Notes And News

Some bits and pieces to start the day:

• Pittsburgh is 32-27 heading into the club’s 60th game of the season. That’s the most wins for the Pirates at the 60-game mark since the 1992 team was 35-25.
• Cutch is banging the ball at a .463 clip against southpaws, with five doubles, a triple and four homers. 
• Pittsburgh's bullpen ERA is 2.39, tops in the NL. They'll match up against the O's relievers, who have a 2.37 ERA, best in MLB.
• SS Clint Barmes has gone 31 games since making his last error on May 3rd.
• Eric Karabell of ESPN has a piece on Pirate pitching, focusing on James McDonald and AJ Burnett. After the first couple of paragraphs, the story finishes behind a subscriber wall.
• Dave Cameron of Fangraphs has a post on what teams should be buyers or sellers this season. He says of Pittsburgh "Another month of baseball will bring more clarity to their ability to stay in the race all year, and...that information could be the difference between being a buyer or not." 
• C Mike McKenry had a cool moment: known as Fort McKenry to Buc fans, he got to raise the flag over the real Fort McKenry before the Baltimore series.
• Up-and-down LHP Justin Wilson was hot last night for Indy. He went seven scoreless frames, giving up three hits, K'ing six, and more importantly, walking no one. He's 5-4 with a 3.80 ERA for the Tribe.
• Indy's Jeff Clement didn't play last night. He was resting a cranky knee, which omens poorly for him getting a call up to DH this week.
• Wet Virginia Power players Gregory Polanco and Alen Hanson will represent the SAL North in the Sally League's All-Star Home Run Derby, which will be held on the deck of the carrier USS Yorktown on Monday.
• Draft news of a sort: Kent State senior 2B Jimmy Rider, the Bucs 26th pick from Venetia (between Finleyville and McMurray) who played for Peters Township HS, hit a walkoff double to defeat the Oregon Ducks 3-2 and earn a spot in the CWS for the Golden Flashes.
  
• This day in history: Dock Ellis threw a no-no against the Padres in 1970. It wasn't exactly a thing of beauty, as he walked eight and beaned one, but plenty good enough for a 2-0 victory, backed by Pops' pair of solo homers. It was his infamous LSD game.