THE BULLPEN

     The crack of the bat, the thrill of the hit! Our Pittsburgh Pirates continue their series with the Chicago Cubs tonight on the North Shore at PNC Park. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)With last night's 8-4 win in the opener, the Bucs have gone 8-1 in their last 9. Refuse to lose! 2)This has been a season of many firsts for several Pirates prospects. We've seen Wilfredo Boscan, Jameson Taillon, Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault and Tyler Glasnow all contribute to the big club on the mound. We've also seen Adam Frazier record his 1st MLB hit and RBI. Last night was another milestone for another highly-toted rookie. Congrats to 1B Josh Bell for his 1st MLB hit and run scored. These youngsters are contributing the way the Baby Pens helped the Black-N-Gold win another Stanley Cup. The kids are alright! 3)The Cubs start LH Jon Lester, 9-4, 2.67 ERA. He will face Pirates rookie RH Chad Kuhl, 1-0, 4.09 ERA. Of course, Mrs. Black-N-Gold could cue up the "Kuhl" puns for this last one. But she's not going that route right now. Lester can be had on the basepaths. It's a well-known fact that he doesn't like to throw over to hold the runner. Run wild on the lefty and Hit, RUN, & Score! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!