[Operation Shutdown]

Week 11
Up to the 11th week of the season already, and the Pirates find themselves at a record of 34-29 and just 1/2 a game behind the first place Cubs. They continue their interleague play this week and travel to Toronto for a three game series against the Blue Jays who are 29-33. The Jays have a good pitching staff with Roy Halladay (6-5 2.76), Vinny Chulk (5-4 3.94) and Brandon League (6-4 4.78) at the top of their rotation. Their lineup consists of a lot of sluggers including Dewayne Wise (0.327 19 68), Carlos Delgado (0.295 8 40) and Kevin Millar (0.298 10 38).

Game 64: Pirates 8 Blue Jays 4
Dave Williams continues to be a real workhorse for the Pirates, pitching another complete game, despite giving up four runs, and earning the win. League gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings and did not get a decision. The Pirates jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Blue Jays brought it to within one in the bottom of the second and eventually tied it in the fourth inning. Then in the eighth inning, the Pirates exploded for three runs off of Bowles and then added on more in the ninth. Bowles was charged with the loss.

Game 65: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 5
Bullington struggled a bit giving up five runs, including two run homeruns to Wells and Castillo, in 6 2/3 innings for the loss. Halladay didn't give up any runs until the eighth inning when Navarette smashed a two run homer, and went eight innings giving up just those two runs for the win. Williamson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Game 66: Pirates 5 Blue Jays 4
Burnett pitched another great game, giving up just two runs, off a two run homer by Wells, in 7 2/3 innings of work for the win. Munro also pitched well, giving up two runs in seven innings but did not get a decision. The Pirates broke apart a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning when JJ Davis smashed a three run homerun off of Lopez. The Jays gave it their best try to comeback in the ninth inning but fell just short. Wells got on base with a single and Delgado followed getting hit by a pitch. David Lamb then stepped up and smashed a double to the gap in left-center allowing both runners to score. Ortiz then laid down a perfect sac bunt, allowing Lamb to move to third. Mann then walked Hinske to put runners at the corners with one out. The strategy paid off as Mann got Castillo to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat and the game and give Mann his 16th save. DeJong was charged with the loss as he put the two runners on before Davis' homerun.

Series Recap: Pretty much what I expected.

Next up, the Bucs travel to Baltimore for a three game series against the Orioles who are 27-40. The Orioles have a decent top two in the rotation with Ian Ferguson (5-6 3.57) and former Pirate Zach Greinke (7-5 2.84), but they drop off fast after that with Zach Day (2-7 5.87) as their next best starter. Their lineup is fairly weak with Jay Gibbons (0.302 15 28) as the only real threatening player in the lineup.

Game 67: Pirates 3 Orioles 12
Of course, once again a team that has no offense completely destroyed Pirates' pitching as Lopez gave up eight runs, seven earned, in 5 1/3 innings for the loss, and Shields gave up another four runs, one earned, in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Ferguson had some real control problems, as he walked eight batters, but he managed to give up just two hits and two runs in seven innings for the win.

Game 68: Pirates 2 Orioles 9
VanBenSchoten actually pitched a decent game, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but still got the loss, thanks in most part to his bullpen. JVB left the game in the seventh after getting two quick outs and putting no one on base. Jimenez then came into the game and gave up a single to Gorski and then allowed Leon to reach base on an error by the third baseman. He then walked Harris, followed by a pinch hit grandslam by Gredvig. He followed that by giving up a solo homerun to Barajas before finally getting Sizemore to strike out and end the inning. Then in the eighth inning, Jimenez gave up a single to Reed, who stole second and scored on a single by Gibbons. Finally Jimenez was pulled, but was still charged with another run as White gave up a double to Leon to score Gibbons. All in all, Jimenez gave up seven runs, two of them earned, in just 2/3 of an inning.

Game 69: Pirates 7 Orioles 2
Finally, Dave Williams showed the rest of the staff how to take care of a weak offensive team, by giving up just two runs in eight innings for the win. The Pirates got to former teammate Greinke, scoring six runs off of him, as he worked just 4 2/3 innings for the loss.

Series Recap: Another terrible series, almost as bad as the one against the Yankees, but at least they were able to salvage the last game. The Cubs took advantage of the situation by sweeping the Yankees and taking a 2.5 game lead on the Bucs.

Around the league, on Wedensday Philly's Vicente Padilla suffered a serious injury with a ruptured tricep tendon, and will likely miss the next 6 weeks.