The Pirates closed the upper deck to fans, a first in PNC Park's history, because of the tiny crowd at the 4-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds yesterday that coincided with the opening of the G-20 summit.

The number of tickets sold was 15,892, so that figure will go down as the official attendance as per Major League Baseball's measurements. But the actual turnstile count was slightly more than 3,000, team officials said.

Predicting earlier in the week that this would be the case, management decided to pass out certificates to those holding upper-deck tickets that read: "Please enjoy a seat upgrade, courtesy of the Pirates." They could sit in their choice of six sections close to the field.

"We anticipated the impact the G-20 would have and decided to allow all fans the opportunity to sit in the lower level as a sign of appreciation," team spokesman Brian Warecki said. "The feedback from the fans has been extremely positive."

The club level, which covers the first 10 rows of the stadium's upper deck, remained open, though there were not as many as 200 there.

Otherwise, the G-20 impact was negligible: Fans passed through metal-detecting wands, extra uniformed officers were on hand, and the road portion of the Clemente Bridge stayed open for buses rather than being used for pedestrians, another stadium first. But there was almost no traffic before or after the game, and the stadium lots were less than a quarter full.

"I wouldn't say any of it had an effect on us," left fielder Lastings Milledge said. "We still have to do out and do our best. You always want the fans to come out, but you still have to play hard, whether it's a sellout or 3,000."