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.

Game 43: Pirates at White Sox

Ohlendorf and Richard at seven.

In other news, we raise our glass to the speedy recovery of James Harrison III, another reminder that dogs bite.

Game 42: Pirates at White Sox

Duke and Floyd at eight. The White Sox are 17-23, despite having no 2002-2003 Bucs in their bullpen. The Bucs are a sweep away from .500.

Meanwhile, all hail Brad Lincoln and his shutout.

Game 41: Pirates at Nationals

Snell and Stammen at seven. The Bucs are 19-21, have won five straight, and are out of the basement.

Game 40: Pirates at Nationals

Maholm and Lannan at seven. Good chance we see Kip and Julian tonight.

Game 39: Pirates at Nationals

Karstens vs. 5-0 rookie phenom Shairon Martis at seven.

The Nats' bullpen is two young guys, Colome, and four former 2002-2003 Bucs: Beimel, Tavarez, Villone and Wells.

Game 38: Pirates at Nationals

Ohlendorf vs. Detwiler and the hapless Nats at seven.

Busy night here, fortifying the west wall of the Beer Fort with the airlifted surprise from the seventh inning.

Game 37: Rockies at Pirates

Duke and Jimenez underway, scoreless after two.

Game 36: Rockies at Pirates

Cook and Snell like later on.

After last night, I am digging into the heavy weapons I was hoping to save for, I don't know, July or August. It's May 16 and Red Alert already.

Game 35: Rockies at Pirates

Game in progress. Maholm and de la Rosa. No score after 5 1/2.

Not long ago, I had a little lie-down after a long afternoon re-inforcing the southwest wall of the beer fort with wine boxes. Don't know where the time goes ...

Whoa -- RBI Craig Monroe. Pirates lead 1-0.

Game 34: Cardinals at Pirates

Boggs and Karstens at seven.

Pirates are 14-19 after losing 8 of their last 10.

Game 33: Cardinals at Pirates

Pineiro and Ohlendorf at seven.

Game 32: Cardinals at Pirates

Wellemeyer and Duke at seven.

Game 31: Generals at Globetrotters

Snell and Hernandez at one.