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The Pirates and San Francisco Giants will try again today.
Maybe.
The second game of their three-game series at PNC Park was rained out last night, and a doubleheader was scheduled for 1:35 p.m. today. But the storm expected to hit the area today should be far more severe than the drizzle last night, and it seems most likely that the Giants -- who are scheduled to visit Pittsburgh once -- will have to return for a doubleheader on a mutual day off later in the season.
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The starting pitchers today remain the same as those originally set to pitch the final two games: Ian Snell and Tony Armas for the Pirates, Barry Zito and Matt Cain for the Giants.
Tickets purchased for last night can be exchanged for any game the rest of the season -- including the doubleheader today -- except Aug. 16-18. The fleece blankets that were supposed to be given out will be pushed back to May 16.
Heartless and cruel
The Pirates' emphasis all offseason was fortifying the heart of their order, which they -- and just about everyone -- were convinced happened with the addition of Adam LaRoche.
Instead, LaRoche has struggled immensely at .088 and, coincidence or not, the rest of the heart has yet to find any semblance of rhythm.
Consider:
The cumulative batting average for the Nos. 3-6 spots in the order is .186, by far the worst such figure in the National League.
They have gotten a total of five home runs and 16 RBIs from those spots.
The .111 average at cleanup, where LaRoche usually hits, and the .175 at No. 6, where Ronny Paulino and his .182 average usually have been, each ranks last in Major League Baseball.
And remember the concern about how the top two spots would do? The leadoff spot, almost always filled by Chris Duffy, is batting .302 with a .388 on-base percentage. And No. 2, filled in every game by Jack Wilson, is at .273.
"I think we've got a dangerous lineup, and other teams know that, too," LaRoche said. "But we've got a couple guys in the middle struggling -- myself included, obviously -- and what happens sometimes is that other guys start trying to do more than they're capable. We'll be fine. We're all going to look back on this in a month, and it will be nothing. I know I will."
That lefty lineup
The Pirates' lineup that went unused last night to face the left-handed Zito was somewhat similar to the one manager Jim Tracy fielded last week against Cincinnati's Eric Milton in that Freddy Sanchez was at leadoff and Xavier Nady took Duffy's place in center field.
A new twist: Nady was at cleanup, LaRoche sixth.
"Just trying to do what we did in Cincinnati," Tracy said.
On the San Francisco side, Barry Bonds was going to be given the night off. He would play in only one game today.
Chacon shining
Because Shawn Chacon worked four innings out of the bullpen Friday, he will not be used today. Which is not a good thing for the Pirates, given how he has pitched.
In four appearances, he has turned in 10 innings, a 1.80 ERA and, most impressive, has struck out nine.
"He's been outstanding," Tracy said. "We've used him in a variety of ways, and he's been very effective in commanding all his pitches."
And this without yet reaching the velocities shown late last season.
"There's another notch there," Tracy said.
Buried treasure
Reliever John Grabow pitched a scoreless inning for Class AAA Indianapolis in the first game of his rehabilitation stint yesterday in Richmond, Va. He walked one -- then picked off that runner -- and threw six of 13 pitches for strikes.
Utilityman Don Kelly is warming up pitchers between innings for the purpose of being the Pirates' emergency catcher.
Nate McLouth has four hits in his past five plate appearances off the bench.
