THE BULLPEN

Rounding third and heading for home! Your Pittsburgh Pirates close out their west coast swing today in Seattle against the Ancient-Mariners. I know the Pirates packed the Jolly Roger. I hope they still have their brooms, too as they go for the 2-game sweep. These are your keys to today's game. 1)In last night's 9-4 victory, the Pirates cranked 5 homers, 2 from Starling Marte to keep the Marte Partay going. That is the most they've hit in a game since they had 5 HRs versus Milwaukee on July 22, 2009. The hits just keep on coming! 2)The Pirates won their season-high 5th game in a row. During the winning streak, the Bucs are averaging 7 runs per game and have knocked out 12 taters. They now sit at 47-30 on the season. This is the first time since 1992 that they've been 17 games over .500. Victories are like money, you can never have enough! 3)The Pirates face 2010 AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez today. King Felix is 8-4 with a 2.71 ERA. However, in his last start, he gave up season-highs with 7 runs and 12 hits in 5 innings. Hit him early, hit him often, hit him HARD with the Hit, Run, & Score! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!