Pirates 8 Cubs 0

Against the Cubs version of Oliver Perez the Bucs managed to break out for as many runs as they've had in the previous four games. Leading the way was Freddy Sanchez who, despite "not being good enough to play every day," was inserted into the three slot today and helped account for five of the Pirates eight runs (2 scored, 3 RBIs on a 3 for 5 day). Sure, we're talking an incredibly small sample size today, but there was an extra spark with Freddy in the top of the lineup today (the Stats Geek jumps on the "Play Freddy More" bandwagon today). Burnitz also mauled a homer, the first one that he's hit that made me say "WOW, that was crushed!" which provided today's #1 star with more than enough runs. I'm talking, of course, about Zach Duke who cruised through nine easy innings, never letting more than one person on base at a time until the ninth. He actually had a three hitter going through eight before a couple of bloops put his shut-out in jeopardy in the ninth. He wasn't particularly dominating today with only two Ks on the afternoon (one of my boy Mike Restovich) and a 12/13 GB/FB ratio, but the Cubs never really seemed to hit the ball hard all day. Sure, this is a Cubs lineup that's been pretty down and out lately, but I'll take a complete game shutout whenever it comes along. For those counting at home, the last turn of the rotation saw four excellent starts and Oliver Perez. Now if we could just get the offense going (cough*Freddy*cough) we might be moving in the right direction (as if it were possible to move further in the wrong direction).