PIRATES TAKE 2 OF 3 FROM DEFENDING CHAMPS

The Pittsburgh Pirates have taken 2 of 3 games from the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. They could've easily have taken all 3!! All 3 games were well pitched and tight for most of the game.

The Pirates trio of Ross Ohlendorf, Paul Maholm, and Charlie Morton only let up 5 hits a piece and averaged about 5 strikeouts an outing. The thing that will stand out is that despite 3 great outings, none of the starting pitchers were the pitcher of record. In fact, only J.A. Happ took a loss the entire series going 8 innings and giving up the decisive home run in the bottom of the 8th to Garret Jones.

The most memorable game, of course, will be the first game of the series when Andrew McCutchen went yard off Brad Lidge. The Pirates lost the lead (partly because of McCutchen) and McCutchen and Moss bailed them out by tying and then winning the game in dramatic fashion.

The Pirates could have easily have laid down after Ryan Howards deflating blast last night, but Charlie Morton had a great breaking ball and had the Phillies' knees buckling all night long. Jones eventually gave them the lead on a shot to center and Matt Capps picked up the save.

The Pirates now move on to Milwaukee and will start with Zach Duke on the hill. The Pirates have won 4 of their last 6 and have owned the Brewers the last few weeks. Having Zach Duke continuing his great season is a must to keep the Pirates on track.

The Pirates appear to finally be gelling. They seem to still have problems with the fundamentals at times, but their starting staff has been hot and can keep them in games. While they didn't score an amazing amount of runs in these games, it appears the feast or famine style they've been on for a while might be over. If the Pirates can continue to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pirates picked as the surprise team next year if they can make a few moves to solidfy the bullpen. Don't forget, Pedro Alvarez has a great shot of making the team come May and we'll have a full year of Andrew McCutchen and Garret Jones!