THE BULLPEN

    Rounding third and heading for home! Your Pittsburgh Pirates close out their road trip this afternoon in Washington as they battle the Gnats. These are your keys for today's game. 1)They say baseball is a game of streaks. How right they are. The Pirates went from the hottest team in baseball, reeling off 8 straight wins, to losing 2 in a row. The second loss hurt the most as Max Scherzer retired 26 consecutive batters yesterday. The perfect game bid was ruined when he caught Jose Tabata's elbow with 2 out in the top of the 9th on a 2-2 pitch in a 6-0 Pirates loss. Today, the Bucs will try to right the ship and salvage a win in Washington where they've lost 6 straight. Find the win column and raise the Jolly Roger! 2)RH Charlie Morton, 5-0, 1.62 ERA, takes the mound for the Pirates. He'll face Gnats LH Gio Gonzalez, 4-4, 4.82 ERA. A win today would give Charlie a 6th straight W to start his season. Grind 'em up, Ground Chuck! 3)The Bucs have scored just 1 run in the first 2 games of this series. The pitching staff helped propel the Pirates to their 8-game winning streak, now it's the hitters turn to left up the pitchers. Hit, Run, & Score, Oh my! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!