Back at it

After a two day sabbatical from winning baseball games, the Pirates return with a 4-2 drubbing of the first place Milwaukee Brewers.

Tonight's game wasn't shaping up to be a game in which the Pirates could mount a come back, but Bautista and Paulino's back to back jacks propelled the Bucs to victory.

The Bucs trailed 2-0 through sixth innings before they broke open in the seventh with four runs.

Tom Gorzelanny ( now 4-1) battled seven strong innings and allowed two runs on only six hits. Matt Capps worked quickly in the eight inning and Torres came on  in the ninth for his ninth save of the season.

It was also great to see a baseball play that I have not seen since my glory day's as a third baseman for the Astros in " Little League".  With a 2-0 lead, the Brewers thought they would "out smart" the bucs by pulling a delayed double steal. Prince Fielder (who is probably the last candidate in MLB to steal a base) broke for second while J.J Hardy (who was on 3rd) waited for Paulino to throw and broke for home. The play was snuffed out by Freddy Sanchez, who charged the throw of Paulino and gunned it back to home plate to nail Hardy by a mile. At the resumption of this play, I got three phone calls from buddies of mine that all said the same thing .... "Thhaaaat play didn't even work in little league". Its amazing how on a day to day basis, we as Pirate fans can see similarity's of the baseball being played in MLB to the play of 13 year olds in bright orange t-shirts sponsored by Grease Monkey.

Two Buccos that are flying under the radar this season are shortstop Jack Wilson and third baseman, Jose Bautista. Jumpin' Jack went 2 for 4 with two doubles tonight and Bautista went 2 for 3 with the home run and two rbi's.  I would also be a complete idiot if I did not mention that the duo on the left side of the infield are playing golden glove defense. Bautista is still considered "raw" at the third base position (mainly because he can play the outfield and second), while Wilson has always been solid at short since he joined the Bucs.

For the Bucs to compete this year all the "so-called experts" and analysts believe that the starting pitching needs to be consistent. While that still remains to be true, I believe that the Bucs will need role players such as Bautista and Wilson to continue to come up big on defense and at the plate to improve their record throughout the season.

The early struggles of Paulino, Sanchez, and more importantly Adam LaRoche have been a deep deep let down for many of the bucco faithful. But as my father always told me..... "don't eat the yellow snow". Wait that's not it. How about this one.... "You can always find the positive in the negative". That quote doesn't really relate to mathematics, but you get the point. While some of our stars are not shinning so bright, the role players are picking up the slack for the buccos. If everyone in the lineup starts to click and the pitchers all pitch like they are capable of. Read my lips. Watch out for the Bucs.