Pirates blank Cubs, 6-0

March 16, 2012 10:02 pm

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By Paul Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CHICAGO -- Tom Gorzelanny yesterday received a ton of support from friends -- not all of whom sat in the Wrigley Field seats.

Pitching in front of as many as 70 friends and family members, Gorzelanny, a left-hander from suburban Chicago, breezed through eight innings, pitching the Pirates to a 6-0 victory against the Cubs.

As much as the support from the stands meant to Gorzelanny, he also needed the contributions from teammates Chris Duffy, Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady, Jose Castillo and Ronny Paulino to gain his second major-league win.

Duffy made two sensational catches in center field. McLouth added another in right field.

Nady, four games into his Pirates career at first base, made two strong defensive plays, tossed in four hits and drove in two runs.

And Castillo and Paulino, batting seventh and eighth in the lineup, each had two hits, including a home run apiece, and two RBIs.

"We had a very good day," manager Jim Tracy said.

Nobody had a better day than Gorzelanny, who grew up in Evergreen Park, Ill., about 20 miles south of Wrigley Field.

"They don't get much better than this," Gorzelanny said. "This is definitely something I'm not going to forget."

Gorzelanny allowed only two hits and two walks and struck out seven in helping hand Carlos Zambrano his first loss since May 31.

"He was terrific," Tracy said. "Being close to his home, to walk out there and pitch in the manner he did was exceptional. He threw a ton of strikes -- and quality strikes early in the count that forced them to start moving the bat."

Gorzelanny, who sprinkled 68 strikes among his 111 pitches, used his fastball to get ahead of batters, then finished them with changeups.

Duffy set the defensive tone on Cubs leadoff batter Juan Pierre in the first inning. Pierre drove a ball into deep right-center field -- against an 8-mph breeze -- and there seemed almost no chance Duffy could catch what probably would have been a triple.

But he made a running catch just before dashing onto the warning track.

"When the pitcher's able to rely on his defense, he can settle in," Duffy said.

"You see that [as a pitcher] and you can start going to work," Tracy said.

Gorzelanny faced his only real tight spot in the fourth inning as he protected a 4-0 lead.

With runners on first and third, Gorzelanny went to a 3-1 count on Matt Murton. On the next pitch, Murton hit a ground ball wide of first, but Nady made a diving stop and beat Murton to the base for the third out.

Nady began a 3-6-3 double play in the fifth inning when Zambrano, who has four home runs this season, didn't bunt with Ronny Cedeno on first and no outs.

"I try to anticipate plays," Nady said, "although you're not expecting [Zambrano] to cue the ball off the end of the bat there."

"Xavier played fantastic defense at first base," Gorzelanny said.

Duffy and McLouth got the final two outs for Gorzelanny.

McLouth made a running catch of Pierre's drive just before brushing the ivy on the right-field wall.

Moments before, Duffy made an unbelievable diving catch of pinch-hitter Ryan Theirot's line drive into right-center field.

"After a few steps, I knew it was going to be close -- as close as I can make it," Duffy said.

"There's no getting around how good he is as a center fielder," Tracy said. "If the ball's in the air and in the ballpark, he thinks he can catch it."

"I do feel like I have a chance," Duffy said. "That's my reaction when the ball's hit. I want to catch it. That's what I'm out there to do."

The Pirates' offense wasn't overly lusty against Zambrano, but it was opportunistic.

Nady had a one-out double in the second inning. Jose Hernandez walked. Castillo hit a double-play ball to shortstop Cesar Izturis, who forced Hernandez. But Cedeno double-pumped on the relay to first, and Castillo beat the play.

Paulino followed with a scorcher off Zambrano's foot. That hit gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

With two outs in the third, Freddy Sanchez singled to center. Jason Bay "singled" into left-center field, sending Sanchez to third. When no one covered second base, Bay, who had stopped after rounding first base, continued to second for what had to be ruled a double.

Nady promptly doubled to left, and it was 3-0.

Castillo drove his 13th home run into the left-center field bleachers leading off the fourth inning.

In the fifth, Nady had a one-out double. He moved to third on a fly to right by Hernandez. Castillo singled into the hole at shortstop to drive in the Pirates' fifth run.

Paulino opened the eighth and ended the scoring with a home run into the left-center field bleachers.

All that remained was for Josh Sharpless to pitch the ninth inning, which he did neatly.

His performance yesterday was nothing like his one-inning, three-walk tightrope in his big-league debut Tuesday.

"180 degrees," he said.

M. Spencer Green, Associated Press
Starter Tom Gorzelanny pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out seven. The win is his second of the season.
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