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PrintThe ball came hard off Pirates catcher Humberto Cota's bat, then ricocheted off the glove of Detroit Tigers closer Todd Jones and appeared headed into right field for what surely would have provided the winning RBI.
So maybe it wasn't shocking that the ball hit by Cota in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday bounced off Jones' glove and harmlessly to Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco, who threw to first for the final out of the game, a 9-8 loss by the Pirates in front of 28,136 at PNC Park.
It was the Pirates' 24th one-run loss of the season. Like many of the others, they had plenty of opportunities to score the tying and winning runs but came up short. The Pirates fell to 1-45 in games in which they trail after seven innings.
"This was just a terrific comeback, again," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "Unfortunately, it fell short. To come back after trailing 9-2 so late in the game as we were and given their bullpen, which has been so special to get them off to the start they are off to, it is big. We were in a position to tie the game once in the later innings then in the position in the ninth inning to win. We just couldn't get the hit. We couldn't get the sacrifice fly."
The Pirates looked as if they would go down quietly as the Tigers used two early home runs to build a 4-0 lead then scored five more in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 9-2.
But the Pirates rallied for six runs in the bottom of the seventh and had a chance to take the lead, but Jose Castillo bounced into an inning-ending double play with the tying run on third.
Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya overpowered the Pirates in the eighth, but the heart of their order came up in the ninth inning against Jones, the closer with a 6.19 ERA.
The Pirates loaded the bases against Jones, but Castillo struck out swinging for the second out of the inning and Cota grounded out to end the game.
Tracy said the final two at-bats were a microcosm of why the Pirates have failed to win close games -- they haven't always made their own breaks but they've been a bit unlucky as well. He said Cota was unlucky because the ricochet off Jones' glove went straight to Polanco.
He said sooner or later, the breaks will come the Pirates' way and when they do, the Pirates will start winning close games.
"We talked today about how very close we've been a countless number of times and when we are in situations like we have been in -- don't try to do too much," Tracy said. "Just try to do what the situation suggests. They are getting it, believe me, and they are going to get there.
"The stage has been set for us on a number of occasions, getting the final execution is all that is necessary for us to start winning."
Bay, who along with Freddy Sanchez was named to the All-Star team yesterday, broke out of a slump with two hits. Sanchez went 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs.
"We've had plenty of chances to win and we're not giving those games away, teams for the most part are taking them," Bay said. "We haven't done that yet. I think you have to experience [winning], you have to go through it to understand it and, hopefully, it will just be a situation where one or two hits will go our way and all of the sudden we get a little momentum and we get on a roll and that will give us a lot more confidence."
Pirates starter Ian Snell fell to 7-6 after giving up seven hits, two home runs and four earned runs in five innings.
Tracy said he was pleased with Snell's outing and said Snell only made two bad pitches -- one to Carlos Guillen that he hit out of the park and into the river and another to Chris Shelton that traveled an estimated 460 feet.
"The home run ball got him," said Tracy. "That's all, it got him twice. His stuff was good, though."
