If you spent your $20 at Pinnacle on this game like I told you I did yesterday, you took home $64. 

And you had a blast watching the game before you made your deposit.

The entire game was decided in one at bat - ironically, it was when Carlos Zambrano struck out in the fourth on a dropped third and had to trot to first.  He made it twenty feet or so with his bat still in his hand, stopped, then raised his leg and broke his bat over his leg in shades of Oliver Perez stupidity days in Pittsburgh.

He never recorded another out after that act.

The Cubs were up 4-2 going into the fifth when Zambrano walked Duke leading off the inning, Sanchez singled up the middle moving Duke to second, McLouth lined a single off second baseman DeRosa’s glove that slowed the ball down enough allowing Duke to score and Sanchez to go first to third, Bay walked loading the bases, and LaRoche lined one back through the box that went off Zambrano’s glove plating the second run of the inning.

And Zambrano was sent to the showers after throwing 22 pitches, 14 for balls.

Then Nady golfed a sac fly to Fukudome in right off Wuertz scoring another and the Pirates took the lead 5-4.

The Cubs tied the game in the 7th when white hot Soriano took Yates deep.  That was right after Nady made a great diving catch in the right centerfield gap to rob Cedeno of extra bases.  I should note here that Nady made several outstanding defensive plays in this game and the threat of his arm saved at least two runs.  While there was a later hero for the Pirates, Nady was the MVP for the game, imo.

The game stayed tied until the 9th when the Cubs went to their bad boy reliever, Carlos Marmol.  That cat had been so tough this year he had allowed just two hits in his previous 6 games and came in with a 0.00 May ERA over 8.2 innings of work.  In fact, Marmol had only allowed one home run all year and hadn’t allowed an earned run since April 18th.

After Sanchez stroked a weak infield single to short and hustled down the line to beat the throw, Nate McLouth came to the plate and, on a 1-0 pitch, was fed a watermelon he jacked over the right field wall putting the Pirates up 7-5.  Capps allowed one run in the 9th then shut the door and the Pirates went on to win.

Funny thing, the last earned run Marmol allowed was another home run crushed by Nate McLouth on April 18th.  Now, if you wanted to review it on MLB.tv Saturday you couldn’t - they removed the link to the game for some reason. But here it is for you - another watermelon McLouth crushed.  Both pitches were fastballs middle/middle-up. 

I’ve mentioned this over-and-over here, I can’t believe how many heaters McLouth is being fed middle and middle-up by clubs this year and he absolutely turns on them all (bat speed has to be 95+ mph).  If teams continue to disregard basic scouting on him, he could end up with 40 yard balls this year which is incomprehensible.

So, was that the easiest $44 bucks you ever made?  Yeah baby.

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There were a couple of interesting plays in this game I thought I’d mention.  Pirates fans typically cringe everytime there is a play at the plate with Paulino, right? 

Look at the play below… that’s Soto attempting to score in the third on DeRosa’s double.  The red arrow shows Paulino appearing to plant his left foot - and all his weight - on Soto’s right foot in the slide.  When that happened, Soto’s body came to an immediate halt, his left foot never touched the bag, and Paulino tagged him out.  Fabulous mechanics, albeit coincidental at best.

Marte also made a couple of fine defensive plays off the mound to halt a rally as well.

Unfortunately there were just as many defensive lapses as well.  Bay bobbled a ball in the left field corner which really didn’t matter so much, then on the Paulino play at the plate Bay’s relay was a rainbow to Bixler.  Had it been a bullet the play at the plate wouldn’t have been as close as it was.  Plus, Soriano hit a line drive to Bay in the second after the Bixler out-of-position miscue below that Bay froze on and it landed ten feet in front of him, took a wild hop off his left upper body, and a run scored. Bay was charged with an error on the play - our 41st error in 43 games - and we all know it could be significantly higher.

And Bixler was drifting toward second base when the Cubs put a man at first in motion in the second and Reed Johnson ground one right through where Bixler had been standing.  That miscue eventually cost us two runs in the inning because it was a sure double play ball that would have ended the inning.

So as much as our defense helped us, it also hurt us - a lot.

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Sunday it is Dumatrait vs Marquis as the Pirates make a run for .500 yet once again.  You have to like our shot against Marquis but I certainly won’t be spending my money offshore on this game.  

While Dumatrait has surprised us with a very efficient 1.15 WHIP and scant .281 BAA his last three games, this one will be played at Wrigley and he tends to be a fly ball pitcher.  Add to the equation that the Cubs can field seven batters with a .280 or better BA against southpaws and, with no sink in his arsenol, well, Dumatrait could be in for his shortest outing this year. 

Notice I said could be. 

The reason I say that is because Marquis has been horrid lately and, hey, if the Bucs rough him up for enough runs early on, Dumatrait might be able to keep us close.

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Gosh it’s nice not seeing Bautista in the lineup every day.  I mean, throw him out against changeup artists which he mauls but then keep him benched the rest of the time. 

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I thought Jack Wilson might be with the team in Chicago but it seems he must still be having problems because he has yet to play a full game in Indy.  I know there is at least one team scouting him at Indy, and I had heard there has been some interest but whether it has resulted in inquiries or not, I don’t know.  Dejan is reporting he might be back by Friday but I don’t think the Pirates are going to wait that long myself — too many clubs need a shortstop asap.

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Have you been watching the first to second and second to home base running movement like I talked about yesterday?  Keep it in mind as the next few games play out.