Game 49: Astros at Pirates

Rodriguez and Karstens at seven.

Game 48: Astros at Pirates

Moehler and Ohlendorf at seven.

Thursday

No game today. Season is 29% complete. Pirates are 21-26.

As a team, the Pirates are 11th in the NL in OPS. They are hitting .264 / .332 / .401. Freddy Sanchez has 60 hits and a .326 / .362 / .505 line. Nate McLouth leads the team with 8 home runs. Andy LaRoche leads the team with a .370 OBP. Nyjer Morgan has a .362 OBP.

Adam LaRoche is hitting .228 / .321 / .449. Brandon Moss has played in 41 games. He has 133 at-bats and .263 / .310 / .376 performance. Hinske, Monroe, and D. Young have combined about equally for 150 at-bats of .730 OPS.

The rotation has been consistent. Duke and Ohlendorf have been pretty good. Maholm has been solid and Snell has been not so good. Snell strikes some people out (6.79 per 9) but he has also posted a 1.58 WHIP, 7 home runs allowed in 53 innings, and not surprisingly a 1-6 record. Jesse Chavez has been good from the bullpen (4 holds, 1.2 WHIP, 7.65 K/9). Sean Burnett has good numbers too. John Grabow has somehow survived a lot of high-pressure situations with good results.

Collectively, the team has a 1.38 WHIP and 5.67 K/9. This WHIP is league-average (8th of 16) and translates into a .750 OPS against (10th of 16). And this K/9 is dead last in the NL. Arr ... the Pirates bring the junk.

Game 47: Pirates at Cubs

Duke and Zambrano this afternoon.

Game 46: Pirates at Cubs

Snell and Marshall at 8.

Pirates will try to score another 10 runs.

Game 45: Pirates at Cubs

The Pirates parade into Wrigley to start a three-game series. Bring your own lawn chair.

Maholm and Dempster at 8. Bucs are 20-24; Cubs are 21-21 after losing 7 in a row.

Game 44: Pirates at White Sox

Karstens and Buehrle at two. One of these days, a scraggly, mangy RUN will come scratching at the Beer Fort's back door.