Pirates' 40-27 Record A Good Omen Of Things To Come?

Jeff Locke hurled seven innings, allowing just two hits, and was a deserving winner in the Pirates' 3-0 victory over the visiting Dodgers. Locke hasn't allowed a run in any of his last three home starts, and his streak of 20 1/3 scoreless innings in home games is the longest for a Pirates starting pitcher since Randy Tomlin had a streak of 23 scoreless home innings in June of 1992. It was a milestone win for the Bucs, their 40th of the season in their 67th game. That's the fewest games needed for Pittsburgh to reach 40 wins since the 1991 team got there in 64 games. In each of the four most recent seasons in which the Pirates won 40 games in their first 67 games - 1991, 1972, 1971 and 1960 - they won either the National League championship or a division title.

MLB - Jeff Locke'ing it down

Pirates face tough road in NL Central

There are currently five teams in the majors with 40 or more wins, and three of them play in the National League Central. From top to bottom, the American League East might be a little bit stronger, but on Friday we got a good look at the intriguing race brewing in the NL Central -- and why it might be so tough for the Pittsburgh Pirates to break through.

Fantasy Facts - Jeff Locke is succeeding by pitching out of the zone

In his last three starts, Jeff Locke has an 18 1/3 inning scoreless streak. He has lived outside of the strike zone, throwing only 43.5 percent of his pitches in the zone, the 9th lowest percentage in the league among pitchers with 3 starts over the past two weeks. The opposing Atlanta Braves have been a good bad-ball hitting team this season, slugging .250 in at-bats that end in a pitch out of the zone, 3rd best in the NL this year.

Alvarez Solo Shot Stands Up

From Elias: The Pirates posted a 1-0 win with Jeff Locke, Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli combining to limit the Astros to three hits while Pedro Alvarez provided the offense with a fifth-inning home run. Alvarez was the third player to homer for the Pirates in a 1-0 victory at PNC Park, which opened for business in 2001. Humberto Cota homered there in a 1-0 win against the Mets in 2004 and Jason Bay's solo shot produced the game's lone run in a victory over the Reds in 2008.

Pirates Bullpen Nails Down Another Win

From Elias: The Pirates shut out the Phillies Tuesday behind six innings from Jeff Locke and three scoreless innings by the bullpen. Pirates relievers have a 1.98 ERA this season, their lowest in the first 20 games of a season since Jim Leyland's crew--led by Bill Landrum, Bob Patterson and Ted Power--had a 1.45 ERA through the team's first 20 games in 1990.

Locke to open season as Pirates' fifth starter

Left-hander Jeff Locke has won the competition to be the Pittsburgh Pirates' No. 5 starter.