[Operation Shutdown]

Pure craziness I tell ya. Odalis Perez got two shoutouts in three weeks as well.

Week 5
The Pirates finish off the month of April with a trip to Arizona for a three game series against the Diamondbacks who are 16-9 and in first place in the NL West. The Bucs will face their top three pitchers in Randy Wolf (1-1 4.33), Jason Schmidt (2-0 1.29), and Rick Helling (2-1 3.90). Pirates pitchers have to face red hot RF Magglio Ordonez (0.389 8 27), as well as youngster Lyle Overbay (0.318 3 10), and oldtime veteran Luis Gonzalez (0.247 4 15).

Game 26: Pirates 4 Diamondbacks 7
Ponson had a terrible fifth inning, in which he gave up five runs, and finished with five innings pitched and five runs against for the loss. The Pirates scored three runs in 6 2/3 innings off of Randy Wolf, who picked up the win. Ordonez continues to be on fire, picking up three hits in the game.

Game 27: Pirates 5 Diamondbacks 2
Benson pitched a superb game, giving up just two runs in 8 2/3 innings for his 3rd win of the season. Long-time former Pirate Jason Schmidt pitched well, except for a bad sixth inning, in which he gave up five runs, including a 472 foot monster three run homerun to JJ Davis. Schmidt finished 6 1/3 innings, giving up all five earned runs.

April Wrapup
Pirates fans are once again starting to get excited about their team, who are currently 14-13 and just 3.5 games out of first place in the central. The Pirates four top starters, Ponson, Benson, Perez, and VanBenSchoten have all pitched very well this month, with Benson by far having the best performance at 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA. The offense however is struggling quite a bit, without a single starter hitting over .300. Davis is leading all of the starters with an average of 0.287 with 5 HRs and 19 RBIs. However, bench player Marshall McDougall is hitting 0.395 with 2 HRs and 10 RBIs and many feel it's only a matter of time before he gets another shot at the starting shortstop job.

The Red Sox are continuing their dominance of the AL East with a record of 19-9, they lead by 2.5 games over the Blue Jays. The Twins are leading the central division by 3 games over the Indians, with a record of 18-9. In the west, the Rangers are finally the team to beat, with a record of 16-11, they lead the Mariners by 2 games. In the NL, the Braves have regained their control in the east, leading the Phililes by five games with a record of 21-8. The Cubs, with a record of 17-9, are once again on top of the central division, 1.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. The Diamondbacks are 17-10, and have reclaimed supremacy in the west, with a 2 game lead over the Dodgers.

Cleveland's Kurt Ainsworth had a superb month in April with a record of 5-1 and a 2.18 ERA, good enough to win AL POM. Atlanta's Adam Wainwright won the award in the NL, going 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA. There was no surprise when the NL announced Arizona's rightfielder Magglio Ordonez the recipient of the BOM award for April, as he hit 0.394 with 9 HRs and 29 RBIs. White Sox third baseman Joe Crede won the award in the AL, hitting 0.345 with 10 HRs and 24 RBIs.

Just a couple of trades this month:
The Mets sent 3 star prospect LF Haj Turay and '04 6th round pick 1 star prospect 2B Cordell Tirado to the Blue Jays in return for 2 star RF Luke Allen. Allen is hitting 0.287 with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs this year.

The Twins got 2 star SS David Lamb from the Giants in exchange for 3 star prospect C Rob Bowen, 2 star prospect LF Eyoxy Esparragoza (who makes these name files), and '04 7th round pick 1 star prospect 1B Walter Vanzandt. Bowen is hitting 1 for 7 in 2 games, and Lamb is hitting 0.282 with 1 HR and 6 RBIs this year.

Game 28: Pirates 0 Diamondbacks 6
Perez did not have the greatest of games, lasting just three innings and giving up five runs, but only one of which was earned. Despite getting nine hits, the Pirates were not able to score a single run, as Helling lasted six innings for the win. Ordonez continues to be on fire as he was 2-4, with a grandslam off of Perez in the third inning.

Series Recap: This series kind of hurt, but the DBacks are a pretty solid team. Back to .500 once again.

The Pirates now travel back home for a three game series against the Giants who are 13-15 in fourth place in the West, and whom the Pirates are 1-2 against this year. The Pirates will face the Giants top three starters in Martinez (3-1 2.84), Foppert (3-0 2.40), and Ohka (3-2 3.95). The Giants offense is fairly weak, with Edgardo Alfonzo leading the way with a 0.343 average and 3 HRs and 17 RBIs. Bonds is still 4 HR short of 700 career homeruns. The Pirates announced a fireworks night for the first game against the Giants.

Game 29: Pirates 7 Giants 4 Fireworks Night at the PNC Park
The Pirates got to starter Pedro Martinez (who many thought was left in far too long, see if you can guess when I posted this week) and scored five runs in four innings against him. VanBenSchoten continues to shine in his rookie season, giving up three runs, just one of them earned, in 5 1/3 innings for his 3rd win of the season. Mann picked up the last out in the ninth inning, and got his 4th save of the year. The Pirates offense once again forget to check the schedule time of this game, as they once again scheduled a Fireworks Night for a day game, and the fans really didn't enjoy the show at 7:00 very much, and hence fan interest didn't go up a notch.

Game 30: Pirates 4 Giants 3
Neither starter got the decision in this game, as this one took extra innings to decide. The Giants changed up their rotation, and Jerome Williams got the start, matching the first time in OOTP history that two people with the same last name, but sharing no relation, started in games against each other. (Otherwise noted as Enter Obscure FOX Note Here). Anyway, J Williams lasted six innings and gave up two runs while D Williams went 7 1/3 innings and also gave up two runs. The score was 2-2 at the end of nine innings, and with one out in the tenth, Ramon Martinez singled off Mann. After getting Jason Lane to fly out to right, Mann gave up a triple to Todd Linden that scored Martinez to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. Then in the bottom of the tenth after one out, Mac Suzuki gave up back to back singles to Kotsay and Hill, putting runners at the corners with one out. Nady then reached base on a fielding error by the third baseman, scoring Kotsay and moving Hill to second. Suzuki then walked Craig Wilson to load the bases, and JJ Davis followed with the game winning single to centerfield that scored Bobby Hill. Mann got the win for the Bucs and Suzuki picked up the loss for the Giants.

Game 31: Pirates 6 Giants 2
Ponson pitched another great game, giving up just two quick runs in seven innings for his 5th win of the season. Foppert gave up just three runs in six innings, but still picked up the loss, his 1st of the season. The Bucs picked up two insurance runs off of Max Aybar and another one off of Christiansen, but they proved to not be needed as the bullpen pitched two scoreless innings, with Mann picking up his 5th save of the season.

Series Recap: A sweep of the Giants is just what the doctor ordered for the Pirates as they move into a tie for second place with the Cardinals, just two back of the Cubs now.

Around the league, on Thursday Minnesota's ace hurler Tim Hudson's season came to an early end after he left the game against the Orioles with a torn tricep muscle. After the x-rays, the doctors announced that he will be doubtful to return this season as he requires surgery. On Friday, Boston fans received bad news that their ace hurler Odalis Perez will miss the next five weeks with a pulled tricep muscle.