Despite having been drafted by the Pirates in 2005, right-hander Jeff Sues has pitched only one full season as a professional player. �Shortly after being drafted and finishing his college career at Vanderbilt University (yes, same as Pedro Alvarez), he was shut down for the rest of the year due to right shoulder problems. �Those shoulder problems necessitated surgery on the shoulder to repair the rotator cuff. �That meant that Sues (pronounced like "Sooooz", rhymes with "shoes") also missed the entire 2006 season while doing rehab. �Finally in 2007, Sues actually got to pitch, beginning in May of that year. �He got to make 8 starts at low A Hickory, and pitched a total of 31.1 innings, to earn a 3-2 record and a 7.18 ERA. �He allowed 37 hits and 26 runs (25 earned), including 9 homers. �He walked 19 batters and struck out 26. �Then, to add to the frustration, soreness recurred in his right shoulder. �Sues' season was halted in mid-July to protect the shoulder.

Things looked better in 2008, as Sues was moved to the bullpen. �He began the season in A+ Lynchburg, where he made 13 appearances over the first 7 weeks of the season, all in relief. �He pitched 9.1 scoreless inning over 5 of his 7 appearances in April, and gave up only one run in another 2-inning appearance, and 3 runs (2 earned) in his only loss in April. �Sues struck out 8 batters in the 13.2 total innings in April, and walked 5. �In May, Sues continued to look tough. �He allowed one run in two of his outings, and had 4 scoreless appearances. �In 7.2 innings, he gave up 6 hits and only one walk, with 9 strikeouts. �He also earned 2 saves in his time with the Hillcats, and a 2.11 ERA.

On May 20th, Sues was promoted to AA Altoona. �He pitched in 5 games over the rest of the month for the Curve, and struck out 12 batters over 9 innings. �June proved a bit more difficult, when Sues allowed 8 runs on 15 hits and 7 walks over 13.2 innings (8 appearances), but he still struck out 13 batters. �In July, Sues made 8 relief appearances, for 18 innings, and gave up 8 runs on 13 hits, with 8 walks and an amazing 28 strikeouts. �Batters hit .197 against Sues in July (.283 in June and .182 in May). �He made only 2 appearances in August, and allowed only one hit over 2.1 innings. �The old shoulder soreness returned, and he made his last appearance on August 8th, after which he was shut down for the rest of the month. �He finished his season with 11 scoreless innings.�

The shoulder issues did not last as long this time, and Sues was invited to participate in the Arizona Fall League. �He pitched in 11 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions. �Sues pitched 14.1 innings and earned one win and one save. �In 6 of his outings, he did not allow an earned run. �He finished with a 5.65 ERA, 9 runs on 21 hits, with only 4 walks and 16 strikeouts.

Sues was added to the 40-man roster in November, and he reported to the Pirates' major league camp for Spring Training. �The 25-year old has made 3 appearances in Grapefruit League and WBC exhibition games, for one inning each, and he has allowed one hit and one walk, though no strikeouts. �He is expected to return to AA Altoona to begin the season, according to an early report by Kyle Stark. �The Pirates want him to work on some mechanics and on being consistent. �They seem to think that he'll be moved up to Indianapolis by mid-season, and are not ruling out a call up to Pittsburgh in September. �The keys for Sues will be consistency and staying healthy.

Sunday's game:

Pirates 11, Astros 4

The Pirates hit 3 home runs and took advantage of sloppy Astro pitching to get this win. �2B�Freddy Sanchez hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning, RF Craig Monroe�hit a 2-run bomb in the 4th, and 1B Garrett Jones�added two more with his blast in the 5th. �Jones and DH�Andy LaRoche each had 2 hits, and Jones picked up another RBI in the 8th. �Some of the Pirates' runs in the 8th were walked in. �2B Shelby Ford walked and came around to score in the 8th, as did CF Andrew McCutchen, SS Brian Bixler, and Jones. �Three of the Pirates' 5 runs in the 8th inning were walked in, and RF Jeff Salazar brought in the other two with a single. �Miles Durham, Steve Lerud, and Pedro Alvarez also got into the game. �

Starter Ross Ohlendorf�had trouble with his slider, and he gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 3.1 innings of work, on 6 hits. �Jesse Chavez came on to finish up the 4th inning for Ohlendorf, which he did by neatly striking out the two batters he faced. �Donnie Veal had his first tough outing of the season, but he still was credited with the win. �He pitched the 5th inning and walked 4 batters, threw a wild pitch and balked, bringing in 2 runs. �Evan Meek, Matt Capps, Jason Davis, and Denny Bautista�each pitched a scoreless inning, and of the four, only Meek allowed a hit.

Pirates in WBC Play:

USA 15, Venezuela 6 -- John Grabow: one pitch, one out. �Very efficient of him. �An 8-run 6th inning put the game out of reach. �Homers by Kevin Youkilis, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Braun. �A triple by Mark DeRosa, and doubles by Chris Iannetta, Dustin Pedroia, and Jimmy Rollins. �

Go USA!!

Korea 14, China 0 -- Oops. �The Mercy Rule was invoked -- the game is over if one team is leading by more than 10 runs after 7 innings (or more than 15 runs after 5 innings). �Five runs in the 5th and another 5 in the 6th inning for the Koreans put the game well out of reach. �China was held to only two hits -- one by Pirates' farmhand SS Ray Chang, and one by RF Fei Feng. �Chang took the first pitch he saw right back up the middle for a single in the top of the 1st inning. �He looked good at shortstop, with a particularly good play in the bottom of the third, when he was turned almost all the way around to snag a grounder that took an awkward bounce, but still whirled and fired to first base in time for the out. �Chang, who was born and grew up in Kansas City, MO, has been almost a celebrity among his Chinese teammates. �They are fascinated to hear about his experiences as a pro baseball player in the US. �

Cuba 8, South Africa 1 -- South Africa was overmatched the whole time, but they did scrape out one run in the top of the 9th, and the whole crowd at the stadium in Mexico City erupted in cheers for them. �South Africa turned two double plays, though. �2B Gift Ngoepe ( according to the announcers, the pronounciation is something like this: "Nnn-weep-ay") started the double play in the second inning, going to his right to nab a grounder near the second base bag, stepping on the bag, and throwing on to first. �3B Jonathan Phillips started a 5-4-3 double play in the 4th inning. �Ngoepe had two plate appearances, a pop out and a strikeout. �South Africa was held to 4 hits, and didn't get their first base runner until they got a walk in the 4th inning. �Their first 2 hits came in the top of the 5th. �In the top of the 9th, a single, a ground out, and another single scored their lone run. �

EDIT: �Louise, who is in South Africa and should know, says the pronounciation is "EN-GO-PAY" � �Thanks, Louise!

Australia 17, Mexico 7-- Mexico got off to a good start with 5 runs in the 1st inning, and 7 runs after 3 innings. �But the Aussies came from behind, scoring 13 runs in the last 4 innings. Pirates'�Paul Mildren pitched 2 innings for Australia and gave up one run on 2 hits and 2 walks. �He entered the game in the 2nd inning, with one run already in on a homer by former Indy Indian Alfredo Amezaga, and another runner on second base after a double. �Mildren walked the first batter he faced, but then the runner who had been on second was thrown out trying to steal third. �A double play ended the inning without further runs scoring. Mildren came back for the 3rd inning. �A single and a wild pitch put the first batter on second base, but he was erased and a man left on first base with a fielder's choice grounder. After a fly out, a walk and an RBI double brought in one run. �Former Pirate farmhand Brett Roneberg singled 3 times and scored twice for Australia. �

More Notes:

In his pre-game show, Neil Huntington said that the first round of cuts, which will be on the small side, will come in the next few days. �A larger round of cuts will come "in the middle of the month". �

Brandon Moss has been sent back to Pittsburgh to see a hand specialist. �The working diagnosis at this point is a "contusion" to his thumb. �

Danny Moskos has reported in his blog that fellow minor leaguer SS�Jarek Cunningham has injured his knee. �The official word now is that Cunningham, last year's 18th round draft pick, has a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament. �He'll need surgery,�and will miss all of the 2009 season. �He has had knee problems in the past. �The Pirates had been considering moving Cunningham from shortstop to another position, probably second base, partly because they have other shortstops -- 3rd round pick Jordy Mercer�and 4th round pick Chase D'Arnaud -- already pegged for the A levels. �Third base is also busy at the A level, with 8th round pick Jeremy Farrell and 9th round pick Matt Hague.�

You hate to benefit from others' misfortune, but in baseball, that's sometimes how it goes. �With all the injuries to outfielders -- Moss, Eric Hinske�(bruised ribs), Steve Pearce (sore calf), and�Jose Tabata (shoulder) -- Miles Durham is the one who will benefit. �The Pirates have asked�him�to come up from minor league camp to the major league camp. �Tabata might be able to swing the bat and DH tomorrow. �

Saturday's Game:

Pirates 10, Twins 1