The esteemed Mr. Wells

After two straight masterful performances, Kip Wells will again take the mound today, probably with the thought in his mind that he has to pitch a perfect game to get a win. With lefty Brandon Claussen on the mound against him, chances are good Kip will look around the field behind him and see encouraging sights like Michael Restovich in left and Ty Wigginton manning a spot on one of his corners, further reinforcing the idea that he needs to be perfect to win. And despite that, Kip will probably pitch well enough to win, but for a reason we don't like to hear as Pirate fans. He sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Bob Walk knows it, he said on the radio yesterday that Kip this year reminds him of Jason Schmidt the summer before he got traded. He said it was because, like Jason, Kip is finally completely healthy, but Bob Walk knows that isn't the truth and so do I. Today when Kip takes the mound and sees Wigginton and Restovich (and who knows who else) behind him, he's thinking to himself, "OK, if I get through June, I'll be out of here by mid-July. I'll be pitching for a contender in August, and by next year at this time, I'll be a Cy Young candidate." Claussen hasn't been very good this month (though he did make a good start against the Nats last time out), so we may finally be able to get Kip that win he's been searching for. Which will only quicken his trip out of town. So is the plight of the Pirates fan.