Game 88: Pirates 10 Astros 7

This was a truly weird game on a ton of different levels. The starters combined for 7 and 1/3 innings pitched, 17 runs, and 22 hits. Cecil Cooper actually left Runelvys Hernandez in to give up 10 runs, which is something you don't see every day. From there, both bullpens shut it down, allowing a total of one hit over the remaining 9 and 2/3 innings. The game went from apocalyptic offensive shootout to over in the blink of an eye. If that's not enough, Dumatrait, Hernandez, and Denny Bautista all got their first career hits in the game and they were all RBI singles. That's a heckuva lot of action for a game between two crappy teams in early July.

On the more intensely Pirates side of things, Nate McLouth seems pretty rejuvenated by his All-Star berth. He doubled in three runs yesterday about five minutes after the announcement and added his first homer in almost a month today. The Pirates actually managed to beat the snot out of a bad starter today, and that's something that's always good to see. Oh, and while we're at it, Adam LaRoche added two more hits, including a triple. He's been on fire since the Yankees' series started and he's got his OPS up well above .700 now. Amazing how quick that happened given how bad his first two and a half months were.