Duke, Wilson offer 1-2 punch in Pirates' 2-1 victory

March 16, 2012 8:37 pm

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By Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It should not have been surprising, to say the least, that it was Zach Duke and Craig Wilson connecting for the exceptional play that decided the Pirates' 2-1 edging of the Chicago Cubs last night at PNC Park.

Not when they had done just about everything else to that point.

This was the scene:

Duke was on the mound in the seventh inning, a first for his team's rotation 13 games into the season, and he needed one more out to maintain a one-run lead.

It would not be handed to him.

The Cubs already had pushed one run across, they had runners on first and second, and stepping up was pinch-hitter Todd Walker, who tore up the place with four hits the previous night.

As manager Jim Tracy acknowledged, the game was on the line.

"You bring in the bullpen there, and one mistake ..."

Two relievers were warming up, and Duke's pitch count was 101, but Tracy insisted he had no thought of making the call.

"Zach's in a little jam, but he still has the wherewithal to get that hitter out. Let's face it: At that time, that's his game to determine."

"I appreciated that Jim Tracy gave me that opportunity," Duke said. "It gave me a lot of confidence."

Duke displayed that by remaining as aggressive as he had been all evening and getting ahead, 1-2, in the count.

Walker hacked the next pitch for a high chopper to the right side of the infield that eluded Duke. It appeared bases would be loaded.

But Wilson stepped forward to the edge of the grass, gloved the ball as it descended and, without a transfer to his bare hand, coolly flipped it to Duke covering the bag for the out.

"We're a solid defensive club," Tracy said when asked about the play. "We make routine plays, and we're capable of making special plays."

To those involved, that actually was a routine play, one coach Rusty Kuntz casually referred to as "3-1 PFP," for pitcher's fielding practice.

"Luckily, all those spring-training drills paid off," Duke said. "Once the ball got past me, my momentum still was taking me to the bag. And Craig made a great play on it."

"If the ball gets by the pitcher, it's mine. If it doesn't, I go to the bag," Wilson said. "No big deal."

The crowd of 34,264 apparently did not view it that way, leaping to its feet and roaring.

Then, realizing Duke likely was done for the night, it let out a long and loud "Duuuuuuuuuuke" as he made his way to the dugout. That prompted Duke to pump his fist in the direction of the fans.

It was quite a departure from the boos he heard after his miserable home opener last week.

"A nice turnaround," Duke called it.

So was the performance.

Duke entered with a 6.55 ERA and more than a little public skepticism about delivery adjustments made by pitching coach Jim Colborn in the spring. But he limited Chicago to one run on six hits and a walk while striking out five.

The primary difference: In his first two starts, he threw first-pitch strikes to 39 percent of batters. Last night, it was 56 percent, 15 of 27.

Tracy opened his news conference this way: "No mechanical questions about Zach Duke, all right?"

Turning serious, he added: "He was excellent. That was Zach Duke from last year out there."

For Wilson, the performance was anything but a departure.

He learned earlier in the day he would be the starting first baseman for the next 6-8 weeks while Sean Casey recovers from a back injury, and he responded no differently than he had in coming off the bench the first two weeks.

Check that: It was different: Rather than hitting home runs, he manufactured all of the Pirates' offense on the basepaths.

In the second, he walked, stole second and took third on Jose Castillo's groundout. He came home when Chicago shortstop Ronny Cedeno threw wide of first on Humberto Cota's bouncer.

In the sixth, he tripled off the Clemente Wall in right and sprinted to the plate on Joe Randa's sacrifice fly.

"I'd like to think I'm able to do things once I get on base," Wilson said.

John Grabow and Roberto Hernandez put down Chicago in the eighth, and Mike Gonzalez cruised through a 1-2-3 ninth.

Gonzalez needed five pitches for his first save Tuesday, only four for this one.

"I'm just being aggressive," he said. "That's no change for me."

The only change on this night for the Pirates was to the most important -- and most lacking -- area of the team.

"It's great to have starting pitching," Tracy said. "We have the other things, and you saw that again, but we need good starts. Tonight, we got a great one."