Boxscore

To those few who remember when the Pirates were good, yesterday’s game held some attraction. Apparently, back in 1960, Pittsburgh beat New York in the World Series. Huh. I can’t imagine that possibility occurring again for at least 10 years. Heck, it’s hard to imagine the Pirates being lucky, let alone good.

But the Pirates didn’t suck yesterday and pounded the Yankees. Only 3 of the Pirates’ 12 runs came from the homer, a two-run shot from Jose Bautista and a solo shot from Ryan Doumit. Just lots and lots of hits. When you get 19, they don’t have to be timely.

Boxscore

The Brewers won again, this time beating the Braves. I could have referenced history and said that Seattle beat Milwaukee, but that would be nothing but mere confusion to show you I could look up stuff on Wikipedia.

Anyway, Dave Bush’s stint in the minors seems to have paid off, as he had his second great start in a row. This time he pitched 7 innings, allowing only 1 run. And, hey! His ERA’s below 5 again. I’m sure Bronson Arroyo is burning with jealousy.

The Brewers picked up another game on the first-place Cubs and now sit in third place, 5 games back. Since May 20, Milwaukee has gone 23-10.

Like so many baseball parks, Pittsburgh introduced an All You Can Eat section this year. In case you were wondering about wandering down to PNC Park to plop down the money to gorge, you might consider reading this review of the experience.

Apparently, the lines aren’t exactly “quick.”

By the time we finally sat down, we’d missed two innings and the Pirates were already behind. Distract from the on-field product, Pirate management? Mission accomplished.

Boxscore

Ben Sheets apparently wants to pitch in the All Star Game, if his performance over the last 5 starts is any indication. He’s won all 5, to bring his record up to 9-1.

I’m not sure who will get the starting nod for the game that means something, even now, but it’s pretty cool that the NL Central has so many strong competitors for the spot. The Reds Edinson Volquez leads the charge, but Ryan Dempster, Ben Sheets, and Kyle Lohse are all in the mix.

But back to Sheets. He dominated the Braves, striking out 7 and allowing only 4 hits over his complete game. Heck, he only had 3 balls on one hitter, so he was obviously dealing.

The Brewers offense was provided by someone other than Russell Branyan, who got the night off. I imagine swatting homers does take its toll on the body. I know that my handful of swings in the batting cages over the weekend made me sorer than expected. Mike Cameron knocked in 2 with his 12th home run, and Rickie Weeks showed he’s healthy by stealing what I believe is his first base since returning from the DL.

Milwaukee picked up a half-game on the idle Cubs and now sit 6 games back.

This week on the podcast we run down some of the crazy injuries plaguing the NLC right now:

• The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano is on the DL for the first time, like, ever
• The Reds can’t keep a shortstop to saves their lives
• The Cardinals might get mentioned in there somewhere
• The injury to Adam Dunn’s pride to find out that the Blue Jays’ GM isn’t attracted to him

The Crack Technical Staff works on his Ed McMahon impression, and you can actually hear me sipping my glass of pinot grigio. Truly, an episode not to be missed.

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