Zach Duke and the Run Support get the "W"

Zach Duke continues to show improvement and promise on the mound for the Buccos. This season, he has been the Pirates' best pitcher in the starting rotation by a long shot. With a record of 8-3, he is 5th in the National League in wins; he also has a decent ERA of 3.10. Not bad after 13 starts. If he had gotten more run support in a couple of his games-such as his effort against the White Sox, giving up 2 runs in 8 innings with the support of a whopping 0 runs from the Pirates offense, or maybe his pitching against the Reds, giving up 1 run in 7 innings only to take the loss 4-0-he might have 9 or 10 wins at this point in the season.

Duke has giving up a maximum of 6 runs, twice, and both against the Atlanta Braves. If Zach is going to have a weakness, better it be the Braves, with whom the Pirates play much less often, than maybe the Brewers or Cardinals. The only reason why he doesn't lead the league in wins right now, is the Pirates run support when he's on the mound. He's even taken it into his own hands, hitting an extraordinary .231 BA (that's only .025 away from the Pirates cleanup hitter, the one and only Adam LaRoche). Duke doesn't show any signs that his stellar start to the season is a fluke. His control is superb and his poise is impressive. After giving up a solo home run in the first, Duke went on to give up only 2 more runs, on only 7 hits.

In his outing against Detroit, the Pirates finally showed some support for their pitcher's effort. After going down 1-0 from the previously mentioned solo HR, they tied and rallied to score 4 runs from great baserunning, clutch hits, and a long ball from Adam LaRoche. Impressive, Pirates, impressive. Freddy Sanchez sealed the deal with an extremely rare home run. Did I mention it was a grand slam? Clutch Freddy, clutch.

The Pirates are continuously showing their ability to battle back after lossses. Even after losing two games here and there, they find a way to stop a losing streak in its track and battle back. Remaining at 4 under .500, they show the potential to rise above very soon. With the return of Ryan Doumit coming in the next few weeks, the Pirates will boost their already impressive team batting average of .261 (yes, that went up after McLouth left the line up), which stands at 5th in the National League right now. Getting clutch line drives from the exciting Andy LaRoche and Jason Jaramillo, the Pirates are playing fast ball and driving in runs easily. With the speed of Andrew McCutchen and Nyjer Morgan at the top of the line up, RBIs are coming easy to the middle of the lineup.

With controlled pitching, smart and fast baserunning, and clutch hits, the Pirates' combo of Zach Duke and Co. is a matchup to watch out for.