The Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Pirates,
beating the Buccos by a final of 4-2 on Thursday night. The Nationals became the last team in the Majors to sweep a series in 2010, another notch in the Pirates' belt of ineptitude.
Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham both homered in the fourth off of Zach Duke, who allowed three runs and eight hits over five innings. Once again, the Pirate lineup was the equivalent of rubbing two wet sticks together and hoping for a spark, as no player in the lineup had more than one hit and they generated only two runs on the evening against Livan Hernandez.
The good news is that the few players who are hitting are the ones ID'd as the future of the team, namely Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, and Andrew McCutchen. But even that trifecta hasn't been able to help the Pirates win a game since last Saturday's 6-3 W against San Francisco.
Friday night marks the Pirates' start of interleague play, normally the time of the year when they officially drop off the face of the earth. Their first test comes in the form of Jim Leyland's Detroit Tigers, who hopefully won't throw any near-perfect games over the weekend. It's Justin Verlander (3.65, 4-4) vs. Paul Maholm (3.80, 4-4) kicking things off on Friday night at Comerica Park, with a 7:05 start. [ESPN]
Stephen Strasburg is
already going to the Hall of Fame. Well, not technically, but at least his game-used memorabilia from his first start against the Pirates is, in the form of a ball and hat. [ESPN]
17 Pittsburgh Steelers rookies visited another Hall of Fame recently, that being the football Hall in Canton. They were wowed by the history of the sport, and took in plenty of info about their new employer, which happens to be quite an important piece of the NFL's puzzle of legends. [Pro Football HOF]
The Pitt Panthers will be once again facing a tough schedule in the upcoming basketball season, as it was announced on Wednesday that they will be
playing Tennessee in the DirecTV SEC/Big East Invitational Decemeber 11 at the Consol Energy Center. They will also take part in the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden in November, with games against two teams from the group of Illinois, Maryland and Texas. [PG]
John Steigerwald recounts his up-close experience with the Stanley Cup, which was
sitting on his parents' dining room table in 1992. [Just Watch the Game]
Two photos from the last Cup game to share: #1 was submitted by several readers, and I simply had to pass it along. #2 was sent in to me in my role as "the unofficial collector of misplaced Pittsburgh sports apparel":
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