Boxscore

The Pirates weren’t nearly as lucky in the second game of their doubleheader against the Braves. Proving that he’s only considered a starting prospect because he was drafted so high, John Van Benschoten was shelled all the way back to Indianapolis. (He was demoted after the game.)

Tim Hudson continues his excellent season with the Braves, and had little difficulty dispatching the Pirates, allowing only 1 run over seven innings.

The Pirates did commit 2 more errors, bringing their total for the day to 6. It might be time for some fielding practice, or this strange run of winning for Pittsburgh might end.

The Cardinals are up next for Pittsburgh. Tonight at 8:15pm EDT, Phil Dumatrait starts against Kyle Lohse, in a thrilling battle of ex-Reds.

Boxscore

In the first game of their double-header against the Braves, the Pirates somehow managed to win despite committing 4 errors. Yes, 4 errors. That’s a lot.

Also, the winner, Zach Duke, allowed 5 hits and walked 5 over 6 innings. How many runs did he allow? Why zero, of course. Strange, strange game, which also serves as the adjective for the Pirates march to almost .500 ball. The win moved the Pirates into a tie for fourth place, a height they haven’t seen in a while.

Boxscore

The Brewers (16-18) look like a very bad team right now. Following their sweep of the Astros, they were swept by the Marlins (20-14) and have seen themselves drop in the standings, currently resting in 4th place.

Carlos Villanueva (1-4) was the loser for Milwaukee. He kept his team in it for half the game, until allowing 5 runs off of a couple homers, one from former Red Jorge Cantu. Logan Kensing (1-0) got the win.

The Brewers return home to host the Cardinals when Todd Wellemeyer starts against Manny Parra at 8:05pm EDT. Can Milwaukee end its losing streak at 6? Magic 8-ball says, “Outlook not so good.”

Boxscore

Last year when Kyle Lohse (3-2) pitched for the Reds, he was frustrating to watch. In April, he pulled a Jekyll and Hide routine for the Cardinals (22-14), but apparently he drank the wrong serum once the calendar flipped to May.

Lohse was terrible against the Rockies (14-21), allowing 7 runs in 4 innings. This is his second bad start in a row, both this month. The Cardinals better be searching high and low for the potion to turn Lohse back into the April version or their lead in the standings will fall.

The only real bright spot for the Cardinals was Ryan Ludwick’s two home runs. They were solo shots, though, which is obviously an indictment of Ludwick. He shouldn’t hit those until the batters in front of him have gotten on base. Sheesh.

Jorge De La Rosa (1-1) got the win for the Rockies, who have been disappointing so far this year. They did manage to split the four-game series with the Cardinals, though.

St. Louis travel to Miller Park and send out Todd Wellemeyer to face Manny Parra at 8:05pm EDT.

Boxscore

In the latest installment of the continuing battle to suss out the worst team in the National League, the Pirates (15-19) proved that they are better than the Giants (14-21) by sweeping them in a three-game series. I wouldn’t have expected that, actually.

Matt Cain (1-3) got the loss, in an outing where he was solid but left in for too long. Franquelis Osoria (2-1) got the win for Pittsburgh. (As an aside, is it strange that a guy can have 2 of the Pirates’ 15 wins yet I’ve never heard of him?) Matt Capps (S 8 ) pitched the 9th for the save.

The Pirates hope to show that they’re better than more teams than just the Giants when Atlanta comes to Pittsburgh tonight at 7:05pm EDT. The matchup is Tom Glavine against Ian Snell.