Well, Cassel actually pitched a little better than I thought he would.  Through four innings we managed just five hits off him but four of them were for extra bases.  Then his run of good luck ended as we opened the 5th with four of five reaching and he was pulled down 5-0.
In the 7th with Tim Byrdak [...]

Take two teams who are hitting a collective .205 over their last 219 ABs and have them face two starting pitchers with a combined 10.01 ERA in 2008, then have them face off at Minute Maid with the roof closed and what do you get?
A 3-2 game thru 5 innings (combined 3.48 starter’s ERA) despite having allowed a total [...]

Each year from 2005 on, Dave Littlefield announced his intention to be a deadline seller on the off day around June 13th.   This year Frank Coonelly held off to July 8th. 
From that announcement day through July 31 each of the years 2005 - 2008, the Pirates won just 47 of their 136 contests for a .346 winning percentage.  [...]

We just keep losing.  Who would ever expect that considering it was 96 degrees at game time and we sent one of our highest paid pitchers in the system to the mound at Coors? 
Yoslan Herrera, the Cuban defector Dejan Kovacevic at the Post-Gazette once emphatically told Pirates fans:
“[i]s known to have sharp command, a fastball at 88-92 mph, [...]

The club is falling apart at the seams.  Recent clubhouse gossip puts the players at odds with ownership just like we saw in 2002 and 2005. 
As if during the break it finally hit them that they would not be kept together as a core group, a few of the players have become a tick more vocal [...]

The game played out about as expected - we said take the under in game one and that paid off, we thought Maholm would have a tough time his first game back from the break and that held true (six of eight hits went for extra bases) despite 7 strikeouts, and we expected Jiminez to be [...]

On to Colorado.
This could be called the “who is starting series” because both clubs have question marks.  The Pirates will probably send Maholm, Snell, Herrera, and Duke to the mound with the Rockies possibly sending Jiminez, Cook, De La Rosa, and Reynolds.  All of that is just a wild guess.
One thing seems to be for sure, Troy Tulowitzki will [...]

The Pirates walked off the field Sunday night around 10:15 PM to head home for the break.  On Wednesday evening they have to report to Denver for Thursday’s game.  That means they will enjoy a little bit more than two days of complete rest considering travel and reporting times.
That’s after playing 45.4 games in 48 [...]

“St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who has been batting his pitcher eighth a couple years now, on Russell’s decision to do likewise:  ”I don’t like the Pirates doing it.  I think it gives them a better chance to score runs against us.”‘ — Post-Gazette, July 13, 2008
But, does it?
When the clock on the second [...]

1.   Give me two starters and three relievers with postive accumulating RSAA (Runs Saved Above Average) numbers year-to-year along with the current position players, and I’ll show you a potential .500 team.  Give me three starters and four relievers and I’ll show you a division winning club.
(From Lee Sinins: “RSAA is the amount of runs that a pitcher saved vs. [...]