Minute Maid Park | 8:05 p.m. | Snell vs. Jason Jennings | Box

The Pirates beat the Astros, 3-2.
Again, we’ll take it. You can’t count on coming back every night, but it sure feels good when you do it.
Ian Snell struck out 11 through six, Matt Capps and Salomon Torres were perfect and we scratched out just enough offense to get by. It felt a lot like the second half of 2006. The pitching was filthy.
The lineup today: Duffy, 1 for 5 with two strikeouts; Wilson, 2 for 4 with a run; Bay, 1 for 3 with a walk and a run; LaRoche, 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout; Paulino 1 for 4 with a strikeout and a GIDP; Nady 2 for 4 with a home run and two strikeouts (and the GWRBI); Bautista, 1 for 4; Castillo, 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Jason Jennings isn’t a pushover, but the Bucs should’ve put the ball in play much more frequently. It’s early, sure, but LaRoche hasn’t done anything. Castillo’s been quiet. Duffy hasn’t scored out of the lead-off spot. Without a few big hits, the Bucs could easily be 0-2. Again—we’ll take it.
You can’t complain about the pitching at all. Duke and Snell have been dominant, and the bullpen hasn’t surrendered a run. The offense, though, is another story. We need some run support. Tracy loves quoting the 37-35 finish to last season, but he doesn’t mention that the Bucs were outscored in those games after the All-Star break, 323-279.
Maybe things will turn around when we face a middle-tier starter. It’s only two games, so you can’t get too upset—and you have to be happy with a 2-0 start—but it’s something to keep an eye on. If the Bucs aren’t putting up the occasional crooked number on the scoreboard, there’s no hope for .500. Come on, where’s the Pittsburgh Lumber Co.?
Finally, the obligatory Brad Lincoln reference:

Brad Lincoln, the Pirates’ top pitching prospect, had reconstructive elbow surgery today and will miss the entire 2007 season.
Lincoln, the team’s first-round draft choice last season, had ligament damage repaired by Dr. James Andrews, the noted orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham, Ala.

That’s Tommy John surgery, and we’ll be lucky to see him next April. Another draft pick down the tubes.
Just like yesterday, you can read the transcript of the live blog after the jump. Thanks for your comments; there’s a decent chance I’ll keep doing this if you keep reading and writing. I aim to please, and I enjoy hearing from you.

10:46: Lane pops out, and pinch-hitter Luke Scott grounds to LaRoche. Recap to come in a bit. The Bucs win, 3-2.

10:42: Bautista made a tricky play look easy as pie. Burke chopped one to third and he gunned the runner down at first. One away.

10:40: “We Will Rock You” is blaring at Minute Maid. Sully says Queen doesn’t scare him.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
10:37: Duffy pops out to Ensberg, and King Salomon comes in for his second save opp.

10:36: Doumit grounds out to Biggio. When Freddy comes back, who goes down? Humberto? Eldred?

10:35: White strikes out Castillo and faces Ryan Doumit, Tracy’s pinch-hitter of choice. Brad Eldred rots.

10:33: New pitcher for the ‘Stros, former Pirate Rick White. This looks good for us.

TOP OF THE NINTH
10:30: Capps strikes out Berkman and grooves the first pitch to Carlos Lee. He’s looking tough this year. Lee pops out weakly, and we head to the ninth with a lead.

10:28: Since the links are posted, might as well mention them now: I backed my way into winning the Sportsocracy and Bucs Trade Winds NCAA pools. I know absolutely nothing about college basketball, so if you finished below me … well, it’s all luck anyway.

10:27: Burke pops out to Duffy, and “now the meat of the order, Lance Berkman” to the plate.

10:27: Capps in.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
10:25: After a few million foul balls, Bautista flies to Burke in center. Bucs up by one and six outs to get.

10:20: Nady, the X-man, delivers. As Walk says, “you live by the dunker, you die by the dunker.” It wasn’t hit hard, but it got the job done. 3-2 as it drops in untouched. Biggio couldn’t get out, and Burke couldn’t get in. Capps and Sully with a chance to close things out starting with Burke, Berkman and Lee.

10:19: There’s our cheap one. Ronny muscles one over the infield and ties the game at two.

10:19: Paulino took a 2-2 pitch that was as close as you can get. Can’t take the 3-2 pitch for fear of a make-up call.

10:16: LaRoche flies to center. Ronny’s up with two ducks on the pond. He’s 0 for 8 after a white-hot spring.

10:14: And the count goes immediately to 0-2. I can’t believe I like this guy. By the end of the year, you know he’ll show up. But I want a hit now.

10:13: Lefty McThump to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. “This’d be a great time for him to pick up his first Pirate hit,” says Brown. You think?

10:11: Having Adam LaRoche in the on-deck circle isn’t as intimidating as you’d think. Wheeler starts Bay off 3-0 and gets a call to go to 3-1. Ball four.

10:10: Jack with the spunky play, a bunt single to the right side. I like Bob Walk’s analysis. Truth be told, if Jack shows up like he did in 2004, he’s not an awful two-hole hitter.

10:09: Five outs left. Duffy pops to Lee in left. Let’s get something started, Jack. Boy do we miss Freddy.

10:07: First pitch to Duffy is a strike. Ensberg’s playing in; Berkman’s back. No bunt opportunity, though, as the count goes 1-2.

10:05: Top of the order due up, and Dan Wheeler’s probably coming in. I don’t think Garner’s lost faith in Lidge just yet—but I could be wrong. I think bringing in Wheeler’s a no-brainer.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
10:04: Tracy’s showing faith in Jonah already. I like him, and I think he’s worth taking a chance on. You know that I believe he’s the closer of the future. Biggio pops out to end the threat. Headed to the eighth, it’s 2-1.

10:01: Guess not. Lamb singles up the middle, and Jim Tracy goes to Jonah Bayliss.

10:00: Perez starts Lamb off 3-0. End this here, please. No Biggio.
9:59: Just for fun: As Juan Perez comes into the game, Fan Graphs has the Pirates as 80/20 underdogs.

9:56: Infield hit for Brad Ausmus. I’m listening to the game, so I don’t get a benefit of a replay—but for Brad Ausmus to leg one out, Jack Wilson would’ve had to have messed up somewhere. Pinch-hitter due up, and a call to the bullpen.

9:55: Ausmus swings through a hit and run, and Everett’s caught stealing, 2-6. Okay, leave Wasdin in … even he can’t screw this up.

9:54: Jonah Bayliss and Juan Perez are warming up in the bullpen. I’d much rather have either one of them in the game right now.

9:51: As if on cue, Lane fists one into right. Adam Everett up, “with the possibility of a bunt here,” says Greg. Wasdin gets Lane at second on the bunt attempt; Everett’s safe at first.

9:51: John Wasdin? Really?

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH
9:48: Everett gloves a pop-up for the third out. Seventh inning stretch time, and the Bucs trail by one.

9:45: Castillo coming to the dish after Bautista reaches. Jose grounds out, and Jose advances to second. Nate McLouth in to pinch-hit for Snell. 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 11 K for Snell.

9:43: The home run machine goes down swinging. Bautista up.

9:42: Qualls in for the seventh. If things stay as they are, that means Wheeler in the eighth and Lidge in the ninth. Ellis Cannon wished for this; I’m not as confident. They’re not pushovers.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH
9:40: Ensberg grounds into a fielder’s choice, third baseman Bautista to second baseman Castillo. Time to get some runs, guys. Astros have a new pitcher coming in…

9:38: Lee dumps one into center. Snell did everything he could, and Carlos got lucky. 2-1 Astros.

9:37: Snell starts Lee off with two strikes. I think he’s angry Tracy didn’t let him pitch to Berkman.

9:35: Burke grounds to Wilson at short, but Palmeiro was running on the pitch and stayed out of the double play. Berkman’s getting an intentional pass. That’s flat-out disrespect for Carlos Lee. The fans aren’t happy.

9:33: Biggio makes victim no. 11. Pat’s a skeptic: “Raise your hand if you’re ready to watch Snell slam into the wall here.”

9:30: Jason Jennings is out of the ballgame. Orlando Palmeiro pinch-hits and grounds one between Castillo and LaRoche for a lead-off single.

9:27: Dejan has the Lincoln news:

Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said Lincoln will be unable to pitch for 10-12 months, but should do so in 2008.
Lincoln tried to pitch early in spring training and again last week, and the latter attempt convinced the team to send Lincoln to Dr. Andrews.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH

9:24: Ball four “by a millimeter.” Ronny Paulino’s up with runners on first and second and two outs. Strike three called, “Paulino caught looking.”
9:23: Nope. LaRoche to the plate looking for his first hit of the year.
9:19: Duffy singles up the middle to lead things off, and moves over to second on what looked to be a hit and run on a 2-0 count. Bay to the plate with an RBI opportunity.
TOP OF THE SIXTH
9:18: Sorry, had to discuss that Lincoln bit with a couple of friends. Ensberg strikes out, Lane hits a solo homer, Everett flies out to Duffy and Ausmus strikes out. Tied at one after five.

9:08: In his “Pirates notes for the day,” Greg Brown points out that Dan Kolb and Luis Matos accepted assignments to Indianapolis. If the Bucs don’t want you, no one does, I guess. As an aside, Brad Lincoln had Tommy John surgery today. Why didn’t I hear about that earlier? “Oh, by the way, another #1 pick was wasted.”

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
9:05: Nady strikes out, and Bautista pops out, Castillo singles and Snell pops out.

9:02: The pitchers are showing that they mean business. Sure would be great to see the bats wake up and provide some run support…

TOP OF THE FIFTH
9:00: Carlos Lee goes down swinging. That’s eight in four innings. Could we see 20? Adam Everett’s the only Astro with a hit, and his double just barely stayed fair down the line.

8:58: Burke looks at a called third strike (that’s seven) and Berkman hits a lazy fly to Nady in right. Snell’s mixing in his breaking stuff with a hard fastball. He’s looking tough. It’s worth mentioning that his career high for strikeouts in a game is ten; he did it three times in 2006.

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
8:53: Nope. Ronny grounds into a double play, 6-3. The Astros tried to hand us a run, and we wouldn’t take it.

8:52: LaRoche pops to Lane in foul territory. That’s 0 for 7. Jack tags up and hustles into third; smart base-running could pay off.

8:51: Bay hits one hard—right at Biggio. He legs it out because Berkman didn’t cover first base, thinking the ball made it through.

8:50: Jack squeezes one just inside the third base line and coasts into second with a stand-up double. Bay and LaRoche coming up with a RISP.

TOP OF THE FOURTH
8:48: Jennings struck out Castillo, Snell and Duffy. Not impressed. Ian allowed a lead-off double to Adam Everett before striking out Ausmus and Biggio. A hard liner by Jennings (tracked down by Duffy) was sandwiched in between. Still 1-0 Pirates courtesy of Xavier Nady. Jack leads off the fourth for us.

THIRD INNING
8:33: …and Lane makes four. Ian’s cruising. I’m going to check out what everyone else is doing. I’ll update the third inning as a whole when it’s over.

8:32: Lane’s hangin’ like snot. Ian gets him to 1-2 and he fouls off a couple of pitches.

8:31: Ensberg is victim no. 3. “Belly-button high, right down the middle,” and Morgan swung right through the breaking ball.

8:31: Ian’s pitches have character tonight, says Walk. “Goodnight” to Lee. That’s two strikeouts. Notice the lack of intelligent Greg Brown quotes.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND
8:26: As a point of reference, Walk says that Nady’s blast would’ve hit the windows of the Outback Steakhouse at PNC Park. Bautista lines to Everett to end the inning. Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

8:24: What the hell has gotten into Xavier Nady? He just hit the ball out of the park. I remind you, he hit three home runs for the Pirates after the trade deadline last year. Bob says the ball flew “out of the ballpark onto the street.”

8:23: Jennings is falling behind our batters now, but we’re not making him pay. Ronny flies to Lee in left. “Jennings is taking the sting out of the bat,” says Walk, “Paulino just barely popped up a 3-1 pitch.”

8:22: LaRoche looks at a called third strike. For those of you scoring at home, that makes him 0 for 6 with five K’s.

TOP OF THE SECOND
8:18: Ian blew Burke away on a 3-1 pitch, and eventually made him pop to Ronny. Berkman has warning track power. He blasted one to that silly little hill in center field, and Duffy gloved it for the third out. Scoreless after one…

8:16: Looks like Charlie‘s live blogging again tonight, too. Pat punked out on us, but he has an active comments thread. Speaking of comments—Honest Wagner had nearly 100 during last nights game. Plenty of sources to supplement your viewing of the game.

8:14: Biggio goes down swinging. Ian’s on pace for 27 K’s tonight.

8:13: Biggio’s 69 hits away from 3,000. He flies under the radar a lot, but he sure has had a solid career.

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST
8:10: Jack and Jason both are retired by Biggio. Wow, that was a quick half inning. Definitely different from last night when the Bucs forced Oswalt to throw more than 20 pitches in the first.

8:09: Duffy goes down swinging, and Jennings starts out 0-2 on Wilson.

8:07: Jennings throws strike one to Duffy. Just a quick note: Last night, I mentioned the Crawfish Boxes—the section of seats above the big left field wall. The Crawfish Boxes is a popular Astros blog; the Crawford Boxes are the seats.
TOP OF THE FIRST
8:05: Just about ready for the first pitch. I’m going to try to shake the pessimism and get excited about this team. Show me something, boys.

7:58: The roof is open at Minute Maid; it’s 81 degrees and cloudy, and the wind’s blowing out to center. Brown and Walk are on the radio side.

7:56: Ellis Cannon promised me Mike Lamb. Apparently that 10 at-bat sample size wasn’t enough to convince Phil Garner to start a journeyman over Morgan Ensberg.
7:53: Lineups:

7:50: Jason Bay said it best in an answer to a Greg Brown question about the importance of his extra-inning homer last night: “I’ve hit home runs before.”

7:44: I think I figured out the problems with trying to stream 104.7 online last night. From their FAQ section:

Question: Why do you “block” some programs on your stream that I can hear on you over the air radio station?
Answer: Sometimes (not often), we do not have the rights to stream certain sports or music programs. We do streaming for free—but not everybody does—so if we stream something for free that someone else is charging a fee for—well you knowÖ that’s why law degrees are so popular!

So if you’re an out of towner trying to get out of paying your $15 for Gameday Audio, it looks as if you’re out of luck.
7:38: Cannon just said that Jennings doesn’t pitch well at Minute Maid, and that he doesn’t pitch well against the Pirates. That probably means he’ll throw a perfect game. Cannon also said that a key to the game is to get to Houston’s bullpen. Honestly, Dan Wheeler and Chad Qualls are pretty good, and Trever Miller’s solid from the left side. One blown save from Brad Lidge doesn’t mean they’re going to implode every night.
7:36: Ellis Cannon on Ian Snell: “He’s a young man, and a young man that has to take a step forward this year.” I can’t say I disagree. For what it’s worth, Mike Lamb is 5 for 10 in his career against Snell.
7:29: The Padres just finished shutting out San Francisco, 7-0. Jake Peavy looked outstanding. I’m turning on the Pirates’ pre-game now; lineups will be posted when I have them.
5:30: It’s not the Montecristo Club, and it’s not Club 21, either. PNC Park’s sports bar will now be called Club 3000, and it’ll honor Honus Wagner and Paul Waner in addition to Roberto after a New York restaurant raised a fuss.
And for what it’s worth, Barry stole second in the bottom of the first. Jake Peavy didn’t check on him, and so he took off running. Safe by a mile; the announcers say that his legs feel fine.

4:36: I just fired up MLB.TV for the Padres/Giants opener. There are boats in the bay, and two Barrys are in San Francisco’s lineup. If you’re interested in Bonds talk, check out MVN’s MLB Roundtable; our source columnists talked about his pursuit of Hank Aaron yesterday. I’m not sure if I’d watch this game given another option, but I’m stuck in front of my desk and it’s the only game that’s live.
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It’s always good to get that first one out of the way. As Press Pass puts it, 161 to go…
From those pregame notes, I learned that yesterday marked the first time since 1979 that the Pirates played extra innings on Opening Day. And Jason Bay’s homer in the tenth? That was the first extra-inning homer by a Pirate in an opener since Willie Stargell did it in 1966.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The worst thing the Bucs can do now is remember the exhilarating come-from-behind win of last night. The task at hand is beating another solid pitcher, Jason Jennings; Ian Snell still needs to set down Berkman, Lee and Ensberg. We know how important a strong start would be, and this is not the time to come out flat.
Ian had a strong showing in Grapefruit League play: He went 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA, and his 24 strikeouts led the National League. In his short career against Houston, he’s 2-3 in 6 games (5 starts) with a 4.55 ERA in 32.2 IP. At Minute Maid Park, he has a 2.25 ERA in eight innings. Keep the ball down against the power hitters, and throw the pill through the holes in their swings—that’s the recipe for success.
As long as I’m watching, I might as well be live blogging. I’ll be here with updates starting at 7:30.