-P- In case you didn't notice, the Pirates made another crappy pitcher look like Walter Johnson yesterday. Yesterday's King for a Day was Jason Marquis, who took a perfect game into the sixth inning and ended up throwing a three-hit, no-walk shutout. The only Pirate who pulled his weight offensively was... Ryan Doumit, who was 1-for-3 with a double. Tom Gorzelanny struck out five and only allowed one run, but that run, a solo homer against Alfonso Soriano to lead off the first, did him in.
Isn't it horrible when you see the other team score a run in the first and your cynical side thinks, "Oh well, the game's over now," and then your sensible side tells your cynical side to shut it, and then your cynical side turns out to be exactly right? Anyway, the Bucs lost, 1-0.
-P- Andrew McCutchen apparently hit a 500 foot homer yesterday. Wow.
-P- Speaking of McCutchen, WTM has a prospect report card up that also reads like a State of the System. It's well worth checking out. (McCutchen, by the way, gets a D.)
-P- I'm not sure how many baseball blogs will even post this, but Rudy Giuliani might wind up in some trouble over his connections with the Yankees. He has World Series rings from all the championships the Yanks won while he was in charge, and it seems he acquired them under shadowy circumstances.
-P- John Smoltz beat the Padres yesterday, while opposing starter Greg Maddux took a no-decision. The two pitchers hadn't faced each other as starters since 1992, the year before Maddux joined the Braves.