Zach Duke walked a tightrope and did so effectively for seven shutout innings,but the ineffective Pittsburgh offense was unable to punch a single run home against the Giants Matt Cain and the Buccos were swept from the Bay Area with a 1-0 loss in ten innings.
Matt Capps allowed the game winning hit to Randy Winn and dropped to 2-6 with the loss.
The Pirates take today off before a "battle of the sad sacks" with the visiting Washington Nationals...
Pirate Hooks
1) I will be posting later today on my thoughts on the Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez trades.
I didn't forget about the biggest news of the day....
2) Was today's infield that the Pirates started the worst ever from both the bat and glove?
Andy LaRoche,Ramon Vasquez,Delwyn Young and Steve Pearce.
Geez...
3) Considering that after today's deals that Young,a noted butcher at second, will likely get most of the time at second and notably mediocre Ronny Cedeno should be at short for the rest of year,it could be worse.....
4) As good as Zach Duke was today,Matt Cain was better.Cain pitched nine shutout innings and allowed three hits in dropping his ERA to 2.12.
Hard to imagine facing the Giants in 2010 and facing Cain,Tim Lincecum and AA Phenom Madison Bumgartner in a given series...
5) PNC Park is the best park in baseball,but AT&T Park would get the place spot,what a great place to watch a game...
Bonus Round
With the product that the Pirates will be putting on the field for the remainder of the season,the Pirates may very well be the worst team in baseball.
Yes,worse than the Nationals,although the Pirates gave up a huge amount of ground to Washington in the Bryce Harper derby,I would bet that Washington has a better record for the rest of the season than the Bucs....
Bullpen Notes
Time for a few referrals to our friends...
Over at Bag of Health and Politics,they are extensively covering the battle for health care reform from the point of view of the American consumer.
Always an interesting read whether you totally agree or not....
Brandon Siefken continues to scout the Japanese baseball world on Baseball 81 for those of you interested in Far Eastern baseball.
And even though Battlin' Bob doesn't update as often as he used to,Grumblings and Rumblings are always good for a laugh!
Back later with my thoughts on the Pirate trade and the Indians shipping away Cliff Lee as well.
Photo Credit
Mob;Eric Risberg-AP Photo
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