Davis impressive in 6-3 loss

In a rain delayed game that showed an encouraging outing for the newest entrant in Rotation Derby,Chase Utley sent a Tyler Yates pitch into over the wall in inning number seven to lift the Phillies to a come from behind 6-3 win over the Pirates.
The Phillies had tied the game earlier in the inning on Greg Dobbs double and Utley then finished the comeback off the struggling Yates,who dropped to 4-3 on the season.
The Phillies would add an insurance run in the eighth off Craig Hansen to finish the scoring.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Doug Mienkiewicz single that scored Brandon Moss.
The Phis would take the lead for the first time with two unearned runs off Jason Davis.
They were unearned as Jamie Moyer reached first base off Davis' throwing error and that means it's time for my pet peeve of pitchers being assigned unearned runs when they make an error.
I dislike that.
Davis pitched very well,I thought,in allowed no earned runs and just four hits in six strong innings.
Davis struck out three,but walked a high four batters.
A very encouraging outing for Davis in his first start.
Jason Michaels drilled a two run double into the gap in the sixth that regained the Pittsburgh lead and set the stage for Yates meltdown or Utley's heroics,whichever you prefer.
The Pirates travel to New York today for a one game makeup contest in what will be the final Pirate game in Shea Stadium (and gee isn't that too bad) before finally returning home for a homestand that will feature visits from the Reds and Mets.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Zach Duke (4-10 5.13 ERA) at New York:Pedro Martinez (3-3 5.79 ERA) 1:35

Bullpen Notes

Pirate play by play man Lanny Frattare announced his 5,000th Pirates game in the defeat.
Lanny started with the team in 1976 after the axing of Pittsburgh icon Bob Prince.

I hate the Phillies blue hats almost as much as the Pirates red jerseys.
Only almost because I like seeing the Phillies look awful.

Adam LaRoche will be making a rehab assignment in Hickory tonight and tomorrow with the Crawdads.
He could return to the Pirate lineup by Wednesday,if all goes according to plan.

The Pirates also shipped reliever Franklyn German to the White Sox for the PTNBL.
German was pitching for AAA Indianapolis.

Nice job by nitwit Braylon Edwards for cutting his foot on Donte Stallworth's cleats yesterday and receiving stitches that will sideline him for up to two weeks.
Edwards injured the foot while running an after practice race with Stallworth WITHOUT shoes on and clipped his foot on Stallworth's spike.
Smart guy that Edwards.
Of course that is the kind of smarts one expects from a michigan player.

The Browns signed two safeties in former OSU safety Brandon Mitchell and Travis Key,a rookie from Michigan State.
Mitchell spent last season on the Houston practice squad.

Ohio State suspended two possible starters in the secondary in Donald Washington and
Jamario O'Neal for the first two games of the season for breaking unspecified team rules.
This had been rumored for a few months,but was finally verified.
I don't know what they did,but guys don't get suspended for nothing,now do they???

Could be back later with either a post on Harrisburg (If I get pictures) and/or some thoughts on the John Edwards affair and how the media covered/covering the story.

Photo Credits
Davis:H.Rumph Jr-AP Photo
Frattare-MLB.Com
Edwards:John Kurtz-Cleveland Plain Dealer

Bucs stumble early in 4-2 loss

Ian Snell survived a slow start to have numbers that looked OK on paper,but the two runs that the Phillies scored in inning number one set the tone and the Pirates dropped the middle game of the series 4-2.
On one hand,I was encouraged at Snell's fortitude in surviving a bad first inning that could have been far worse as the bases were loaded in the first when Snell retired Chris Coste to keep the game at 2-0,but in the third,Snell grounded into an inning ending double play and was shown laughing and joking with Phillie shortstop Jimmy Rollins as the teams switched sides.
John Wehner was highly critical of Snell after that (in his dull,monotone way) and I tend to agree.
I dislike guys that appear to be making light of things,especially in the case of Snell,who has been so disappointing this season.
Snell (now 4-9) allowed a run in the seventh to finish the game with three runs allowed and worked his way out what looked like a short night,but still there is something missing with his mindset.
Last year,he was so aggressively competitive and this year,it seems like so much of that is gone.
It just doesn't seem like the same pitcher and that is in his attitude as well as his results.
Battlin' Bog offered this tidbit during the game-"Maybe he should change his name back to Ian Oquendo".
Before Snell reached Pittsburgh and was in the minors,he switched his surname back and forth from Snell to Oquendo on a few different occasions and that is what the Battler was referring to.
The Pirates scored a run in the fourth on a Nate McLouth double and a tally in the ninth on a Brandon Moss single that scored McLouth,but despite the deceiving final score,the game really was not that close.
The series concludes today at 1;35.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Jason Davis (1-1 2.57 ERA) at Philadelphia:Jamie Moyer (10-7 3.78 ERA) 1:35

Bullpen Notes

The Cleveland Browns finally gave up on the return of Gary Baxter as Baxter was released.
Baxter went under yet another arthroscopic surgery and the Browns finally realized that Baxter was not going to be able to help the team.
Baxter had had injury setbacks over the course of his contract since arriving from Baltimore in 2005 as a highly touted free agent.

Tom Friedman has an interesting take on energy as he looks at Denmark's program through the years on cutting oil addiction.
Friedman is a smart fellow with some interesting ideas,but he is in love with raising taxes on gas to encourage investment in energy alternatives as a way to relieve the oil addiction and uses the gas taxes in Europe as a way of justifying his argument.
What Friedman doesn't realize (or if he does,he doesn't tell you) as that in Europe there is so much more mass transit options and the sprawl in the USA does not make the two areas similar.
One can look at the difficulties that rural residents are suffering right now and easily see that that the Friedman plan simply would be a mass disaster for numerous families.

Until tomorrow.

Photo Credit
Pearce:Tom Mihlalek-AP Photo

Pearce lifts PIrates to extra innings win

Steve Pearce's 12th inning double snapped a scoreless tie and lifted the Pirates to a 2-0 win in the initial bow of a three game series in Philadelphia against the Phillies.
Pearce scored Ryan Doumit,who had led the inning off with a double off Phillies reliever Les Walrond and Freddy Sanchez would add an insurance run with a single later in the inning.
However,the play that made sure that Pittsburgh was coming home with the win came in the bottom of the inning as Brandon Moss made a diving catch on a Chase Utley hit for the second out with two runners on and then whirled and doubled Shane Victorino off first base with Freddy Sanchez being used as the middle man to end the game.
Battlin Bob and I were listening to the game on the Phillies network on the return peg from Harrisburg (more on that later) and they sounded absolutely crushed!
I love it!!!!
Paul Maholm matched zeroes with Joe Blanton for seven innings,scattering five hits and striking out a career high 10 batters.
The Pirate offense could do little with Blanton to take advantage of the Maholm performance as they were only able to muster a Doug Mienkiewicz single off the former Oakland righthander.
Credit to the Pittsburgh bullpen as well as five hurlers combined to keep the Phils with goose eggs for five innings with winner T.J. Beam (1-1) throwing three of the innings.
Craig Hansen earned his first save of the season with the zero 12th inning.
The set continues tonight in Philly at 7 with a battle of disappointing righties.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Ian Snell (4-8 6.14 ERA) at Philadelphia:Brett Myers (4-9 5.34 ERA) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

As earlier noted,Battlin Bob and I were in Harrisburg for our first (game) visit to Commerce Bank Stadium to see the Altoona Curve against the Senators.
I will be posting on the visit in the next day or two with whatever pictures Ryan was able to take and some thoughts on Harrisburg,but it was the first game in the Pirate organization for the focal point of the trade with the Yankees in outfielder Jose Tabata.
We will have an on the signing front with a Harrisburg post,but to avoid suspense (Ha Ha) Tabata did sign the card that I had.
The 19 year old had a less than shiny reputation for not being very willing to pick up the sharpie,but some of that could be from being a Yankee farmhand.
Yankee and Red Sox players get bombarded at every stop (usually because they have so many cards) and get weary of signing quickly.

The Pirates did finally sign one of those high upside/hard to sign players as outfielder and 16th rounder Wesley Freeman was signed to what has been reported to be for fifth round area money.
The Pirates had to spend extra on Freeman as he was committed to Central Florida.
Take a look at Freeman in this Youtube video.


Charlie over at Bucs Dugout takes a look at the Pirates unsigned picks and the chances of Pittsburgh getting them signed.

Battlin Bob is likely crying in his breakfast as his guy Phil Dumatrait will not be returning this season as his ailing shoulder is not responding to medical treatment.
But don't worry Bob,Dumatrait should be as good as new (mediocre) for spring training!

Both Chris Duffy and Flammable Frankie Osoria cleared waivers and were assigned to the Buccos AAA Indianapolis squad.
Duffy joins a crowded outfield in the Hoosier state,so that should be interesting to watch that play out during the I-Tribes last month.

Pre-Season football has kicked off with both the Browns and Seahawks playing their first "practice games".
The Browns dropped a 24-20 tilt with the Jets while Seattle smacked the Vikings 34-17.
I have not watched either game yet,so not much to say about the makeups of the teams and I really dislike pre-season football anyway.
The Browns will visit the Giants in Practice game 2 while the Seahawks will host the Bears.

The Browns did get some bad news before the game as 4th rounder (and top pick) Beau Bell underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will miss four to six weeks.

Until next time.

Photo Credit
Pearce:Tom Mihalek-AP Photo

Karstens almost perfect in Pirate win

Jeff Karstens was perfect for seven and two thirds innings and a Freddy Sanchez homer was all Karstens needed in a 2-0 win to salvage one win in Arizona before traveling to Philadelphia.
Karstens has yet to allow a run in his first 15 innings as a Pirate and improved to 2-0 with yesterday's win.
Karstens is not overwhelming,he simply keeps the ball around the plate and throws strikes.
Those type of pitchers rarely are dominating,but many have little problems finding work and tend to have long careers.
Usually not Hall of Fame careers,but solid and serviceable ones and in baseball today-that can help you retire a wealthy man.
I would warn fans to not get too excited yet,the first thing that came to my mind when looking at the numbers during the game was this-First time around the league.
Pitchers with a limited arsenal tend to do well on their first tour or two around the horn until the book gets out on their tendencies.
Whether they can then make adjustments eventually tells the tale on them on the long term.
I did like what Karstens had to say about his preparation for the Rattlers when he was asked why he threw relatively few off speed pitches-"Because I knew they'd watch tape of what I did in Chicago".
All in all,one cannot ask for more than the Pirates have received from Jeff Karstens thus far.
Freddy Sanchez gave Karstens the lead in the fourth inning with his 8th homer of the season and an 8th inning double by Doug Mienkiewicz added an badly need insurance run.
The Pirates have a travel day today as they travel to Philly for a three game set against the Phillies.

Bullpen Notes

The South Atlantic League released a "insider" version of a prospective 14 team schedule in the event that Lake County and the new Bowling Green franchise are transferred to the Midwest League.
It looks to have many problems,most notably the games against Northern Division foes (Lakewood and Delmarva ) could increase from 24 to 31.
To me,they already play the same teams too much and now the SAL wants to add more?
This makes no sense.
Last night at Hagerstown,there were next to no people there and the SAL President was in attendance-this could not have looked very good to him.
But I have a rough time blaming the Suns for this.
August can be a tough draw-kids getting ready for school,summer winding down,many vacations are over etc.
It has to be even tougher when your team is out of championship contention and the visiting team is someone that has been in town many times already.
The South Atlantic League is already a joke with their ridiculous schedule,this plan appears to make it much worse.

On the signing front
Had just two cards for the Lakewood Blue Claws and both were signed.
Tim Kennelly and Dominic Brown each signed a card and Brown signed a baseball for me as well.

Back tomorrow!

Photo Credit
Karstens:Matt York-AP Photo

Random Ramblings

Just a few more things to wipe out from the in-box.

The Seattle Seahawks continued to lose depth on the offensive line with the retirement of tackle
Chris Gray.
The 15 year veteran suffered a lower back and spine injury last week when Gray hit a blocking sled as part of an everyday routine.
Gray was told by Seattle doctors that he risked paralysis should he continue to play and made the smart decision to retire.
The Auburn product joined the Hawks in 1999 and set the team record for consecutive games played with 121 and was a 1993 draftee of the Miami Dolphins.

Seattle's depth chart on the line takes a real blow with the loss of Gray.
The Seahawks might be on the market for a veteran to shore up the line and I have just the ticket in former Brown LeCharles Bentley.
IF Bentley can pass the physical,he could step right in and start.
If Seattle does not add anyone,Seahawk fans will have to hope for continued improvement from 2007 draft picks Mansfield Wrotto and Steve Vallos to provide help for the blocking gang.

Versus network has announced that they will be televising five Ivy League games this college football season and the Harvard-Yale game is included in the package.
Versus is the main network for Mountain West football and will sprinkle in a few other games as well.

Last night in Frederick,Brandon Erbe,Ryan Ouellette and Fredy Deza combined for a no hitter over the visiting Salem Avalanche.
Erbe pitched the yeoman's share of the game as he threw the first six innings of the game.
Brandon has always been a very willing signer and has always been pleasant to deal with.
Congratulations to all three pitchers.

A little while back,Asheville's Bruce Billings tossed a no hitter against the Lakewood Blue Claws.
Billings was very engaging in Hagerstown when the Tourists visited and told a story about how his college coach dealt with people sending their small children up to the coach for autographs.
The coach responded with "You aren't even old enough to know who I am,tell your parents to come up here and get it themselves".
Billings coach?
A guy named Tony Gwynn at San Diego State.

Jose Tabata hit two homers yesterday for the Pirates GCL team in Bradenton.
Tabata is expected to join Altoona soon.
Here is hoping for Friday!!!


Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton will be returning to the MASN coverage of the Washington Nationals next year.
MASN seems to have problems getting a solid crew on either the Orioles and Nationals broadcasts.
The Nats have the terrific Carpenter and Sutton,but are saddled with Debbi Taylor as the "reporter',while the Orioles have Amber Theoharis doing a reasonably good job in that role.
The problem with the Baltimore side is the announcers smarmy Gary Thorne,somnambulant Jim Palmer,awful Buck Martinez and it just goes on.....
How bad can your crew be when the best person is the person doing the least important job???

Photo Credits
Gray:John Froschauer-AP Photo
Erbe:Joy Absalon-MLB.com

Back to work-Baseball Edition

Looks like things are back and running at normal speed,so look for two editions today if possible.
This will deal with baseball and the other will catch up on the various mails that are stuck in the in box.

The Pirates have lost all three games since the last post.
The most painful was the finale' at Wrigley Field with a 8-5 loss to the Cubs.
After a fast start that gave the illusion that this was a Pittsburgh day,the Cubs pulled away.
Ryan Doumit's first inning single was misplayed by Alfonso Soriano,as the ball hopped by the left fielder to allow Nate McLouth to score and Brandon Moss hit his first Pirate homer in the second on a long homer to center and a 2-0 lead.
But the Cubs scored the next five runs of the games with four off ,the worsening by the start, Ian Snell before the dramatic eighth.
With two out and down by three,Doumit singled to score Doug Mienkiewicz to cut the lead to 5-3.
Andy LaRoche then drilled a two run shot over the ivy (3) to tie the game.
Craig Hansen retired the first two Chicago batters in the bottom of the frame before walking Geovany Soto.
John Russell removed Hansen (who would get the hard luck loss 0-1) for Sean Burnett.
Burnett then allowed Reed Johnson to take him deep for a two run homer and that was the game,but Burnett was not finished as he then allowed another moon shot to Alfonso Soriano to end the scoring.
What a tough loss.....

On Monday night,the Pirates looked to take advantage of the return of Freddy Sanchez and a three run first inning against Diamondback starter Dan Haren and grab a win,but by the end of the second,Yoslan Herrera had evaporated the lead and walked from the dugout straight to Altoona,where he was optioned to after the game in favor of Romulo Sanchez as the latest member of the Exxon Valdez pen.
Surprisingly Herrera didnt get the loss and the Pirates hung in the game until a six run Arizona eighth,the loss went to Herrera's rotation replacement Jason Davis (1-1).
Doug Mienkiewicz (2) and Jason Michaels (7) each homered in the 13-7 loss.
In more wonderful news-Andy LaRoche injured his thumb in this game and will miss at least tomorrow and likely the first game against the hated Phillies,which means more playing time for the disgruntled Jose Bautista.
If all falls into place perfectly,LaRoche could have Bautista back on the bench then and that is fine with me as anything that keeps Greg Brown off my television rambling about "Joey Bats" is a damn good thing!

Zach Duke pitched his best game of the season as he allowed just 4 hits in seven innings,but sadly one of them left the field of play with a runner on base and that was all Arizona needed to take away a 3-1 win behind their ace Brandon Webb.
As good as Duke was in getting the loss (4-10),Webb was,well,Brandon Webb and that was more than the Bucs could handle.
Webb scattered nine hits but a ninth inning Doug Mienkiewicz single that sent Freddy Sanchez home was the only one of significance.
Despite the loss,I was impressed by Duke in the game as he was able to keep the ball down and use the ground effectively.
Duke needs to do that as he will never be a huge strikeout hurler.
The series concludes today at 3:35.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Jeff Karstens (1-0 0.00 ERA) at Arizona:Randy Johnson (9-7 4.35 ERA) 3:35

Bullpen Notes

Anyone else waiting to see Randy Johnson vs Doug Mienkiewicz after their harsh words earlier this year in Pittsburgh?

Blog favorite Jared Hughes was promoted to AA Altoona and won his first Eastern League game with a six inning,one run outing against Akron.
Hughes struck out six in the game.

Bryan Morris made his Hickory debut yesterday and was dominant in allowing just two hits in a 9-1 loss to Rome.
Morris pitched five innings and left the game tied at 0-0.

Ten days to go before the signing deadline and the Pirates have yet to sign any of their top picks.
It matters little whether you go by round (first,second,fifth and sixth unsigned ) or by talent (many hard to sign gambles still unsigned),the Pirates need to get some of this filled in.
It would be unrealistic to expect all of these guys to sign,but some would be nice!
The Pirates are playing the negotiating game with Pedro Alvarez and Scott Boras with this assigned value nonsense,but Boras knows the PR hit that Pittsburgh would take without signing the Vandy slugger and he also knows that Alvarez's value could decrease with a poor senior year.
Alvarez will get done,but how many of the others will?
And that will determine both a successful draft and just serious Frank Coonelly is about truly changing the culture at PNC Park.

Bill Cover sends us this note on the possibility of two California League teams moving to the Carolina League.
It would be nice to see the league add two teams and Richmond would be a good fit,but not sure on Fayetteville NC.
Minor ball has failed there a few times already (Fayetteville Generals and Cape Fear Crocs) ,an independent league team is currently in town and they hold the stadium lease!
Two sleeper thoughts with absolutely no information on these towns about this-Columbia SC (would add another South Carolina stop for a Myrtle Beach Swing) and Wilmington NC (adds an Eastern NC stop to join Kinston).
I thought that perhaps Greenville would be a High A possibility with Columbia taking over Greenville's SAL slot,but that is likely not to work with Greenville designing their park to look like Fenway for their Boston affiliation and Boston now owns Salem in the Carolina League for 2009..

Longtime Braves announcer Skip Caray passed away at 68 in Atlanta.
Caray made the Braves worth watching with his dry wit and ironic commentary.
I may be in a vocal minority,but I much preferred Skip to his more famous father,former Cardinal and Cub voice Harry.
Harry was a bit too over the top for my tastes and Skip was more my kind of announcer-someone that knew the game and had humor,but you had to be smart enough to "get it" and listen closely or something might blow right on by you.

Skip still lives on in Hagerstown though,Battlin Bob does the best Skip Caray that I have heard yet.
Everyone does Harry,but only the Battler does Skip and it is dead on.
Ask him to do it,if you see him around!!

Will be at the Muni for the final visit of the Lakewood Blue Claws with three cards.
That's right-three.
Why so few?Lakewood still has not released their team set yet.
Why even bother to put it out now?

Still worth going to see the phenomenal Dominic Brown though as he finishes up his SAL season.

Until later

Photo Credits
LaRoche:Charles Arbogast-AP Photo
Wilson:Matt York-AP Photo
Duke:Ross Franklin-AP Photo
Battlin Bob:Ryan Heimberger

Verizon

Verizon is coming to work on things today.
I am often unable to access after 6 PM and things are running slow when I am on.
Plenty to write when I return-Hopefully this evening!!!