Showdown at the Addison Street Saloon

The Pirates will put on their Washington Generals Tampa Bay Devil Rays road unis tomorrow and take the field in a day-game home opener against the Cubs, big-media darling and a preseason consensus choice for lots and lots of winning. Kris Benson will be the guy in the black hat with the nasty scar on his cheek elbow. Out in the dusty street, he'll line up against the boy-faced "new sheriff in town," Greg Maddux, and try to do some things to make the ladies' hearts flutter as they peak out from behind the shuttered saloon windows obstructed view seats.

Had Mac used Brian Meadows today, the Pirates would have Boehringer, Grabow, Boyd, and Mesa in the posse that has Benson's back. Since Boehringer did some clutch gunslinging this afternoon, however, Benson's gang of seconds will include Brian "Estaban Loaiza" Meadows (scroll down, similar pitchers, center column, and make sure you exorcise #7 on that list from your memory).

Tuesday the Bucs and Cubs have the day off, so Mike Johnston and Salomon Torres should be ready to ride in and provide cover for Ryan Vogelsong in his duel against Matt Clement on Wednesday. Thursday will pit Josh Fogg against Carlos Zambrano. More on Fogg in a moment.

The Cubs are coming off an eventful series in Atlanta, where they won two of three. They emptied their guns against Will Cunnane, scoring ten on fourteen hits. Hopefully we can catch them re-loading their weapons tomorrow. LaTroy Hawkins might hang back at the ranch after working tonight, but the rest of the bullpen should be good to go on Monday.

The dread Aramis Ramirez went 6 for 15 in Atlanta with three doubles, three strikeouts, one walk, and no errors. In 2003, he savaged the Bucs after he was traded, hitting two doubles and three homers in a stretch of 22 at-bats of 1242 OPS. The rough beta version of Vogelsong 2.0 held him in check, however, and he never saw Kris Benson.