Zach Duke pitched through an earthquake last night and shut down the Giants as the Pirates won, 7-0. 

Regarding the earthquake: big deal! I actually had my first experience with earthquakes a few weeks ago. There was a pretty strong one that originated east of Los Angeles. I was sitting in a basement computer lab north of San Diego. I felt dizzy for a second and then noticed my chair was shaking. That was it. No Pirates even felt the earthquake yesterday. 

The real story here is the actual pitching. The Giants' lineup is about as intimidating as Richard Karn hosting Family Feud, but still, it's hard to complain about a complete game shutout. Duke also pitched eight innings in his last start, allowing only two runs, so now his ERA is somehow below five.

A few links:

-P- The Bleacher Report has some very nice things to say about Pittsburgh and PNC Park. The Pirates, not so much.

-P- The State College Spikes' pitcher of the year was a 38th round draft pick and a reliever who had an ERA over 4. And that tells you most of what you need to know about the State College Spikes.

-P- Hydzu HQ takes a look at the Pirates' partnership with the Hyundai Unicorns of Korea. This is a weird bit of Pirates history that I'm not even sure I remember.