Finally,some run support!

Paul Maholm finally got some run support on a day that he needed little as the lefthander shutout the Cubs in a 10-0 Pittsburgh win.
Maholm improved to 2-7 on the season in the rout that saw the Pirates muscle four runs out of the field of play.
Pirate homers to Andrew McCutchen (9),Lyle Overbay (5),Ronny Cedeno (2) and Chris Snyder (2).
The Pirates go for the sweep in the finale' today....

Pirate Hooks

1) Paul Maholm did not allow a hit until the fifth,only three on the day and did not walk a batter.
Maholm's ERA dipped to 3.16 after the effort and showed the type of season that he has had thus far....

2) Joe Beimel looked pretty bad in the ninth inning yesterday and it turned out for good reason-elbow inflammation that tabbed him DL-bound.
Daniel Moskos was recalled from Indianapolis to replace Beimel as the lone lefty in the pen...

3) Steve Pearce knocked in the first two runs with a key single,but left the game with a calf injury.
No word on the seriousness,Brandon Wood finished the game at third.

4) Andrew McCutchen's homer might have meant little on the scoreboard,but was it pounded or what?
Lanny Frattare would have said there was no doubt about that one!

5) A word on the Cubs-Looking at the contracts that they are stuck with and cannot move (Soriano,Fukudome and maybe Zambrano) can the Cubs have any hope at all over the next few years?
With the amount of money that they spend on declining players,Cubs fans might have to tolerate baseball that is worse than they have seen for a long time to come..

Photo Credit-AP