Let's take a walk through Rich Hill's third and final inning of work tonight, shall we?

Batter #1 - Jason Bay
Number of pitches thrown: 6
Number of pitches swung on: 1 (pitch 6)
Result of at bat: ground out (scored 6-3)

Batter #2 - Adam LaRoche
Number of pitches thrown: 4
Number of pitches swung on: 4 (pitch 4)
Result of at bat: ground out (scored 3)

Batter #3 - Xavier Nady
Number of pitches thrown: 4
Number of pitches swung on: 0
Result of at bat: base on balls

Batter #4 - Ronny Paulino
Number of pitches thrown: 7
Number of pitches swung on: 1 (pitch 6)
Result of at bat: base on balls

Batter #5 - Jose Bautista
Number of pitches thrown: 6
Number of pitches swung on: 2 (pitch 4 and 6)
Result of at bat: strike out (swinging)

Someone in the Pirates dugout told everyone to leave their bats on the shoulders when facing this guy.

There's got to be a reason that Rich Hill is all but untouchable in AAA and consistently inconsistent in the majors. It could be that his curve ball is good enough to fool minor leaguers into swinging at it while major leaguers lay off. It could be that Rich knows that his stuff isn't top flight major league caliber and nibbles leading to nights when his walk totals rise dramatically. It actually doesn't matter.

What really matters is if other teams see what the Pirates did tonight and if and how Rich adjusts. He needs to or John Lieber's going to take his spot in the rotation.

Seeing Lieber pitch, and pitch well, is really a great story. Lieber was a favorite of this writer during his first stint as a Cub and seeing him return to the majors after arm surgery was a nice moment.

Lieber saved the Cubs ass and kept the bullpen from having to go more innings on a day when it didn't have that many innings to give. Performances like these are needed if a team is going to contend.

Oh, and a quick shout out to Mr. Soto. Geovany? You are gaining fans. Rapidly.