OnlyBucs

This is nice. I really had an uneasy feeling that Nova would get shelled today. I just wish that the biggest Cub fan I know was in the office today.

Bases loaded up five in the eighth. Bring in Vazquez to get this out then reevaluate after the top of the ninth.

They need to figure out the bullpen, there are too many guys that can't be trusted to come in to the game with any type of lead to hold.

I feel pretty good with Vazquez staying in to pitch the 9th with a 3 run lead. Need to nail this one down to star this series.

Raise It.



I expect the bench players to play tomorrow. This is a nice win. The 4-5-6 guys hit today.

Nice to see the Pirates open up a 3 and 4 game lead in the standings on both the Cubs and Cardinals. With a bad Marlins team coming up next if the Pirates can win one more at Wrigley or maybe even both things are really going to start getting interesting with this team. Right now they are 2nd in the league in runs scored, and have been getting timely honeruns in every Game they have won so far these first 10 games. This has just been a ton of fun to watch so far these first ten games. No law against keeping it up either fellas so why don’t we keep on doing it.

Couple of things ...



* I was dead wrong about Nova today. I figured he would get lit, and he didn't start off particularly well. But the end result: 7 IP and 2 runs. Very impressive. I'll take it every time.



* I honestly can't believe this start by the offense, but there is nothing flukish about it. The Pirates rank No. 1 in baseball in runs per game, batting average and on-base %, and No. 2 in slugging. Amazing and I can't begin to explain it.



* So the Pirates will leave Wrigley in 1st place. That is huge. This is the game they HAD to have. Now there is absolutely no pressure on the next two, so maybe we can steal one more (or both) and put some distance between us and the Flubs.



* Dickerson is flat-out raking. So is Mercer.

Wehner said Mercer is the best 8 hole hitter in the league.

Very solid start. I'm not buying in just yet. I will if this type of play continues in June.



Dickerson was a very good add. I think we as a collective fan base should get credit for that. If not for the bitching, I think the Pirates would have put Luplow out there instead.



Still concerned about rotation. Still only have true faith in one starter and that is Taillon. We shall see.



Bullpen is a major problem to me. Absent Rivero or Vasquez (think that name change was agreed upon by Nutting so he could sell more jerseys), I think this will be a downfall. Santana and Neverauskas should be in Indy, not in Pittsburgh.

7060615640404C230 wrote: Very solid start.  I'm not buying in just yet.  I will if this type of play continues in June.



Dickerson was a very good add.  I think we as a collective fan base should get credit for that.  If not for the bitching, I think the Pirates would have put Luplow out there instead.



Still concerned about rotation.  Still only have true faith in one starter and that is Taillon.  We shall see.



Bullpen is a major problem to me.  Absent Rivero or Vasquez (think that name change was agreed upon by Nutting so he could sell more jerseys), I think this will be a downfall.  Santana and Neverauskas should be in Indy, not in Pittsburgh.  I ageee with the bullpen completely. The Pirates if they want to be a good team this year cannot do so with garbage in middle relief like Santana, Smoker, and NevershouldpitchinMlbs as your 6 and 7 inning guys. Now whether this gets resolved by Musgrove or Brault going to the pen once Musgrove is healthy or by Siegrest solving his problems with the Pirates, or by Huntington going out and trying to acquire help via trade or free agency something has to get addressed to resolve this issue. The Pirates are gonna play more close games here at some point and you can’t have these guys coming in the game consistently when you are up by only 1 or 2 runs or the game is tied. It’s going to burn the Bucs at some point soon.