Game 133: Reds 5 Pirates 4

Whew. Just as soon as all that crazy, "The Pirates have a chance" talk started blossoming, it's over. I was starting to get worried. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the Pirates winning the division. I'm against false hope and Dave Littlefield (and maybe in that order, false hope is pretty much the worse thing in the world, with Dave Littlefield you know what you got).

Anyways, it's kind of, umm, poetic is not the word, I'll go with ... ironic that after the Pirates flew through most of August on the strength of their offense and bullpen playing way over their heads, they're coming up on the end of the month with a thud after one loss where their offense deserted them, then one where their pen did. The second one came tonight (or, last night, I guess), when Damaso Marte, Shawn Chacon, and Matt Capps combined to give up a run in the eight and a run in the ninth and help a 4-3 lead (built after gritty veteran Matt Morris gutted his way through 5 and 2/3 innings!) into a 5-4 loss.

With this loss, the Bucs fall back into the cellar. I'd kinda like to thank the Astros for keeping it warm for us. It feels like we never left.