Freddy Sanchez and Jose Bautista celebrate the Pirates' new lineup - AP Photo/Jerry Lai Jim Tracy apparently did some reading after Wednesday's game, trying to find some ideas on how to fix his offense. He discovered the novel idea entitled, "Bat Your Best Offensive Players at the Top of the Lineup So They Get the Most Plate Appearances." After staying up all night thinking about this concept, Tracy finally had his solution. He sent the following lineup card to the umpires: Sanchez, Bautista, Bay, Doumit, Nady, LaRoche, Paulino, Wilson, Maholm. And what happened? The Pirates offense "exploded" for six runs. Five batters in and the Bucs had a 3-0 lead over Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs. Paul Maholm threw well despite a late home run by Michael Barrett and the road trip concluded with a 6-4 victory. After getting beat up in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Pirates responded and took two of three from the red-hot Cubs.
Tonight the Pirates welcome Mike Gonzalez, Craig Wilson and the rest of the Atlanta Braves into town to start a ten-game homestand. Judging from the starting lineups, it seems Tracy was paying attention in Chicago.
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