Cubs Roar

Ouch. The Pirates banged out 15 hits, drew five walks, and were the beneficiary of three Cubbie miscues - and still got spanked, 14-9. The Chicago gang countered with 14 hits and Bucco hurlers gave up 9 walks (5 scored).

Geovany Soto was a one-man wrecking crew, driving home seven runs. He has 19 RBI against Pittsburgh in 17 games.

Ian Snell, Craig Hansen and Sean Burnett combined for five innings and gave up eleven runs on nine hits and seven walks. Seven different Pirate pitchers saw action. Matt Capps was the only one that wasn't scored on, as he threw a clean ninth with two K's.

All in all, Pirate pitchers let the leadoff man reach base seven times, and five of them scored.

Playing Milwaukee and Chicago back-to-back is certainly a reality check. Here's looking at 2009.

On the minor league front: Indy lost 3-2. The Tribe managed just five hits, one being DH Ryan Mulhern's (.239) 12th homer. RHP Marino Salas (4-4, 3.67 ERA) gave up a leadoff long ball in the ninth to take the loss.

> Altoona went down 5-1. 2B Shelby Ford (.287) had three hits and CF Jose Tabata (.270) hit his fifth HR for the Curve.

> Lynchburg lost 7-3. RHP Brad Lincoln (1-5, 4.75 ERA) went 4-2/3 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and striking out three. He got the loss. The Hillcats threw two balls away, leading to five unearned runs. C Chris Jones (.264) had two hits and a run scored.

> Hickory was off today.

> State College split a pair of 7-inning games, winning, 5-3 after losing 7-6. SS Chase d'Arnaud (.311) had three hits, including his first home run during the twinbill. DH Kyle Morgan (.239) drove in a pair with a double, and CF Ciro Rosero (.251) had three hits, walk, and scored three times.

DH Quincy Latimore (.253) hit his third HR, with an RBI and two runs scored. RF Butch Biela (.257) had a pair of RBI.

RHP Jorge Charry (1-0) went three innings for the win in the nightcap, giving up 4 hits and striking out a pair. He's a recent call-up from Bradenton.

> Bradenton won 6-5. The baby Bucs overcame three errors, worth three unearned runs.

C Jesus Aguilera (.292) went 3-4 with a run and RBI. 1B Alex Vegas (.281) had two hits and 2 RBI. 2B Adenson Churio (.335) and DH Freizer Pedron (.243) both had three hits, two runs, and a stolen base. For Churio, it was swipe #30.