Pirates 8, Rockies 4

Vlad was actually one of the pierogies in tonight's race. I'll let him describe it.

Ian Snell recovered from a spotty first inning and got his first win since... well, at least the Carter administration. It didn't hurt that Valerio de los Santos started the game, making his first big-league appearance since 2005, and allowed so many walks he was out of the game after four innings. That left the game to the Rockies' middle relievers, who the Pirates pelted--Nate McLouth hit a ball into the river, and Ryan Doumit and Doug Mientkiewicz had three hits apiece. Steve Pearce started in the outfield and looked a little bit overmatched against Brian Fuentes, but he did pretty well otherwise, making a nice play late in the game to cut off a single in the gap. Denny Bautista pitched two perfect innings in relief, striking out four; he now has 16 strikeouts, six walks and a 3.50 ERA in 18 innings with the Bucs. Pretty nice win overall.