[Operation Shutdown]

hey Jon, yeah, weird how that all worked out, I just went down the line with the teams offering just Giles and Kendall to start out, and the Padres were the only team to offer me a real good outfield prospect and a good pitching prospect with Kip added. As per your request, I've listed my team's stats through the season so far.

POS_____Name___________Avg___OBP_ HR_RBI_R_SB
C - JR House______________0.246 0.295 2 11 16 0
C - Humberto Cota_________0.304 0.313 1 7 9 0
1B - Carlos Rivera__________0.226 0.304 2 7 7 0
1B - Craig Wilson__________ 0.280 0.342 16 49 41 0
2B - Bobby Hill_____________0.225 0.335 5 19 25 19
2B - Abraham Nunez________0.263 0.333 0 9 15 2
3B - Rob Mackowiak________ 0.309 0.354 16 38 28 4
3B - Aramis Ramirez________ 0.248 0.279 11 50 39 0
SS - Jack Wilson___________ 0.255 0.297 2 28 28 0
LF - Xavier Nady___________ 0.282 0.320 3 22 14 0
CF - Mark Kotsay___________0.351 0.410 9 46 63 8
RF - Reggie Sanders________ 0.252 0.291 10 34 39 3
RF - Matt Stairs____________ 0.214 0.314 3 13 12 1

For my starting pitchers

Kris Benson 10-7 4.39 ERA
Oliver Perez 5-9 3.41 ERA
Brian Meadows 1-0 1.93 ERA
Jeff Suppan 6-9 5.28 ERA
Jeff D'Amico 5-6 3.93 ERA

Jim Mann 4-2 15 saves 4.31 ERA

First off, I've updated to the 5.13 patch starting this week.

Week 17
This week the Pirates have a two game series at home against the Astros, who are 45-53, and the Pirates are 8-6 against them. The Pirates then travel to Cincinatti for a two-game series against the Reds. The Reds are 46-52 so far this season, and the Pirates are 1-5 against them. The Pirates then travel to St. Louis for the start of a four game series against the Cardinals, who are 65-34, and the Pirates are 0-6 against them.

Game 98: Pirates 4 Astros 5
Pirates starter Brian Meadows had a decent game, giving up four runs in 7 innings of work. Astros starter Mitch Talbot went 7 2/3 innings without giving up a single run. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Pirates scored four unearned runs off of Brad Lidge and Ricky Stone. The Astros scored a run off of Boehringer in the top of the 13th to get the win. Puffer got the win for Houston and Boehringer the loss.

Game 99: Pirates 6 Astros 7 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park
Pirates starter Jeff Suppan only pitched one inning, and gave up six runs. Torres gave up the other run to the Astros. The Pirates tried to mount a comeback against the Astros, scoring four runs against starter Saarloos, who lasted five innings, and the others coming off Moreno and Wagner. The Pirates had a chance to score with runners at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Dotel came on and got Nunez to fly out to end the inning, earning Dotel his 1st save of the year. Saarloos got his first win and Suppan picked up his 10th loss.

Series Recap: The Astros finally won against the Pirates and have now evened up the series.

Game 100: Pirates 6 Reds 4
Jeff D'Amico pitched a good game today giving up four runs, three of which were earned in 7 innings of work, earning himself the win. Graves gave up four runs in six innings, but reliever Scott Sullivan picked up the loss giving up two runs in the top of the eighth. Ramirez and Sanders hit two run homers for the Pirates.

Game 101: Pirates 5 Reds 3
Kris Benson had a good game giving up just one run, but lasted only five innings, because of a 54-minute rain delay in the fourth inning, but long enough to pick up the win. Mann pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 16th save of the year. Reitsma started for the Reds, giving up four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Series Recap: The Pirates chip away against the Reds. Thanks to two good games by the starting pitchers, the Pirates were able to pick up the wins.

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, I've added Kris Benson back to the trading block, along with Reggie Sanders and Matt Stairs.

Game 102: Pirates 1 Cardinals 5
The Pirates woes against the Cardinals continue. Oliver Perez lasted 5 2/3 innings giving up four earned runs. All of the runs scored by the Cardinals were off of homeruns. A two run shot by Tino Martinez, and solo shots by Alex Ochoa, Albert Pujols, and JD Drew. Cardinals rookie Jimmy Journell picked up his seventh win, giving up one run in seven innings of work.

Game 103: Pirates 2 Cardinals 9
Meadows pitched another decent game, giving up 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings, but earning his first loss of the season. The Pirates gave up any hope of a chance when Mark Corey and Torres combined to give up six runs in the bottom of the eighth. Cards starter Jason Simontacchi handled the Pirates batters quite well, giving up just 2 runs in eight innings.

Game 104: Pirates 4 Cardinals 0
Jeff Suppan had a great game, giving up just six hits, while walking none and striking out none, in a complete-game shutout. Brett Tomko lasted just 2/3 of an inning, giving up just one run, but he injured his elbow after giving up the run scoring single to Aramis Ramires. Luckily for the Cardinals, Tomko was not seriously injured, and is listed as day-to-day for the next few days.

Series Recap: The Pirates finally picked up a win against the might Cardinals, but at the cost of two more losses.

Around the league, on Wednesday Royal's Runelvys pitched a two hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins. On Friday, the Expos and all their fans received terrible news, when it was announced that Vlad would miss the remainder of the season after breaking his knee diving for a ball. On Saturday, Rockies rightfielder Larry Walker picked up his 2000th career hit against Brewers pitcher Valerio De Los Santos. On Sunday, White Sox starter Mark Buehrle shut out the Devil Rays, giving up just one run.