Boxscore

The Cubs, who have a record right around .500 against teams not named after illegal downloaders, lost a series to the team they’d dominated so well. In Chicago’s defense, it took 11 innings for Pittsburgh to win. The loss dropped the Cubs into a first-place tie with the Cardinals.

The extra-inning heroics once against went to Jason Bay, who ended the game in walk-off style for the second consecutive time. His team has a day off, giving him plenty of time to perfect his next trick: the old hidden ball gag.

The Pirates have Memorial Day off, before moving on to Cincinnati and sending out Ian Snell against Johnny Cueto at 7:10pm EDT.

6 p.m. and the Reds are on t.v. at this unusual hour because they’re finishing up a series with the Padres with an afternoon game. And what the heck has been up with the umpires this series? After that crap with Edwin Encarnación, then suspending Baker, today the same dummy umpire, Ed Cooper, was getting on Hairston’s case for correctly identifying a balk.

No joke, it’s games like this that make me want to fire all the damn umpires and replace them with robots. I heard that instant replay will be tried out in the off-season. Good for you, MLB! It’s about time that you got to the same spot that football was at ten years ago!

We’ve Got Heart is working on a series of interviews with women in baseball. The first in this series is a discussion with Lucy Calautti, who acts as the liaison between MLB and the US government. The story mentioned helping with immigration issues. No word on her opinion/influence on MLB’s policies designed to limit freedom of information.

It’s an interesting story. You can check it out here.

Boxscore

After teaching the Brewers how to win for the past two games, Pittsburgh apparently thought it was time to win one for themselves. Or at least Jason Bay and Xavier Nady did, who both hit home runs off of Milwaukee starter Dave Bush.

Tom Gorzelanny pitched well for the Pirates, but he lasted only 5 innings which will not help what has to be a tired bullpen.

The Brewers had their own pair of homers, and Prince Fielder had a couple hits and a walk. Even though they lost the game, the fact that they scored 4 runs and had plenty of hits has to be encouraging. Now they need to focus on not leaving 14 runners stranded.

The Pirates stay home to host the Cubs at 7:05pm EDT when Carlos Zambrano comes to town to battle with Zach Duke. The Brewers move on to DC, with Jeff Suppan going against Odalis Perez at 7:35pm EDT.

It was the event that was made for me!

What do you get when you combine the hottest home games of the Cincinnati Reds season with the hottest place to be in Downtown Cincinnati? Reds Hot Weekends!

The Cincinnati Reds and Fountain Square Management are teaming up to create seven “Reds Hot Weekend” celebrations from May to September, offering local fans and out-of-town guests some free entertainment and a warm welcome to Fountain Square and the heart of our city.

Local Reds fans and visitors in town for the games can meet, mingle and gear up for the series before heading down to the ballpark for the 7:10 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, stop by Fountain Square on your way home for free ice cream from UDF and meet the Reds Rally Girls and Gapper.

2008 Reds Hot Weekends:

• May 16-18 vs. Cleveland
• May 30-June 1 vs. Atlanta
• June 13-15 vs. Boston
• July 18-20 vs. New York Mets
• July 25-27 vs. Colorado
• August 15-17 vs. St. Louis
• September 5-7 vs. Chicago Cubs