Let's try a different perspective here: for the first time in a long time, you could accuse the Pirates of playing down to their opposition this weekend. Against an awfu Astro team, the Pirates spent most of this weekend playing on one side or the other of a low-scoring one-run game. Today, the only run was a solo homer by Pedro Alvarez that was the diametric opposite of his mammoth blast on Friday night; he just barely got enough to bloop the ball over the short wall in left field. That was enough, though, as Jeff Locke threw seven shutout innings, holding the Astros to just three hits and two walks. Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli were perfect in the eighth and the ninth, and the Pirates are eight games over .500 and tied with the Reds, both for second place in the NL Central and for the second best record in the National League. 

I said before this week started that I thought five wins against the Brewers and Astros would be appropriate, and that's what the Pirates have to show for the week. Now they've got three games against the Cubs at home before traveling to Milwaukee, then playing a home-and-home four-game set against the Tigers at the end of the month. I remember saying this a lot last summer when things were going well, and so I'll say it again now: all wins count the same, no matter how ugly they are or when they take place in the season. The Pirates have 26 of them right now, and it's impossible not to be happy with that on May 19th.

Eventually, Mark Melancon was going to have to do something that resulted in some runs and maybe a loss. Eventually, the Astros were going to have to win a game against a team better than them (this happens whenever the Astros win, of course). The important thing is that even with yesterday's loss, a win today puts the Pirates at 5-2 this week with three games against the Cubs looming after an off-day. That's a good week. 

Jeff Locke gets the start today. Last time out he struck out a season high six and only walked one hitter, so hopefully he can build on that today. Lucas Harrell goes for the Astros. You don't need me to tell you this since he pitches for the Astros, but Lucas Harrell has not been very good this year. He has as many walks as strikeouts and he's given up seven homers in just under 50 innings. The Pirates' offense hasn't done a ton in this series against the Astros. Maybe today's the day to change that. First pitch is at 1:35.

On the mound tonight will be the Pirates' two big pitching acquisitions from the winter of 2011/2012. AJ Burnett worked out quite well. Erik Bedard did not. Astro Erik Bedard looks a lot like Pirate Erik Bedard; there are tons of strikeouts, a lot of walks, hits all over the places, and just tons and tons of pitches. In eight appearances and six starts, Bedard's only thrown 27 innings. 

The mantra for this series is: beat the Astros and if that fails, at least get out of the way so that the Astros can beat themselves. First pitch tonight is at 7:05.

Take what they give you. 

Let's keep this brief: the Pirates are 24-17, but they haven't won more three games in a row at any point this season. They are playing the Astros now. They've won three games in a row. Maybe it's time to change that. Jeanmar Gomez pitches for the Pirates tonight, trying to extend his ridiculously improbable season one more game. Jordan Lyles is starting for the Astros. He's been pretty bad this year. First pitch tonight is at 7:05.

I don't know any way to describe this other than to say that it's awesome: Dick Allen Hall Of Fame combined with Buc Tracker to figure out all of the different uniform combinations that the Pirates wore in 1979 and then create a gigantic infographic, laying out each day's combination. The result is glorious. 

Hat tip: @AnthraxJones and UniWatch

This is a fun baseball team. With the Pirates looking for runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Travis Snider stepped up to the plate and launched at 458 bomb to right center that bounced into the Allegheny River from a part of the riverwalk that you rarely see balls landing. An inning later, the Brewers brought Luis Figaro into the game. After an error and a lineout, the Pirates recorded five hits (a Starling Marte double and singles by Snider, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, and Neil Walker) on 12 pitches against Figueroa. That quickly, a tense game turned into a laugher. 

Francisco Liriano was much the same as his debut against the Mets; his control was good, he generated a bunch of swings and misses, and he had to throw a ton of pitches just to get through 5 2/3 innings. I'd like to see him last a little deeper into the games, but for now I'll definitely take 5 2/3 innings, seven strikeouts, two walks, and a run from Liriano. The Pirates can get away with that for as long as Justin Wilson is pitching like a multiple-inning bullpen ace; he came in tonight to bail Liriano out of trouble in the sixth, pitched a perfect seventh, and by the time the eighth inning rolled around the game was over. 

I can't say for sure, but I think when Andrew McCutchen emerged from Tuesday night's home plate dog-pile yelling, "Come on! Come on!" this is the end to the series that he had in mind. This is the fourth straight four-game series that the Pirates have won the last three games of, it gives them a winning record against the Brewers for the year, and it puts them at a season-high seven games over .500 with the Astros and Cubs next on the schedule. This is a good time to be playing good baseball. Let's hope the Pirates can keep it up. 

The Pirates have had a very odd penchant for losing the first game of a four game series, then ripping off three straight wins. This has already happened three times this year and I would very much like to make it four against the Brewers tonight. Among other things, it would certainly put the Pirates well on their way to the 5-2 record that I hoped to see from these seven games against the Brewers and Astros at the beginning of the week. 

Francisco Liriano makes his second start as a Pirate tonight, and I'm curious to see how he looks against a lineup with way more punch in it than the Mets have. It sure seemed like Liriano's stuff had good movement and that he had good command of it against the Mets, but I think we'll learn quite a bit more about where he is right now from a start against the Brewers. The Brewers are sending Hiram Burgos to the mound. In his last start, he got rocked for 11 hits and 12 runs (10 earned) against the Reds. His start before that was against the Pirates, where he was decent but also allowed homers to Mike McKenry and Pedro Alvarez. I'd like to see the Bucs pile some runs on Burgos so that Liriano has a bit of a cushion. 

First pitch tonight is at 7:05.

Wandy Rodriguez is starting against Yovani Gallardo tonight. Gallardo is a righty, but Brandon Inge is starting at third base anyway. This is unacceptable. John McDonald is on the disabled list with a severe case of the olds, so Jordy Mercer is starting at shorstop. 

First pitch tonight is at 7:05.