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Saturday, May 31, 2003

By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS -- Kenny Lofton slugged his way closer to the franchise’s hitting-streak record, pushing his string to 26 games with a solo home run in the third inning. But it was a bases loaded double by Craig Wilson that snapped a 3-3 tie and sparked the Pirates to a 7-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals last night at Busch Stadium.

Kenny Lofton's third-inning home run extends his hitting streak to 26 games. (Tom Gannam, Associated Press) More Pirates Coverage: Pirates Report: 5/31/03 ...a word from our columnist Stan Savran: Rest when weary, but not for streak A day-by-day look at the 1903 Pirates, who won the National League pennant and played in the first World Series. May 31, 1903 The Pirates (25-16) extended their winning streak to four games after a 3-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds (17-21). It was the Pirates' first four-game string since starting the season 4-0 against the Reds. The Pirates only had six hits, and there were no extra-base hits in the game. Kitty Bransfield's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning drove in Ginger Beaumont with the winning run. -- By Randy Stoernell

Lofton, who also singled in the seventh, owns the club record for left-handers, eclipsing the 25-game mark established 80 years ago by Charlie Grimm. Lofton’s streak is the longest by a Pirates hitter since Danny O’Connell hit safely in 26 consecutive games in 1953, and it tied Nomar Garciaparra for the longest in the major leagues this season.

A hit today, which is Lofton’s 36th birthday, would tie the Pirates’ all-time mark of 27 consecutive games established by Jimmy Williams in 1899. Williams also had a 26-game streak that year.

As is his custom, Lofton waved off questions about hitting safely in every game he has played since April 29 in San Diego. He is hitting .410 in that span and has boosted his average 109 points to .314.

Some controversy was stirred when Lofton sought and got a day off Wednesday against the first-place Chicago Cubs. Lofton had said he was mentally drained after playing in 17 consecutive games, and Manager Lloyd McClendon accommodated him.

Lofton said the rest and a scheduled day off Thursday were just what he needed to re-energize. “Sometimes you have to take a break mentally. It’s not like it was drastic.”

McClendon conceded it was a dilemma for him, but he stuck by his decision and his overall plan of resting Lofton regularly to keep his legs sound for the entire season.

“Anytime you rest a player, particularly a guy who’s an integral part of the offense, it’s always a tough decision. But given how hard Kenny’s gone at it, given his history of leg problems, it was really a no-brainer to give him 48 hours to recuperate, to get energized,” McClendon said. “Timing is everything. It was certainly the right time to do it. It paid off tonight and helped us win a ballgame and his streak continues.”

Lofton flied out weakly to right in first at-bat. But leading off the third inning, he lifted Garrett Stephenson’s first pitch on a majestic arc over the right-field fence.

Lofton’s streak wasn’t the only one of note as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez had three hits -- the 13th consecutive game in which he has hit safely -- and scored twice. Jeff Suppan snapped a personal five-game losing streak by going five innings for his first win since April 22.

The bullpen pitched four scoreless innings. In six games since giving up 13 hits and eight runs to the Cardinals a week ago,, the relievers have been charged with one run in 16 1/3 innings. And the Pirates have gone four games and 38 innings without an error.

“It was a clean game for us,” McClendon said. “We’ve been playing good baseball as of late. We’ve had all our components working. The starting pitching has been decent. The offense has been great. Our bullpen has certainly turned the corner and doing things their capable of doing. We’re operating on all cylinders.”

Brian Giles started the rally in the sixth with a single. Ramirez singled, moving Giles to third, and stole his first base of the season. That set up an intentional walk to Jason Kendall, and Craig Wilson doubled off the left field wall to drive in two runs for a 5-3 lead. Another run scored when Jeff Reboulet executed a suicide squeeze with some nifty bat work. He was falling down to avoid an inside pitch but still managed to get the ball in play as Kendall scored.

Ramirez, who is hitting .500 in his streak, singled leading off the second and scored on Randall Simon’s fifth home run of the year. Simon has a seven-game hitting streak.

Giles doubled home a run in the ninth. It was the 12th game in a row in which he has reached base safely.

The Cardinals struck for three runs in the fourth to tie the score and overcame a baserunning blunder by Albert Pujols. He doubled to lead off the fourth but one out later was trapped off base when a ground ball was hit to the left side.

Tino Martinez then doubled off the wall in center to drive in a run. Mike Matheny followed with a run-scoring double over Wilson’s head in right, and Garrett Stephenson singled for the third run.

Three regulars for the Cardinals -- Fernando Vina, Jim Edmonds and Eli Marrero -- are out with injuries. In addition, St. Louis ace Matt Morris was used in Thursday night’s makeup game, the 21st game in 21 days for the Cardinals. There was no sympathy from the Pirates.

“A lot of teams have had a lot of breaks against us. No Giles. No [Pokey] Reese. No [Josh] Fogg. We’ve taken our beatings. I don’t feel sorry for anybody,” McClendon said.