Pirates waste no time

Pittsburgh has three newcomers in the lineup today: pitcher Jeff Karstens (from Yankees), third baseman Andy LaRoche (Dodgers) and right fielder Brandon Moss (Red Sox).

Karstens got through the first inning without giving up a hit against the talented Cubs lineup. LaRoche singled up the middle off the glove of Ronny Cedeno and later scored. Moss struck out.

The Pirates got these guys right into the lineup, hoping to learn whether they can help reverse 15 straight seasons of losing baseball. With a record of 50-58, Pittsburgh's in danger of equaling an old Phillies team with the losingest stretch in major sports history, 16 consecutive seasons of losing.

Howling for strikeouts

Never knew this before, but Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper says MLB umpire Jim Wolf is pitcher Randy Wolf's brother. The must've made sure that Jim was rotated away from Padres games while Randy was with San Diego. I wonder how that impacted Jim's schedule when Randy was moved to Houston before the trade deadline.

Jim's howling balls and strikes today in Chicago for the Cubs-Pirates tilt at Wrigley. Actually, he has a silent strike call. Too bad.

Zito - good enough to throw BP

Barry Zito threw batting practice Thursday for the Giants, a day before his latest start.

In his unfortunately ceaseless quest to get things right, Barry Zito pitched what amounted to a simulated game against the Giants' hitters rather than throw a normal side session in the bullpen. This is old school. When teams had four-man rotations, pitchers usually threw full-speed batting practice.

"It's always a great benefit throwing against hitters in game situations," said Zito, coming off a loss against Arizona in which he allowed six runs and five walks in five innings. "It's something I've done in the past in Oakland here or there. I've got 30 pitches on the side. Why not take advantage of the guys and get their feedback?"

Give the guy credit for trying everything and anything to get things right, but at this point nothing is working. Zito's lost 13 games this season, putting him in jeopardy of losing 20 before all is said and done.

Dump Dunc

The Cardinals release new information on once-slugging outfielder Chris Duncan. Duncan's been on the DL sine July 22nd with a bulging disc in his back. Now that's been downgraded to herniated disc.

Though Duncan's initial treatment has consisted of a series of injections, surgery is often required to address a herniated, or ruptured, disk, which is considered more serious than a bulging disk. A club source on Thursday suggested Duncan likely would require corrective surgery.

He's not coming back any time soon.

Fantasy Impact: At this point, little. Duncan did look like a nice fourth outfielder at the year's outset after he hit 22 and 21 homers the past two seasons. This year, however, he never got on track, hitting just six homers in 222 at bats. Leave him alone until next spring.

Brand new Nats

The Washington Nationals might have a brand new middle infield tonight against the Cincinnati Reds. The Nats dealt for Yankees reserve shortstop Alberto Gonzalez and then released Jose Lopez. Lopez had been starting for injured Cristian Guzman.

At second, look for Emilio Bonifacio (acquired in Jon Rauch trade with Arizona), who was recalled on Friday. Bonifacio is a speed demon and could unseat Ronnie Belliard for a starting job. The Nats have little to play for, so it could be audition time.

Pirates love Morris

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says scouts glow about pitcher Bryan Morris (acquired in the Jason Bay deal) and his upside.

"The sky could be the limit for this kid," said Danny Darwin, the former Pirates pitcher who is Great Lakes' pitching coach.
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"This kid is definitely a big league prospect," Darwin said. "He just needs to refine what he has."

Morris, 6-3, 190, throws his fastball 96-97 mph "on a good day," Darwin said, adding that his curve and slider are "swing-and-miss" pitches.

The Pirates are also high on Brandon Moss, and it sounds like he'll get a shot to start in left field.

Nomar defends Manny

Manny Ramirez wasn't the first player to leave Boston in a huff, and former/current teammate Nomar Garciaparra in Los Angeles is the first to come to his defense.

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez told ESPN the other day. "During my years here, I've seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn't want them, to try to turn the fans against them.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy."

This could be Manny being Manny. Or this could be the Red Sox being the Red Sox.

"There's a lot of truth to what he said," Garciaparra said at his Dodger Stadium locker Thursday, two hours after the Dodgers acquired Ramirez. "I can definitely understand and relate. Maybe he'll be next to me [in an adjacent locker], and we can chat and laugh about it."

I actually had a friend covering the Red Sox when Garciaparra was traded away. There was a lot written, good and bad, about Nomar at that time, but I'll never forget what my buddy told me: "Nomar is a cancer."

Dinner and Dessert

There are two games of the day.

The early one has the Angels sending Ervin Santana (11-5) to the hill attempting to make it five straight wins over AL East stalwarts Boston and New York. They should. The Yankees counter with shaky Sidney Ponson (6-2). This is more of a test to see if LA can win a game they're supposed to win after doing the unthinkable in sweeping Boston at Fenway and out-hitting the Yankees in the Bronx.

The late one features The D'backs at the Dodgers. Arizona opened a two-game lead over Los Angeles with a win at Dodger Stadium, but now the reinforcements arrive. Manny Ramirez and Clayton Kershaw go up against Randy Johnson. That's 20-year-old power-lefty Kershaw (1-3) going up against 44-year-old power-lefty Johnson (8-7). What a matchup!

Honorable mention: The Phillies and Cole Hamels 9-6) visit the Cardinals and Kyle Lohse (12-3) in a battle of two teams who could end up fighting for the NL Wild Card.

Friday Debuts

Two pitchers make debuts tonight for their respective ball clubs.

Jeff Karstens, acquired in the Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte deal with the Yankees, starts for the Pirates against the Cubs at Wrigley. He owns a 3-5 record and 5.65 ERA in 15 MLB outings. He's made nine starts at the Major League level. Karsten's opponent is the Cubs' Jason Marquis

Raymond Thomas Hunter makes his MLB debut for the Rangers tonight against the Blue Jays Shaun Marcum. He goes by Tommy, so don't be confused. He's had some success in the minors, albeit modest success by prospect standards. In his most recent stop at Triple-A Oklahoma, Hunter went 2-2 in five starts with a 3.24 ERA. He's not a strikeout artist and says one tiny adjustment is the reason for his recent success in the minors.

"The only big difference is learning to keep the ball down, keep it in the bottom half of the strike zone instead of thigh high where it gets crushed. It really came from the first four starts when I was in Bakersfield. I had to learn quick (after posting a 5.14 ERA). That's one big part of being able to win in professional baseball, keep the ball down."

This might be a one-start opportunity for Hunter.