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Tankapalooza 2010 standings
| Rk | Tm | W | L | W-L% | GB |
| 1 | Pirates | 50 | 98 | .338 | - |
| 2 | Mariners | 56 | 92 | .378 | 6 |
| 3 | Orioles | 58 | 90 | .392 | 8 |
| 4 | D-backs | 59 | 90 | .396 | 8.5 |
| 5 | Royals | 60 | 87 | .408 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Indians | 62 | 86 | .419 | 12 |
Do you know when was the last time the Pirates swept an opponent in a three-game set? May 6. That would be 120 games ago. And yet, they go into Sunday with a chance to complete what would only be their third such sweep this season. If we lose today, it could be the final nail in Cap'n Kirk's chances of retaining his job, because the hope we had in August will have evaporated if we lose all three games to Pittsburgh. Arizona has now lost 11 of the past fourteen games, and if we don't start playing better, the four wins we need to avoid losing 100 this year are going to prove very hard to come by, especially when we start playing half-decent opposition the rest of the way.
Daniel Hudson has, however, been an absolute rock, and there's no better hope of someone producing the pitching performance necessary to end the streak. That, however, may not be enough in itself, as he will also need a) the offense to step up, and b) the bullpen not to cough it up, something which have hardly been certainties of late. Still, we did get our first tacos of the month yesterday, and Duke, as you can tell from his ERA, has hardly been a stellar pitcher this year. Hope springs eternal... Though given the early hour, I probably won't be surfacing for first pitch. Hence the lack of a line-up at this point.
It's a socorecap for this one. SnakeBytes will follow, later in the day: hopefully including the word "avoid" along with the inevitable reference to "sweep". Fingers crossed.