"There is talking about maturity, and there is showing it.

Lastings Milledge has spoken of wanting to show he has "grown up," to use his term from this winter, and he might have illustrated that best with one sweet, scientific swing of the bat Monday in the Pirates' 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at McKechnie Field ...

It was the second inning, and Ryan Doumit had just doubled off Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay.

As hitting coach Don Long lays it out, "You've got a runner at second, a good pitcher on the mound, and runs are at a premium. At that point, what you want is to hit the ball anywhere from the point where the runner takes his secondary lead, all the way over to the first-base line.""