Pirates win 8-7 with walk-off home run
-
Brandon Moss celebrates his walk off game winning homer in the 9th against the Brewers today at PNC Park.
Share with others:
Did the Pirates hit well enough to win today?
Absolutely, especially in a game capped off by a Brandon Moss walk-off home run.
Did the team pitch well enough to win today?
That much is up for debate.
Nonetheless, the offense carried the Pirates to an 8-7 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, as the Pirates hit five home runs -- one by Moss to lead off the ninth and end the game, two by Ryan Doumit, one by Garrett Jones to continue his head-scratching pace and one by Andrew McCutchen.
And the last one --- a 3-1 count slider that Moss hit into the Milwaukee bullpen --- tied the team's season-high for home runs in a game.
It also continued a hot streak and reversal of fortune for Moss, who was maligned by many after hitting one home run in his first 66 games this year, but has hit four in the past 10 games.
"Since May 12, I've really been hitting the ball much better," Moss said. "Anytime you have success, you are going to get a lot more confident. It is a long season and you can't rest it on 100 at bats, and I didn't want to do that with my first 100 at bats.
"I was terrible at the beginning this year, just terrible. I had one RBI in the month of April. One RBI!"
And he had one today that ended things with a bang and offset a not-so-stellar outing from Pirates starting pitcher Paul Maholm, who gave up seven earned runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
After the teams traded first inning home runs --- Milwaukee's Ryan Braun hit a solo home run and Doumit belted a two-run shot --- the Brewers tied it at 2-2 in the second on a Bill Hall RBI double.
In the bottom of the third ---- with three solo home runs in the span of four batters ---- the Pirates quickly turned that a tie into a three-run lead .
McCutchen led off the inning with a shot down the left field line to make it 3-2.
Two batters later, Jones hit his ninth home run of the year --- his ninth solo home run, as well --- to put the Pirates ahead, 4-2.
Then, in stepped Doumit, who hammered a 2-0 fastball just over the Clemente Wall for his second home run to make it 5-2.
The umpiring crew initially called it a double, but used video replay monitors to review the second Doumit home run. Replays showed the ball traveled just above the yellow line into the stands and hit a spectator before dropping back down into the field of play.
"I just sat there and waited patiently, some of the Brewers said they thought it went over," Doumit said. "So I sat there on second, waited patiently and then the umpires told me to go ahead, it was a home run."
The confirmation of such served as Doumit's fourth multi-home run game of his career and was the first time since July 21 of last year that the Pirates hit three home runs in an inning.
Moreover, it put the home side ahead by three runs and gave Maholm what looked like a comfortable advantage.
Or it only looked that way.
Maholm carried that three-run lead into the fifth, until he was hit with a Brewers barrage and chased from the game. Milwaukee not only erased its disadvantage, but took a 7-5 lead on a Braun had a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to the left field wall and Casey McGehee hit a two-run home run just to the left of dead center into the Milwaukee bullpen.
But the Pirates weren't dead yet in this see-saw game, fighting back in the bottom of fifth with two runs to tie it at 7-7 on Andy LaRoche and Ramon Vazquez RBI doubles.
That set the stage for Moss' solo home run to end it --- and take the final game of a three-game series against the Brewers in which the Pirates also won the first game by scoring eight runs.
"Some of our power is starting to show and hopefully that continues," Pirates manager John Russell said. "We have struggled scoring runs, but the guys broke out today."
First Published July 22, 2009 3:55 pm
