Friday, August 28, 2009

Friday Fillers

-- A vote of confidence in the Bucco plan, from, of all places, Milwaukee. "They all have pieces in place," said manager Ken Macha. "If you don't pitch well, or you give them extra outs, they'll beat you," he told the Journal-Sentinel.

-- OK, Pittsburgh has taken five of the last six from the Brew Crew at PNC. But as road warriors, the Bucs have been sadly lacking. The last time Pittsburgh beat the Brewers in Milwaukee was on May 3, 2007, and they've rung up eighteen straight losses since. The winning pitcher that day was Tom Gorzelanny; Jose Bautista hit a pair of taters and Ronny Paulino went yard to lead the attack.

-- RHP Daniel McCutchen won't show his stuff in Pittsburgh this year. He accepted an invitation to join the US Team for the World Cup, where he's expected to be a regular part of their rotation. McCutchen is 13-6 with a 3.47 ERA, 110 strikeouts and 29 walks in 142-2/3 innings. GW can't help but wonder if a little work in Pittsburgh instead of Europe wouldn't have been a better plan for the 26 year-old.

RHP Dusty Molleken will pitch for Canada. In 16 outings for the Altoona Curve, the reliever is 1-1 with a 5.01 ERA.

-- Pedro Alvarez hit his 11th and 12th dingers for Altoona last night, giving him 26 combined with his earlier Lynchburg output. He'll join McCutchen on the USA World Cup team. Wonder where he'd be now if they signed him in June instead of August last year...?

By the way, Baseball America gives Pedro a little World Cup love. It writes that "Team USA will have two of the best hitting prospects in the minor leagues when it competes in the World Cup next month, Rangers first baseman Justin Smoak and Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez."

The US, in case you're wondering, is the defending World Cup champion, claiming the title in 2007.

-- The Nymo magic is over for the 2009 Nats. Morgan will miss the rest of the season after breaking his left hand in Thursday afternoon's game. The injury occurred when Morgan jammed it during a head-first slide into third base.

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