Pirates' late rally falls short

March 16, 2012 8:28 pm

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By Paul Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CINCINNATI -- That nettlesome deja vu aspect of the Pirates' start came into play once again last night.

Or, really, early this morning.

In a game delayed 2 hours, 25 minutes in starting by rain, the Pirates fell behind, 5-0, in the third inning and trailed, 7-3, entering the ninth.

But, again, they rallied only to fall short and lost, 7-6, to Cincinnati.

That dropped them to 0-5 for the first time since 1974, when lost their first six games before winning for the first time.

"We did everything we could to get ourselves back in it," manager Jim Tracy said. "We were a base hit from tying it or a ball in the gap from taking the lead. You have to have a lot of good things happen to do that."

Still ...

"We need that one extra at-bat -- that one extra real good at-bat," Tracy said. "We have not been able to get that."

As the clock passed midnight, Jose Castillo opened the ninth with a walk from Chris Hammond. Ryan Doumit lined a single to left that scooted past Adam Dunn for an error that allowed Castillo to score.

Right-hander David Weathers came in to face Craig Wilson, who lifted his 12th career pinch-hit home run just over the right field wall.

Weathers caught Nate McLouth looking at a third strike before walking Jose Hernandez and Sean Casey. Jason Bay swung at the next pitch and grounded sharply to third base for a forceout, but the relay to first was low, giving the Pirates a final chance.

Left-hander Kent Mercker relieved. Jeromy Burnitz, who was 1 for 25 lifetime against Mercker, struck out to end it.

"I give the club a lot of credit," Tracy said. "It hasn't been the easiest thing in the world for this club in our first five games."

One couldn't have blamed the Pirates for wanting this game to have been postponed.

"It definitely breaks the momentum," Casey, laughing, said about a possible postponement before the game. "Right now, it's like every bloop hit falls in for the other team, every call goes against us, everything that can go wrong ... .it's going the other way right when we need it [not to]. A rainout at a time like this wouldn't be a bad thing."

It almost happened.

Reds management seemed ready to call off the game if the rain, which began a few minutes before the scheduled starting time of 7:10, had not stopped by 9:15.

Just before 9, the rain ended, and the game began at 9:35.

It didn't take the Reds long to get a 1-0 lead against Paul Maholm.

Maholm in his six spring training appearances allowed 28 hits, 11 walks and 20 runs in 23 innings.

However, as a "touch and feel" pitcher, those kinds of numbers aren't abnormal.

"It's very, very true that when you have pitchers who are not power guys, but who are more finesse-oriented it takes them a while to get themselves in a groove. Early in the spring, it's not real good. It takes them a while to get dialed in. Their command isn't exactly where it needs to be, and as a result of that they get knocked around."

Maholm "got knocked around" last night, although much of his undoing was his own fault.

The left-hander, constantly pitching behind in the count, walked four batters in the first three innings, and three of those walks turned into runs, helping the Reds build a 5-0 lead.

Maholm walked Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion to begin the second inning. Austin Kearns' ground ball to first base moved the runners along, and David Ross' bouncer to shortstop got Dunn home.

The Reds scored four more runs in the third inning, which Maholm began by walking Ryan Freel. Felipe Lopez drove a 1-0 pitch over the center field wall.

Maholm retired the next two batters, but he couldn't finish the inning before the Reds added two runs.

Dunn walked. Encarnacion's double into left-center field sent him to third. Kearns drove in both runners with a double down the right field line.

Early on, the Pirates weren't much of a bother for Milton, who entered the game 0-4 with a 7.38 earned run average in eight career starts against them.

The lineup Tracy sent out against the left-hander included five players -- Hernandez, Casey, Bay, Burnitz and Doumit -- who'd done their share of home run hitting against Milton. That quintet had eight lifetime home runs off him and was a combined 21 for 49.

McLouth, though, opened the sixth with a double into left-center field. One out later, he scored on Casey's home run.

John Grabow allowed Lopez' second home run leading off the seventh inning.

The Pirates got that run back in the eighth inning after a one-out double by Casey, who came around on Bay's single and Burnitz' fielder's choice bouncer.

Ross homered off Matt Capps in the eighth.Today's game

Matchup: Pirates (Oliver Perez (0-0) vs. Aaron Harang (0-1), 1:15 p.m.

TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, KDKA-AM (1020).

Al Behrman, Associated Press
First baseman Sean Casey momentarily bobbles a ball hit by Cincinnati's Austin Kearns in the second inning last night. Casey homered and scored twice in the Pirates' loss.
Click photo for larger image.