Game 142: Pirates at Reds

Charlie Morton and Edinson Volquez at seven.

Game 141: Pirates at Reds

Bucs up 3-1 in the seventh. Maholm dealing. Game has serious playoff implications.

Game 140: Pirates at Reds

Maholm and Bailey at seven.

Game 139: Braves at Pirates

Lowe and Duke at seven.

The hottest team in the NL Central, the Pirates are peaking at just the right time.

Game 138: Braves at Pirates

Tim Hudson and Ace McDonald at seven-thirty.

Game 137: Braves at Pirates

Burres and Hanson at 1:30.

I'm sure the Braves are hoping to spoil the Pirates' playoff chances, and that makes me feel sorry for them.

Game 136: Nats at Pirates

Pirates go for the sweep at 1:30. Marquis and Morton will start.

Game 135: Nats at Pirates

Skyblast tonight to punctuate the epic winning streak. Soon we'll be able to determine if the path to the NLCS goes through the wild card (my preference; more exciting) or through winning the division outright.

Lanman and Maholm will start. Game on at seven. Get there early if you want to enjoy the suspense inherent to games in which the Pirates have not yet taken the lead.

Game 134: Nats at Pirates

Livan Hernandez, Zach Duke, a Pirate Fleecie, and victory for all strong-willed fans at seven.

Off day

It is tough to enjoy a late summer day with no meaningful baseball.

Game 133: Pirates at Cubs

Pirates look for their third straight 14-run victory at two this afternoon.

Ace McDonald and Tom "No Doubt About It" Gorzelanny will start.

Game 132: Pirates at Cubs

Just rolled out of bed. It was a late night, celebrating the huge 14-2 win. The details are fuzzy. I remember there was a pet monkey cracking nuts. And the landlord's wife. But whatever. What a game.

That's gotta clinch something. Hopefully the Pirates celebrated more responsibly.

Tonight it is Karstens and Dempster at eight.

Game 131: Pirates at Cubs

Two months ago, no one would have expected this game to have playoff ramifications.

Maholm and Zambrano at eight. At eight-fifteen Ronny Cedeno will bunt with no outs, men on first and third, and the pitcher on deck.

Game 130: Pirates at Brewers

With the Pirates smoking hot, it's a great time to go to the ballpark and take in a game. And the road wins are the best. Nothing stirs the envy of opposing fans like your Pirates jersey and your pillbox cap.

Charlie Morton and Dave Bush at two.

Game 129: Pirates at Brewers

Duke and Capuano at seven.

It should be an exciting year to be a September call-up.

Game 128: Pirates at Brewers

Ace McDonald and Chris Narvesson at eight.

The hapless small-market Brewers, mired in another long losing streak, are luring fans to the ballpark with a post-game fireworks show.

Off day

What do you got?

Game 127: Cardinals at Pirates

McCutchen pistol-whips Westbrook at seven.

Bucs extend winning streak at nine.

Game 126: Cardinals at Pirates

Maholm beats Wainwright at seven.

In the future, once all known cheating factors can be corrected for in a standardized way, the Bucs win this game 20-0.

Game 125: Cardinals at Pirates

Ironhead Ohlendorf wins over the hapless Lohse. Game starts at seven.