The Pittsburgh Pirates were beat by the Chicago White Sox 13-8 on Thursday afternoon.  With the six run loss, the Pirates were swept in the three game series with the White Sox.  That was definaly not the way the Pirates had hoped for things to go in Chicago.  I think the Pirates had better just stay away from Chicago for the rest of the year as they just can’t beat the White Sox or the Cubs it seems.

Phil Dumatrait was rocked for eleven hits and nine runs in only five innings of action as he put the Pirates in a deep hole right away in the game.  Dumatrait is now 3-4 on the season after taking the loss.  Anytime your starting pitcher gives up nine runs that early in the game, it takes all the momentum out of the rest of the players.  Just a bad deal all around.

John Grabow did about just as nice of a job as Dumatrait did as he gave up three hits and four runs in only one inning of action.  Finally the scoring stopped for the White Sox as Damaso Marte and Sean Burnett pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings.

Freddy Sanchez had a two run home run and three rbi to lead the Pirates at the plate.  Lead off man Nate McLouth also had three rbi in the game as he had a bases clearing triple in the second inning.  Jason Bay had a rbi infield single in the ninth inning which was the final run for the Pirates in the game.

So there you have it, just like we had blogged about after last nights game.  We figured the Pirates would lose and that is exactly what happened.

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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.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates had no problems on Thursday night as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 7-1.  The Pirates had good innings in the third, fourth, and fifth innings as they scored six of the the runs in the middle of the game.

Xavier Nady and Jason Bay both hit home runs for the Pirates.  Nady a solo shot in the fifth inning, and Bay a two run shot in the fourth inning.  Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, and Jason Michaels all had one rbi in the game for the Pirates.  Everyone did a pretty good job keeping the pressure on the Reds pitching staff.

Phil Dumatrait pitched seven innings and only allowed two hits and one run as he picked up the win.  Dumatrait is now on the season.  John Grabow pitched a scoreless ninth before Matt Capps pitched the ninth inning. Capps did give up a solo home run to Brandon Phillips in the ninth inning.

In the end it was a good productive win for the Pirates as the improved their record to 25-28.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates scored three runs on Wednesday night and that was enough to beat the San Francisco Giants and Barry Zito.

Phil Dumatrait earned the victory over the Giants and improved to 1-1 on the season.  Dumatrait pitched  5 2/3 innings while giving up three hits and no runs.  Tyler Yates, Damaso Marte, and Matt Capps all pitched in relief of Dumatrait.  Capps was the only reliever to give up runs as he gave up one earned run on three hits.  Capps still picked up his seventh save of the season however.

Xavier Nady had two RBI for the Pirates as he had a two run home run and grounded into a double play to score another run.  Nady was all the offense had and for that matter all the needed against the Giants.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping to sweet the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Cardinals had other thoughts as they beat the Pirates 6-2 on Thursday night.  The Pirates were only able to get six hits in the game, and were shut down by Joel Pineiro.

Adam LaRoche was the only Pirates player to record an RBI in the game.  LaRoche doubled in the fourth inning to score Ryan Doumit.

Tom Gorzelanny took the loss for the Pirates as he tossed five innings and gave up three runs on only two hits.  What hurt Gorzelanny was seven walks.  He just couldn’t find the strikezone all night long.  Phil Dumatrait came in and pitched two innings while giving up two runs.  Franquelis Osoria also pitched two inning and gave up one run.

The Pirates will try to get back on the winning track Friday when they start a series with the Phillies.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates had a hard 13-6 loss against the Cubs in Chicago on Sunday putting the Pirates at 7-11 for the year.  The Pirates were pretty much dominated the entire series besides the game on Friday.  The Cubs have now beaten the Pirates all six games so far in 2008.

Zach Duke took the loss for the Pirates on Sunday.  He stood the mound for four innings and gave up right hits and five runs in that small amount of time.  The Pirates brought in Franquelis Osoria, Damaso Marte, and Phil Dumatrait to try and hold the Cubs back but between the three of them they gave up a combined 10 hits and eight more runs.

Ryan Doumit hit two home runs giving him four for the year.  Doug Mientkiewicz, Nate McLouth, Freddy Sanchez, Ryan Doumit, and Ronny Paulino all drove in a RBI as well. 

The Pirates now welcome the Marlins to Pittsburgh for a 2 game series starting on Monday night.

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Matt Morris once again got hammered and the Pittsburgh Pirates once again lost, this time to the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 11-2.  Morris was only able to last 4.2 innings as he gave up seven hits and six earned runs.  As a starting pitcher, you can’t put your team in a big hole like that if you want the team to win.   Hopefully Morris will figure out what is going wrong and fix it before his next start.

Phil Dumatrait pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Morris and gave two hits an two earned runs.  Evan Meek pitched the final two innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs.  I don’t know how long Meek will stay on the Pirates roster, he has sucked it up almost everytime he has been called on.

Freddy Sanchez and Ronny Paulino had an RBI each for the Pirtes.  The entire Pirates offense struggled against the Dodgers pitching staff and could never get anything going.

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