Pirates 7 Reds 3

I was fully expecting Jason Bay to come out tonight and justify my 1700 words from yesterday with some kind of huge late game home run. Instead, the two guys that sandwich him in the lineup made sure that we never got to that point with huge games (not that Bay's 2-for-5 night with 2 runs scored was anything particularly shabby). Freddy Sanchez went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles to push his average up to .351 and Xavier Nady went 4-for-5 with a three run homer that gave the Bucs a 5-1 lead in the third. It's Nady's second four hit game in his short time as Bucco the homer was his first as a Pirate. When Nady had originally come to Pittsburgh I figured that his logical nickname would be "The X-Man," but I was unaware at the time that Greg Brown and everyone else involved would be calling him by that name. Instead, all I could think of every time Nady got a hit tonight was Mallrats and the exchange between Brodie and Jay early in the movie.

Brodie: Shall I call you Logan, Weapon X?
Jay: NO! WOLVERINE! SNIKT SNIKT SNIKT!

And so the replacement for "Thor" has been found. Only time will tell if Weapon X can live up to such a lofty designation.

Beyond Freddy and Nady, Ian Snell had another pretty decent start tonight. He wasn't mind- blowingly impressive or anything (you can never be THAT great with 4 walks in 7 innings unless you're throwing a no-hitter or something), but he did manage to hold a Reds' lineup that loves their ballpark to 4 hits and one run in 7 innings, so it's not like I'm complaining either. Jack Wilson also added a homer, his third since his DL trip in early May (he hit 5 in April). The game also featured one of the rarest occurences in all of baseball. I don't mean a triple play. I don't mean a cycle. I obviously don't mean a no-hitter. I mean a Ronnie Paulino infield single. Take some time to digest that one.