[Operation Shutdown]

Week 9
The Pirates are now 29-22 and still in third place in the central division, just 3.5 games back of the Cubs. The Pirates start the week off with a three game home series against the first place Cubs who are 32-18 and whom the Pirates are 3-6 against. The Cubs are led by a terrific pitching staff that includes Mark Prior (6-3 2.14), Joe Kennedy (5-4 2.96), Steve Smyth (4-5 4.50), and Carlos Zambrano (4-1 3.36). The Cubs offense is still powered by RF Sammy Sosa who is hitting 0.327 with 12 HRs and 44 RBIs.

Game 52: Pirates 8 Cubs 3
Benson pitched a decent game, giving up three runs in 6 2/3 innings to pick up his 5th win of the season. Zambrano did not do so well, as he gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. The Pirates scored three insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings, but they weren't needed as Vogelsong and Jimenez pitched 2 1/3 innings without even giving up a hit or a walk.

Game 53: Pirates 5 Cubs 6
Perez continues to struggle this season, giving up six runs in five innings for his 6th loss of the season. Thomson didn't do much better, but got the win giving up five runs in six innings. The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the ninth, with two on and one out, but Almanza got Craig Wilson to strike out and JJ Davis to ground out back to the pitcher in order to get the save.

Game 54: Pirates 1 Cubs 10 Glove Day at PNC Park
Ouch, well today's game proved that JVB is in fact human, as he gave up 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Prior, on the other hand, is inhuman, giving up just 1 run through 5 1/3 innings for the win. The Cubs had a total of 16 hits in the game, eight for extra bases including homers by Choi, Patterson and Infante.

Series Recap: The Pirates continue to have troubles against the Cubs as they just can't seem to find a way to win a series against them. If they want to win the central division, they're going to have to find a way to beat the Cubs.

Game 55: Pirates 7 Astros 3
Dave Williams continues to have his storybook season, as he gives up just three runs in 6 innings for his 6th win of the season. Munro gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings for the loss. Bagwell collected the only runs for the Astros off a three run homerun, and Craig Wilson added two insurance runs with a homerun of his own.

Game 56: Pirates 0 Astros 1
This was a definite real pitchers duel, as Ponson gave up just one run, a homerun in the seventh inning to Austin Kearns, in seven innings but got the loss. Freddy Garcia pitched a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and walking four batters.

Amateur Draft
This year the Pirates select 19th in each round, but first let's take a look at this year's top 5 picks.
1 - DET - The Tigers got a superstar in the making with their first pick in 21 year old 1B Daniel Zuniga from the Dominican Republic. The guy is brilliant in getting hits, hitting homeruns, and taking walks. The only thing that hurts this 5 star prospect is his D range and 0.985 fielding percentage, but the Tigers hope they can work with him on his defense.
2 - MIL - The Brewers got the next best thing to Zuniga, picking up 21 year old 1B Ronald Gish from the US. The guy is an almost exact mirror of Zuniga, a good in hits, a brilliant in homeruns, and a brilliant in taking walks. Also, like Zuniga, Gish suffers defensively with D range and a 0.986 percentage.
3 - BAL - The Orioles picked up 20-year old 2B Kasey "Captain" Gorski. Gorski is good in hits, brilliant in homers, and brilliant in walks. He also suffers in the range department wtih just E range, but if he can get to the ball, it's almost guaranteed that he'll make the play, as he has a great fielding percentage of 0.993.
4 - HOU - The Astros picked up the first starting pitcher in the draft, selecting 22 year old Gary Pellerin. Pellerin is brilliant at avoiding hits, average at avoiding homers, and good in walks and strikeouts. He really needs some work on his duration though, as he's listed as a D duration pitcher.
5 - TEX - The Rangers selected the first player from highschool, when they picked 18-year old 3B Michael Garlick. Garlick is a guy with good average, brilliant in homers, and good in taking walks and avoiding strikeouts. His defense is average with C range and 0.964 fielding percentage at 3B.
19 - PIT - The Pirates selected 18 year old 3B Cecil Stewart as their first pick. Stewart has average talent in getting hits, good talent in hitting homeruns and brilliant talent at taking walks. He's good defensively, with B range at third base and a 0.955 fielding percentage.
2nd round - The Pirates selected 21 year old SP Abdiel Fabian in th second round. Fabian is good at avoiding hits, fair in homeruns, and average at avoiding walks. He's got good duration, with a B rating for SP, and can also hold runners well, with a B rating there as well.
3rd round - 21 year old 2B Jessie Nowacki was the Pirates third round pick. He's good at getting hits, fair at hitting homeruns, and brilliant in taking walks. His defense however suffers, with just D range and a percentage of 0.989.
4th round - The Pirates selected 19 year old MR Herman Gonzalez in the fourth round. Gonzalez is good at avoiding hits, fair at homers, average at walks, and good at getting strikeouts.
5th-7th round - Computer picked RF Paul Welch, CL Gaby Santana, and MR Nathanial Redrick.

May Wrapup
The Pirates went 17-12 this month and are now 31-25, still in third place in the central and 5.5 games back of the first place Cubs. Most of the starters had a pretty average month with the exceptions of Dave Williams who did great with a 4-0 record and a 1.66 ERA, and Perez who fared rather poorly with a 1-4 record and a 6.54 ERA. Mark Kotsay, who hit 0.381 with 5 HR and 15 RBIs, Bobby Hill, who hit 0.410 with 0 HRs and 8 RBIs, and JJ Davis, who hit 0.337 with 8 HRs and 20 RBIs, all had good months, while Ryan Doumit struggled hitting just 0.213 with 1 HR and 12 RBIs.

The Red Sox are continuing their dominance of the AL East with a record of 34-21, they lead by 4 games over the Blue Jays. The Twins are leading the central division by 6.5 games over the White Sox, with a record of 32-23. In the west, the Rangers are still the team to beat, with a record of 33-21, they lead the A' by 4 games. In the NL, the Braves have regained their control in the east with the best record in baseball, leading the Phililes by five games with a record of 39-18. The Cubs, with a record of 36-19, are still on top of the central division, 4 games ahead of the Cardinals. The West is a tight race with not a single team above 0.500, and is led by the Rockies who are 27-28 and lead the Giants by a 0.5 game.

Mark Mulder was without a doubt the best pitcher in the AL for the month of May, finishing with a record of 4-0 and a 1.58 ERA to win the POM. In the NL, the honors went to Atlanta's Adam Wainwright, who went 4-0 with an ERA of just 0.61 in May. Cleveland's Randy Winn picked up his first ever BOM award, after finishing May with a 0.343 average while hitting 8 HRs and driving in 22 runs. Phillies' Bobby Abreu also won his first BOM award in the NL after hitting a red hot 0.374 with 4 HRs and 23 RBIs.

Game 57: Pirates 10 Astros 1
The Pirates bats finally let out all of their pent-up frustration out against Brandon Duckworth, scoring 10 runs on 14 hits, with Bobby Hill being the only starter not able to collect a hit. Duckworth gave up six runs, three of them earned, in 2 1/3 innings for the loss. That was all the Pirates really needed, as Benson pitched a complete game, giving up just one run off of five hits while walking none and striking out five for his 6th win of the season.

Series Recap: Pretty decent series against the Stros. The only loss coming in that great pitchers' duel between Ponson and Garcia in the second game.

Around the league, on Saturday Florida's Josh Beckett strained his rotator cuff muscle in a game against the Phillies and he will miss the next five weeks.