THE BULLPEN

    On the road again! Our Pittsburgh Pirates get outta tahn for their final road trip of the season. They open their final series in St Louie tonight against the Cardinals. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)The Pirates home schedule ended last night when the game was washed out after 6 innings, with a 1-1 tie to the Cubs. Now the Bucs steer the ship towards St Louie. Although the Pirates playoff hopes have been dashed, St Louie is still alive. They're 1 game back in the wild card with 3 games to play. Wouldn't it be fun to knock St Louie out of the postseason? Deck the Cards! 2)RH Tyler Glasnow, 0-1, 4.91 ERA gets another chance to impress tonight. He'll face St Louie RH Carlos Martinez, 15-9, 3.15 ERA. The rookie, Glasnow, goes for his 1st MLB win. Gimme a W! 3)St Louie is a team that, typically, takes advantage of opportunities. If the Pirates want to win, they've got to one-up the Cards. Score early, score often, score BIG; Hit, Run, & Score! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!

THE BULLPEN

     One, two, three strikes you're out at the old ballgame! Our Pittsburgh Pirates close out their home schedule for the 2016 season tonight at PNC Park when they clash one last time with the Chicago Cubs. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)Break up the Bucs. The Pirates, finally, found the win column with an 8-4 victory over the Cubs last night. They'll need to win out if they want to avoid a losing season and go 81-81. Mrs. Black-N-Gold always worries that the next losing season will be the first of 21 straight losing seasons. Refuse to lose! 2)When last we saw young RH Jameson Taillon last night, he was receiving the hugs not drugs treatment in the dugout, on his way to a win with a 7-1 lead. The bullpen tried to give this one away but hung on 8-4. You got to know when to hold 'em! 3)Considering the aforementioned bullpen meltdown, it's always best to remember this mantra: There's always room for more Hit, Run, & Score! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!

THE BULLPEN

     Root, root, root for the home team! Our Pittsburgh Pirates continue their series with the Chicago Cubs tonight at PNC Park. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)How do you go on? The Pirates were officially eliminated following last night's 6-4 loss to the Cubs. Another day, another win given away with 5 games left to play. Fear not, Black-N-Gold Nation. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is in it till the end. She just wishes the Bucs were, too. Stop SUCKN and start BUCN! 2)Things won't get any easier for the Buccos tonight. They face RH Jake (I don't do steroids) Arrieta. You remember Jake, don't you? Pirates players probably still have nightmares about him in that Wild Card game last year. Even Sean Rodriguez wakes up in the middle of the night, looking for a Gatorade cooler to pummel. Manager Clint Hurdle has been hesitant to go all in with a youth movement to see what these kids have. One kid that better start tonight is Josh Bell. Fake Jake has yet to get JBell out in his young career. Ring his bell. Hit him early, hit him often, hit him HARD; Hit, Run, & Score! 3)RH Jameson Taillon starts for the Buccos. Here's one last chance to impress management and show that you should be a part of next season's starting rotation. Find the win column and raise the Jolly Roger! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!

THE 50-YARD LINE

     Well, Black-N-Gold Nation had to know that our Pittsburgh Steelers weren't going to go undefeated this season, didn't they? But Mrs. Black-N-Gold doesn't think anyone, including our Favorite Black-N-Gold Football Team, expected to lose in the manor in which they did on Sunday, a 34-3 drubbing at the hands of the Philthedelphia Iggles and their rookie QB Carson Wentz. Just like the Steelers, we'll want to wash this loss off but first, Mrs. Black-N-Gold brings you The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Sunday's defeat.

GOOD
Believe or not, there is some good to come from this loss. Actually, there are two good things. 1st of all, the loss was outside of the conference. And don't forget, the Bungles and Baltimorons also have to play Philly. 2nd is that there is help is on the way. That's right, RB Le'Veon Bell is back this week from suspension and should be raring to go.

BAD
Now that Mrs. Black-N-Gold is done being optimistic, it's time to look at all that was bad about this game. Let  Mrs. Black-N-Gold count the ways. Chiefly, the Steelers were flat-out out-coached and out-played. They failed to impose their will on either side of the football. They looked totally unprepared. Missed tackles and multiple penalties maligned this team. An effective Ben Roethlisberger behind a constantly collapsing offensive line and no run game, at all. Whereas the offense can look forward to LBell's return to help them right the ship, who/what can help this defense? It will be especially bad if many of the players injured during Sunday's game (LB Ryan Shazier, LB Lawrence Timmons, S Robert Golden) are unable to return this week.

UGLY
Things could  real ugly real quick  following this game. The Steelers could face the same with KC this week and beyond if adjustments aren't made. Philly gave the league the blueprint to beat the Steelers. And keep in mind, Philly's head coach, Doug Pederson, was the OC at KC last season. The Steelers were also beaten at KC last year, although Landry Jones was the QB in that game. Also, KC has a big, physical tight end in Travis Kelce. Big, physical tight ends are the Steelers Achilles heal. And with still just 1 sack in 3 games, maybe it's time the Steelers consider blitzing the QB a little.

And now a peak at the standings. Don't look now but the Baltimorons sit all alone atop the AFC North at 3-0. So many people were writing off the Baltimorons but there they are. The Steelers are next with a 2-1 record. The Bungles follow at 1-2. And bringing up the rear is the Cleveland Clowns with an 0-3 mark. The Steelers look to get back in the win column Sunday night at Heinz Field when they face the KC Chiefs. Time to dust ourselves off and get back to the drawing board. Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!

THE BULLPEN

     Batter up! Our Pittsburgh Pirates continue their final home series of the season tonight with the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)Someone call the postman because the Pirates are mailing it in again. Not only did they allow the Nats to celebrate their NL East title on home turf, now they've let the NL Central-winning Cubs boast of winning their 100th game at PNC Park. It was not pretty, either in the 12-2 clobbering. Please always remember and don't ever forget, we will always need more Hit, Run, & Score! 2)Not only have the Bucs bats gone into hibernation but so has the pitching. RH Ryan Vogelsong, 3-6, 4.85 ERA pitches tonight. The Cubs counter with RH John Lackey, 10-8, 3.39 ERA. Mrs. Black-N-Gold realizes that the youngsters of the Pirates staff have been none-too impressive but what is the point of pitching an ineffective Vogey? Again? Are they planning on bringing him back for another swan song next year? Let the kids play! 3)Clearly the only place the Pirates are going at the end of the regular season is the golf course. But for goodness sakes, do you have to make it so painful to watch? Make baseball fun again! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!

THE BULLPEN

     The crack of the bat, the thrill of the hit! Our Pittsburgh Pirates begin their final home series this season tonight at PNC Park when they clash with the NL Central-winning Chicago Cubs. These are your keys for tonight's game. 1)Another home game, another loss for the Pirates as they dropped their finale with the Nats yesterday, 10-7. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is a little weary from this horrible weekend so forgive her if she's unable to do the math. Regardless of whether the Bucs are still in contention for a Wild Card spot at 4.5 games back with 7 games to play, they still need to right the ship, find the win column and finish strong. Raise the Jolly Roger! 2)The Pirates put up plenty of runs yesterday. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough. Gotta have more Hit, Run & Score! 3)The Buccos bullpen was unable to hold the lead in yesterday's loss. You got to know when to hold 'em! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!

THE 50-YARD LINE

     Yoi and double yoi! Happy Pigskins & Pirates Day! Our Pittsburgh Steelers hit the road to take on their cross-state rivals the Philly Iggles. These are your keys for today's game. 1)The Steelers are off to a 2-0 start. That's the 1st time that's happened since 2010. If it's 3, it's for me! 2)Through 2 games, the Steelers defense has registered just 1 quarterback sack. That came Sunday when Cincy QB Andy Dalton fell down and OLB Arthur Moats got to him. Philly is starting a rookie under center in Carson Wentz. Give the kid a real welcome to the NFL. Hit him early, hit him often, hit him HARD! 3)The Steelers have not won in Philthedelphia since 1965. The last time the Steelers played in Philly, back in 2008, QB Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 8 times. The offensive line needs to see this doesn't happen again. Give Big Ben the time he needs to fly high against the Iggles. Score early, score often, score BIG! Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!