Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
Print
Here were the Pirates, mired in their worst slump since shortly after the Civil War, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the National League's finest team and an opponent that has dominated them like no other this decade.
Epic mismatch?
Add in that the Pirates' bullpen, with the National League's third-highest ERA, was being asked to cobble together a full game to make up for starter Ross Ohlendorf being shut down. And that they would face Manny Ramirez, MVP candidate Matt Kemp and the league's top-producing lineup. And that their own popgun lineup would face Jon Garland, unbeaten in six starts.
Pirates 3, Dodgers 1.
That is why they play the games.
• Game: Pirates vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 7:05 p.m., PNC Park.
• TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7).
• Pitching: LHP Paul Maholm (8-9, 4.46) vs. LHP Randy Wolf (11-6, 3.24).
• Key matchup: Los Angeles has several power threats, but Maholm has allowed only 14 home runs, seven fewer than last year, eight fewer than 2007.
• Of note: The Pirates have scored 596 runs, fewest in Major League Baseball.
Five relievers -- Jeff Karstens, Donnie Veal, Steven Jackson, Jesse Chavez and Matt Capps -- teamed to get it done last night before 19,452 at PNC Park, ending the Pirates' latest losing streak at six, as well as that 3-23 stretch that was the franchise's worst in such a span since 1890.
"It's been a while," manager John Russell said. "It feels good. It's been very frustrating, and our guys get to go home tonight not as frustrated. That really helps."
"We wanted this," Chavez said. "One guy after the other, we wanted this."
From the sound of it, they wanted it for more reasons than getting a rare victory: Before the game, several of the Pirates' players passed around the clubhouse a printout of an MLB.com article from Sept. 16 in Los Angeles, which had in its first paragraph that the Dodgers "swept their practice series with the Pirates."
Later in the same article, Los Angeles manager Joe Torre, responding to a reporter's question to that effect, said, "It's good practice for us if we continue what we're doing and we get to the postseason, because we'll be going up against the best pitchers."
Not exactly stinging on Torre's end, but not exactly a rebuke of the "practice series" concept, either.
"I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but you have to show respect to another major league team," Karstens said. "We felt like we had something to come out here and prove."
Karstens, making his first start since June 5, began earning a measure of respect with three solid innings -- one run, three hits -- that looked nothing like his ragged relief of late.
What changed?
"I just felt like I got more into a groove," he said. "I know I can pitch at this level, and I needed to get back to that."
He had extra motivation: It would have been the birthday of his grandmother, Aurelia Toledano, who died last month. The two were close, and he wore her ashes in a necklace while pitching last night.
"She was with me all day."
The Pirates took a 3-1 lead in those three innings, on Garrett Jones' sacrifice fly in the first and Brandon Moss' two-run double in the third. But the offense would assume the default position from there, not scoring again, going 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and leaving it all up to the pitchers.
Which seemed fine by them.
Veal, the Rule 5 draft pick who has matured plenty this summer, followed with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts. He wound up with his first career victory.
"I've just been slowing the game down lately, not letting things get ahead of me," Veal said. "I felt confident out there. It felt good."
"I thought Donnie's innings were the key to the whole game," Russell said.
Jackson had a perfect sixth, and Chavez shook off some recent struggles by getting through the seventh and eighth.
It would be Capps for the ninth, of course, and he no doubt lugged along memories of his fifth and most recent blown save, Sept. 15 at Dodger Stadium.
If so, they clearly had no effect: He froze Kemp on a third-strike slider, this after chin music on the 0-2 pitch. Another slider got a soft bouncer from James Loney. And he got Blake DeWitt the old-fashioned way, swinging through 95-mph heat.
"As a team, we wanted that game," Capps said. "And, as a bullpen, we wanted that game."
"Those guys did a great job," Russell said.
Torre's assessment seemed focused more on Los Angeles hitting below par.
"You certainly don't want to take credit away from what they did," Torre said. "But we didn't swing the bats very well."
The Dodgers now are 50-21 against the Pirates since 2000, 23-8 at PNC Park.
The Pirates must go 6-4 to avoid 100 losses.
Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
