Pirates fall to red-hot Astros, 7-4
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Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette photosFreddy Sanchez bunts safely for his third hit of the game against the Astros last night at PNC Park.
Click photo for larger image.
Matchup: Pirates (Chacon 2-3) vs. Astros (Hirsch 3-4), 7:05 p.m.
Where: PNC Park.
TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh / KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.
Pirates Notebook: McClatchy is keeping his decision a mystery
Ryan Doumit pops out with the bases loaded last night.Freddy Sanchez last night might have clinched a major achievement while Ian Snell might have lost his chance to become a 15-game winner this season.
Oh, yeah. The Houston Astros continued to pressure the St. Louis Cardinals with their 7-4 victory against the Pirates in front of 17,141 at PNC Park.
Sanchez snapped an 0-for-10 slide with four hits, including two doubles, that lifted his National League-leading batting average to .346. He leads Florida's Miguel Cabrera by 11 points. Cabrera last night was 1 for 4 and dropped to .335.
"I don't know how it's going to turn out," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said, "but I'd like to think this pretty much puts an exclamation mark on that batting championship."
"I don't think anything's over," Sanchez said. "This is baseball. Anything can happen. I'm just taking it one day at a time."
Last night, after bouncing to third in his first at-bat, Sanchez lined a single to center in the third inning, sliced a double down the right-field line in the fifth, dropped a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single in the seventh and lined another double -- his 52nd of the season -- down the right-field line in the ninth.
That double drove in Jack Wilson, giving Sanchez his 84th RBI.
"Freddy doesn't have a thing to worry about," Wilson said. "He just needs to swing the bat."
Snell, 14-11, threw 95 pitches in his five-inning stint that produced seven hits, three walks (one intentional), six runs (four earned) and some doubt about whether he'll start Sunday in the season finale.
Before the game, Tracy said Snell would not start Sunday if he got his 15th win last night and that he would start Sunday if he didn't win last night.
"When you've had the kind of year he's had and there's a goal [of 15 wins] in mind and you have the opportunity to get him to that goal, you do it," Tracy said before the game. "You do it."
Snell, however, came off the mound following the fifth inning last night and said his forearm didn't feel right.
"It just got numb," Snell said. "Three fingers went numb, and my thumb twitched. We don't know what it is, but it's nothing important."
Officially, the Pirates will wait until today or tomorrow before deciding on Snell's start Sunday.
But Snell, who has pitched 186 innings, sounded as if, perhaps, his season ended last night.
"I just wanted to finish the season strong," he said. "It's not a big deal [if he doesn't start Sunday]."
The Astros have used a seven-game winning streak to pull to within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Cardinals, who saw their losing streak hit seven when they dropped a 7-5 decision San Diego last night.
"When we left on our last trip [Sept. 18], it appeared there would be the opportunity in this series for us to play some younger guys," Tracy said, "but, obviously, things have changed dramatically."
Not that the Astros have assumed control of the division, though.
"They're hanging on for dear life," Tracy said. "They have to win out and they need help. That's not a good position to be in."
"Hopefully, it's not too little, too late," Houston's Mike Lamb said of this surge. "This game has been beating us up for four months. These last two weeks here, we finally got some momentum.
LAST GAME: Last night Sanchez went 4 for 5 against the Astros.
Freddy Sanchez,Pirates.346
Miguel Cabrera, Marlins.335
Matt Holliday,Rockies.330
NEXT GAME
"We're playing well and we're getting some timely hits and pitching well. It's obviously more fun right now. It just breaks your heart that it took this long to turn for us."
Pirates left-hander Damaso Marte left the game because of tightness in his lower right back in the sixth after making a pitch to Luke Scott but later said he was OK.
Andy Pettitte, 7-3 since the All-Star break, yielded 10 hits in 62/3 innings en route to getting his 14th win. Since 2002, the left-hander is 14-1 in September, the best September winning percentage in the majors in that span.
The Astros struck quickly against Snell, scoring three runs in the first inning.
Snell walked Lamb with one out. Lance Berkman hit a probable double play ground ball to Xavier Nady, but the first baseman's throw to second clipped Lamb on his left shoulder and zipped into left-center field. That error put runners on first and third.
Scott's single to center scored Lamb. Aubrey Huff recovered from fouling an 0-1 pitch off his foot by singling to center on a 1-2 pitch, driving in Berkman. When Chris Duffy's throw to the plate was not cut off, Huff continued to second.
Craig Biggio's bouncer to short gave the Astros their third run.
"They scored three very easy runs they more than likely shouldn't have gotten," Tracy said.
The Pirates countered with a three-spot in the second.
Jason Bay opened with his 35th home run, a high drive into the left-field seats. One out later, Scott took a poor route to Ronny Paulino's fly ball into left-center field, and it fell for a double.
Jose Bautista sent an 0-1 pitch deep into the left-field seats for his 16th home run, tying the game.
Biggio, however, singled in a run in the third and had a sacrifice fly in a two-run fifth that pretty much decided the matter.
First Published September 27, 2006 12:00 am
