I SNELL a Winner

Bucs win their fifth in a row with a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds

Ian Snell (the artist formally known as Ian Oquendo) has officially established himself as the "ACE" of the Pittsburgh Pirates staff with his seven shutout innings in the Pirates 3-1 victory over the Reds on Friday evening. Snell improves his record to  2-1 and his era dips down to 1.59. Not only does Snell have the best ERA on the staff, he currently owns the fourth best ERA in the National League ahead of the likes of Jake Peavy and Brad Penny. With no signs of slowing down, I am going to make my " its way to early in the season prediction", that Snell will be wearing an NL uniform in San Francisco this summer.

Now that my love fest with Ian Snell is over, here is a small recap from tonight's festivities.

Jason Bay drove in two runs for the second straight game, and Adam LaRoche continued his "hot" hitting at PNC as he went 1-3 with an r.b.i. The Bucs scored three runs in the first and felt that was enough as Snell went on to pitch seven shutout innings. Damaso Marte struck out one in one inning of solid work. Fan favorite Salomon Torres came into shut the door, but he had to give up a couple hits of course. Adam Dunn hit a bomb that grazed the top of the PPG building, and after another hit, Torres finally closed out a ballgame. Cue the fireworks.  That is the long and short of it. Pretty much your basic Reds-Pirates game.

Tomorrow night Tom Gorzelanny looks to improve to 4-0 on the season. The Reds counter with Matt Belisle who pitched six innings and struck out six on April sixth (note a trend) against the Bucs.  Expect a large crowd for Freddy Sanchez bobble head night. I will be in attendance in which I will report back on my observation of the stereotypical  "i came for the bobble head" fan. See ya at the Ballpark!!! Lets Go Bucs!