Daniel McCutchen did what he does tonight, getting through five innings but allowing three jacks in the process. Brian Moehler left after three innings with a strained groin and the Astros brought in Gustavo Chacin. The Pirates immediately went to work on Chacin - their first four batters reached base, and they put up three runs to tie the score. But Houston brought in Casey Daigle in the following inning and the Pirates didn't really do much the rest of the game. The Astros won, 6-3, after yet another homer off D.J. Carrasco. I don't know what's sadder: that the Astros used three consecutive retreads in Moehler, Chacin and Daigle or that the Pirates could only get to one of them. Wait, yes I do.
-P- Weird game for Rudy Owens last night - he allowed 13 (!) hits in 4.1 innings but struck out six and walked none. Six of those hits were for extra bases. The B-Mets are a good hitting team, but beyond that I'm not sure any of this means anything. It's just strange to see the strikeout and walk numbers, which suggest he pitched well, alongside some other numbers that show the results were terrible. Oliver Perez used to have starts like that for the Pirates, although, of course, other than being left-handed, Owens isn't really similar to Perez in any way.
-P- You may note the presence of someone named Jordan Newton in Bradenton's box score last night. The Pirates signed him out of independent ball to play catcher, with both Tony Sanchez and Eric Fryer sidelined with facial injuries. Newton went 2-for-3 in his first game with the club, and the Marauders won, 6-4.
-P- Evan Chambers homered and Phillip Irwin pitched seven strong innings for West Virginia, which beat Hagerstown 7-2. Chambers is on a bit of a tear - he's on a six-game hitting streak that includes four multi-hit games. It would be great to see him bring his average up to .280 or so, because he'd be a very nice prospect if he could get it there.