THE BULLPEN

     Pennant fever. Catch it! your Pittsburgh Pirates open a HUGE 3-game series tonight for a showdown with the NL Central-leading St Louie Cardinals. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)The Pirates were swept out of Milwaukee last night, 5-3 and have lost 4 in a row. Whether they were looking ahead to this series or not, the damage has been done. They sit 6.5 back in the division with 30 games to play, 6 head-to-head with St Louie starting tonight. The Bucs have said all season that their goal is go win the NL Central. It's put up or shut up time. Right the ship, find the win column and raise the Jolly Roger! 2)The Pirates start LH JA Happ, 7-7, 4.10 ERA. Happ has won his last 3 starts and has an ERA of 0.51 during that stretch. Have a Happy Happ Day! 3)St Louie sends RH Carlos Martinez, 13-6, 2.91 ERA, to the mound. Martinez has proven he can be rattled. Hit him early, hit him often, hit him HARD. Hit him with everything you've got, with all the Hit, Run,
& Score you can muster! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!