Pirates 2 Giants 1

After seeing the other four starters in the rotation all string together good starts, Zach Duke had no choice but to come to the park with his best stuff today and he did just that. That's not quite right, he could've kept sucking, but he would've felt pretty lonesome with Maholm, Wells, and Gorzo all making good starts. Duke skipped lightly through 6 and 1/3 innings, shutting out the Giants on four hits and only 63 pitches. I would say somehting like "then the rain came" but I don't think that would accurately describe the situation. There was some serious Old Testament rains in Pittsburgh this afternoon, unlike anything I've seen in the city since probably the Hurrican Ivan induced floods in late '04. That stopped the game for a good 2 hours, effectively ending Duke's night early. Seeing as how Craig Wilson was again on the bench while an ancient and inferior player took the field and that Craig still hasn't been traded and with Abreu going to the Yankees, it seems unlikely that he'll be traded at all, there was only one place the rain could've come from, and apk nails it in the comments:

Verily, the God of Thunder is infuriated with his lack of playing time and the General of the Managers' inability to trade him to a team that appreciates his immense power! Thus, he shall smite the contest between the Pirates and Giants with the unbrilded ferocity of Mjolnir! Today, none shall be victorious, but all shall kneel before the fury of THE MIGHTY THOR.

Of course, after the rain ended and right field at PNC was de-flooded Matt Capps served up a go ahead homer to Todd Linden which kind of seemed like it would be enough for the Giants to pull out a win until Jose Castillo lead off the 9th with his first homer in something like 100 years. That was all until the bottom of the 10th when the unthinkable happened... Jose K singled in Jack Wilson and the Pirates won a 1 run game for the second day in a row. The Pirates unfathomably have a winning record at home this year, though going 13-40 on the road pretty much ruins things for everyone. I would like to tell you that this is going to be the last time the Pirates will take the field with this composition and that something big is going to happen to change the way the team looks, but I don't really see it happening. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.