A Pair of Home Runs, a Pair of Walks, and a Cedeno Single Lift the Bucs to a Walk-Off Win

It's been awhile since I've actually been totally exhausted after a game. Of course, part of it is probably because of getting home from the Renee Fleming concert at midnightish last night and waking up at 8:30 this morning, but I think it's mostly from the excitement of the game.

But excitement aside I'm basically falling asleep as I type this, which means I'm going to have to keep this short for now, and just hit the main points of discussion.

As far as I'm concerned, Neil Walker's first-inning home run set the stage for tonight's game against the Diamondbacks, and even though the lead changed hands after that, and the Bucs found themselves deadlocked with the D'Backs twice, the fact of the matter is that there was something almost tangible in PNC Park tonight.

The Pirates wanted this win. And they weren't going to stop until they got it.

And that feeling is what's been missing from PNC Park for most of this season. And because the fans could feel that the Bucs wanted it, there was no way they weren't going to help them get it by proving that they were behind them one-hundred percent. It was a pretty small crowd, but a rambunctious one. It was more than happy to cheer when things were going the Pirates' way, boo when they weren't, and it was thrilled to see some gems of both offensive and defensive displays.

Despite Neil's home run, and the home run provided by Ryan Doumit, it was really Ronny Cedeno who was tonight's hero: first, with a stellar catch that was almost a double-play (G.J. was unable to handle it at 1B), and then with the game-winning single that scored Andrew McCutchen, who had come into the game as a pinch-hitter for Evan Meek (and received the loudest ovation of the night) from 2B.

Then promptly got mobbed by his teammates. Doumit actually rushed over from 2B and picked Ronny up.

Hilarious. Adorable. Really, really exciting.  I thoroughly enjoy walk-off wins, because I love seeing the players act like Little Leaguers who just won their first game. Those kinds of displays prove to me that they still love the sport, they love playing it, and they love celebrating good work done by teammates and friends.

All in all, it was a good night for baseball in Pittsburgh.

And Brian Burres, despite not getting the win, pitched a heck of a game, and continues to make a strong argument for why he should be considered as part of the competition for the starting rotation in spring training.