Today the Pirates send their young sensation Charlie Morton to the hill today. Morton is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA this year. He has 11 strikeouts and 6 walks in 17 innings pitched. He’s been good in all 4 starts and I expect much more of that today. His counterpart is the best he’s faced so far this year, Wandy Rodriguez. He’s 7-6 this year with a 3.21 ERA. The Pirates saw him earlier this year at PNC and beat him quite handily. Let’s hope we see more of the same today. 

Here’s todays lineup: 

1. Andrew McCutchen, CF

2. Jack Wilson, SS

3. Delwyn Young, LF

4. Garrett Jones, RF

5. Andy LaRoche, 3B

6. Adam LaRoche, 1B

7. Robinzon Diaz, C

8. Ramon Vazquez, 2B

9. Charlie Morton, P

The Pirates currently stand at 38-46 and are 7.5 games out of first. They are 3 games behind these Astros who have been pretty hot of late. Here are the current standings:

Central	W	L	PCT	GB	L10	STRK	INT	HOME	ROAD	LAST GAME	NEXT GAME
St. Louis	46	39	.541	-	6-4	W2	9-6	24-20	22-19	7/7 @ MIL, W 5-0	7/8 @ MIL, 8:05P
Milwaukee	43	40	.518	2.0	4-6	L2	5-10	22-19	21-21	7/7 vs STL, L 0-5	7/8 vs STL, 8:05P
Chicago	41	40	.506	3.0	6-4	L1	6-8	25-15	16-25	7/7 vs ATL, L 1-2	7/8 vs ATL, 2:20P
Cincinnati	41	41	.500	3.5	6-4	W1	6-9	20-20	21-21	7/7 @ PHI, W 4-3	7/8 @ PHI, 7:05P
Houston	40	42	.488	4.5	5-5	L1	6-9	20-22	20-20	7/7 vs PIT, L 3-6	7/8 vs PIT, 2:05P
Pittsburgh	38	46	.452	7.5	3-7	W1	8-7	22-17	16-29	7/7 @ HOU, W 6-3	7/8 @ HOU, 2:05P

I’m not sure how I made those standings looks presentable at all, but hey it worked out okay for me. Anyways, here is the live blog for today’s game, I encourage anyone who sees it to participate! 

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=b9649e4e64&#8243; >Game 85: Pirates at Astros</a>

In other news, the Oakland Athletics DFA’d Dana Eveland today. Some Pirate fans on Twitter (@McEffect) are wondering if Neil Huntington is gonna take a chance on Eveland and sign him off waivers. I would personally be pretty excited if they did it. Eveland was a former #7 overall prospect in the Brewers system. I think it would be a nice pickup for the bucs. Eveland can be equally effective as a starter or a reliever, and he has great stuff. He has struggled with command and been somewhat inefficient on his way to an ugly 2009 season. I would love to see the Pirates give him another shot in Pittsburgh (or Indianapolis) though. You can read another fans’ thoughts at Bucco Ball. 

Also, there are rumors surrounding Eric Young, a prospect for the Rockies. The Pirates seem interested in him and could try and make a trade for him involving either Ian Snell and/or Freddy Sanchez. Honestly I don’t see it happening, but that’s what’s been going around. 
Well as for me, I am gonna kick back and watch Full House before the game starts. 
Let’s Go Bucs!