Shooting at the .500 target

The Bucs arrived in St. Louis on Tuesday sitting at 18-20, two games below what has become a magical and mystical number for Pirates fans across the country, .500. We look at .500 as vindication and validation, release and respect. It's as if just being mediocre is good enough for our favorite team, but consider this: The Pirates have endured 15 straight losing seasons, one off the Major League record. I know the players are sick of it and the fans, well, we are beyond sick. We're disgusted, dejected, and downright displeased.

So after the Pirates' 10-inning, 8-4 win that put the team only one game under .500 early in the season, it was hard not to be excited for last night's game. But Todd Wellemeyer pitched a great game, limiting the Bucs to one run over seven innings and the Cards won, 5-1. Rick Ankiel made a tremendous catch on what would have been an Adam LaRoche homer in the 2nd and the Bucs never threatened again.

So we're at 19-21, still close to .500 and it's still early. Today's 1:15 contest against the Cards features Bucco ace Ian Snell against Joel Pinero for St. Louis. Even though that number doesn't mean much to most teams, for the Pirates, hitting that .500 target is something they can't let slip away.