Hey, I just learned a new emoticon!

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The Pirates lost again, 9-7, falling below .500 on the season. I confess -- I didn't watch it. I watched Rod Barajas whiff with two men on to end the second inning, and I turned it off. Wandy Rodriguez had given up three runs in the first, and ... well, yeah, I figured. That's it.

The Brewers made it 4-0 in the third, but the Pirates actually did make their way back into it, as Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning, and the Bucs tied the game in the fourth when the first three batters reached base. The Pirates even took a three-run lead in the sixth with a long inning that featured a solo homer by Clint Barmes and a double by Jeff Clement.

The baseball gods weren't worried, though. They'd find a way, because Pittsburgh fans apparently deserve it, and because Chad Qualls. Qualls came in to start the eighth -- and it was really tempting to blame Clint Hurdle for what happened next, but let's be honest, even a pitcher as bad as Qualls ought to be able to protect a three-run lead -- and gave up two straight singles. The Pirates then stuck with Qualls, which I guess I can blame Clint Hurdle for, and Norichika Aoki doubled to right. Then Hurdle finally brought in Chris Resop, who coughed up a two-run Rickie Weeks triple to tie the game, and then an RBI single by Aramis Ramirez to give Milwaukee the lead. The Brewers then added an insurance run on a single by Logan Schafer in the ninth, and the Pirates never got back in it.

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