Bats, bullpen lift Pirates to 7-6 victory
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This time, the Pirates were not going to get outslugged, no matter how hard their starting pitcher was hit or how early he exited.
One by one, they stepped to the plate and smacked the ball over the PNC Park fences.
First, Jeromy Burnitz.
Then Ryan Doumit.
And Jack Wilson.
And Craig Wilson.
And, yes, in the end, that offense, combined with a pristine showing from the bullpen, somehow was enough to overcome a subpar start from Ian Snell and upend the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6, last night before 17,240.
With that, the Pirates improved to 2-7 and avoided their worst start to a season since opening 1-9 in 1955.
Just as important, they seemed to feel a sense of a just reward after a string of close losses.
"We've done that for nine games," manager Jim Tracy said. "Resiliency will not be a problem here. We've got a great group of people in that clubhouse with tremendous character, and I think they showed their mettle again tonight because of some things we'd been through in previous days. It would have been very easy to put your hands up in the air."
Los Angeles tagged Snell for three home runs, two by Bill Mueller and one by Ricky Ledee, to account for five of the six runs he allowed in his five innings.
Still, Snell never appeared to wilt, which impressed Tracy.
"It's the difference in the game," Tracy said. "He battled."
Snell also battled his breaking pitches again, though, and wound up relying too heavily on the fastball. When those were elevated, they were hit hard.
"I made some good pitches, some bad pitches," Snell said. "I was just trying to keep my team in the game as much as I can. The boos were kind of getting to me, but I gutted it out. I wanted to show how big my heart is."
The offense continued to show big bats.
The Pirates, who entered the evening tied for the second-most hits (77) and fourth-most total bases (121) in Major League Baseball, teed off against Los Angeles starter Jae Seo to relentlessly hammer away at deficits.
Burnitz's two-run home run to right in the first inning pulled the Pirates within 3-2.
Matt Freed, Post-Gazette photosJack Wilson celebrates with Joe Randa after the Pirates defeated the Dodgers, 7-6, last night at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.
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Pirates vs. Dodgers box score Game play-by-play
Game: Dodgers (Brett Tomko, 1-0) vs. Pirates (Paul Maholm, 0-1), 7:05 p.m.Where: PNC Park.TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.
Craig Wilson tosses to first after a diving stop to end the seventh inning last night.Click photo for larger image.
Doumit's solo shot to the same section to lead off the fifth pulled them within 6-4.
Jack Wilson's liner to the left-field bleachers later that inning made it 6-5.
Lance Carter relieved Seo to start the sixth, and Craig Wilson launched his first pitch into the center-field shrubbery to tie the score.
Joe Randa followed with a double, took third on Jose Castillo's willful groundout to the right side and sprinted home on Doumit's sacrifice fly for the Pirates' first lead, 7-6.
Tracy, befitting his passion for small ball, seemed to enjoy the latter the most.
"Beautiful thing," he said.
It was the long ball, though, that won the game. And the breakout was no fluke. The Pirates' 13 home runs are third most in the majors.
"We've shown we're capable of showing up for the battle," Burnitz said.
The bullpen sparkled, too.
Salomon Torres pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings and threw 13 of 20 pitches for strikes despite abandoning his usual repertoire and throwing only two fastballs.
"Keep 'em guessing," he said.
Roberto Hernandez shut down the Dodgers in the eighth with a similarly aggressive approach, and Mike Gonzalez needed only five pitches in the ninth to set down the heart of Los Angeles' order -- J.D. Drew, Jeff Kent and noted Pirates killer Olmedo Saenz -- to record his first save since being named the full-time closer.
"It was a great feeling," Gonzalez said. "Seeing the way the relievers in front of me threw strikes, I just wanted to go right after them."
All three relievers said they fed off the home runs.
"After we were down in the first couple of innings, it looked like, 'Here we go again,' " Torres said. "But you could sense something good with the way our hitters were going. It was our duty as a bullpen to make sure that counted."
"How many times have we battled back but ran out of innings or were one hit short?" Hernandez asked. "It's nice to finish that off."
The game might have represented a fresh start for Doumit.
Tracy had said Monday and again before the game yesterday that Humberto Cota would get most of the starts for the near term because he was dissatisfied with Doumit's defense. But even though Doumit made two bouncing throws on Los Angeles steals, Tracy pointed to Doumit's outstanding diving catch of Seo's foul pop in the second inning -- and his home run -- when declaring Doumit would start again tonight.
"I thought Ryan caught a good game," Tracy said. "He certainly will go back out there."
First Published April 12, 2006 12:00 am
