Strong Pitching Leads Bucs to Pair of Wins

The presumptive third and fourth starters in the Pirates' rotation continued their impressive Springs with superb outings the past two games. Monday, in the Pirates' 4-1 win over the Rays, Zach Duke pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks to go along with 4 strike outs. He even picked a batter off first. Duke's ERA for the Spring is now 1.83. On Tuesday night, Ross Ohlendorf led the Pirates to a 5-2 win over Atlanta. Ohlendorf pitched 6 scoreless innings, surrendering 5 hits and no walks while striking out 3. Ohlendorf's Spring ERA is now 0.59, which is actually still a little higher than Paul Maholm's (0.46). I know, I know, they're just Spring stats. But it's impressive nonetheless.

The Pirates play the Rays again tonight, with Jeff Karstens getting the start.