second inning and Pittsburgh holding a two run lead on Norris-Runners on third and second with one out and later bases loaded with two out.
Net result-zero runs and a chance to take a young pitcher out of rhythm by the wayside....

4) As far as Russell's lineup changes,after the homer by Garrett Jones,none of the players involved had a hit.
Sometimes,lineups are be overrated,but I cant knock Russell for this.
He is trying to do something to shake up a slumping team,no problems for trying....

5) Argenis Diaz again at short for Ronny Cedeno,who can run,but cannot swing a bat with a shoulder injury.
If this persists and Cedeno has to go on the DL,the Pirates may have little choice but call up Brian Friday or Pedro Ciriaco from Indianapolis.
I suppose Akinori Iwamura could get the call in order to protect those two from having to sit,but if that is done,Pittsburgh still has just one shortstop.

Bullpen Notes

Yes,it is the long awaited return of bullpen notes!

Montreal was upset city last night as Jean Pascal retained his WBC Lt. Heavyweight belt against the hyped Chad Dawson by 11th round technical decision.
We had Pascal ahead 8-3 on our scorecards by rounds and no knockdowns were scored.
HBO had been hyping Dawson for months and Larry Merchant said all with this line in the middle rounds-"If Chad Dawson is one of the top three fighters in the world,I'm (Merchant ) Edward R.Murrow!"
Well said,Larry.

Davey Johnson was at the Muni last night and what a class act.
Davey signed for everyone and was a terrific guy.
Sometimes,I wonder why I stay in this hobby-last night was one of the reasons why.
A chance to meet someone from my youth,who turned out to be super nice.
A refreshing change from the occasional player that I meet.

Speaking of the Hagerstown Suns,a quick story from a reliable source.
This person is of the highest character and I have no reason to question his word,but I was not there for this story.
However,if this person said it,then I have zero reason to doubt their word.
Their account follows,I have made a few edits to protect their identity.

"Game was just over when I got out of the (vehicle). I saw (Collector's name) standing inside so I thought I would walk in. The (Employee) stopped me at the gates and said "your hand stamped"? and I said "no, isn't the game over"?. He then said something about still charging because it was fireworks night. I just shook my head and walked away. I guess you can only see the fireworks from inside the stadium???

I understand not wanting to give things away for free,I really do,but it was pretty clear knowing this person that they weren't interested in fireworks,they just wanted some signatures from players going off the field while in uniform to be able to see who they were better than they would have outside.
I wouldn't even venture to know what the team would have charged even if they did want to see fireworks,but my larger point is that now a regular customer has a negative view of the product and for what reason?
I do know this much,the person wasn't Bob Flannery because he believes in customer service and I have never seen a situation that Flannery hasn't handled with grace when dealing with fans.

Photo Credits
Norris-Houston Chronicle
Pascal-Dawson:Peter McCabe-Canadian Press