Pirates Maholm Looks To Collect Against Chapter 11 Rangers

If the Texas Rangers are bankrupt how do they have so many great players and the Pirates, who aren’t bankrupt, don’t?  Josh Hamilton has the longest hitting streak in the bigs.  The Rangers are looking for their tenth straight victory.  The Pirates have an awful record in June, while the Rangers have the league’s best.  The Pirates record shows them being out sucked by one team.  The 19 win  Baltimore Orioles.  So what gives?

Yeh, I know.  I know.  I didn’t really need an answer.  I hear what you’re thinking.

Hamilton has a career-high 17-game hitting streak to lead Texas on this white-hot streak.  Meanwhile, Garrett Jones was picked off the trash heap by the always frugal Pirates last year.  Jones has been better for Bob Nutting than a TJ Maxx polo with his career-high 12-game hitting streak.  Unfortunately the Pirates haven’t been able to win many games during Jones’ streak and haven’t been close to a ten-game winning streak since you were cool.

Hamilton is mashing during his streak with eight homers while driving in 24 runs.  Jones streak is a little more pedestrian with two homers, four doubles and he has .422 and driven in 10 runs.  Hamilton is an ass.  Jones is a stud.

So the bankruptcy judge is doing his best to get this deal wrapped up.  I am happy for Chuck Greenberg.  I hope it gets done by the deadline.  But in the end, it’s just a damn shame he couldn’t spend his money on baseball in Pittsburgh.

Maybe, just maybe the rebuild of the Pirates would have been a little closer to completition by now.

Enough with the money talk, does Pittsburgh have enough in the tank tonight to take down the Rangers?  I think they do.  It will take a pile of runs which Paul Maholm never gets lately, but the Bucs need to find a way to get a win in this series.  Tonight is the best opportunity.

HOT:

Pirates LHP Paul Maholm will start tonight.  He is money when he goes six innings.  Say your prayers kids.  Maholm has a 2.68ERA in seven road starts this season.

The Rangers are 16-4 since they ended May with a four game losing streak.  Best in MLB.

Hamilton has a .339 average, 17 homers and 53 RBIs.

Lastings Milledge has hit safely in ten of his past eleven starts.  He hits .392 with RISP.

With a hit tonight, Neil Walker can extend his hitting streak to six games.

Dustin Nippert heads to the bump for the Rangers.  Nippert had pitched from the bullpen througout the year.  A few Rangers starters were injured and he got summoned to starter duty.  He  pitched three innings giving up seven hits to Florida last week  and surrendered three runs.

NOT:

The Pirates run support for Maholm has been next to nothing.  Maholm must feel like he has to throw a shutout every times he toes the rubber.

Jose Tabata has gone 1-for his last-14.

The Pirates bullpen usuage could get interesting tonight.

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If you want to see how the media made a mockery of the bankruptcy judge’s ruling yesterday this post has the blow-by-blow.