I usually side with the pitchers, and today is no different. After considering Barmes or Cutch, James put together another great start and deserves the star again.

I vote for Barmes.

jimmy mac and cutch

J-Mac and Cutch

.5 to McDonald

and

.5 to Clint 'the hit collector II' Barmes.

Very nice weekend!!

McDonald.

McDonald

SOG for Sunday, June 3rd, 2012:
Pirates d. Brewers 6-5
Pirates hop above .500 at 27-26
Pirates take 2/3 from the BrewCrew
Pirates drop Brewers down to 24-30
Pirates move up to 2nd place in Division, 3 GB of Reds
Attendance: 34,334
And the Votes are in:

Andrew "the Man with the X-Ray Eyes" McCutchen 2 votes
Clint "Back from the Lab" Barmes 6 votes
James "Lights Out" McDonald 15 votes

Thank you for your Votes!!!

I think the Pirates may have multiple All-Stars this season. James "showed composure" McDonald came out a little shaky but finished strong to make his case for a trip to the All-Star game. McDonald went 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 Runs, 1 Earned Run, 1 BB, 8 Ks to improve to 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA. McDonald did not lose his composure and kept the game close in another, yes i will say it, dominating start. 1 earned run, 4 hits, 8ks in 6 IP is waaaaaay above the MLB curve.

James "Turned the Corner" McDonald for the Star.

The Brewers died but they died hard.

It took great games from several players to finally drive the stake through the home team. 'Cutch continued to terrorize the Brewers going 2/5 with 1 RS, 2 RBI and his 9th homer of the season. Clint "back from the grave" Barmes had himself a day going 2/4 with 1 RS, 2 RBI and his solo homer, his 3rd of the season, on the top of the 9th turned out to be the difference.

It is great to see another Pirate, 'Cutch, do well against the Brewers. Jack "The Ripper" Wilson used to be the designated Brewer Buster.

The Bullpen combo of Cruz and Grilli did not have the sharpest of days but the "this was not a boating accident..." type of day had the game teeter on the brink but not get "on a express elevator to h*ll...going down."

The Hammer flirted with disaster but nailed down his 14th save.

Miller Park has indeed been a House of Horrors and the Brewers came back more then Jason Voorhees, or his mother, ever did.

Very satisfying, if hair raising, series taking win. Hate the Brewers. HATE...THE...BREWERS.....

The Pirates drew 2 walks and struck out 12 times.

The Buccos moved to second place and start a 3 game series with the first place Reds on Tuesday. Should be good times.

Get em Buccos!

" You never have to wait long, or look far, to be reminded of how thin the line is between being a Hero or a Goat." Mickey Mantle

Star of the Year Standings:

Andrew "McClutch" McCutchen 6
James "Lights Out" McDonald 4
Erik "Winning!" Bedard 2
Rod "Gets on Base" Barajas 2
A.J. "Power Pitching" Burnett 2
Pedro "El Toro" Alvarez 1.5
Brad "Hot Rod" Lincoln 1.5
Kevin "K.C. and the Sunshine Band" Correia 1
Garrett "The Legend" Jones 1
Clint "Better then Ronnie" Barmes 1
Charlie "Ground Chuck" Morton 1
Josh "Say Hey" Harrison 1
Michael "The Fort" McKenry 1
Matt "The Hague" Hague 1
Jeff "our favorite Ewok" Karstens .5
Alex "The King" Presley .5

"James incurred the wrath....of a jealous woman...." J.Tillman

Barmes for the star tonight. 3-4, 3 RBI

Tip o the cap to Presley, McGehee, Walker and Burnett.

Hammer. Time to give the Pirates third best player (behind only McCutchen and McDonald) some love. Can't believe people want to trade him.

SOG = Clint Barmes

Pressley was the catalyst tonite

He came back and brought that Indy bat with him. Great to see. Keep Hurdle and Ritchie as far away from him as possible.

Barmes for SOG tonight...Honorable mention to Burnett...A.J. struggled a bit, but overall did well..

Barmes.

Barmes

After much thought, have to go with a three way star.

1/3 - Clint Barmes - Got big hits to drive in runs, and didn't give an easy out for the pitcher to strand guys on base.

1/3 - Joel Hanrahan - Closer came in and did what he has done all year...seal the deal. 1 Run across, two on and nobody out. He cleans up the mess by striking out the 4, 5, and 6 hitters. Glad he is on our side, and hope he can help us this run turn the last 19 years around.

1/3 - Chris Resop - Now i know what you're thinking, "This guy stinks, send him to Triple A, weak link in the pen, what a bum". I watched his work on MLB.TV (ponied up the big bucks), and while on gameday or radio it might just seem like he was wild and missing...he pitched the way he wanted to. First of all he comes in and limits the damage from AJ's mess without more then a sac fly to score the man on third that AJ put on, then sets the rest down. He comes back in the next inning, and pitches around Votto and Bruce, striking out the right handers and daring them to beat us. Votto was on all night, and his swinging strike was on a ball off the plate. Very gutsy effort to keep his cool, and strike out Philips and Heisey before and after walking the big lefties.

You have the three stars right. I just went with Hanrahan alone because he just gets no respect here for some reason. The Pirates are undefeated when they give a lead to the bullpen. The bullpen is the best in baseball and the main reason why the Pirates are over .500. Not even a big surprise -- well, maybe a little that it was this good -- but it was clear going in that the team had a good bullpen and that was the strength of the team.

closers never get the sog, i usually mention this when i feel joel deserved a star or half-star.

And yes, for today:

Joel Hanrahan