Pirates and Nats, round 2

Time for round two in this mini, yet immensely important, homestand. Tonight it's Ryan Drese and Oliver Perez, (should be) another favorable pitching matchup for us, though Drese was good in his first start for the Nationals while Perez got knocked around by the Yankees in his last outing. Perez wasn't as bad as the numbers indicated. Though he had no control, he still would've only given up 3 runs in that start if it wasn't for the atrocious outfield play of Michael Restovich. Hopefully some warm, dry weather here in the 'Burgh will be just what the doctor ordered for Ollie. I still think we can win this series, but Perez needs to beware of Jose Guillen. Yesterday he was identified as the biggest threat to lefthanded pitching, then he promptly went out and hit two homers off Mark Redman (who had only allowed five all year going into last night). Perez has shown a penchant for giving up the longball so if you have bleacher seats tonight, be ready. We lost the first game to both the Orioles and Braves, and still took both series. We need to do that now.

Brian O'Neill (aka the Stats Geek) thinks that maybe a simple twist of fate is all this team needs, and that we're simply unlucky to this point in the year. I think you make your own luck, though this team has certainly failed to get many breaks this year from fate.

I'm going tonight (like I need a reason to go, but tickets are free from work for even more incentive), and if I have time, I'll be there in my doctored Kendall/Van Slyke shirt, as per an earlier discussion.