Train Kept A Rollin'

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The last time the Bucs had a record this good this late in a season was the Year the Franchise Died. 19 freaking years. I don't know where to begin, maybe I  will take the 7 Steps Of Acceptance approach:
1.) Shock and Denial- Are you serious? These 2011 Pirates are 45-41? Not a chance in hell. They're not that much different than the 2010 team that lost 105 games. How can this be possible? It's not happening. I absolutely refuse to believe a team that lost nearly 2/3 of it's game last season can be 4 games over .500 in July despite not making any significant roster changes. At all.
2.) Pain and Guilt- Maybe I should have seen this coming. You have to figure that the losing can't last forever and 2 entire decades is a stretch of ineptitude even to most blithering of idiots can't reach. Have I betrayed this franchise by not blindly buying into deadline dump after deadline dump and 5 Year Plans every 2 years?
3.) Anger and Bargaining- Okay, look, this team is playing WELL above their potential. But I swear, if they can somehow make it last, I will buck up and spend some more cash to watch them live.
4.) "Depression", Reflection, and Loneliness- Wait a second, you are telling me that I am the one in the wrong for not following this FO off of a cliff? No, don't join the bandwagon, don't leave us Anti's without any allies! Maybe we should have given this team more of a chance.
5.) The Upward Turn- Actually, we've given then 19 years worth of chances and all we've been repaid with is are bobbleheads and fire works, at least prior to this year. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy this run and it also doesn't mean it needs to be crammed in our faces. After all, we just wanted to see winning baseball and that is exactly what is happening. We should continue to enjoy it while we've got it.
6.) Reconstruction and Working Through-  Well, if the Bucs can complete the sweep tonight and win the series against the Cubs, they're in great shape heading into a tough stretch. If all goes well in Houston, I will  get tickets to the Reds series.
7.) Acceptance and Hope- This is no longer a fluke. This team is for real and playing meaningful games. If the pitching staff holds together and we can get a power bat somewhere in that lineup, we can do this thing. Forget the '97 Freak Show, this team is going to win the division and play meaningful baseball in October.

With last night's W, the Bucs are 45-41. Keep saying that to yourself without cracking even the slightest smirk. 45-41?!?!? Yes, it's true. The Bucs got another stellar outing from Jeff Karstens, going 7+, allowing 7 hits and 1 run. Brandon Wood was 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and the Pride of PR and Overpaid chipped in 2 hits and scored 2 runs each. But the offensive play that put the game away was Karstens' brilliant suicide squeeze to put the Bucs up 5-1 and effectively put the game out of reach. In the bottom of the 6th, with Walker, Overpaid, and Wood on base with nobody out, Fort McKenry trotted out to the plate. Not exactly the guy you were hoping for in that situation, but he managed to drill a sac fly to score Walker and move Overpaid to 3rd.

Karstens then came to the plate with a 4-1 lead and runners on the corners with 1 out. It was almost a foregone conclusion that he was going to be bunting, but Jake Taylor had him stand pat and take the first 2 pitches, running a 1-1 count. On Tom Glavine Wandy Rodriguez's next delivery, Overpaid took off down the 3rd base line and Karstens squared around to lay down a perfect bunt. The Awful Astros had no chance at the plate and fire high to first base, barely getting Karstens as Jeff Keppinger made an unbelievable leaping barehanded catch to keep the ball from going into right field. The confidence and guts showed by Hurdle to make that call right there proves why this team have improved so greatly: they play to win every night.

Never was that more evident than when Walker softly lined a single into left and hustled around first to stretch it to a double. He was singled home by Brandon Wood 2 batters later. If Neil doesn't work his butt off and take that extra base, he doesn't score that inning. Plain and simple, this team came to win. Final Count Bucs 5, Astros 1.

Players of the Game- TIE-               Brandon Wood 2 for 3 HR (4), 3 RBI

                                                                             Jeff Karstens 7+ IP, 7H, 1 ER.

Head Scratcher of the Game- Matt Diaz getting picked off of first base with Cutch at the plate. Instead of our best hitter having a runner on first and 1 1out, it was 0 on and 2 out. Gotta be smarter there.

Face Palm of the Night: Mr. Sunshine Greg freaking Brown. I have known for quite sometime that Mr. Sunshine is little more than a shill for the FO and a franchise cheerleader, but his behavior has gone from mildly annoying to utterly and completely out of hand. Last night, he continued to talk about the Bucs offense having a penchant for knocking around the "Best Pitchers in Baseball", including Wandy Rodriguez, who is apparently a 5'11" Randy Johnson. As I posted last night, the Bucs actually have not fared very well against the top 10 pitchers in the NL that they have actually faced this year. Ironically, Rodriguez only recently moved into the Top 10 in ERA as he had a slow start to the season and even with a 2.95 (now 3.25) ERA coming into the game, his career numbers were 68-68 with a 4.09 ERA. Not much better than Maholm and I would hardly consider him one of the best in all of baseball.

Poor MS Paint Rendering

Then there was the on-going plugs/ commercials for the Joel Hanrahan All-Star Jersey, which 1 random guy in the stands happened to be wearing and the camera JUST happened to find him. Then, after discussing the jersey's availability for a few innings, Mr. Sunshine and Steve Blass basically did a Pirates Shopping Network ad for the jersey mid-inning. I have NEVER seen Steiggy and Errey peddle merchandise during a broadcast and same goes for Hillgrove, outside of the standard tv/radio sponsorship ads. This is why the Bucs can continue to win but will always be a 3rd rate organization.

All-in-all, this was a good W for the Buccos and they have a chance to sweep the series while the Astros continue to spiral out of control. This is the time to rack up wins and try to gain some ground in the division.