If You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse, It Almost Did

     Justin Verlander took a no-no into the ninth and with one away Josh Harrison sent a ball up the middle to break it up. One hitter, Bucs lose 6-0.

     Charlie Morton took the daunting task of opposing Verlander and did nothing to match him. Morton allowed a one out single, then doubles by Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder made it 2-0 after one. It would be 4-0 in the fourth after a Delmon Young homer and an RBI single by Pittsburgh native, Don Kelly. The final runs would come by way of a Delmon Young 2 RBI double in the sixth off of Chris Resop. Brad Lincoln would throw a scoreless eighth while striking out three.

     The offense got one-hit and walked twice.

Starters Lines
Morton: (L, 2-4) 6 IN, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's
Verlander: (W, 5-1) CG, 1 H, 2 BB, 12 K's

Turning Point
When Jim Leyland wrote Justin Verlander on the lineup card as the starting pitcher.

Stud/Dud of the Game
Stud: Justin Verlander

Dud: The Pirates Lineup

Final Thoughts
-- Many of us predicted or joked about how Justin Verlander was going to no-hit the Bucs. Well he almost did and I was expecting it. I kinda wanted it to happen too because, to me, that is rock bottom, there isn't anyway but up after something like that and I think that's what the Bucs offense needs.

-- The no-no got broken up by DH Josh Harrison. The only problem with this is that Harrison was the DH, not the shortstop. Bench Clint Barmes, put the Barge at DH. Barajas is working on a 5-game hit streak and a 3-hit game last night.

--  The bottom 4 guys in tonight's lineup finished with a batting avg. below .200 for the season. Yikes.

This Day in '92
     The Buccos were off.
     Andy Van Slyke spent the day mowing the lawn.