Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Jack Wilson is mobbed upon returning to the dugout after his dramatic eighth-inning home run put the Pirates ahead, 6-5. Click photo for larger image. More Pirates Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Doumit enjoys first start, first hit in dramatic victory Pirates' top pick is poetry in motion Collier: Mazzilli's birds have plenty of O Minor-league Report: 6/8/05

It was Daryle Ward and Jack Wilson who came up with dramatic home runs in the eighth inning to boost the Pirates to a stunning, 6-5 upending of the Baltimore Orioles last night at PNC Park.

And yet, the guy who went 0 for 4 received all the accolades.

"Jose Castillo is just amazing," Ward said afterward. "He won that game for us."

"It was incredible," Wilson said. "What he did was ... something you just don't see."

Ward had hit a three-run home run and Wilson a solo shot in the eighth to turn a 5-2 deficit for the Pirates into a 6-5 lead.

Closer Jose Mesa came on for the ninth, and the first batter, Rafael Palmeiro, reached first on Ward's fielding error. Napoleon Calzado ran for him, and the tying run was on base for the best offensive team in Major League Baseball.

Brian Roberts flied out to right for the first out, but Chris Gomez, a .385 hitter, was next. After him would be Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada, one of the game's most-feared bats.

Gomez hit a sharp grounder to the hole on the left side, but Wilson speared it and flung the ball toward Castillo at second. The throw was low and pulled Castillo off the bag toward left field.

No matter. He went with the flow and, remarkably, flicked the ball in an almost-underhand motion to first in time to get Gomez.

Double play.

Game over.

Castillo was so excited he did a standing somersault. His teammates ran to congratulate him. And the crowd of 21,422 responded with a raucous, leaping ovation.

Even the bullpen pitchers were sprinting in to join the celebration.

"I expect a lot from Jose and I still couldn't believe it," reliever Salomon Torres said. "He can do things on that field that you can't imagine. Every time with him, it's something new. He's always creating. And he doesn't think. He just reacts. That one should be all over ESPN."

Wilson said he relayed the ball to Castillo with no more than a force play in mind.

"I didn't think he'd even try to throw it," Wilson said.

Castillo was aware Gomez had grounded into another double play in the third.

	TODAY'S GAME Game: Pirates (Wells 4-4) vs. Baltimore Orioles (Chen 5-3),7:05 p.m. TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.

"I knew the hitter was slow, and I thought I had a chance to get him out," he said. "I'm not hitting, so it was good to do something different."

That was the aspect that most impressed manager Lloyd McClendon. Castillo was 0 for 8 in the first two games of the series.

"It was just ... unbelievable," McClendon said of the play. "And I spoke to him about it after the game. One of the things I wanted to make sure he understood is that good baseball players show up on both sides of the ball. This has been a tough series for him at the plate. But his defensive play saved the ballgame for us tonight."

What made Castillo's effort relevant, though, was that the team overcame a five-run deficit against an opponent that is atop the mighty American League East Division.

Baltimore bounded to a 5-0 lead through five innings, the first four of those runs coming on solo home runs off Pirates starter Dave Williams by Sammy Sosa, Melvin Mora and Sal Fasano (two).

The Pirates chipped away with two in the sixth, then uncorked a four-run eighth that few could have seen coming. The team had been 2-21 when trailing after seven.

Strong-armed reliever Jorge Julio allowed a single by Rob Mackowiak to start it off. Jason Bay walked.

Ward stayed off a fastball in the dirt, then got all of the next one -- which registered 97 mph -- and planted it in the bushes beyond center field for his 11th home run.

"I love the fastball. That's not a secret," Ward said. "The one in the dirt gave me a chance to time him. After that, I did what I intended to do. I hit it out of the ballpark."

Two outs later, Wilson got all of an even harder pitch from Julio -- 99 mph -- and put it into the left-field bleachers.

"Guys were saying to be ready for his fastball," Wilson said. "With all the energy I got from D-Ward's home run, I just went up there thinking I'd take my swing."

The Pirates improved to 6-3 on this 13-game homestand and can take their third consecutive series if they take the rubber match tonight.

"You have to have a little luck on your side to score like we did against a championship-quality club with a pretty darned good bullpen," McClendon said. "But my guys never gave in."

The increasingly confident attitude is beginning to show.

Witness Castillo, who early in the year was shunning interviews because of his halting English, boldly assessing where he and Wilson rank among National League double-play combinations.

"Me and Jack are the best," he said. "There's nobody else in the league."