Interleague, Road, Lefties Continue to be Unkind to Bucs
Chase Field (NP)- Careening towards 100 losses Jim Tracy and your battling buccos seem content at the status quo. They escaped an interleague matchup in Jacobs Field against the Indians by taking one out of three games. Yes I said, taking, despite going 1-2, they actually upped their winning pct. Such is the life of a 14-30 ball club. Pirates can not seem to win on the road, against lefties or in interleague play and all these instances held true.

Pirates 14-30 .318
Third worst record in Major League Baseball
15 GB in NL Central
Largest gap in the National League
Elimination # 104
Tied with the Royals to the fastest route of elimination
Road record 4-19
Fewest road wins in NL, and most road losses in NL
Vs. lefties 1-15
Worst mark in baseball, closing in on all-time record
1-run games 4-12
Worst record in Major League Baseball
Outscored 223-182
Second worst in the National League

The Pirates lead the majors in batters hitting .250 or below
They include
Jose Bautista .250
Mark Edwards .250
Nate McLouth .250
Humberto Cota .226
Joe Randa .216
Ryan Doumit .216
Jeremy Burnitz .214
Chris Duffy .194 (restricted list)
Jose Hernandez .149 (I am not making that up)

KKK club of Pittsburgh
Craig Wilson 39
Burnitz 37
Jason Bay 34

The Pirates only have one pitcher above .500, King Solomon Torres at 2-1
He also boasts a 4.71 ERA
All-star hopeful Mike Gonzalez is 1-3
Staff ace? Zach Duke is 2-5
Victory Santos is still stuck on one win despite not missing any starts
Oliver Perez continues to dominate the ERA discussion with a 6.98.
Don't look now Olly but Ian Snell (somehow 3-3) is closing in at 5.74

The Pirates gave Cleveland Pitcher Bob Wickman his first win in four years. These battling buccos just love rewriting history.

Odds of losing 100 games: 78%
On pace to be: 52-110

Road to the World Cup
Odds of the Day
To Win the World Cup Germany 2006
No. 1 Brazil 12/5
No. 2 Germany 7/1
No. 3 England 8/1
No. 4 Argentina 9/1
No. 5 Netherlands 10/1
No. 5 Italy 10/1

No. 11 USA 30/1

Check back for Group by Group breakdown and predictions

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-n