I arrived here yesterday afternoon for the three-game series. It's not my first baseball visit to Pittsburgh -- I was here for the 2005 two-gamer in which the Cubs won twice (and Jose Mesa blew two saves) in about a 15-hour span. But the 'Burgh always is a great place to visit.

Some thoughts on the game, and other things:

-- The Cubs didn't play well last night, but they also didn't have any luck. I guess I should have suspected the worst after the Pirates' lead-off double, which traveled about 100 feet. Hill probably should have allowed only three runs last night, take away the bleeders and the error.

Conversely, although Gorzelanny pitched very well, the Cubs hit some shots off him, but they were "atom" balls -- right at him. And at a few others. It also looked like Soto's foul in the eighth was a grand slam off the bat.

-- PNC Park fails to disappoint. We had seats right behind the plate, about 25 rows up, for $27. The dollar value is outstanding. So is the view. Never would you think the Pittsburgh skyline could look so pretty. Plus the ballpark itself is a gem. Not a bad seat. But it looks like the concessions have taken a hit since I was last here. (What, no more pierogis?)

-- There is a collection of four-five bars across the street (including a branch of Hi-Tops), but the thing I found bizarre is that, minutes after the game, none of them appeared to be all that crowded. And what crowds there were were mostly Cubs fans. (Guess the 'Burghers had to get home to see the high school football results on TV.)

-- Speaking of Cubs fans, there are a lot of them here. The crowd was about 24,500, and I'd say a good 35 percent were in Cubbie Blue. Probably 50-60 percent of my flight (which was full) were Cubs fans, too. Pittsburgh usually doesn't have the Cubs-fan army that places like Cincinnati and Milwaukee have, but that's not the case this weekend.

-- Primanti Brothers. Darned good sandwich. Go to the one in the Strip District, it's open 24 hours a day (and, conveniently, it's about three blocks from our hotel).

-- Tonight is Roberto Clemente figurine night, so they're expecting a very large crowd. The weather, however, might not cooperate. Right now it's overcast and drizzling off and on. Supposedly it'll be OK by game time. It's not stopping the Pitt football game going on next door at Heinz Field, which we can see from our hotel. Last time I checked, Pitt was beating Grambling 21-0 with five minutes left in the first quarter. Don't think we'll be making it there today ...

Anyway, onward, and Go Cubs.