Pedro Alvarez Homers in First Pro Game

Pedro Alvarez homered and drove in 4 runs in his first official professional game. Alvarez also singled and doubled tonight in Class-A Lynchburg's 6-5 win against Potomac. I know it's just one game but this is absolutely something worth getting excited, even overly, about. The Pirates don't often have a potential superstar anywhere in their system and I plan to follow Alvarez's games just as closely as the big league club's. Also of note in this game, 2008 third round pick Jordy Mercer had two hits and scored two runs.

In the show, the Pirates lost to the Cardinals 2-1 this afternoon. The Bucs managed just 1 hit off a finally healthy Chris Carpenter, spoiling a solid start by Ross Ohlendorf. The Pirates head to Cincinnati for three games beginning tomorrow, and my wife and I will be there in person for Saturday's game. It is our first visit to Cincinnati and expect to see some snapshots of the Great American Ballpark by the end of the weekend.