Pirates Win 7-6 over Nationals

The Pittsburgh Pirates won the first game of a three game series with Washington Nationals tuesday night 7-6. Shawn Chacon(2-0) picked up the win and Ronny Paulino(5) and Jack Wilson(3) both hit home runs. Matt Capps got his 2nd save. The Pirates are now 25-33 and are now 7.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. Xavier Nady had 4 RBI's. Zach Duke(2-6) is expected to pitch tonight for the Pirates in the second game of the series.

Bucs lose again 6-5

The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped another one to the LA Dodgers 6-5 to lose 3 games out of the 4 game series in Pittsburgh. Paul Maholm(2-8) got the loss. Derek Lowe(6-5) got the win for the Dodgers who are now 34-23 and hold a 1/2 game lead in the NL West. The Pirates dropped to 24-33 and are now 8 games back of the Brewers and in 4th place in the NL "Comedy" Central. Xavier Nady hit his 9th home run and Jose Bautista hit his 4th home run. The Pirates go on the road to Washington D.C. to play the Nationals for 3 games, then head to New York to take on the Yankees this weekend in interleague play.

Pirates Blow 4 Run Lead

The Pirates were up 4-0 in the 7th inning before giving up 5 runs in the 7th&8th innings to lose 5-4 to the LA Dodgers. Tom Gorzelanny pitched great until the 7th inning when he gave up 3 runs before being pulled. Then, Salomon Torres gave up 2 runs in the 8th inning to pick up the loss(0-2) and 5th blown save. Jason Bay hit his 10th home run. The Pirates are now 24-32.

Cavs Vs Spurs in NBA finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 98-82 to advance to the NBA finals, their first in franchise history. The Cavs lost the first 2 games of the series, then rattled off 4 wins in a row to take the series 4-2. Rookie Daniel "Booby" Gibson led the scoring attack with 31 points, the kid was on fire tonight, hitting almost every 3-point attempt he took. Of course LeBron James also played a great game with 20 pts and 13 boards. I cant wait to watch Game 1 Thursday night.

Bucs Win 3-1

The Pittsburgh Pirates won tonight over the Dodgers 3-1, snapping a 3-game losing streak. Ian Snell(5-4) pitched a great game, going 8 innings allowing six hits, one run, while striking out 6. He lowered his ERA to 2.94. Matt Capps pitched a perfect ninth inning to get his first save in his new closer role. Xavier Nady hit his 8th home run. The Pirates are now 24-31 and have retaken 2nd place by percentage points over the Cardinals who are 23-30. Both teams are 6.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers(31-25).

Tracy Shakes up Bullpen/Bucs lose 3rd Straight

Jim Tracy announced tonight that Matt Capps will be the closer and Salomon Torres will go back to being the set-up man before the Pirates lost 5-4 to the LA Dodgers. Torres is a better pitcher when he pitches everyday in my opinion and Capps is a power pitcher who throws strikes consistently. I think this is a good move. Torres pitched 2 scoreless innings tonight.

As for the game, sigh, the Bucs lost 5-4 to the Dodgers and Zach Duke(2-6) pitched bad again giving up all 5 runs in 6 innings pitched. Randy Wolf(7-3) got the win for the Dodgers and Saito got the final 5 outs for his 16th save. The Bucs left 16 men on base. Lone bright spot was Jason Bay hit his 9th home run. The Pirates are 23-31 and fell to 3rd place in the NL "Comedy" Central. What a horrible division!

Donovan takes Magic Job

Billy Donovan was announced as the Orlando Magic's new head coach this morning. Donovan's Florida Gators won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007. So, what gets me is why did he leave? He idolizes Rick Pitino and after seeing all the failures Pitino had in the NBA, why would he leave? The Magic are young and have talent. My prediction is after 4 to 5 years he will be back in the college game. He's a great motivator but NBA players shouldn't need motivation, they are professionals. It shouldn't be hard for him to get the Magic in the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference but winning the conference and winning an NBA championship will be next to impossible in Orlando.