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Baseball Today (AP)

Podsednik has four hits as Rockies top Pirates (AP)

Scott Podsednik's struggles at the plate forced him to go back to the basics. It paid of handsomely Saturday night. Podsednik had three doubles among his four hits and two runs scored, and Jorge De La Rosa pitched six gritty innings to give the Colorado Rockies a 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Podsednik, a career .272 hitter, came into Saturday's game hitting .217.

Pirates Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

John Grabow provided the Pirates' lone highlight of the early stages of the second half Friday night by pitching one scoreless inning in a 5-2 loss at Colorado.

Grabow had not pitched since July 8, missing six games with soreness in his pitching arm. He has been a workhorse throughout his career and made at least 63 relief appearances in each of the previous four seasons.

"I don't like sitting around," Grabow said. "I very rarely get two or three days off in a row, let alone eight or nine. So, I was itching to get out there."

Grabow looked sharp as he retired the side in order in the eighth inning to lower his ERA to 3.28 in 43 games this season. The Pirates, though, lost for the second time in as many games to the Rockies since the All-Star break.

"My arm...

Rockies hit three home runs to beat Pirates, 5-2 (AP)

Seth Smith was thinking extra bases when he left the batters box. He never expected to score standing up. Smith hit an inside-the-park home run, and Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe each hit their 15th homers of the season to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Pirates recall RHP Salas (PA SportsTicker)

The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled righthander Marino Salas from Class AAA Indianapolis prior to Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies.

Iannetta homers to lead Rockies over Pirates (AP)

The Colorado Rockies expected Chris Iannetta to be their catcher of the future in 2007. A year later, he's living up to that promise. Iannetta hit a broken-bat, two-run homer in the sixth and drove in three runs and Ubaldo Jimenez pitched seven innings to lead help the Rockies snap a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Pirates recall RHP Salas from Triple-A (AP)

The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled right-handed reliever Marino Salas from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday to take the place of reliever Romulo Sanchez, who was optioned Sunday. Salas was 1-0 with an 11.17 ERA in nine appearances for Pittsburgh this season. He was sent to Indianapolis on May 29, where he was 2-3 with a 4.17 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 27 appearances.

Pertinent post-All-Star break issues (Yahoo! Sports)

Questions for each team come to mind two at a time as the season enters its second half.

A decision on maple bats appears far off (Yahoo! Sports)

Although Commissioner Bud Selig has appealed for urgent action to resolve baseball's maple bat crisis, one of...

Miles' 5 RBIs lead Cardinals past Pirates 11-6 (AP)

The St. Louis Cardinals rediscovered their offense, and a worked-over Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff will have trouble forgetting this weekend. Aaron Miles drove in five runs with a home run and a triple and the Cardinals held off a Pittsburgh comeback this time, beating the Pirates 11-6 Sunday. Miles got three hits and is batting .335 (64-for-191) in 46 games as a starter.

Mets, Yanks interested in Nady, but he won't come cheap (Yahoo! Sports)

Now, it would seem because of the injuries to Hideki Matsui and Moises Alou, both teams have a pressing need...

Michaels' homer rallies Pirates past Cardinals (AP)

The St. Louis Cardinals should know this by now: No late-inning lead is safe against the Pittsburgh Pirates, especially with Jason Michaels at bat. Not even a lead this big. Michaels hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning, the Pirates' third big homer in three innings, and Pittsburgh rallied from six runs down in the eighth to beat the St.

Pirates 3B Mientkiewicz ejected (PA SportsTicker)

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was ejected in the fourth inning of Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals for arguing a call at second base.

Pirates place LHP Dumatrait on DL (PA SportsTicker)

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed lefthander Phil Dumatrait back on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with soreness in his left shoulder.

Dumatrait on DL, Herrera up for Pirates (AP)

The Pirates scratched left-hander Phil Dumatrait from his scheduled start against St. Louis on Saturday due to an aching shoulder and recalled Double-A pitcher Yoslan Herrera to face the Cardinals. The Pirates made four roster moves following their 6-0 loss to the Cardinals on Friday night, also optioning right-hander Luis Munoz back to Double-A Altoona and reinstating right-handed reliever...

Lohse wins 11th as Cardinals beat Pirates 6-0 (AP)

Kyle Lohse is one of the NL's biggest surprise stories of the season, so his latest effective start wasn't exactly an unexpected development. This was: The St. Louis Cardinals put together one of their best offensive games in weeks, and it all began with a big inning that already looked to be over. Lohse limited the Pirates to six hits over seven shutout innings and Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick...

Pirates top Yankees 4-2 behind Maholm, McLouth (AP)

Many pitchers wish they could redo a start against the New York Yankees. Paul Maholm did, and couldn't have been much happier with the result. Nate McLouth got a second chance after messing up a bunt attempt, and it turned out much better, too. McLouth hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh and Maholm allowed two runs over eight innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the Yankees 4-2...

Craig Wilson traded to Mariners (AP)

On a busy day in the Pirates' minor league system, the team traded former starting outfielder Craig Wilson to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named on Thursday. Wilson was hitting .230 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs at Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates also acquired right-hander Dan Reichert and infielder-outfielder Ryan Mulhern from the Indians, also for a player to be named.

The Survey says... (SportingNews.com)

When it comes to ranking their peers, major league players can field the tough questions ... and their answers might surprise you.

Blum leads Astros past Pirates to avoid sweep (AP)

After building big leads in their previous three games only to lose each time, the Houston Astros didn't let it happen again. Geoff Blum hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Houston avoided a three-game sweep by holding off the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 Wednesday night. Kazuo Matsui, Ty Wigginton and Michael Bourn each had two hits for the Astros, who blew a four-run lead before scoring twice...

Pirates beat Astros in rain, 4-3 (AP)

Almost six hours after it started, the Pittsburgh Pirates found the perfect time to get their first lead against the Houston Astros. Nate McLouth's two-run single in the eighth capped a three-run rally and Pittsburgh sent the Astros to their seventh loss in eight games with a twice rain-delayed 4-3 win Tuesday night.

Pirates beat Astros 10-7 (AP)

The Pirates took advantage of Houston's dire bullpen situation. Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit each hit home runs to lead 10 Pirates with at last one hit in Pittsburgh's 10-7 win over the Astros on Monday night to snap a three-game losing skid. Houston had used six of relievers to pitch 10 2-3 innings in a 17-inning, 7-6 loss in Atlanta Sunday, forcing the Astros to stick with ineffective starter...

Baseball Power Poll: Rays, Red Sox start series in top 3 (SportingNews.com)

Ryan Fagan takes over for Sean Deveney as the official purveyor of the week that was in baseball. He gives you his weekly rankings every Monday morning.

Baseball power poll: Red Sox need bullpen help, not more power (SportingNews.com)

Every week Sean Deveney ranks every team in the majors.

Baseball power poll: Angels' Rodriguez may make history (SportingNews.com)

In one of his last go-rounds with the power poll, Sean Deveney pays heed to Francisco Rodriguez's sweet half-season ... and the immortal MC Hammer.