Tuesday, August 19, 2003

By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Series: Pirates vs. Cardinals, three games at Busch Stadium, St. Louis.

Times: 8:10 p.m. today, tomorrow and Thursday.

TV, radio: All games on Fox Sports Net; all games on KDKA-AM (1020) and the Pirates Radio Network.

Probable starters: RHP Brian Meadows (2-1), RHP Jeff D'Amico (7-12) and RHP Nelson Figueroa (2-0) for the Pirates; RHP Garrett Stephenson (7-11), LHP Jeff Fassero (1-6) and RHP Woody Williams (14-6) for the Cardinals.

About the Pirates: Are 6-8 against the Cardinals this year, but are 4-3 at Busch Stadium. ... Pirates are 29-29 on the road with 22 road games remaining. ... Reggie Sanders was nominated for player of the week, having hit five home runs with seven RBIs. He is hitting .362 with six homers this month. ... Have hit .298 as a team in 13 games against the Cardinals, with 36 doubles, 18 homers and 74 runs, but the pitching staff has a 5.63 ERA against St. Louis. ... Jason Kendall is hitting .484 in his past eight games. Against Stephenson, he is hitting .409 with one homer in 22 career at-bats. ... Jeff Reboulet has eight hits in his past 16 at-bats. ... Meadows is 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in four starts. Lifetime against the Cardinals, he is 2-5 with a 7.74 ERA.

About the Cardinals: Are one game out of the National League Central Division lead and 5 1/2 out in the wild-card chase. ... Albert Pujols missed the game Sunday because of the flu, so his 30-game hitting streak is intact and could reach historic proportions. His streak ties him with Stan Musial for second longest in franchise history. He could catch Rogers Hornsby at 33 for the longest by a Cardinals hitter. ... Pujols, who has a .400 average at home, is hitting .390 in the past 30 games with eight home runs. Against Meadows, he is 3 for 13. Against D'Amico, he is 3 for 8. . . . Tony La Russa needs 12 wins to reach 2,000 in his career. ... Jim Edmonds has three 30-home run seasons with the Cardinals. ... Have homered in eight consecutive games. ... Stephenson has a 2.08 ERA in his past four starts. Lifetime, he is 6-2 with a 3.65 ERA against the Pirates.

On deck: Pirates have three games in Milwaukee; Cardinals entertain the Phillies for three games.

The Pirates have optioned C Humberto Cota to Class AAA Nashville. With the trade of 1B Randall Simon, that leaves two roster spots to fill. No official announcement was made on who the two position players will be. But the Pirates want to take a look at RF J.J. Davis, who is out of options next season, and could benefit from a left-handed bat off the bench, an indication that Rob Mackowiak could rejoin the team.

Davis has 24 home runs and 63 RBIs with a .280 batting average and .537 slugging percentage. He has 80 strikeouts in 415 at-bats. Mackowiak was demoted because he hit .183 with one home run and two RBIs earlier this season. At Nashville, he hit slightly better -- a .230 average with two home runs and 23 RBIs. But his versatility at several positions could merit a recall. Both of them also are on the 40-man roster, and there is an opening there as well.

No one's officially been named the closer since the departure of Mike Williams, but Julian Tavarez has two saves in his past two appearances. Tavarez also acts as his own setup man, having thrown five innings in those two games. "It's just basic baseball. He's throwing strikes and working ahead in count," Manager Lloyd McClendon said.

"He's not re-inventing the wheel. He's not using pine tar and all that stuff. He's just throwing strikes. If I'd have had him [Saturday], we'd have won a ballgame." The Pirates lost that Saturday game to the Brewers in the ninth inning. Thus far, they have lost 10 games in which they were tied or led after eight, which matches the total from last year. The bullpen also has been charged with 19 blown saves, the total for all last season.

Jack Wilson kept a wary eye on the weekend attendance figures, but didn't have to say good grief. On his bobblehead day Saturday, the Pirates drew 28,143, which was 4,051 more than Sunday when it was Charlie Brown bobblehead day. "I was kind of worried about it. I thought I was going to get smoked," Wilson said. "Charlie Brown is pretty popular."

NASHVILLE (71-57) lost, 5-3, at Tacoma. Justin Reid (3-7) lost while pitching five innings of relief. Starter Matt Guerrier, who has battled shoulder problems since spring training, went two innings and allowed one run. LF Tony Alvarez had two hits, including his seventh home run, and drove in two runs. DH David Doster had two hits and an RBI. 2B Bobby Hill had a hit in four at-bats.

ALTOONA (69-56) won, 3-1, vs. Akron to reduce the magic number to the Curve's first playoff berth to nine. Ian Oquendo (3-0) and Mike Johnston combined on a three-hitter. Oquendo also won 10 games with Lynchburg. Johnston notched his seventh save. 1B Brett Roneberg and CF Chris Duffy had two hits apiece.

LYNCHBURG (72-50) won, 11-2, vs. Winston-Salem. Brady Borner (4-1) pitched six innings of relief for the win. Starter Bobby Bradley allowed one run on three hits in three innings. 3B Yurendell DeCaster had three RBIs. RF Vic Buttler had two hits and two RBIs, and 1B Walter Young had two hits and scored three runs.

HICKORY (74-47) lost, 7-1, at Savannah. Mike Kierstead (0-4) allowed six runs on eight hits in six innings. SS Taber Lee had the lone RBI. LF Chaz Lytle had two of the team's four hits.

WILLIAMSPORT (37-23) won, 5-4, at Oneonta. Alex Lissir (4-3) went five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. 3B Craig Stansberry had two hits. SS Justin Harris had two hits and an RBI.

BRADENTON (31-19) lost, 13-5, to the Phillies. John Hummel (3-3) lost in relief. LF Joseph Hicks and 1B Brad Rea each had two hits and an RBI.

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