Winning Weekend

Despite yetesrday's L to the Phillies, the Bucs had a pretty good weekend in taking 2 out of 3 from the NL's top team ( and MLB's 2nd highest paid).Droves of Phillies fans were in attendance throughout the series, driving ticket sales through the roof and leading to a record crowd Saturday Night. Nuthouse immediately called Bud Selig to see if EVERY home series could be played against the Phillies.

Friday Night's game was the definition of a pitcher's duel featuring Cole Hamels vs. Jeff Karstens. While Karstens has been serviceable, Hamels is one of the top pitchers in baseball. Through 8 innings, the Bucs managed 1 run and 1 hit vs. Hamels but Karstens, ever the competitor, was equal to the task. After only 2:05 of baseball time, 9 innings had gone by and extra innings were upon us. The Bucs threatened to end the game during the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings, but could not get that winning run home. In bottom of the 12th, with 2 outs, Xavier Paul drove a 3-1 pitch into center field to give the Bucs a baserunner. Paul then stole second before Jose Tabata swatted a hot shot to the right side. A diving Chase Utley nearly came up with the ball, but it got through to RF and the throw home was not in time. Mr. Sunshine had the loudest orgasm in baseball history. RTJR. Bucs 2, Phils 1.

Saturday night had a bit of a different feel to it as the Bucs actually managed to carve out some runs for Charlie Morton, who was excellent yet again. Despite some terrible calls both helping Philly get on the board and keeping the Bucs off of it, they kept their collective head above water. Overpaid was a Home Run short of the cycle and Cutch added 2 RBIs. Morton went 7 innings, surrendering 2 ER and upping his season record to 6-2. Hanrahan worked the 9th for what I believed was his 15th save in 15th attempts. That, however, was not the case but the game still ended with the same result: another W over the league leading Phillies. Bucs 6, Phillies 3. This win gave the Bucs the series regardless of the next game's outcome. This was great because of the all the Filthy natives who trekked across the commonwealth to see their team lose!

Sunday's game was more of what you would expect in a series like this. Seeing as they already had the series won, the Bucs had nothing to play for except for reaching .500 after June 1 for only the 2nd time since PNC Park opened. Knowing the Bucs history in games where they could reach .500 and in games where they have nothing to play for (basically all of them), this one was setting up to be a stinker. Add in Harry Leroy Halladay taking to bump for the opposition and it was almost a given that an L was looming.

It didn't look that way early, though, as The Pride of PR gave the Bucs a 2-0 lead by whacking a HR in the bottom of the 1st. J-Mac decided to take the opposite route of Morton and Karstens, though, and virtually gave the game away. While he only gave up 3ER, J Mac also managed to only work 4+ IP, walking 5 and striking out 3. He was trouble all day, but managed to work out of it in the 3rd and 4th. However, he didn't even manage an out in the 5th and the Phils took a 3-2 lead. They would not look back as the Bucs did little against Halladay the rest of the way, seeing him go 7IP with 2ER, both in the 1st inning. On a bright note, Daniel Moskos worked 1.1 scoreless innings, and after notching his first MLB win in Friday's 12 inning marathon, kept his ERA at a Blutarsky-esque 0.00. Ascanio, though, was as bad as Moskos was good, giving up 3 hits and a run in 1/3 IP and raising his ERA to 7.11 for the season. How this guy is still in the Majors is beyond me. Oh wait, he plays for the Bucs! Just for good measure, the Guy Who Cried gave up 2 more runs to put it out of reach. Final count: Phils 7, Bucs 3.

This series had Nutters singing in the aisles. We can play with the Phillies, they said. However, the Phils came in a struggling club having lost 2 in a row and had not been hitting well all season. Morton's performance is certainly worthy of praise. Overpaid has been playing well enough to be traded next month, as well. even with his 6th error the season yesterday. After an off day today, the Bucs will face the 1st place Dbacks and potentially could see former Only Hope Zach Duke staring them down in one of those games. I always was a fan of Duke and his work ethic and am happy to see he is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 2 starts this season.

While the Nutters praise on high after an agreeably gratifying series win over Filthy, this team still has much to prove. No matter what other mangers say or how many headlines the PG wants to make out of it, the Bucs are still not as close to turning the corner as people think. A lot of their W's this year have been more of a case of the other team losing than the Bucs actually winning. Over 162 games, I am sure things will even out.