Bucs Win Again!

The Mighty Pirates improved to 2-0 in Spring Training today by rallying for 3 runs in the ninth to pull off a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. The Pirate's future looked good in doing so, as Pedro Alvarez doubled home Neil Walker with the first run in the ninth. Jose Tabata scored soon after and Alvarez himself then came home as the decisive run. Ian Snell overcame a rough first inning (exacerbated by a Brian Bixler error) and struck out the side in the second. Ross Ohlendorf, Jimmy Barthmaier, Denny Bautista and Sean Burnett each were perfect in relief. Okay okay, I know it's Spring Training, but good pitching and clutch hitting really makes me happy. Up next, the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Dirty Doug officially moves on. Today, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Mientkiewicz to a minor league contract with an invite to their Spring camp. We all knew at this point that Doug Mientkiewicz was not coming back to Pittsburgh, so this is not shocking news by any means. Mientkiewicz played well for the Pirates last year and was a fan favorite, but Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette can't help but wonder if management just didn't want him around any longer. If that's the case, I'm going to have to support the Pirate's brass here. Though I don't expect the major league ball club to be very good this year, I haven't felt so optimistic about the near future of the Pirates in quite some time.