Thursday, September 20, 2007

Hairston homer bounces Buccos to basement


Pittsburgh was one pitch away from finally getting a victory over Chris Young,but Matt Capps threw ball four on a full count pitch to Kevin Kouzmanoff and that was followed by a three run blast off the bat of San Diego's Scott Hairston to give the Padres a stunning 5-3 victory and leave the Pirates needing a win tomorrow to avoid a 4 game sweep by the surf.
Capps was the losing pitcher and his record falls to 4-7 on the year.
Hairston is a guy that I have liked for a while and it always made me wonder why the Diamondbacks never gave him much of a chance and then traded him to a division rival.
Sometimes all that it takes is for someone in power to decide that you aren't any good and that pretty much ends your opportunities.
But that happens in many regular jobs too,doesn't it?
In any case,I am hoping that the new Pirates management team takes a closer look at guys like Hairston and maybe find a diamond somewhere.
Nate McLouth had a nice night in left with a double,a triple and 2 RBI.
Freddy Sanchez had the other Pittsburgh RBI on a sacrifice fly.
The failure by Capps wasted a solid effort by Ian Snell,as he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings and looked like he is rounding back into form.
Former Buc Chris Young allowed 3 runs in 6 innings of work to give the Pirates a chance to finally defeat him,but it was not meant to be.
Series concludes later today at 3;35

Pitching Matchup

Pittsburgh: Matt Morris (9-10) at San Diego: Brett Tomko (3-11) 3:35

Bullpen Notes

Slow news day.

The Blackhawks Jonathan Towes broke a finger in last night's exhibition game vs Columbus.
It appears that he will miss most of the remainder of camp,but could be back for the season opener vs Minnesota.

I enjoyed the beginning of C-Span's 12 week series on Presidential Libraries a few days ago.
The series travels to the libraries and looks around,discusses the President of the week and takes phone calls.
The series is well-done as most C-Span programs are and even if you aren't a history buff, some of the bozos that call in are simply hilarious!

Finally,thanks to Scott Matthews for sending me some cards from Wilmington and a few from Harrisburg.
Dee Brown of Harrisburg is someone that always seemed to elude me,as he seems to get moved up every time I was close to going to a game and Scott was able to get two of Brown signed.
Other nice catches were Harrisburg closer Zech Zinicola and some of the Wilmington pitchers,most notably Danny Cortes and Julio Pimentel.
Pimentel,I was told,was gotten by Scott's wife Miranda (as in Shakespeare),so thanks to her as well for her efforts.
I had the opportunity to meet Scott and Miranda here at "Historic Municipal Stadium" late in the season.
Very nice meeting them and thanks again for the help.

Back later today with the scoop on the afternoon game.

Photo Credit
Hairston-Lenny Ignelei-AP Photo

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