Bullpen Blowup -- Bucs Lose

Box Score -- Recap

Couple things:

1. Jim Tracy looks as though he is going to lose it when it comes to this bullpen. And I mean, lose it.

2. Great punch from the middle of the lineup today. LaRoche, Bay and Sanchez go 6-for-12, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 2HR.

3. Another great start from Tommy G. 6.2, 7 hits, 3 earned. He tired a little, but he game them a chance to win.

4. The Dodgers bullpen pitched three shutout innings and allowed just one hit. King Salomon allowed four hits in one-third of an inning.

5. Heres Ryan Doumit since May 19th.

4-for-32, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 0 doubles, 0 homeruns.

Avg dropped from .375 to .310

6. The Pirates have a dismal nine pinch-hits this season in 72 at-bats, which calculates to a concerning .125 average for anyone who really wants to know.

No Zach Attack -- Bucs Lose

Boxscore -- Recap

Maybe Zach Duke will figure it out soon.

Maybe he won't.

Maybe the Pirates can contend in the Central in 2007.

Maybe they can't.

One things for sure though, if Zach Duke keeps this up, it's going to be mighty hard to accomplish the ladder.

Duke allowed five runs in six innings, including the game-winning homerun by Russell Martin the fifth inning. Sir Duke allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out just three, raising his season ERA to 5.73 and lowering his record to 2-6.

Jose Bautista continued to look comfortable in the lead off spot going 2-for-4 and Jason Bay stayed white hot with a 2-for-3 night, including his 9th homerun of the year. Chris Duffy tripled home two runs to tie the game at 4 before Martin's homerun.

The Pirates continued the trend of leaving runners on base with 14 Friday Night.

Before the game, the Pirates announced that Matt Capps will take over as the closer full-time from here on out and that King Salomon will revert back to a set-up role.

Kuo vs. Snell Saturday night @ 7:05pm