The Pittsburgh Pirates got in the head of Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Randy Johnson and the Pirates went on to defeat the Diamondbacks by the score of 5-3.  Doug Mientkiewicz slowly got into the batters box very slowly against Johnson and that really upset the ”Big Unit”.  Johnson started walking towards home plate as both benches emptied but nothing came of the altercation except Johnson being upset.

With the Big Unit upset, the Pirates took full advantage of his wildness on the mound.  Taking three walks five walks and error by Johnson they were able to score some runs and win for the second game in a row.

Luis Rivas had two rbi for the Pirates while Jack Wilson, Xavier Nady, and Jose Bautista all had one rbi in the game.  Good job by the offense putting up five runs in the game.

On the mound it was Zach Duke throwing six inning and picking up the win as he improved to 4-4 on the season.  Duke only allowed five hits and two runs in the game as he had a pretty good outing against a good Diamondbacks offense.

Damaso Marte gave up one run in relief but then Tyler Yates and Matt Capps finished things up.  Capps recorded his 15th save of the season as well.

Pirates Blog 

The Pittsburgh Pirates got by the Houston Astros by the score of 4-3 on Thursday evening.  The Pirates got off to a good start in the first inning with three runs, and then scored another run in fifth inning and made sure those were enough runs even though things got crazy in the ninth inning.

With the Pirates up 4-3 in the ninth inning with two outs, the Astros had runners on third and first but Matt Capps was finally able to record the final out when Hunter Pence flied out to center.  Capps was shaky but did his job and picked up his 13th save of the season.

Paul Maholm had a great start as he pitched eight innings to pick up the win.  Maholm is now 4-5 on the season after earning the victory.  Maholm allowed eight hits but only three runs scored in the game.

Jason Michaels had a three run home run in the first inning and than Jason Bay had a rbi triple in the fifth inning to account for all four of the Pirates runs.

Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a good pitching performance by Zach Duke as they beat the Houston Astros 5-2 on Wednesday night.  With the win the Pirates tied the series at 1-1 with the rubber match being Thursday night.

Duke tossed 7 2/3 innings while giving up seven hits and two runs.  Ty Wigginton took him deep for a solo home run in the first and then Carlos Lee had a rbi single in the sixth inning.  Duke will take that kind of quality start every time he takes the mound.  With the win he is now 2-5 on the season.

Damaso Marte recorded the last out in the eighth inning after Duke left the game and then the closer Matt Capps came in to get his 12th save of the season.

Raul Chavez had a two run single in the fourth inning and then a sacrafice fly in the eighth inning to lead the Pirates with three rbi in the game.  Adam LaRoche had a rbi single in the fourth inning while Nate McLouth had a rbi single in the fifth inning.

The Pirates will try to win the series as they battle the Astros on Thursday night.

Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates were shutout by the Houston Astros on Tuesday night by the score of 2-0.  The Pirates hitters were only able to come up with five hits in the game as they once again struggled at the plate.

Jack Wilson went 2-4 for the only Pirates player to have more then one hit in the game.

Phil Dumatrait got the start on the mound for the Pirates and really didn’t pitch that bad.  Dumatrait threw six innings while giving up seven hits and two runs.  Both runs for the Astros came on rbi doubles in the first and sixth innings.  Dumatrait is now 2-3.

John Grabow and Tyler Yates did a good job pitching the final three innings of the game without allowing a run to score.  It’s just too bad there was no offense tonight for the Pirates.

Pirates Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates were dead at the plate against St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright for the first seven innings but then they exploded for four runs in the seventh inning as they went on to beat the Cardinals 5-4.

Jason Michaels provided the big hit in the seventh inning as he smoked a grand slam to get the Pirates on the scoreboard.  Jason Bay then added on the game winning run in the eighth inning with a rbi single.

Franquelis Osoria ended up getting the win in the game while Matt Capps recorded his 11th save of the season.  Pirates starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and four runs to get a no decision.  Lanny was lucky that he didn’t get a loss in the game, he should thank the offense for scoring some runs late in the game.

It was a good win for the Pirates any way you look at it.  They are now three games under .500 at 27-30 and need to keep on winning.  Pirates Blog