What's that Sucking Sound? Oh, it's Just the Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on quite a roll.

After their 7-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday, they've lost ten games in a row. And it's only going to get better as the week goes on when they head to San Francisco to take on the reigning World Series Champion Giants on Monday for a three-game series. Oh, the humanity.

Speaking of suckery, Sunday's failure completed an 0-7 homestand at PNC Park against the last-place Padres and Chicago Cubs, two teams that were a combined 39 games under .500 when the week began. Those guys out-scored the Bucs 59-25 after they were swept in Philadelphia to kick off the week.

This marks the first time ever in the history of their franchise -- that's 125 years -- that they've ever gone winless on a homestand of at least seven games. In fact, no team in the big leagues has had a homestand that long without a win since Kansas City sucked ass back in May 2006.

Just terrible.

The odd thing is, the Pirates were leading their division as recently as July 26. Bizarro! Just goes to show you anything can happen in the game of baseball.

[The Associated Press]

Brewers Win Seventh Straight, Crush Chris Carpenter

The Milwaukee Brewers are on a roll.

With the best home record in the major leagues at 40-14, the club rolled over Chris Carpenter's stripey socks and the St. Louis Cardinals Monday with a 6-2 rally. And after going 40-41 at Miller Park all last year, this is a welcome change.

In a matchup of two former Cy Young winners, the Brewers managed only one hit off Carpenter before the fifth inning. Suddenly, the first six batters reached including Nyjer Morgan, who nailed a go-ahead three-run double.

Meanwhile, Zack Greinke allowed a first-inning, two-run homer to Matt Holliday, but his offense pulled it off to give the righty his ninth win.

Can the Mariners Get their Crap Together?

We mentioned last week how much the Seattle Mariners were sucking at baseball, and after an entire weekend, that is still the case.

Generally, records and milestones are pretty awesome accomplishments. In the 43-58 Mariners' case, the record they set on Sunday is rather embarrassing. The club suffered a franchise-worst 15th straight loss upon a 12-8 rout by the Boston Red Sox that afternoon, etching this particular team's name into the Seattle Museum of Suckdom.

What's that Sucking Sound? Oh, it's Just the Mariners

While the Texas Rangers just finished enjoying a nice 12-game winning streak, the Seattle Mariners are on the complete other side of the spectrum.

The Mariners lost their 11th straight game Wednesday night at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 11-6, their 15th loss in 20 games. This marks their longest skid since back in 2008 when they dropped 12 consecutive games... which isn't looking like it's going to be the record.

Things were looking up right away in the first inning when the M's loaded the bases off Brandon Morrow with no one out, but of course, failed to score. They've managed five runs in back-to-back games now for the first time since June 2 and 3 - both of which they won against the Tampa Bay Rays - but it apparently wasn't enough against the Jays.

Let's see if Seattle can manage to halt this streak of suckiness, or tie their all-time record for consecutive losses. I'm gonna go with the latter this afternoon, only because Doug Fister is on the hill against Ricky Romero, who's had career luck against everyone in the order other than Ichiro... which goes without saying.

[Sweet Spot]

The Rangers are Hotter than Texas

Holy crap the Texas Rangers are out of control right now. And that's pretty awesome for Arlington, considering they are holding just a five-game lead in the American League West.

The 56-41 Rangers put another game between themselves and the division rival Los Angeles Angels Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to 12 games with with a 7-0 victory. This marks their longest streak since back in 1991 when the team won 14 straight.

One highlight? Alexi Ogando tossed eight beautiful, scoreless innings for his tenth win of the year. The righty surrendered just four hits while fanning five and walking three to lower his ERA to 2.72. Darren Oliver then worked a scoreless ninth to wrap up the victory.

Meanwhile, Josh Hamilton went 3-for-5 with a home run while Adrian Beltre and Endy Chavez each contributed two hits and two RBI. Business as usual.

The Rangers will attempt consecutive win no. 13 this evening in the second contest of their three-game series against the Halos in Anaheim with Derrek Holland on the hill facing Dan Haren at 10:05pm ET.

[Lone Star Ball]

...we totally jinxed them.

Don't Look Now but the Nationals are Playing .500

This may not seem like a cause worth celebrating to many teams, but when you're the Washington Nationals, it's a pretty big deal.

After their 10th win in 11 games in which they beat the (also-.500) Seattle Mariners 2-1 Wednesday, the Nationals have found themselves at a nice even .500 record on the season.

Watch Out Pirates, Here Comes Hunter Pence

The Houston Astros suck a lot right now, but Hunter Pence is on fire.

The 28-year-old outfielder extended his hitting streak to 23 games after going 3-for-4 with 4 RBI in his team's 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Pence, who missed his first game of the season on Sunday with tightness in his back, went yard off Derek Lowe in the third inning for his ninth homer of the year and drove in two more with a base hit in Houston's five-run sixth.

His hit streak is the longest in the big leagues currently, while batting .325 with 50 RBI on the season. He's now tied up with Art Howe, Moises Alou and Luis Gonzalez for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. Good company. If he wants to be the best, he'll need to hit in eight more games consecutively to beat Willy Taveras' 30-game hitting streak from back in 2006.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Someone better call 9-1-1. Andre Ethier is on fire.

Usually, we don't get serious about hitting streaks until they reach 25 games. In fact, the last time we were this excited about a string of games with one hit after another was when we jinxed Scott Rolen during his 25-game streak back in July of 2009. That number is about where most streaks go to die.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Justin Masterson

Charlie Sheen, who recently bailed Lenny Dykstra out of jail for one reason or another, has coined many catchphrases recently. The one we find most irritating is: "Duh, Winning."

Justin Masterson, on the other hand, finds this saying enlightening. Even appropriate. I guess we can go along with that for now.

Sporting a black t-shirt with the Sheenism right on the front, Masterson gets a pass from us. The right-hander won his fifth straight start Tuesday, leading the first-place Indians to a 9-4 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Now boasting a 5-0 record and 2.18 ERA after going at least six innings in each of his victorious starts, Masterson allowed three runs on five hits over 6.2 innings. He opened the game by retiring 10 straight, five on grounders, striking out seven and walking two.

Roy Oswalt: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Roy Oswalt was not his usual effective self Tuesday night.

The Philadelphia Phillies righty lasted just three [awful] innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, surrendering five runs on six hits with a walk and not one strikeout on 57 pitches. So what the hell is going on?

Manager Charlie Manuel offered this insight on his hurler's evening:

"His stuff wasn’t good. His stuff wasn’t crisp and his velocity was down. I figured there was no sense in leaving him out there. He wasn't right."

Of course, the first thing on Phillies' fans minds is whether or not Roy is healthy. According to his skipper, there's nothing apparently wrong with him.

Who Are You and What Have You Done With the Indians

Look out American League Central, here come the 8-2 Cleveland Indians.

The Tribe, fresh off a sweep of the Seattle Mariners, carried their winning streak to eight games Monday with a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Thanks to longballs by Asdrubal Cabrera and Matt LaPorta, along with some good defense and outstanding pitching, Talbot was able to take the shutout into the ninth inning before Bobby Abreu led off the ninth with a double on his 112th pitch. The righty was then lifted for Vinnie Pestano, who retired the Halos, 1-2-3. Talbot, who surrendered just five hits with four strikeouts and two walks, had this to say about his team's success:

"I don’t think anybody expected us to come out like this. But you look down this lineup and it’s pretty good. It's unbelievable... It's awesome. The thing is, I think we're capable of keeping it going."

Evan Longoria and MLB2k11: What More Could You Want

We love Evan Longoria. Plus, we love video games, especially if they're baseball-related.

Clearly, we love this commercial for the new MLB2k11, which will hit the shelves March 8, 2011. Of course, the incredible $1 Million Perfect Game Challenge is back, so give that your best shot as well. When Marea and I get our copies for the Wii, we will accept challenges from anyone. Come get some.

[MLB 2k11 Official Trailer] | [MLB 2k11 Developer Diary]

Joey Votto is Out of Control

After nailing his 19th home run of the season Friday, Joey Votto has now reached base in 40 straight games, marking the longest streak by any player this season.

The Cincinnati Reds first baseman also walked twice in his team's 12-0 whoopin' over the Chicago Cubs, bringing his average to .314 on the year.

White Sox Cruise, Big Z "Misunderstood"

The Chicago White Sox are absolutely crushing it lately, cruising to their 11th consecutive victory with a 3-2 win over the struggling cross-town Cubs Saturday.

With one out in the eighth, Paul Konerko nailed his 19th homer of the season off reliever Andrew Cashner to break the 2-all tie and lead the Sox to their 11th straight win -- the club's longest streak since back in 1961 when they won 12 games in a row -- and 15th of their last 16.

J.J. Putz got the W with a scoreless eighth after Freddy Garcia went seven innings, surrendering eight hits with five strikeouts. The Cubs wasted a decent outing by Carlos Silva, who gave up just three hits over six innings, walking one and fanning four.

Let's Get Denarded In Here

Much to my delight and amazement, the Minnesota Twins managed to put together two wins -- in a row -- after their 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers Wednesday night, coming back from a 4-run deficit for the second straight day.

This marks the first time in all 19 days of August so far that the Twins have strung together one win after another. Pretty impressive stuff there. Spoiling Ivan Rodriguez's re-debut with his parent team, Denard Span (officially batting .300 on the season) went 3-for-4, hitting the tying double before sliding past Pudge with the go-ahead run on an Orlando Cabrera base hit in the sixth inning to make it 5-4.

Still Room On Nationals Bandwagon!

After a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, the Washington Nationals have won eight straight games. Holy smokes.

They are by far the crappiest team in baseball, with a big league-worst 40-72 record this season. Yep, that puts them on pace to lose 100 games. For the second consecutive year.

Baseball Superstitions: Do They Work?

Baseball is a game with a long history of superstitions, and there are some pretty great ones out there. There's the whole not stepping on the baseline thing, the one where no one mentions the no-hitter or perfect game in progress, sporting a rally cap when your team is down in the ninth, and of course, the infamous growing of the post season beard: started by the 1908 White Sox and revived by the 2005 Red Sox. Some have a lucky bat, a special glove, or refuse to sit anywhere but the same spot in the dugout.

Continue reading this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

Still Room On Rockies Bandwagon

Dinger would be the dumbest mascot ever if not for the Phillie Phanatic. No offense, Chutley.

The Colorado Rockies' franchise record for consecutive victories is 11 and they're cruising at one win away right now. They came back from a three-run deficit Friday night to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5, with right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (5-6, 3.92 ERA) tossing a complete game.

Padres Continue Hot Streak - Double Digits!

Who are you guys and what have you done with the San Diego Padres?

It didn't matter that their manager and starting catcher had been tossed on Memorial Day, the Padres found a way to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-7 and stretch their out-of-the-blue winning streak to ten games.

Citi Field Gets Christened

Big hand to the guys at My Sports Rumors for sharing this video of an almost very naked guy running around the spankin' new Citi Field, a first.