I am speechless . . . really. (30-55)

The Pirates have gone on a mini-run and are possibly going to cost themselves the first overall draft pick. Their sweep of the Diamondbacks gained a lot of ground against those same Diamondbacks. The Pirates continued their good fortune with a win today against the hated Cardinals. Thankfully the Diamondbacks won as well.

This streak has been on the backs of Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, and Jose Tabata. These guys have answered the bell, and shown that when they get half way decent pitching they are going to get you the runs you need to win. Tonight they got good pitching from Malholm and he got a 5-2 win. Tabata got a big two run triple (scoring McCutchen). Tabata scored earlier on a base hit by Pedro Alvarez (good to see him getting RBI hits). And Walker scored on a fielding error off the bat of John Bowker. The Diamondbacks got a good view of Walker when he hit a walk off two run homerun that followed an RBI ground out by Tabata. Meek got a save tonight and one against the Diamondbacks. Those guys are playing good baseball right now.

Another reason this streak is going on is the fact that Jones and Milledge have been hurt. This has given Bowker a chance to play. Bowker has played both first and right field, which also has given Doumit room in the outfield and Synder behind the plate. Synder delivered at least one great game with three hits. Bowker knocked his first Pirate homerun and showed some good defense in both positions. I like him as the back up outfielder next year with Jones platooning at first. Add Synder behin the plate and the Pirates a team with a lot more power.

I have to admit I am enjoying the winning streak. I hope it continues just not so much that we miss out on the number one overall pick.

I still think JR is not using these prospects enough. I want to see the guys at short, I want to see Presley more, and I want to see Brad Lincoln.