Game 58: Pirates 7 Nationals 6

After this one ended, either Greg Brown or one of the other Pirate talking heads on FSP described this one as a "good, close win." Exsqueeze me? Horsepucky, I say! How is a lead in which you have a 7-2 lead and only win by one run a good win? Salomon Torres did a great job getting three lefties out in a row, you say? They were Brian Schneider, Ryan Langerhans, and Nook Logan! Sweet merciful crap, if he can't get them out, who can he get out?

Perhaps I am being too harsh after a win. The Pirates did a nice job after Chacon gave the Nats a 2-0 lead by firing right back with five runs. Mike Bacsik didn't have good control tonight and we actually took advantage of it tonight, taking five walks in his 4 and 1/3 innings of work. And after Chacon, Marte, and Bayliss almost gave the five run lead back, Grabow, Torres, and Capps did hold it down for the one run win. In two outings as closer, Capps has now thrown 18 pitches and recorded two saves. It's hard not to love that.

Another good part about tonight? The Nats decided that Jason Bay wasn't going to beat them, so they walked him three times tonight. The rest of the lineup actually stepped up and scored seven runs tonight. Nady had a big double, Sanchez had two hits, and Chacon helped himself out to the tune of two hits. Jack Wilson and Ronny Paulino added unlikely homers. It was nice to see contributions come from all around tonight instead of just a couple guys. But it still wasn't a good win.