Pirates Notebook: Donnelly having rough stretch
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Andrew McCutchen makes the catch on a fly ball by the Tigers' Ramon Santiago Sunday.
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DETROIT -- The last time Pirates reliever Brendan Donnelly was on the mound for a loss?
"The one I remember is the '02 Game 1 of the ALCS. Bernie Williams. That's the one I remember," Donnelly said, referring to an Angels defeat. That wasn't his most recent, though.
Until Carlos Guillen's walk-off homer in the 10th inning Saturday night, Donnelly had gone through an 8-0 stretch as a pitcher -- with three teams -- since last registering a loss May 1, 2007, with Boston in a 10-inning affair at Oakland.
"Is that when it was? I couldn't tell you," he said.
For Donnelly, 38, a veteran counted upon for leadership and performance among the Pirates, Saturday also marked the third consecutive Pirates appearance in which he allowed a run.
"I'm not making a pitch here or there, not getting a strikeout when I need to," he said. "It's just a rough stretch. I've been there before. It's just a little more amplified here."
• This from general manager Neal Huntington, on the decision to play Ryan Doumit at first base this past week while he recovered from concussion-like symptoms: "We talked about it a lot internally. ... [He] gets worn down if we catch him six, seven days a week. So we've talked about a Victor Martinez scenario where Ryan gets a couple of games a week at first, maybe three over two weeks."
Huntington said that they discussed adding a third catcher for interleague play, just so Doumit could DH and the team wouldn't get left without a backup.
"The big play [Saturday] night," Huntington added, referring to a seventh-inning error that lead to two Detroit runs, "allows for second-guessing, but, as we look forward, there is a chance Ryan Doumit will continue to play first base as well as catch."
• Neil Walker's nephew and Don Kelly's son, Brett, at the weekend's games wore a jersey split down the middle: half Pirates, half Tigers. After Sunday's game, a gaggle of Walkers and Kellys said their goodbyes -- including Neil and Don -- near the door to the visitors' clubhouse.
First Published June 14, 2010 12:00 am
