Pirates Game Day Blog with Colin Dunlap

3:40 p.m.

Grabow struggled, tried to give it away, but buckled down in the end.

Bucs win, Bucs win ... 5-3.

In the Astros half of the ninth, Lamb had a single to make it 5-3, Grabow then walked Ensberg to load the bases with two outs but got Everett to ground into a fielder's choice to end it.

So here were are, in the midst of a four-game winning streak and the Bucs are solidly at .500 with a 10-10 record as the Cincinnati Reds will make their way to the Burgh this weekend.

(In Greg Brown's voice, screaming, of course) RAISE THE JOLLY ROGER!

Forget the Jolly Roger, I am going to go raise a pint.

It has been fun, I appreciated all the e-mails and I'll see you again sometime soon.

PS -- The guy who, earlier, had his shirt off, now has his shirt back on but has added a black-and-gold hardhat to his stellar repertoire of camouflage pants and a Troy Polamalu T-shirt .

Does it get any better?

3:35 p.m.

Torres gives up a run and gets the hook from Sir James Tracy.

Here comes John Grabow with runners on first and second with two outs in an attempt to salt this one away. A home run ties it, an out ends it.

Pirates are up, 5-2, in the top of the 9th.

3:31 p.m.

One out and runners on first and second for the boys from Houston with Lance Berkman up.

Torres better buckle down or this could get away from him really quickly.

And by the way, Berkman should be disqualified from professional sports solely on the merits of this picture that appears of him on the Internet.

3:25 p.m.

Here come the nasty stuff of Solomon Torres to try to close it.

The Bucs hold a 5-1 lead with Lane, Burke and Loretta due up for Los 'Stros.

Uh, the safe money is on Torres nailing this one down.

On a side note, I just felt the first sprinkle of the day ... Torres needs to do this quick.

3:20 p.m.

They are not booing, they are saying DOU-MIT, DOU-MIT.

Ryan Doumit, he of recently called-up fame, just gave the Bucs a little breathing room with a two-out, two-RBI single to lift the lead to 5-1.

Doumit is the best Pirates clutch hitting catcher since..yeah, you guessed it, this guy.

3:16 p.m.

Nady was hit by a pitch to force home a run...the Bucs now lead 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth.

That was exciting, but not as exciting as what Adam LaRoche just did. Now, LaRoche hasn't, um, performed, up to expectations. But with the bases loaded he just launched one into the Allegheny River on a bounce.

One problem, though, it was a smidgen foul, so close that first base umpire Sam Holbrook gave a long look at it before signaling foul.

Of course, LaRoche then struck out.

Oh well, Mr. LaRoche, if you are going to go down, go down with some flair ... and that is what he did. Seriously, it was about a foot away from being 7-1.

3:11 p.m.

The Bucs (like the ever-darkening sky right now) are threatening.

There is one out in the home half of the eighth and they have the bases loaded with Xavier Nady coming to the plate to pinch hit for Matt Capps.

Nady came to the plate accompanied by The Clash's "London Calling." Joe Strummer and Mick Jones wrote that song, one is dead (Strummer), let's hope the Pirates' rally isn't.

3:02 p.m.

Capps got out of the eighth unscathed and the Bucs are holding this 2-1 lead.

Also, Pirates PR-sage Jim Trdinich just announced today's attendance -- 12,056.

No comment.

2:59 p.m.

I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but was Doug Frobel better than this guy.

Or, this guy.

Or, heck, even this guy.

2:53 p.m.

It is the away-half of the eighth and Matt Capps is in the game, about to face Lamb, Scott and Everett.

In looking up some stuff I noticed that Matt's middle name is 'Dicus'...no, that is not a misprint.

2:51 p.m.

We have a Nate McLouth sighting. He is pinch hitting for Jonah Bayliss. Yes, McLouth is still a Pirate.

Actually, he might be my favorite Pirate since this guy.

2:47 p.m.

Jonah Bayliss (one of the better names in baseball) just got Carlos Lee to ground into a double-play to end the inning as the Bucs are holding tight to this 2-1 lead as they come to the plate in the seventh.

By the way, it is 'Take you dog to the park' day or something along those lines. There are people with dogs in the park. I don't know, it just seems a little odd to me.

2:35 p.m.

Break up the Bucs.

J-Bay just hit a one-out single to right scoring Castillo and Duffy to lift the Pirates to a 2-1 lead in the home half of the sixth.

They are officially on the hunt to get to .500 and win their fourth straight.

Can the bullpen hold a lead?

2:31 p.m.

Imagine this:

This guy's voice is absolutely emanating through the stadium....

2:21 p.m.

Jonah Bayliss, Jonah Bayliss, Jonah Bayliss, Jonah Bayliss.

What a trooper.

Bayliss came in facing a none-out, bases loaded situation and got Brad Ausmus to pop out to Jack Wilson and then Astros pitcher Wandy Rodriguez to ground into the (say it with me now) 6-4-3 double play.

Houston manager Phil Garner maybe should have pinch-hit for Rodriguez...that's the thought here. Also, Rodriguez would have been better off simply striking out rather then putting it in play.

So here we stand headed into the bottom of the 6th with Houston up, 1-0, and Rodriguez cruising along with a 3-hitter.

2:20 p.m.: Oh yeah, by the way ... it has turned out to be a very nice day (so far).

2:15 p.m.

The Bucs are in a bit of a quandary, down 1-0.

There is no one out in the top of the sixth and Armas has just been yanked by manager Jim Tracy and replaced by Jonah Bayliss. In a double-switch, Jose Castillo has been inserted in the No. 9 spot and will play third.

Stay tuned. How the next few batters play out will be huge for both teams.

2:02 p.m.

The Bucs go quietly again: They are still trailing, 1-0, into the top of the 6th.

In other news, the pierogie race was won by Cheese Chester, in a rather thrilling contest as far as such races go.

Jalapeno Hannah (who should really be Jalapeno Jackie, Jalapeno Jessica, Jalapeno Jane, etc. so that uniformity with the letter 'J' persists) hit Cheese Chester with her purse down the stretch a few times in an attempt to stray him off his course.

1:54 p.m.

Fergie's "Glamorous" won that Pirates Jukebox thing. Thrilling.

I can't get enough of Fergie

I spend all my free time here: http://www.fergiefan.com

1:43 p.m.

The Bucs went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth and still trail.

But, there are two more important items:

1. No rain....yet.

2. The Pirates Jukebox contestants have just been unveiled on the new, larger replay board.

You know the drill by now (they've only been doing it for, like, 18 years): The scoreboard plays a snippet of three different songs and the fans clap for which one they'd like to hear during the next inning break.

First is "Glamourous" by Fergie.

Second, "Radar Love" by Golden Earring

Third, "Runaway" by Del Shannon.

With those three as the choices, I'll choose to go off the board.

If they can't find any John Prine, Van Morrison, Los Lobos, The Samples, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Old Crow Medicine Show, Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard or Jerry Jeff Walker, then my vote is for silence.

1:38 p.m.

Armas is holding the fort down. The Bucs still trail, 1-0. We are headed to the bottom of the fourth and, by his standards, Armas is pitching a gem. It would be nice to see him get some support. Wilson, Sanchez and J-Bay are due up so this would seem as good a shot as any to put one (or more) on the board.

PS -- With the Bucs are playing Houston, I thought this question was fair:

When you are in New York City and you get in a cab, or ask someone for directions, why is "Houston Street" not pronounced the same way as the city in Texas? I have always wondered why it is pronounced HOUSE-TIN in Manhattan. Seriously, it baffles me.

1:26 p.m.

Well, almost.

Ryan Doumit had a freak leadoff double where the ball glanced off the third base bag and skirted into the outfield.

That was the good news.

The bad news is that it was wasted, as he never advanced past second. With two outs, Chris Duffy stung one to right, but it was right at Luke Scott, who reeled it in for the final out.

End of 3 and the Astros still hold a 1-0 lead.

1:19 p.m.

Tony Armas is looking like Cy Young compared to how he looked earlier in the season, as the 'Stros still hold just a 1-0 lead. We are headed to the bottom of the third.

By the way, here is one from the "It is way too early for that" file.

A guy seated below the press box in Section 321 or thereabouts has his shirt off. Now, if you are that gentleman, you need to ask yourself, "Self, isn't it a tad too early in the calender to go shirtless in public?"

Maybe it is just me, but I find the window between late-May and the end of August the only time to go sans shirt in Western Pa.

1:12 p.m.

A guy named Joe Lopez from Belle Vernon successfully answered the Baseball Quiz question. And he got some ridiculous rubber chicken for his efforts. Seriously, they awarded him a rubber chicken after he chose to go with the prize hidden in the box as opposed to the jacket they were ready to hand him.

1:06 p.m.

The crowd isn't absolutely terrible. That is to say that it is rather respectable for a midweek day game in April. My guess is that there are probably around 8,000 fans here.

That means my guess for the announced attendance will be something in the area of 11,791.

By the way, Armas looked decently strong in the second, retiring Houston's bottom of the order.

The score remains Houston 1, Bucs 0, as we head to the bottom of the second.

12:56 p.m.

Bucs go quietly, 1-2-3.

End of 1 full inning: Houston 1, Los Buccos 0.

12:53 p.m.

Talk about REAL dedication. I just got the following e-mail:

Colin,

Good Morning! It's 6:45AM here in Honolulu (... a pleasant 75 degrees I

might add). I'm a native of Pittsburgh. Love the blog - which I will

check throughout the morning from my workstation at US Pacific Command.

Enjoy the game.

Gerry

12:51 p.m.

Armas "escapes" the top of the first by yielding just a run. It looked as if it could have been worse...end of one half inning, 'Stros 1, Bucs coming to bat.

12:45 p.m.

Lance Berkman hit a sac fly to right...'Stros lead 1-0.

And, by the way for those wondering where exactly Doumit came from today, well, Humberto Cota was placed on the disabled list retroactive to Monday.

12:39 p.m.

The first pitch is thrown .... and hit for a double. Armas flung it and the Astros' Chris Burke stung it. A double just inside the third base bag.

Uh, oh, this could be a long one.

12:37 p.m.

The Pirates just took the field (a few minutes late, I might add). Also, Bucs GM David Littlefield just made a pass through the "stinking writers" portion of the press box. It needs mentioned that Littlefield had a tremendously dapper, dark blue striped suit on today. It was something out of a Midtown Manhattan power broker luncheon. You might argue with Littlefield's baseball moves, but his fashion sense is impeccable.

12:26 p.m.

NICE! I am looking at the list of umpires and Bob Davidson is working behind home plate today.

Remember his work in the World Baseball Classic? If not, here is his wikipedia entry.

Also, the P-G's Chuck Finder, who is writing today's game story, just referred to me as Barry Lamar Blogs. Not bad, particularly for Finder.

12:15 p.m.

Some guy named Junichi Seki just threw out the first pitch. His hometown was listed as Osaka, Japan.

Now, that is dedication.

12:09 p.m.

And now, the intrigue ends. Here is the Pirates' lineup today:

Duffy -- CF

Wilson -- SS

Sanchez -- 2B

Bay -- LF

Eldred -- RF

LaRoche -- 1B

Doumit -- C

Bautista -- 3B

Armas -- P

By the way, I have already had enough of the "Weren't we just here?" and "Did you just sleep here?" jokes that are flying around the press box.

We get it, the game ran really late last night and you had to be back here for a day game today....we get it, life is tough. Move on.

12:01 p.m.

Well, I made it.

I'm here and ready to see if the Pirates can climb back to the .500 mark with a win today.

Actually, I give the Pirates and Astros kudos for simply climbing out of bed for this one, being that they were here into this early morning before Adam LaRoche finally "Raised the Jolly Roger" (in Greg Brown's voice, naturally) with a walk-off single in the 16th.

(Insert the "It's about time LaRoche did something" joke here.)

Now, I know it is early in the year, but today's starting pitchers (Tony Armas and Wandy Rodriguez) have a combined 0-3 record and a 21.67 earned run average.

That said, don't count on a 1-0 barnburner full of small ball and sacrifice bunts. This one has the makings of a score somewhere in the 9-7 range, a veritable beer league softball game.

PS -- I have set the over/under on the first rain delay at 1:17 p.m. Central Catholic baseball coach Rich Krivanek e-mailed me and said he is setting his over/under exactly at 2 p.m. We'll see what happens.

PPS -- And, by the way, if you have an idea, comment or any sort of feedback during the game, email me at cdunlap@post-gazette.com.