Obligatory Pirate Post 8.0

Jason Bay hit a tying home run in the bottom of the 9th. Adam LaRoche hit a tying home run in the bottom of the 14th. And as you would expect, the Pirates would eventually lose to the Cubs, 6-4, in 15.

Since I really don't have a wrap-up in me for this one, let's just go through a few quick (and mostly depressing) notes from last night:

--9,735 (25.4%) people who obviously aren't Penguin fans were on hand.

--The Pirates were one-hit by Ryan Dempster (a closer last year) for seven innings.

--The Pirates were 8-51 (.157) at the plate.

--Zach Duke struck out six and allowed one earned run in seven innings. He was inexplicably left in for 116 pitches.

--The Pirates' team ERA of 5.49 is next-to-last in the NL.

--Aramis Ramirez hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 14th.

--Cubs 1B Derrek Lee left 8 runners on base and went 0-6.

--LaRoche struck out three more times, giving him 13 in 28 at-bats. So while he's batting .107, his strikeout average is an impressive .464. FYI, Jason Bay also has more strikeouts (nine) than hits (seven).

--The 9th-inning home run was Bay's first RBI of the season, and LaRoche's home run produced his first two RBI of the season. It was also LaRoche's first hit in April. To remind you, yes, we're eight games in, and these are supposedly the Pirates' power sources.

--The Pirates and Cubs have played 27 innings in the first two games of this series.

--Next game: Cubs at Pirates, 7:05 tonight, PNC Park. Rich Hill vs. Matt Morris. Can't wait.

Pirates fall short despite two clutch blasts [PG]