Team USA� 8,� Dominican Republic� 3

SS Chase d'Arnaud's 2-run double sparked a 5-run 3rd inning that led Team USA over the Dominican Republic in the Pan American tournament in Puerto Rico tonight.� The Dominicans scored a run in each of the first two innings, to take a 2-0 lead off American starter Chris Archer (Cubs).� Team� USA tied the score in the bottom of the 2nd inning, then burst out with 5 runs in the 3rd off Dominican starter Bartolo Colon. Mike Trout began the fun with a single, and moved to second base on a wild pick-off throw.� Cord Phelps' single scored Trout.� Phelps moved up to second base on the throw in from the outfield and advanced to third base on a fly out by Mike Moustakas (Royals).� DH Brad Eldred (Rockies) walked, then an RBI single by 1B Eric Hosmer (Royals) drove in Phelps.� Todd Frazier (Reds) worked a walk to load the bases, then C Erik Kratz picked up an RBI (Eldred) when he was hit on the hand by a pitch.� (Kratz was ok and stayed in the game.)� After another out, d'Arnaud's single up the middle scored Frazier and Hosmer, and Team USA had a 7-2 lead.� Each team scored one run in the 4th, and that was all the scoring for the rest of the game.

Brad Eldred also singled, scoring again.� Eric Hosmer had 3 hits and an RBI in the game.

Archer pitched 4 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 3 walks, with 5 strikeouts.� Reliever Nick Hill (Mariners) pitched the next three innings and held the Dominicans scoreless.� Anthony Carter (White Sox) and Tim Collins (Royals) each pitched one scoreless inning to wrap things up.

Team USA wraps up their first-round play on Wednesday evening, facing Panama.

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Cuba� 4,� Canada� 2 --� RF Jamie Romak doubled twice, and one was a ground rule double that bounced over the left field wall to drive in both of Canada's runs in the 4th inning to give Team Canada the first lead of the game.� But Cuba got one run back in the bottom of the 4th.� They scored 3 more runs in the 6th with two outs, when a bases-loaded double cleared the bases to take the win. Reliever Tom Boleska pitched a scoreless bottom of the 8th inning, allowing no hits and striking out 2 batters.

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Puerto Rico� 3,� Colombia 2 --� 3B Ramon Vasquez had 2 hits (a single and a double) and SS Luis Figueroa added 3 hits including a solo home run in Puerto Rico's victory.

As I predicted in July, Neil Walker's high BABIP eventually fell back to earth. However, a dramatically improved walk rate helped keep him afloat once the hits stopped falling in for him. This bodes well for Walker's future.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have started their search for a new manager today, interviewing former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge.  According to Rob Biertempfel, Pirates...

Now that the season is officially over, here is a graph to visually display just how bad the Pirates were this year. The green line is the team WAR for each of the 18 losing seasons. I highlighted approximate replacement level (I used 48.5 wins for this) in blue and the unattainable 81 wins in red. I used the WAR from Baseball-Reference for this, as FanGraphs' version of WAR only goes back to 2002. As you can see, 2010 was the worst season we have seen during this losing streak.

Team USA� 13,� Colombia� 6

Team USA recorded 19 hits on their way to 13 runs as they ran over Colombia.� SS Chase d'Arnaud collected 3 of the hits, with one RBI, and C Erik Kratz and DH Brad Eldred (Rockies) had 2 hits each.� Team USA got going with a big 7-run 3rd inning.� 2B Brian Barden (Marlins) opened the inning with a double into left center field.� D'Arnaud grounded to second base, moving Barden to third.� RF Brett Jackson (Cubs) and CF Mike Trout (Angels) both walked, loading the bases.� 3B Mike Moustakas (Royals) drove in two runs (Barden and Jackson) with a single that slipped into right field.� Brad Eldred added a run with another RBI single that brought in Trout.� 1B Eric Hosmer (Royals) also singled, plating Moustakas.� Then LF Jamie Hoffman (Dodgers) tripled into right center, scoring both Eldred and Hosmer.� Hoffman scored when Kratz grounded to short, and the Americans had a 7-0 lead.

Colombia scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, on a walk, a triple, and an RBI ground out.� Team USA countered by scoring in the next 4 innings.� D'Arnaud singled to lead off the 4th inning, moved to second base on an error, to third on a ground out, and then scored on Trout's double.� Kratz picked up an RBI with his double in the 5th, and d'Arnaud's single drove in Kratz.� Doubles by both Trout and Moustakas added another run in the 6th.� D'Arnaud scored again in the 7th, when he doubled and LF Todd Frazier (Reds) brought him across the plate with a single.� Trout collected another RBI with a single that scored Frazier.

Mike Montgomery made the start for Team USA, earning the win with 5 innings of work.� He gave up the 2 runs in the third innings on a total of 5 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 6 batters.� Andre Lamontagne pitched 2 innings in relief.� He gave up Colombia's other 4 runs (one earned), all in the 6th inning.� An error put the first runner on base, then a double, a single, another double, and another error brought in the runs.� Bruce Billings finished the game by retiring the side in order in the 8th and 9th innings.

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Also playing:

Canada�� 13,� Argentina� 2 --� Starting pitcher Mike Johnson gave his bullpen a rest by pitching 7 innings and allowing only 2 runs on 10 hits, no walks, with 5 strikeouts.� The Canadians scored in 5 of the 7 innings, including a 6-run 6th inning.� The final stroke was a 2-run home run by RF Adam Loewen (Blue Jays) in the bottom of the 7th, which gave the Canadians the greater-than-10-run lead that ended the game early.

Puerto Rico� 7,� Panama� 6 -- 3B Ramon Vasquez scored 3 of Puerto Rico's runs, though he had only one hit -- he also was hit by a pitch.� Former Indy Indian SS Luis Figueroa had 2 hits and an RBI.� Puerto Rico scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning, but Panama caught up with 3 runs in the 4th, and had a 6-5 lead going into the top of the 9th.� That was when Puerto Rico scored 2 more runs to take the win.

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Other news:

Pedro Alvarez, last week's Player of the Week, is now also the September Rookie of the Month for the National League.� The former Indy Indian hit .311 in September, with 10 doubles, 5 homers, and 26 RBI.

The Arizona Fall League begins play next week.� Also starting play on Tuesday of next week:� The Mexican Pacific League and the Venezuelan Winter League.� The Dominican and Puerto Rican Leagues begin play on October 22nd.� Pirates' farmhand Rogelios Noris is slated to join his hometown Venados de Mazatlan.

Lost in the news about John Russell getting fired has been the talk about pitching coach Ray Searage potentially sticking around.  The Pirates haven't...

Just a few quick thoughts, while I have a minute. Here is Neal Huntington’s statement, via Dejan Kovacevic at the PBC Blog.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have fired manager John Russell after a weekend full of speculation on the move.  Neal Huntington has said that the search...

There has been speculation this weekend that Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell will be fired next week.  Dejan Kovacevic mentioned that the Pirates are...

Team USA� 14,� Aruba� 0

Four USA pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout of Team Aruba in this evening's Pan-Am Tournament.� Everett Teaford (Royals) made the start and faced only one batter over the minimum -- he gave up a single to Aruba's LF Christian Diaz to open the game.� The next two batters struck out, and the first inning ended with a fielder's choice grounder that had Diaz out at first base.� Teaford retired the next 12 batters he faced, including 10 strikeouts.� He struck out the side in the 5th inning.� Bryan Henry (Diamondbacks) relieved Teaford for the 6th inning, and Henry struck out two batters then got a ground out to end the inning.� Anthony Carter (White Sox) retired the first two batters in the top of the 7th, then Nick Hill (Mariners) came in from the bullpen to get the last out of the inning.

The American bats were quiet for the first two innings, but things got going in the bottom of the 3rd.� RF Jamie Hoffmann (Dodgers) singled to lead off the inning, then SS Brian Barden (Marlins) put Team USA onto the scoreboard with a 2-run homer.� Moments later, 3B Mike Moustakas (Royals) added another home run, to give the USA a 3-0 lead.

A walk by C Jordan Pacheco (Rockies), a single by Hoffmann, and a fielder's choice on a grounder by Barden made it 4-0 in the 4th inning.� Then Team USA broke things wide open in the 5th.� With one out, 1B Eric Hosmer (Royals) and LF Todd Frazier (Reds) both walked.� After a pitching change and a fly out, an error on a pick-off throw to first put Frazier on second and let Hosmer come around to score.� Hoffmann walked, then another error at shortstop on a ball hit by Barden loaded the bases.� CF Brett Jackson's (Cubs) single scored Hoffman and Frazier.� 2B Cord Phelps (Cleveland Indians) singled, driving in Barden.� Jackson advanced to third base on Phelps' single, and when the Aruba pitcher balked, Jackson scored.� Phelps scored from second base on Moustakas' single.� DH Brad Eldred (Rockies) also singled, and Hosmer loaded the bases with his second walk of the inning.� A fly out ended the inning with the bases still loaded, but Team USA had scored 6 runs, and had a 10-0 lead.

And it wasn't over yet.� Pacheco walked again to open the bottom of the 6th.� Four straight singles, by Hoffmann, Barden, Jackson, and Phelps brought in 3 runs, then a ground out by Moustakas drove in Jackson with the fourth run of the inning.� That gave Team USA a 14-run lead.� Aruba got one more chance in the top of the 7th, and went down in order, and with the international rules (they don't like the term "mercy rules") that ended the game.

Pirates' Erik Kratz and Chase d'Arnaud did not get into this game.

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Also on Sunday:

Venezuela� 5,� Canada� 3 --� Canada scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the 1st, then didn't score again until C Cole Armstrong (White Sox) smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th.� RF Jamie Romak had one hit in four trips to the plate.� Tom Boleska pitched 2 innings for Canada, and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk in the 4th inning.� Dave Davidson followed Boleska, but he also allowed 2 of Venezuela's 3 runs in the 6th, on 2 hits and 2 walks.� Davidson was charged with the loss.

Dominican Republic� 3,� Puerto Rico� 2 --� This one took 13 innings, and that was with the international rules that start the extra innings with runners already on base.� 2B/3B Ramon Vasquez went 0-for-2 at the plate and was hit by a pitch.� SS Luis Figueroa drove in one of the Puerto Rican runs with a sacrifice fly.

Anibal Sanchez and the Florida bullpen combined on a six hitter. Dan Uggla drove in three runs as Florida took three of four to close the season.

According to Dejan Kovacevic, the Pittsburgh Pirates are not expected to bring back manager John Russell, but are expected to retain General Manager Neal...