[Operation Shutdown]

Week 10
The Pirates begin their interleague play with a three game series at home against the New York Yankees who are 21-35 and in last place in the AL East. The Yankees have a couple of decent starters in Jon Rauch (1-7 3.62) and Brandon Claussen (2-2 4.30), but then drop off fast with Mark Phillips (3-4 6.12) as their next best. Their lineup consists of a bunch of players with a lot of power but little average with Juan Rivera leading the team (0.309 10 32).

Game 58: Pirates 2 Yankees 1
VanBenSchoten pitched a heck of a game, going 7 2/3 innings without giving up a single run and giving up just four hits and walking one and striking out 11 batters for the win. Rauch also did well, giving up just two runs, one of them earned, in 5 2/3 innings but got the loss. The Yankees threatened in the ninth when Soriano singled and then after a passed ball he moved to second and then Rivera was intentionally walked. After Johnson struck out, Mann walked Posada to load the bases. Williams then came up and hit a fly ball to deep left field, but Nady made the catch on the edge of the warning track, though one run did score on the sac fly. Mann then got Phillips to ground out to third to end the threat and pick up the save, his 15th of the season.

The Pirates promoted 2B Matt Moses from A to AA. Moses was hitting 0.305 with 2 HRs and 14 RBIs for the Hillcats.

Game 59: Pirates 1 Yankees 4
Dave Williams pitched a heck of a game, giving up just one run, off of one hit, a solo homerun by Bernie Williams, while pitching nine innings. Unfortunately, he had no run support, as Claussen also gave up just one run, a solo homerun by Jack Wilson, through 7 innings of work. The Yankees won the game in the top of the 10th. Jimenez gave up a double to Derek Jeter and then intentionally walked Soriano before being pulled in favor of Mann. Mann then walked Matsui to load the bases, then walked McPherson, scoring Jeter. He then got Johnson to strike out before walking Cruz Jr to score Soriano and Cano to score Matsui. He finally got Rivera to pop out and Williams to ground out to end the inning. The Yankees scored three runs, off of just one hit and five walks in the inning. Rincon then pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning for the save. The loss went to Jimenez and Cruz got the win.

Game 60: Pirates 1 Yankees 5 Baseball Cap Day at PNC Park
Bullington didn't have the greatest game, giving up four runs in 7 1/3 innings. Once again he got no run support as the Bucs managed just one unearned run and one hit off of Phillips, who pitched a complete game for the Yankees.

Series Recap: An absolutely terrible series for the Pirates as they managed to score just four runs in three games against a pretty weak pitching staff. Luckily the Cubs only managed to win one of three against the Red Sox, so the Bucs remain just 1.5 back.

Next up, the Pirates stay home and have a three game series against the Devil Rays who are the same record as the Pirates 33-27. The former champions have a great pitching rotation with Dewon Brazelton (8-4 2.69), Kevin Millwood (7-4 3.72), rookie Chris Flinn (4-6 4.66), Luis DeLosSantos (5-4 2.84), and Aaron Rakers (2-3 2.84). Thier lineup leaves something to be desired, but they do have Ben Grieve (0.310 6 37), Michael Cuddyer (0.231 10 28), and Erick Almonte (0.270 7 28).

Game 61: Pirates 3 Devil Rays 9
Burnett did not have a very good game, giving up five runs in five innings for the loss. De los Santos did decent, giving up three runs in five innings for the win. Scot Shields blew any chance for the Bucs coming back, giving up four runs in two innings to seal the Pirates loss. Vic Butler had a three run homerun and Almonte and Grieve homered for the DRays.

Game 62: Pirates 6 Devil Rays 16
The Pirates losing skid continues as Lopez had a horrbile game, giving up 8 runs in 6 1/3 innings for the loss. Rakers didn't do too much better, giving up five runs, three earned, in 6 innings but he did get the win. The Drays hit a lot of homeruns with Weeks, Cuddyer, Roberts and Hamilton all getting in on the action.

Game 63: Pirates 9 Devil Rays 3
The Pirates returned the favor, at least partly in this game, as VanBenSchoten pitched very well, giving up just one run in 6 innings for the win. Millwood struggled, giving up five runs in four innings for the loss. Davis and Butler both homered for the Bucs, and Butler had a big day with a single, triple, and a homerun in the game.

Series Recap: Interleauge play continues to be a problem for the Pirates as they lost another two of three, this time to the DRays. Luckily, the Cubs got swept by the Marlins, so the Bucs are now just 1/2 a game back. In other news, the Astros finally snapped their 12 game losing streak, beating the Red Sox 4-0.

Around the league, on Monday Arizona's Kenny Baugh pitched a two hit shutout to help the Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory over the Giants. On Tuesday, Atlanta's Wes Littleton ruptured a disc in his back and wil require surgery and he'll miss the rest of the season. On Wednesday, Met's right hander Jake Joseph fired a two hit shutout as they defeated the Rangers 3-0. Also on Wednesday, former Pirate and current Oriole Tony Alvarez hit three homeruns off of Cincinatti's pitching. On Saturday, it was discovered that Larry Walker had a torn back muscle and will miss the remainder of the season.