For the Pirates, a 3-3 record on a road trip is not a bad thing.
Considering they got only three hits off the Reds' Aaron Harang on Sunday at Cincinnati, were one-hit by St. Louis' Chris Carpenter in the final game of that series and were right in both games, they could return to Pittsburgh for Monday's home opener against Houston with their heads held high. They also can brag about the first triple play of the new season. Shortstop Jack Wilson caught a blooper in short left field Sunday, and the runners hadn't stopped. OK, maybe they didn't deserve quite as much credit for that play, but considering they were last in the league in fielding going into the weekend, it's something.
The Pirates still have plenty of huge question marks, of course, not the least of which is whether they're going to be able to hit. The futility starts with the LaRoche brothers, Adam and Andy, who together aren't hitting their weight. Adam is at .136 after going 0-for-3 Sunday, and Andy doesn't have a hit yet.
Center fielder Nate McLouth hasn't heated up yet, either. He went 0-for-4 against Harang and is at .143. The cleanup hitter, catcher Ryan Doumit, is at .208.
No wonder they're getting these gems thrown against them.
REDS 2, PIRATES 0: Reds RHP Aaron Harang, trying to bounce back from the worst season of his career, was magnificent. He threw 80 of his 108 pitches for strikes in earning the complete-game shutout. RHP Ian Snell pitched pretty well (two runs, five hits in six innings) but couldn't keep up.
