LeBron James is a Beast!!!!

Cleveland won Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals in double overtime 109-107. LeBron James scored 48 points in what Marv Albert is calling "one of the greatest playoff performances of all-time". LeBron scored 29 of the Cavs final 30 points. He also had 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Cleveland leads the series now 3-2 with Game 6 at home in Cleveland Saturday night.

I watched the whole game and the display of LeBron James from the 4th quarter on was just awesome. It really reminded me of some of Michael Jordan's performances.

Bucs Bullpen Blows Another One

The Pirates bullpen blew a 2-0 lead in the 9th inning to lose 4-2 in 11 innings. Shawn Chacon pitched a great game, pitching 7 innings of three hit ball and striking out 10 before handing the game over to the bullpen to start the 8th inning. Matt Capps pitched a perfect eighth inning then gave the ball to Salomon Torres to start the 9th. With the game 2-0 Torres walked Marcus Giles to start the inning, then got Terrel Sledge to ground out, moving Giles over to second. Then Adrian Gonzalez and Mike Cameron hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game up at 2-2. Torres picked up his 4th blown save.

Then to start the 11th inning local pitcher Josh Sharpless(Freedom, PA) gave up what looked to be back-to-back home runs to start the inning to Cameron and Josh Bard, Bard's homer was reversed to a double and he and manager Bud Black were both ejected. The Padres still ended up getting the runner(Bowen) in on a sacrifice fly to get the score to 4-2. The Bucs went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th. What a surprise!!!!????!!!! Trevor Hoffman got his 16th save

I know this was Chacon's second start but I still dont understand why they didnt leave him in to finish the game. It was his game to lose.

Spurs in NBA Finals

The San Antonio Spurs are in the NBA finals after beating the Utah Jazz at home last night 109-84 to win the series 4-1. The Spurs will have home-court advantage regardless of who they play, Detroit or Cleveland. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each had 21 points. Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals is tonight in Detroit with the series tied 2-2

Bucs Get Crushed 9-0

The Pirates struggled again against Chris Young(6-3). The San Diego hurler pitched 7 innings of scoreless ball, only giving up 4 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 7. He lowered his ERA to 2.42. Paul Maholm didnt pitch too bad. Maholm pitched 7 and 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs. Local player Josh Sharpless(Freedom,PA) gave up 2 runs in the 9th. Khalil Greene hit his 7th homer for the Padres(30-22). The Pirates are now 23-29. The good news is Milwaukee lost to Atlanta 9-3, so the Bucs are still 5.5 games back in the NL Central. The Bucs are percentage points above the Cubs for 2nd place

Cavs

No Basketball team in Pittsburgh so I root for the Cleveland Cavs, I usually despise all the Cleveland teams like the Browns and Indians but I like the Cavs. They tied the series up last night 2-2 and LeBron James had a huge 4th quarter, Gibson had a big game too with 21 points. They are gonna have to steal one in Detroit though and thats gonna be tough.

Win

The Pirates started off well in the 3 game homestand by winning the first game of the series 4-1 over the Padres. Tom Gorzelanny(2.39 ERA) pitched 7 innings giving up 1 run for his 6th win(6-3). Jason Bay hit a solo homer(8). The Buccos are now 23-28. Woot. Lets Go Bucs!!!!

Pirates Weekend Series

The Bucs seemed to climb out of their offensive slump in the first 3 games of a 4 game series with the Cincinatti Reds before being shutout 4-0 in the Memorial Day game.

Friday they took the game to extra innings with a 2-2 tie then scored 8 runs in the top of the 10th to get the win. Jonah Bayliss got the win(4-2). Ryan Doumit took hit to the back of the head from Ryan Freel and suffered a concussion

Saturday, they started out with a big first inning, pounding Reds' starter(ex-pirate) Bronson Arroyo(2-5) for 4 runs including a 3 run homer by Xavier Nady(7). New 5th starter Shawn Chacon only lasted 3 2/3 innings despite only allowing 1 run. John Grabow(1-1) got the win.

Sunday, the Bucs once again had a huge game with a 14-10 win and Zach Duke(2-5) got the win. Jason Bay(7) and Jack Wilson(2) each homered

Monday, the Bucs were shutout by Kyle Loshe(2-6) who pitched a 6-hit shutout. Ian Snell(4-4) pitched well for the Bucs but got no offensive help. A scary collision between Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper in the 3rd inning delayed the game for 13 minutes while Freel lay motionless on the field. He was carried off the field on a stretcher but later reports said he would be OK

The Pirates are 22-28 and 5.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. The Pirates start a 3-game series tonight against the San Diego Padres(29-21) at home with the expected starters to be Tom Gorzelanny(5-3) and David Wells(2-2). All games will begin at 7:05 EST