“El Toro,”  Pedro Alvarez and his Pittsburgh Pirates’ teammates are sizzling right now. It’s really a treat to watch this group compete.

Last night at Comerica Park in Detroit, the Bucs belted three long balls in the top of the eighth with Neil Walker, Starling Marte and Pedro all going yard. It was Neil’s second of the game as the Bucs beat the Tigers for the second night in a row, 9-3. Pedro also hit a ground rule double to right in the third inning. The second victory over the Tigers came on the heels of their 5-4, 14 inning victory on Monday night. The Bucs and Tigers play again today at 1:08 PM ET/12:08 PM CT at Comerica as the Steel City guys go for the sweep in Motown. Francisco Liriano gets the call today for the Bucs on the hill versus Kyle Ryan of the Tigers. Liriano is 4-6 with a 3.21 ERA. Ryan is 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA.

Pedro hit his 11th homer in the eighth last night and it was a monster shot; looked like a 410-420 rocket to right central. This was after Walker and Marte both homered to left. No RBI’s last night for Pedro, but by going 2-for-5 with two runs scored, he elevated his average to .248. He also doubled Monday night. His double to right in the second was his 14th of the season. He has 35 RBI’s and is hitting .400 in his last seven games. The rock solid A.J. Burnett pitched seven, gave up seven hits, two runs earned, with no walks and four K’s. The Pirates bullpen closed it out. A.J. who seems to get better with age, is 7-3 with a 2.05 ERA. He’s 38 years young. Burnett has walked 27 and struck out 90 and his WHIP is solid at 1.22. His fastball is hitting 92-93 and his other “stuff” is excellent.

The Bucs moved to 44-33 on the season and trail the Cardinals (51-26, lost last night to ChiSox, 7-1) in the NL Central by seven games, but have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Cubs for the NL wild card. A lot of season left. The way this team is playing if the Cards slip somewhat, the Bucs can catch them.

Meanwhile, the Tigers aren’t pitching too swiftly except for David Price. Dave is 7-2 with a 2.62 ERA, but the rest of the staff has put the Tigers team ERA to over 4. Justin Verlander is just getting back, so he should help, though he pitched OK Monday night. Didn’t get the loss, but struggled somewhat But their starting pitching is pretty bad right now except for David, and the bullpen is not always reliable. Joba Chamberlin was the culprit of the three long balls in the top of the eighth by the Bucs. He’s never been reliable. Joakim Soria is a pretty good closer, as he has 17 saves in 19 opportunities and had a 2.56 ERA bringing it 94-95, Al Alburquerque is pretty good in middle relief as is Alex Wilson, but Chamberlin is not and the rest of the arms are to be determined. They have enough in the pen, but their starters are just questionable right now. David pitches Saturday versus R. A. Dickey of the Toronto Blue Jays. Dickey is struggling this year with a 3-8 record and a 4.85 ERA, so David could have the advantage though the Blue Jays can hit well and will be a major challenge for Dave and the Tigers.

The Tigers are now 39-38 and six back of the KC Royals, which were surprisingly swept by the real deal Houston Astros in Houston in a three game set that concluded last night. The Royals are 44-31. The Tigers can really hit, but their pitching really needs to make a marked improvement for them to be a factor in September-October.

Sonny pitches Sunday for the A’s vs Mike Montgomery and the Seattle Mariners. After missing a start, Sonny will try to get on track again on Sunday. He’s 9-3 with a 2.09 ERA. Montgomery is good with a 3-2 overall record and a 1.62 ERA. The A’s took two out of three from the Rockies and start their series with the Mariners tonight. King Felix, Felix Hernandez pitches Saturday for the M’s. Felix is 10-4 with a 3.05 ERA. He has issued 31 walks and recorded 100 K’s. His WHIP is 1.03, excellent. One of the best in the business along with Price, Sonny, Chris Sale, Zach Greinke, Max Scherzer, who pitches tonight against the Braves and is on an unreal tear, and Clayton Kershaw. Guess you have to throw Madison Bumgarner in there, too.

Orioles beat the Rangers last night, 4-2. Ryan Flaherty was two for three, with a double and a run scored. That was Ryan’s sixth double of the season. Ryan is now hitting .255. Needs to cut down on the strikeouts, but it seems like most major league players need to right now. The pitching is really good right now, but the hitting, despite too many strikeouts, is still pretty good, too. The O’s moved to 42-36 and lead the Yankees (42-37) by a half game. The O’s finish their series with the Rangers today, then go to the White Sox for the weekend.

Golf

Jon Curran just started his round at the Greenbriar Classic and birdied the first hole. He’s playing the backside first at the Old White Course and birdied No.10. The leaders are Brian Davis, Ryo Ishikawa and Scott Langley who are all at -6. Davis and Ryo are done, Langley is through 12. Would love to see JC have a big weekend over the 4th in West Virginia.

Luke List bogeyed his first hole at the Web.com’s Nova Scotia Open in Halfiax, Canada, but maybe Luke can get the ship righted and make a run this weekend. The leader is Josh Broadaway at -6. He’s finished his round.

***Update: Jon bogeyed No.11, his second hole, so he’s at even par. Luke birdied No.11, his second hole, to move to even. Luke started on the back as well.