The Pirates scored two runs tonight, both coming on a "triple" by Ryan Doumit that was really a single that Matt Kemp made worse. Kemp was probably thinking about the throw he was about to make to the plate rather than fielding the ball, and it bumped past him, allowing two runners to score. The Bucs also managed to keep runs off the board all evening even though Brian Burres walked four batters and threw fewer than half his pitches for strikes. That the Bucs now have a 10-12 record despite their -75 run differential remains remarkable--they're winning all the close games, and losing all the blowouts. That won't last, but these one- and two-run wins certainly are fun.
Still, the Dodgers managed just four hits, and after all the griping I do about how often the Pirates post only three or four hits, it's nice when those numbers are flipped around. Jack Taschner and Evan Meek (pitching, oddly, in a save situation even though Octavio Dotel was available) combined for 3.2 innings of no-hit relief. UPDATE: Dejan Kovacevic now reports that Dotel was told before the game that he would not pitch.
In the minors, Daniel McCutchen pitched seven good innings for Indianapolis, and Michael Dubee, recently promoted from Altoona, walked two after a scoreless inning of relief. Pedro Alvarez went 0-for-5. (Kevin Hart has landed on Indianapolis' DL with what seems to be a minor shoulder injury.) Robbie Grossman went 2-for-3 in a 6-2 Bradenton loss. And West Virginia's bullpen gave up seven runs in a 9-3 loss, although none of West Virginia's pitchers were of much consequence.