Farm Report

-- Indy's Ian Snell (1-1, 0.45 ERA), who struck out 17 batters the last time he faced Toledo, was paid back yesterday by the Ohio nine with his first loss, 4-1. He was still tough on them, allowing only one earned run in six innings of work. Oh, Snell whiffed just four this time around; guess the Mud Hens got over their awe.

Snell explained that "They were really aggressive on the first pitch. I had to mix my stuff instead of just throwing fastball(s)."

-- Mixed reviews on the young studs at Altoona. Pedro Alvarez is hitting .214/3/8 with 28 Ks and just 3 BBs in 56 ABs; Gorkys Hernandez, after a horrendous start, is batting .264/2/7 with 26 whiffs and 8 walks after 125 at-bats. Seems like both guys could use a little more plate discipline and a sharper eye.

-- The Pirates released Chris Snelling, a 27 year-old outfielder they picked up earlier in the season as an organizational insurance policy. He hit .250/0/4 at Indy; between 2002-08 he made stops in four MLB towns, batting .244/7/20. He had been playing in Mexico before the Bucs got him for future considerations from the Padres.

Although he was born in Miami, Snelling grew up in Australia and played for its national team. He hit two of the 'Roo Crew's four home runs in its victory over Mexico during the 2009 WBC.

Snelling was highly thought of in his younger days, often being compared to Lenny Dykstra due to his aggressive play (and inability to stay healthy.) He was once traded for Jose Vidro, and for Ryan Langerhans another time.

-- Team president Frank Coonelly denied an ESPN Peter Gammons report saying that the Pirates had "essentially completed a deal" with fourth round pick LHP Zackry Dodson, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette.

Gammons said the commish nixed the deal for the Texan high-schooler because it was way over slot; Coonelly countered that he doesn't have that authority. Sounds as if Dodson values his services a bit more highly than the Pirates do at this point of the courtship.

A Dollar Short...

The Bucs' Garrett Jones hit a two out homer in the first inning. Brandon Moss did the same in the ninth. In between, Pittsburgh did a whole lot of nothing, and went down to the red hot Phils 3-2.

Zach Duke pitched his third complete game of the year - and lost for the second time while going the distance. The Zachster worked eight frames, gave up five hits, walked three, and struck out six. He got 16 of the last 17 Philly hitters out.

But in the third inning, his teammates made a couple of bobbles, and that was all that Philadelphia needed. And all with two outs, yet.

Shane Victorino singled to left, and Chase Utley followed with a single into center. The ball rolled barely behind Andrew McCutchen. He recovered quickly, got the horsehide to Freddy Sanchez, and the throw home beat the oncoming Victorino.

But it was just a yard up the third base line, far enough that Ryan Doumit couldn't reach back to tag The Flyin' Hawaiian. Duke walked Ryan Howard, and Jason Werth banged one off the wall in left center. Howard scored when Jones dropped the ball trying to make the relay.

The Buc bats were AWOL again. Joe Blanton entered the game with a 4.69 ERA, and held the Pirates to a run on four hits in 7-1/3 innings. Brad Lidge (7.03 ERA), who the Bucs usually feast on, gave up a run and tried to hand Pittsburgh the game, but they refused to take it.

After Moss' blast, Jack Wilson blooped a single into left. Delwyn Young was up 3-0, took a pair of strikes on the corner, and finally swung at a slider that Lidge buried in the dirt.

That's the Pirate story; take strikes and flail at shoe-top sliders, hit a blast and a bloop when a bloop and a blast is what's needed, miss a catch or throw when it counts, or walk a guy with two outs. Play just good enough to lose.

Ah well, Philly has now won seven out of eight; the Pirates have taken three of the last dozen. Guess which one is in first place and which one is in last.

Pirate Pre-Game Potpourri

-- OK, the Indy hop is done for the time being. Ryan Doumit, Luis Cruz, and Donnie Veal came up; Robby Diaz, Steve Pearce, and Steve Jackson went down. Diaz will get work at the corner infield and second while he's there. Like Delwyn Young, they like the bat, and are trying to find a big-league spot, even if it's on the PNC pine, for him.

-- Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune writes:

There have been rumors that the Twins have been talking to Pittsburgh about a trade for former National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez, who is hitting .316; and/or relief pitchers Matt Capps (1-4 with a 4.71 ERA) or John Grabow (3-0, 3.49 ERA).

If the Twins are going to make a run at the division title, they need to make some deals the way other teams have with Pittsburgh to give themselves a chance to compete

.John Perrotto of the Pirates Report has this report on the rumors:

Colorado has emerged as the front runner for Sanchez and the Pirates have strong interest in Rockies second base prospect Eric Young, Jr., a 24-year-old who is hitting .289 at Class AAA Colorado Springs.

The Rockies are said to be willing to part with relief prospect Casey Weathers, their first-round draft pick in 2007, who will miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his elbow in March.

Another name that has reportedly has been brought up in trade talks is Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The 23-year-old left-handed hitter began the season with AAA Colorado Springs and had a .339 batting average with 10 homers, 59 RBIs and six steals in 48 games. He's on the Rox roster now.

San Francisco continues to have interest in Sanchez along with Minnesota. Other contenders who have need for second base help include Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee.

-- Hey, Jason Stark of ESPN notes that the Nats have taken an onus of the Bucco backs:

While we're on the subject of landmark Nationals feats, they've already done something this year that no team had done since Pop Corkhill's 1891 Pirates:

They were the victims of a 250th win (by Jamie Moyer) and a 300th win (by Randy Johnson) in the same year. In fact, they even did it in the same week. So take that, Pop.

-- Matt Fortuna of the Altoona Mirror features 2B prospect Jim Negrych and the growing pains he and the Curve are experiencing this year.

-- The Bucs inked Robert "Tagg" Bozied to a minor league deal. Bozied, an infielder, has spent most of the past eight seasons roaming the bushes, hitting over 20 HRs three times. He played with Xavier Nady for Team USA in 1999. Taggs started this season playing for the Brother Elephants of the Taiwanese League.

-- The Pirates signed six Latino players today - no, not Sano - and DK of the Post Gazette has capsule reports on them from Rene Gayo.

-- Kip Wells is like the energizer bunny; you can't get rid of him. The Reds signed Wells to a minor-league contract and assigned the 32-year-old RHP to AAA Louisville. He was DFA'ed by Washington on June 24 after he went 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA in 23 bullpen appearances.

Slow Off Day

-- John Perrotto, writing for the Insider on Pittsburgh Sports reports that both the Marlins and Twins are kicking Matt Capps' tires, but the Bucs want a boatload back since they're not actively pushing him.

John Paul Morosi of Fox Sports confirms the Capps' talks, writing:

"In need of bullpen help, the Marlins have maintained contact with the Pirates about closer Matt Capps, sources said.

But the sides aren't close to a deal, in large part because Pittsburgh seems to have little interest in outfielder Jeremy Hermida, one of Florida's primary trade chips. The Marlins have already included Hermida in an offer for Capps, sources said, but the Pirates declined.

Pittsburgh is still sorting through suitors for Capps, although one source said the Pirates don't appear entirely certain that they will move him before the July 31 trade deadline."

-- Perrotto added that the Rox like Freddy Sanchez, and the Bucs like Eric Young Jr., so there may be some smoke to that recent fire.

DK of the Post Gazette agrees that Steady Freddy is on the market, writing today that:

"The Pirates are 'pushing hard' to trade All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez, according to a National League executive this morning.

The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies are two of the teams with which the Pirates have spoken, the source said, but there are as many as four or five more."

The suits do believe in selling high, and the 31 year-old Sanchez fills the bill on that count.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com has a fairly telling piece on the blow-up of the Bucs:

Of the 25 players currently on the team, 14 were not in the Pirates' organization at this time last year. Four others were in the system, but playing in Triple-A. That leaves only seven -- Matt Capps, Zach Duke, John Grabow, Paul Maholm, Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson -- in the same place this year as they were a year ago.

There are more rookies (eight) on the team than that.

Neal Huntington told Langosch "We needed the change of culture, and we needed a change of identity. My focus is creating the focus of a winning team. With that comes uncertainty. With that comes change."

"You look at the won-loss record, and it's hard to say we have decimated the franchise," Huntington said. "I think where we are in the standings shows that it's not as bad as it feels. We haven't taken this team as far down as people think."

Well, at least he confirmed what we already knew; he is bound and determined to get rid of Littlefield's players. Let's hope he can bring in better ones in their stead.

-- The Pirates called back LHP Donnie Veal, and sent Steve Pearce and Steve Jackson back to Indy yesterday. Guess Ryan Doumit will make it back before the All-Star game, after all, unless they have a three-day cup of coffee in mind for someone like Luis Cruz. (EDIT: DK says its not Doumit; Langosch says it's Cruz)

Or they could surprise us and send Robby Diaz or Jeff Salazar (the only CF reserve) down when Doumit returns and keep a much-needed back-up middle infielder. It could be Bix, too, though he may have run out of chances. But they have been playing both he and Cruz in the OF, so one of the pair could fill the CF/SS bench role.

-- Lastings Milledge is done with his GCL rehab; he's on the way to Indy. Next stop...

-- Rudy Owens, the lefty having a remarkable season so far for the Class A West Virginia Power, is today's feature on Baseball America's Daily Dish by Jim Shonerd.

Buc Bats Return to Normal

Hey, GW got home from the shop, hit MLB.com, and thought that Ian Snell got a call back up. The pitching line he saw was four innings, five runs, and ten hits. Four of the five runs came after two were out.

But no, Snell's still baffling AAA batters at Indy. It was Charlie Morton's turn to take his spot, but geez, he didn't have to have such an eerie resemblance, ya know?

Ah, well, we've got all summer to find out if that was just a blip or not. One thing that's not a blip is the Pirate attack. They wrung out just five hits while going down quietly to Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros 5-0.

The Bucs are off tomorrow, and then cruise into the All-Star break against the Phils. Here's the probable starters from MLB.com.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com thinks the Bucs may not get blown up at the trade deadline as completely as some have thought (or hoped.) She writes:

"The interest in (Adam) LaRoche -- especially considering the type of package the Pirates will seek in return -- has not picked up yet, and we sit only three weeks away from the Trade Deadline. I'm not sure if the opportunity to move him at the Deadline will be there even if the Bucs were interested in sending him out.

Similar to the situation with LaRoche, though, there don't seem to be teams waiting in line for (Jack) Wilson right now, so I'd suspect he'll remain."

-- Ryan Doumit served as Indy's DH yesterday. He went 0-for-5, and is now 0-for-17 in his five rehab games. Hopefully, he's saving it up for his return to PNC after the All-Star break.

-- The story on the Bradenton pitchers: If all goes well, LHP Phil Dumatrait will begin his minor league rehab stint after All-Star week. RHP Tyler Yates is throwing without pain, and RHP Craig Hansen isn't throwing; his neck pain is still a mystery.

-- The GCL Bucs got a look at the big boys yesterday: 3B Neil Walker and LF Lastings Milledge are both playing for Bradenton while on rehab. Walker had a sprained knee and Milledge just recovered from a broken finger.

-- GW isn't the only thing that's green around here; so are the Bucs. For every home run hit by a Pittsburgh player at PNC Park this season, the Pirates and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will plant a tree in a local park. Of course, it better be a small park; they've only hit 27 at home so far.

Thank You Ma'am

Hey, for once it wasn't the Buccos that threw a game away. They got a solid effort from Paul Maholm, who yielded a pair of runs in six innings; a two-run, two-out homer from Jack Wilson, who dropped one over the short porch in left; and then watched the Astros commit 'Stro-icide in a four-run seventh.

After Houston tied the game with a manufactured run in the sixth, the Astros fell apart. With one out, the Pirates took twelve straight balls to juice the sacks. Jason Jaramillo swung at the first pitch he saw, and spanked a one-hopper to the Big Puma, who went home in hopes of starting a 3-2-3 DP.

But his throw came up short and hopped off of Pudge's chest protector. One run in, and three singles later, it was 6-2 Buccos. Joel Hanrahan and John Grabow did a rain dance through the next two innings, but escaped with a 6-3 lead for Matt Capps, who used a dandy slider to get Houston 1-2-3 and notch his nineteenth save.

Jack Splat had 3 RBI tonight, and Garrett Jones kept pounding with a pair of knocks and two stolen sacks. Cutch added two hits.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com reports that everything isn't roses for Gorzo yet:

"General manager Neal Huntington said on Tuesday that not only does Virgil Vasquez have a hold on the team's fifth-spot in the rotation indefinitely, but that Gorzelanny is still a ways from being at the point where management feels comfortable enough to bring him back up to the Majors.

'Tom can't cruise and get the Nos. 2 or 3 hitters out with his best stuff and best focus and then get the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters out with a fastball down the middle that the guy just misses.'" Huntington said.

We'll see if the message is received.

-- Donnie Veal will rejoin the team Friday, so someone has to go. Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, Joel Hanrahan, Steven Jackson and Jeff Karstens all have options remaining (not that Matt Capps or John Grabow were on the endangered list), so take your pick for Indy's new closer this weekend.

For our two cents worth, it should be Hanrahan. Otherwise, the suits will be sticking JR with two guys he can't depend on to throw a strike in the clutch.

-- The Pirates lead the majors with 25 outfield assists and 97 double plays. Hey, if they only hit as well as they played the field...

-- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports adds the latest name to the Pirates wish list:

"One player the Pirates would love to get as a possible replacement for second baseman Freddie Sanchez: Eric Young Jr., who has a .386 on-base percentage at Class AAA with the Rockies. But Young, 24, also looms as a potential replacement for the Rockies' current second baseman, Clint Barmes, who has two more years of arbitration."

He warns that Young would cost the Pirates dearly to pry from Colorado.