[joncarlos]

Games 30 through 32: Pirates (19-10) at Philadelpha (11-17)

The Phillies are off to a rough start after losing Alfonso Soriano to free agency. They traded for Luis Castillo (.294, 13 runs, 10 steals) and he's done OK at 2B, but the Phils are lacking power. #2 hitter Ramon Vazquez is also doing well at .385-1-15, and Trot Nixon is off to a fine start at .308-2-15, but cleanup hitter Richie Sexson is hitting just .221-4-11 through 28 games.

Game 30: Ainsworth (2-3, 5.05) vs. Dontrelle Willis (1-4, 6.33, rated 7/5/8)

Lately the Pirates have been winning with pitching. In this game they built a huge lead with their offense and held on. In the top of the first, JC Franco singled and stole 2nd (5), Jack Wilson hit an RBI single and Mike Piazza hit an RBI double. Wilson hit an RBI single in the 2nd and Franco hit an RBI single in the 4th to make it 4-0. The Phils got on the board in the bottom of the 6th with an RBI single from Ramon Vazquez, but the Bucs answered with 5 in the 7th, highlighted by a 3-run HR from Aaron Boone (8). Jesse Crain gave the Phils 2 more in the 7th with a 2-run HR from Mitch Meluskey, but the Bucs answered again with 6 runs in the 8th, including RBI walks from Dunn and Rich, a sac fly from Boone and a 3-run HR from Justin Morneau (4). Crain and John Bale combined to give the Phils 4 more in the 8th but the Bucs held on for the win. Kurt Ainsworth (3-3) allowed 1 run in 6 innings, striking out 9 on 104 pitches. Pirates 15, Phillies 8

Game 31: Foppert (2-2, 3.79) vs. Claudio Vargas (0-2, 7.27, ratings of 5/6/7)

The Phillies scored a couple early runs in this game, getting solo HRs from Jason Lane and Sexson to lead 2-0 after 3. The Bucs tied it up in the 4th on some sloppy plays, as Dunn walked, O'Keefe reached on an error, Dunn scored on a double steal and bad throw and Torcato hit an RBI single. Jesse Foppert gave up a solo HR to Aramis Ramirez in the bottom of the 4th and was tagged for 3 more runs in the 6th on a 2-run HR by Ramirez and an RBI double from Yorvit Torrealba. Foppert (2-3) was the loser as the Bucs were shut down the rest of the way. Claudio Vargas (1-2) allowed just 1 hit and 2 unearned runs through 6 innings of work. Philles 6, Pirates 2

Game 32: Maine (2-1, 3.03) vs. Chris Waters (2-1, 4.26, a 24yo lefty with 5 blue stars, 5/6/7 ratings with 9 in Ks)

This game was a great pitchers duel between 2 promising young arms. The Bucs took a 1-0 lead on a solo HR by pitcher John Maine, a 436' bomb which was his first major league hit AND his first major league home run. Maine left for a pinch hitter after 5 innings with that 1-0 lead, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks while fanning 9. John Bale gave up a leadoff triple to Richie Sexson but Mike O'Keefe nailed him at the plate on an attempted sac fly to keep the score 1-0. The Bucs made it 3-0 in the top of the 9th on RBI singles by Torcato and Dave Roberts. David Sanders came in to close out the game and walked PH Eddie Rogers, threw a wild pitch, gave up an RBI single to Lane, walked Torrealba and gave up an RBI single to Abraham Nunez to make it 3-2. TJ Tucker came in and gave up an RBI single to Luis Castillo, then a GW RBI single to Will Smith. Sanders (0-1) got the loss. Phillies 4, Pirates 3

Around the League

OF JC Franco (PIT) suffered a hyperextended knee while making a catch and is out 1-2 weeks. The Bucs have sent him down to AAA to rehab and called up Jason Tyner.

Brian Giles (LA) is out 5-6 weks with a fractured ulna. The 34-year old Giles, a 4.5-star OF, is rated 7/10/12 and hitting .228-5-14 with 21 walks in 101 ABs this season.

Carl Crawford (KC) hit for the cycle against the White Sox. Crawford was 4-5 with 4 runs and 1 RBI. This year the 23-year old 2-star OF is hitting .322-3-13 with 13 SB in 115 AB.

Aubrey Huff (SF) won the NL Player of the Week Award by hitting .591-4-7 last week. Huff was 13-for-22 and also scored 6 runs.

Michael Cuddyer (CLE) won the AL Player of the Week Award - his 2nd career PoW award. Cuddyer hit .455-3-9 last week, going 10-for-22 and scoring 7 runs. Cuddyer is hitting .244-7-16 this season.