Game 128: Pirates 4 Astros 1

I swear that some inter-dimensional rift has appeared and switched our Pittsburgh Pirates with someone else. Less than a month ago, Troy Patton would've dominated us in his major league debut. Last night Jose Bautista took him deep twice, Matt Morris turned in a solid start, Josh Phelps added a pinch-hit homer, and the Pirates beat the Astros 4-1 for their fourth win in a row. Accordingly, the Pirates are now only 9 games out of first place in the ridiculous NL Central. That means we're only about two wins away from hearing something like this out of our esteemed manager, "I don't care how many games below .500 we are. If we just mind our own business and keep winning, I think we're right in the thick of this thing. We're playing some good baseball right now and just like last year, this is a second half team."

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