The Pirates wasted a decent return start by Zach Duke, mustering almost no offense in a game that was also marked by baserunning and fielding miscues. Some of those were downright infuriating, like the play in which Andy LaRoche got caught sleeping between second and third and got gunned down needlessly, or the play in which Ronny Cedeno and Zach Duke failed to execute a rundown. Along the way there was a conspicuous balk (by Sean Gallagher) and two wild pitches. The Bucs might have gotten a few days off, but they certainly didn't look refreshed tonight.
The cliffs notes from the minors: Jeff Locke had an awesome debut for Altoona, striking out five and allowing no runs or walks in five innings. Robbie Grossman homered for Bradenton, where Aaron Pribanic had a quality start and an uncharacteristic five-strikeout night. Quinton Miller pitched five scoreless innings for State College, but didn't strike anyone out. And Eric Avila went 2-for-4 with a double in the GCL Bucs' 4-2 loss to the Phillies.