I had never been to a Skyblast, but for all the fun we make of the Fireworks Fans (like fair-weather fans), that’s a pretty damn good show. I’m as jaded as the next guy, but — and I might get my posting rights revoked for this — Skyblast and REO were good, dumb fun. I can understand why PNC fills up for these.

So I’ve decided to no longer make fun of the people who come for Skyblast.

The problem, as usual, is with the Pirates. And not for the reasons Dejan noted in his mini-rant on the PBC blog.

If the Pirates played exciting, winning baseball, if they gave the house some fireworks on the field, they’d have a good chance to convert some of the Fireworks Fans into baseball fans. We should be glad for that.

Unfortunately, they too often turn in uninspired and uninspiring games like last night’s. And that’s not the fault of the Fireworks Fans, is it?

it looks like we will shortly have an opening in our starting rotation for Gorzo or Ohlendorf.

a good bit of help from the mets in getting out of the inning.

Problem is…someone hasn’t notified the Pirates hitters that the game has started. It’s not like they’ve all been awake the last week or so anyway. Usually one or two a night.

at least reverse psychology stirred up a hit, anyway.

Or did I see a Pirate pitcher actually throw a pitch inside to move someone off the plate?

1st inning…hit by pitch, steals second, steals third, and on a double steal with Cutch, steals home.
2nd inning…bases loaded double, then steals 3rd. Morgan and Cutch have 6 steals between them in the 1st two innings.

Neil Walker homered in the 3rd…Indy up 5-0.
Jeff Niemann for Durham…3 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 1 HR. Looks like a line from a Pirates pitcher.

Mike Felix started…faced 6 batters…walked ALL of them. Got pulled…Charles Benoit comes in and the first batter hits a granny.

At Lynchburg…Brad Lincoln…so far…5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 K.

that was the quickest end to a promising inning that I think I’ve ever seen.

Bautista and Duffy are shown as being on their reserve list. That means that Bautista hasn’t reported yet. He’s got 72 hours…which means he needs to report tomorrow.

Duffy has played 1 game in the minors…7/17…since July 8th. He had the ear problem for a while…but if that was still the case…he’d be on the DL. He was DFA’d on the 1st…which means he would have cleared waivers Monday…at the latest.

one run?? you don’t have one run in ya?

There was one out!

and see if anyone just fainted.

Jack didn’t get the silent treatment that Dougie did last week.

walking a RH Doumit to face a 3 for 3 LaRoche. Yes, it’s lefty vs lefty.

But unfortunately, their idea worked.