New face Pirates Capp off night with Victory!

The new face Buccos did something that a team of veterans could not do in their past three games...win! The fans showed up (over 23,000 in attendance for tonight's game), the defense showed up (nice plays by new Pirate Roger Cedeno and recent call up Lastings Milledge), the starting pitching showed up (Ohlendorf threw 6 1/3 strong innings), and the offense showed up (Pirates put up 5 runs on 9 hits, highlighted by Milledge, Pearce, and McCutchen). For a team that many thought just decided to write off the rest of the season, the Pirates played with a lot of heart tonight and it showed in the final score!

In his first game as Pirates, Lastings Milledge went 2-4 at the plate while driving in two runs. In addition, Milledge made a nice running catch in left field. Andrew McCutchen and Steven Pearce each had two hits a piece, Pearce connecting on a double and his first home run of the season. Starting pitcher, Ross Ohlendorf, picked up his 9th win on the season, giving up only two runs in six innings while striking out 4 batters. The bullpen was shaky, but Matt Capps was able to come on and retire former Pirate Nyjer Morgan to pick up his 21st save on the season.

The Pirates started off on the right foot in their first game on this 10 game home stand. Despite the many negative comments being made on Pirate message boards across the country, the fans showed up to support their team. For a game that involved two last place teams, the Pirates drew over 23,000 to the ball park. I cannot wait until this team starts winning again as PNC Park is one of the greatest parks in the league and can imagine the type of electricity it can generate with a winning team. Way to young Bucs....keep it up, most of us are here to support you!!