The Brewers sacrificed one of their most productive hitters in the past month for one mired in a deep slump. It paid off. Prince Fielder singled in Rickie Weeks with one out in the bottom of the ninth after J.J. Hardy ended his 16-game hitting streak with a sacrifice bunt and Milwaukee beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night for their second straight win.

Ben Sheets was shaky, and Pittsburgh did everything it could to wear him out. The Pirates just couldn't get a big hit against Milwaukee's ace. Sheets labored through 5 2-3 innings to earn his 10th win, J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall each hit a two-run homer and the Brewers beat Pittsburgh 9-1 on Friday. The Pirates were miserable with men on.

A Pirates bullpen missing its closer managed to pull one out. Xavier Nady homered twice and drove in four runs Wednesday night, setting up a 9-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds shortly after Pittsburgh lost yet another pitcher to injury. Closer Matt Capps will be gone for about eight weeks after a medical test detected bursitis and tightness in his pitching shoulder.

The situation called for a bunt to set up one run. After seeing all the late-inning craziness of the last two days, Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell knew he needed more. The Pirates blew two more late leads Tuesday night, but Jack Wilson -- swinging instead of bunting -- saved them with a triple in the 11th inning that set up a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Darren Baker hasn't yet learned the distinction between old and vintage. The 9-year-old son of Reds manager Dusty Baker playfully called Ken Griffey Jr. old on Monday, then watched the 38-year-old outfielder end the game with a swing that was as sweet as ever. His two-run shot -- the 603rd of his career -- sent Cincinnati to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

What a first half the Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed as the majors' surprise team of the season. Their goal now? To make the second half just as stunningly good. Backup catcher Shawn Riggans homered among his three hits and drove in two runs and the first-place Rays completed a remarkable first-half turnaround, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Sunday behind Andy Sonnanstine's seven effective innings.

With one swing of the bat, Jason Bay turned a miserable night into an ecstatic one. After going hitless in five at-bats, Bay homered in the 13th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night. "That's the funny thing about baseball," said Bay, who struck out three times.

Home runs to left field, home runs to right, line drives all over PNC Park. The Tampa Bay Rays are fast developing not only into one of the majors' best young teams, but one of the best teams, period. Or exactly the kind of team the Pittsburgh Pirates have spent 16 years trying to become. Evan Longoria and Eric Hinske hit three-run homers off the Pirates' Jimmy Barthmaier in his major league debut,...

Joba Chamberlain broke into the majors last season pitching like this for only one inning. Now that he's going much longer than that, the New York Yankees can only guess what kind of starter they might soon have. Chamberlain was dominant in his first major league win as a starter and the Yankees bounced back from one of their worst losses of the season, routing the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-0 Wednesday...

For one night, it was 1960 all over again for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jose Bautista and Ryan Doumit homered and the Pirates turned back the clock nearly a half-century, beating the New York Yankees 12-5 on Tuesday night for their first victory against them since Bill Mazeroski's historic homer decided the '60 World Series.