Raise the Jolly Roger

Believe it or not, the Bucs got the W last night! Although it had been more than a full week between W's, with 6 L's (and a potential 7th rained out) in between them, we should rejoice. Hell, the Pro's will no doubt find cause to break out the champagn after this 5-0 blanking of a Reds team who came in on a 5 game winning streak.

Charlie Morton showed off his great stuff going the distance for a CG shutout.Kdro Alvarez doubled his season HR total with a 3 run jack and managed only one K on the night, slashing his season K/HR ratio to an astounding 21:1. Cutch was a mildly disappointing 1 for 5 but that 1 was a 2-run HR, boosting his team leading total to 8 on the year. All 5 runs came from HR's a the Bucs managed 8 hits, leaving 5 men on base. The bullpen had the night off thus Chris Resop, who one Pirates announcer and a local blog** actually suggested as an All-Star candidate last month, wasn't given the chance totally implode for the umpteenth time this month.

Also good news for the bullpen was the Evan Meek pitched well at AAA Indy and Jake Taylor expects to see him back with the big club next Tuesday. In a shocking revelation, Teke revealed after the game that Meek's return is a signal the Bucs are finally turning it around. He rationalized this by saying it will be a tough decision as to which reliever is going to be sent down and  that is a good problem to have. Clearly, we are only months away from a Division Title. We are hitting below average, not manufacturing runs, our starting pitching is Good for the Pirates, but incredibly average overall. I say, why wait to reserve World Series tickets?

**From Pirates Prospects:
 Chris Resop could be a strong candidate to represent the Pirates in the All-Star game this year, based on his early season stats.
http://www.piratesprospects.com/2011/05/the-second-best-bullpen-in-the-majors.html?wpmp_switcher=mobile