Sleeping Giants Wake Up

Game one was all Paul Maholm - he simply dominated the Giants with a three hit complete game. He mixed pitches well, changed speeds, and threw strikes. In my opinion, it was Maholm's finest game as a Pirate and the type of outing I have expected from him all year. If he stays healthy, he has a chance to be very special over the next few years.

Maholm's run support came in the first inning when Bautista walked, Sanchez doubled, LaRoche walked to load the bases, and Castillo hit a two out double scoring two runs. Castillo also made some fabulous defensive plays not only at third but in right field after Ryan Doumit exited with a wrist strain he suffered diving to make a catch. Doumit is listed day-to-day but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the Pirates don't DL him knowing he is running out of gas.

The second game featured Youman pitching on 10 days rest vs Lowery and Youman had a no hitter going until Klesko's 5th inning single. In the bottom of the 5th, Rajai Davis made a highlight reel play with a diving catch - full stretch - on the run when Sanchez lined into the left center gap.

That seemed to wake the sleepy Giants up as they went on to score 9 runs in the next two innings including Klesko's frozen rope grand slam off an exhausted Youman. Masumi Kuwata, whose teenage sons just arrived in town to see him pitch, was mauled giving up five runs on five hits.

The Gorzelanny/Maholm back-to-back complete games was the first time the Pirates have done that since September 2003.

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While the Pirates took four of the five games against the Giants, the Giants were perhaps inwardly smiling at the fact they replaced the Pirates in the #2 slot in the 2008 draft. The Pirates did this exact same thing last year - played poorly and then came back hard in the second half eliminating the organization's shot at a higher draft pick that probably would have netted us Vitters.

And don't look now but here come the Rangers and Reds. Maybe we'll end up with the 5th or 6th pick this year? Geezz..

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Speaking of the draft, a friend of mine who is close to the Rays says Price is all but signed and the Rays are holding back on the announcement since he is signing a contract significantly over slot value which MLB considers to be a cardinal sin.

However, there are some reports out of Baltimore that suggest Weiters is probably heading back into the 2008 draft because Boras is demanding Weiters be added to their 40-man which effectively starts his clock. That's an insane demand for a smaller market team to take on on top of having to dish out probably three times slot money. Look for Weiters to head back to the draft unless Boras backs off the 40-man request.

I suppose the Boras 40-man requirement should put an end to the media hype about the Pirates refusing to take Weiters because there is no possible way we could have afforded to do that.

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The Pirates owe the Giants a player in the Morris deal and I have to believe that player will be Brian Rogers since he throws strikes. Perrotto suggested Sharpless will be the player but I think that is wishful thinking on Perrotto's part. Rogers isn't MLB ready yet but he's close and he has the makeup to be a pretty decent reliever down the road, whereas Sharpless has very little control and therefore little value.

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Congrats to Tom Gorzleanny for being NL Player of the Week with his 1.13 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 16 innings, and 2-0 record that included his first career shutout. He's the first Pirates pitcher to win the award since Todd Ritchie did it in June 2001 with an ERA under 1.00 and a 2-0 record.

Hmm.. how ironic, Ritchie did it a few weeks before Littlefield was hired and Gorzy did it perhaps a few weeks before Littlefield is ..

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And congrats is in order to Rajai Davis who has done a great job with the bat since joining the Giants, especially considering the circus environment he did it in. If he could have only run routes in the outfield..