Home runs with people on base are good

If the Pirates wear red jerseys and use pink bats, will they score 20+ runs? - AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

The Pirates offense is suddenly potent, with the team's 11-5 win over the Diamondbacks tonight keeping the momentum going. Xavier Nady and Ryan Doumit each had three-run homers, while Adam LaRoche continued his steady improvement by going 2 for 4 with a walk. Jose Bautista and Freddy Sanchez each reached base three times as the Pirates put up double digit runs again. In the last six games, the Pirates have scored 13, 7, 3, 3, 7 and 11 runs. That's an average of over seven runs per game.

With Ian Snell starting tonight, one might have expected about four runs to be enough to produce a Pirate win. Entering the 5th inning, that script was being followed. The Bucs had three runs due to Nady's home run and Snell had been dominant. When the offense broke the game open with four more runs in the 5th, the game seemed over. Snell was quite possibly throwing the his finest game of the season and he now had a seven run lead to work with. But he was roughed up for four runs in the 6th inning and Arizona continued scraping away until the lead was 7-5. The Pirates added an insurance run in the 7th before Jim Tracy remembered who his hottest hitter was. Doumit entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning and promptly launched a three-run homer.

• Why is Ryan Doumit not in the lineup every night?
• Adam LaRoche is seeing the ball very well. His plate discipline right now is phenomenal.
• After Ian Snell had worked five shutout innings while throwing only 65 pitches, Lanny wondered on the radio broadcast if Snell had a chance at a complete game. Afterwards, he immediately allowed four runs.
• Tom Gorzelanny faces Micah Owings tomorrow night at 7:05. I hope to be attending this game.