Pirates lose Heartbreaker 5-4 to Braves

After an hour and twelve minute rain delay in Atlanta, the Braves won the second game of the series on a walk-off RBI single by Jeff Francouer off of Shawn Chacon(4-2). Another good Pirate starter got hit hard by the Braves, Tom Gorzelannyn got the start and Andruw Jones(17) got a two run homer off him in a 3 run 1st, he did ended up calming down, giving up 4 earned runs(3.24) on 6 hits over 6 innings for a no-decision. If not a 4 run inning by the Pirates in the 7th inning right before the rain delay Gorzo probably would have got the loss, but Ryan Doumit(7) hit a 3-run homer to tie the game at 4-4, then the long rain delay. Shawn Chacon got in trouble in both the 8th and 9th innings loading the bases both times. He was able to get out of the inning in the 8th but couldn't get it done in the 9th. The Bucs are now 40-50.

Pirates Scalped by Braves 9-1

The Pirates went into the break a little hot and came out of it ice cold. The Braves handed the Pirates a 9-1 loss in Atlanta Friday night. Ian Snell(7-6) got the loss. He went 5+ innings(He faced 4 batters in the 6th) giving up 7 runs, 4 earned on 8 hits. Brian McCann was the star at the plate for the Braves. He was 3 for 4 with 4 RBI's(53) and two home runs(11). He hit a 3-run homer in the first, then Andruw Jones(16) and McCann went back to back with homers in the 6th. Tim Hudson(9-5) pitched great for the Braves, going 7 innings and allowing no runs. The Pirates broke up the shutout in the 9th on a Ronny Paulino RBI double. The Pirates fell to 40-49 but the good news is Milwaukee(49-40) lost 10-6 to the Colorado Rockies. The Bucs are 9 games back.

AL wins All-Star Game 5-4

The American League has locked up home-field for the World Series this season by beating the National League 5-4 in the 78th All-Star game. Ichiro Suzuki won the MVP going 3 for 3 with the first inside the park home run in ASG history in the 5th inning off Padre Chris Young. He also had 2 RBI's. Tampa outfielder Carl Crawford hit a solo home run in the 6th off of Brewers reliever Francisco Cordero, and Cleveland catcher Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer off of Billy Wagner in the 8th for the AL's 5 runs. Ken Griffey got the first 2 RBI's of the game for the NL with a RBI single and a sacrifice fly. Then in the ninth inning, with the NL down 5-2 with 2 outs the game got crazy. Dmitri Young got on with what could have been called an error by 2nd baseman Brian Roberts but was ruled a single. Then Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer off Mariners closer JJ Putz, Putz walked JJ Hardy then was removed for Fransisco Rodriguez who walked Derrek Lee and Orlando Hudson to load the bases before getting Aaron Rowand to fly out to right field to end the game. Pittsburgh Pirate Freddy Sanchez got in the game to play the field in the bottom of the 6th inning and made a couple nice plays but went 0 for 1 at the plate. In the bottom of the 8th with Derrek Lee on 3rd with 2 outs he swung at the first pitch from Jonathan Papelbon and lined out to right.

Vlad Guerrero wins Home Run Derby

Vladimir Guerrero won the Home Run Derby tonight in San Francisco, he defeated Alex Rios in the final round 3-2. The first round was pretty boring. The shadows were close to the pitcher's mound though, as the shadows moved farther back the more homers got hit. Alex Rios, Vlad Guerrero, and Matt Holliday all hit 5 in the first round and Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau hit 4 so they had a 5 swing tiebreaker that Pujols won 2-1 to advance to the second round. In the second round Holliday hit 8(13), Rios hit 12(17), Vlad hit 9(14) and Pujols hit 9(13). In the second round Guerrero hit a 503 foot blast to left field.

Pirates at the Break(Pitching)

PITCHING

Wins
1. Tom Gorzelanny 9
2. Ian Snell 7
3. Paul Maholm 5
4. Jonah Bayliss 4
Matt Capps 4
Shawn Chacon 4

Losses
1. Paul Maholm 11
2. Zach Duke 7
3. Ian Snell 5
4. Matt Capps 4
Tom Gorzelanny 4

Earned Run Average
1. Damaso Marte 1.71
2. Matt Capps 2.37
3. Ian Snell 2.93
4. Tom Gorzelanny 3.10
5. Shawn Chacon 3.59

Games
1. Matt Capps 47
2. Jonah Bayliss 38
3. Damaso Marte 36
4. Shawn Chacon 33
5. John Grabow 30
Salomon Torres 30

Saves
1. Salomon Torres 12
2. Matt Capps 9
3. Shawn Chacon 1
4. John Grabow 1

Innings Pitched
1. Tom Gorzelanny 119.0
2. Ian Snell 116.2
3. Paul Maholm 113.1
4. Zach Duke 93.1
5. Shawn Chacon 67.2

Hits
1. Zach Duke 141
2. Paul Maholm 118
3. Tom Gorzelanny 113
4. Ian Snell 104
5. Shawn Chacon 65

Earned Runs
1. Zach Duke 60
Paul Maholm 60
3. Tom Gorzelanny 41
4. Ian Snell 38
5. Tony Armas 37

Home Runs
1. Paul Maholm 15
2. Zach Duke 10
3. Tony Armas 9
Tom Gorzelanny 9
Ian Snell 9

Walks
1. Tom Gorzelanny 35
2. Paul Maholm 33
Ian Snell 33
4. Shawn Chacon 30
5. Zach Duke 22

Strikeouts
1. Ian Snell 93
2. Tom Gorzelanny 75
3. Paul Maholm 68
4. Shawn Chacon 55
5. Matt Capps 34

Pirates at the Break(Hitting)

HITTING

Batting Average
1. Ryan Doumit .305
2. Freddy Sanchez .296
3. Xavier Nady .291
4. Jack Wilson .259
5. Jose Bautista .257
6. Jason Bay .254
7. Chris Duffy .249
8. Jose Castillo .243
9. Nate McClouth .241
10.Adam LaRoche .239

Home Runs
1. Xavier Nady 14
2. Jason Bay 13
Adam LaRoche 13
4. Jose Bautista 7
5. Ryan Doumit 6

Runs Batted In
1. Jason Bay 56
2. Adam LaRoche 51
3. Xavier Nady 50
4. Jose Bautista 33
5. Freddy Sanchez 32

Hits
1. Freddy Sanchez 96
2. Jason Bay 83
3. Xavier Nady 81
4. Jose Bautista 80
5. Jack Wilson 77

Doubles
1. Jose Bautista 23
Adam LaRoche 23
3. Freddy Sanchez 20
4. Jason Bay 16
Ryan Doumit 16

Triples
1. Chris Duffy 3
2. Jason Bay 2
Nate McClouth 2
Jack Wilson 2
5. Jose Bautista 1
Rajai Davis 1
Xavier Nady 1
Freddy Sanchez 1

Stolen Bases
1. Chris Duffy 13
2. Nate McClouth 6
3. Jose Bautista 5
Rajai Davis 5
5. Jason Bay 2
Xavier Nady 2

Pirates win 6-2 over Cubs; Win 5 of 7 in Cubs/Brewers home stand

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won 9 of their last 13 and more importantly won 5 of the 7 games they played this week against the Brewers and Cubs, the 1st and 2nd place teams in the NL Central Division. They gained 3 games this week in the standings, they are 40-48 and 9 games back of Milwaukee who is lost to the Nationals 7-2. Today newcomer Shane Youman(2-0, 3.00ERA) got the start and pitched well in Zach Duke's spot going 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits. Jason Bay was the star at the plate going 2 for 4 with a home run(13) and 4 RBI's(56). He hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd off Carlos Zambrano(10-7) and added a 2 insurance runs with a single in the 8th. The All-Star game is Tuesday and the Pirates play next, Friday, against the Atlanta Braves.