I'm really pretty terrible at this updating thing, huh?
Anyway.
Much like they did when the Cardinals were in town, the Bucs are playing a small role in the upcoming playoff race. No, they're not making some kind of miraculous surge to sneak up on anyone, but they are beating teams who have their sights legitimately set on securing a berth in the playoffs. With wins yesterday afternoon and tonight over the formerly-NL East-leading Atlanta, the Bucs have enabled the Phillies to take a half-game lead over Bobby Cox's Braves in the NL East race.
And oh, how they did it tonight.
Once again, starting pitching - this time in the form of James "J-Mac" McDonald - set the tone for the game, and both defense and offense fell into step. Although Tim Hudson, Atlanta's starting pitcher, was cruising along just as easily, the Bucs' offensive surge in the 7th inning spelled the end of his night, and an eventual victory for J-Mac and the Pirates. When the surge was capped by a Delwyn Young pinch-hit, two-run home run, bringing the score to 5-0, in the Pirates' favor, the small-but-feisty crowd of just over 11,000 fans erupted into cheers...
...and the sky decided to open up.
What started out as a light rain occasionally punctuated by a few claps of thunder and a weak flash of lightning turned into a downpour in the top of the eighth inning. Reliever (and 2010 All-Star) Evan Meek set the Braves down in order, and the Pirates' half ot the inning moved almost as quickly - but featured a double by second baseman Neil Walker, which extended his hitting streak to fourteen games. As the teams left the field to regroup for the ninth inning, the crew chief called a rain delay, which lasted for forty-three minutes.
When the teams finally came back out to finish up the game, Joel Hanrahan quickly dispatched the first batter, walked catcher Brian McCann, and then struck out the final two batters to close the game and give J-Mac the win. There's really nothing more exciting than to see the Bucs play like they have the last two days, because this is the kind of play that fans have been hoping for all season, and this is proof that they can actually do it.
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