Post by Fish Troll on May 26, 2007 10:50:50 GMT -5
Bucs use big 10th inning to down Reds
Slumping offense tallies eight runs in the final frame
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
CINCINNATI -- When the Pirates finished their last series against St. Louis, the team was left frustrated by the number of times it had squandered bases-loaded opportunities.
The clutch hit was evasive. The situational hitting had disappeared.
It all resurfaced somewhere along the way during the 10th inning on Friday night, as Cincinnati felt the wrath of a Pirates lineup that had been itching to break out.
Pittsburgh scored eight times in the 10th to run away with a 10-4 win over the Reds in front of 36,455 fans at Great American Ball Park in a game between the two bottom dwellers in the National League Central.
The offensive outburst snapped a season-long five-game losing streak for the Pirates. And it came after the ballclub seemed like it couldn't buy a bases-loaded hit against the Cardinals.
"It's a strange game," said outfielder Xavier Nady, whose second-inning solo homer gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead. "You love to see that. We've been struggling, and in those situations we finally got some hits. It was nice to see."
In St. Louis, Pittsburgh went 1-for-10 in bases-loaded opportunities and managed only three runs. And after the Pirates squandered a chance to break a tie in the eighth when they loaded the bases, there was a here-we-go-again feeling beginning to circulate.
But after Damaso Marte and Jonah Bayliss worked out of some ninth-inning trouble to send the game into extra innings, Pittsburgh sent 12 hitters to the plate in an inning when they put to rest any bitter memories of lost opportunities in St. Louis.
"We've been playing some good baseball games," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "But what we did tonight in the 10th inning, we took a lot of good at-bats once we got some guys on base. Obviously it was something that eluded us over the three games in St. Louis."
With the bases loaded and no outs, Chris Duffy's sacrifice fly broke the 2-2 tie in the 10th before the Pirates used a walk, a hit batter and three more base hits to break open the game.
The eight runs the Pirates scored in the 10th were the most the team had scored in a single inning since scoring nine against the Expos on July 9, 2004.
"It's encouraging to us," Nady said. "We know we're capable of doing this. It's only one day obviously, but hopefully we'll continue to improve in these areas."
The 10-4 final masks what had been a pitching duel between starters Paul Maholm and Aaron Harang early on in the opening game of the four-game series. The two locked up in a pitchers' duel where solo home runs were the only real blemishes until the 10th-inning explosion.
For Maholm, the Pittsburgh starter lasted seven innings in only his second quality start this season. He wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam of his own in the fourth and finished allowing two Cincinnati runs.
After his last outing, Maholm questioned his aggressiveness in tight situations. He said he was going to look for the aggressiveness that had been key to his success late last season.
Wherever his search took him, he found the answer.
"I stayed aggressive the entire time," said Maholm, who pitched through the seventh for the first time since May 10. "For some reason, the last few starts, I didn't know if I had the pitch to get out of it. But tonight I went after them and it was going to be one of those things, I was going to throw my pitch and if they got a hit, they got a hit. It was just a mentality thing."
Pittsburgh needed a strong outing from Maholm to stay even with Harang, who settled in after allowing solo homers to Jason Bay and Nady in the second.
And after the game, the music blaring in the Pirates clubhouse gave you the feeling that at least for one night, the team was going to enjoy this finish -- one that had been a week in the making.
"We came in and said, 'This is a new series today,'" said catcher Ronny Paulino. "'We're going to start the season tonight.'"
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Slumping offense tallies eight runs in the final frame
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
CINCINNATI -- When the Pirates finished their last series against St. Louis, the team was left frustrated by the number of times it had squandered bases-loaded opportunities.
The clutch hit was evasive. The situational hitting had disappeared.
It all resurfaced somewhere along the way during the 10th inning on Friday night, as Cincinnati felt the wrath of a Pirates lineup that had been itching to break out.
Pittsburgh scored eight times in the 10th to run away with a 10-4 win over the Reds in front of 36,455 fans at Great American Ball Park in a game between the two bottom dwellers in the National League Central.
The offensive outburst snapped a season-long five-game losing streak for the Pirates. And it came after the ballclub seemed like it couldn't buy a bases-loaded hit against the Cardinals.
"It's a strange game," said outfielder Xavier Nady, whose second-inning solo homer gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead. "You love to see that. We've been struggling, and in those situations we finally got some hits. It was nice to see."
In St. Louis, Pittsburgh went 1-for-10 in bases-loaded opportunities and managed only three runs. And after the Pirates squandered a chance to break a tie in the eighth when they loaded the bases, there was a here-we-go-again feeling beginning to circulate.
But after Damaso Marte and Jonah Bayliss worked out of some ninth-inning trouble to send the game into extra innings, Pittsburgh sent 12 hitters to the plate in an inning when they put to rest any bitter memories of lost opportunities in St. Louis.
"We've been playing some good baseball games," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "But what we did tonight in the 10th inning, we took a lot of good at-bats once we got some guys on base. Obviously it was something that eluded us over the three games in St. Louis."
With the bases loaded and no outs, Chris Duffy's sacrifice fly broke the 2-2 tie in the 10th before the Pirates used a walk, a hit batter and three more base hits to break open the game.
The eight runs the Pirates scored in the 10th were the most the team had scored in a single inning since scoring nine against the Expos on July 9, 2004.
"It's encouraging to us," Nady said. "We know we're capable of doing this. It's only one day obviously, but hopefully we'll continue to improve in these areas."
The 10-4 final masks what had been a pitching duel between starters Paul Maholm and Aaron Harang early on in the opening game of the four-game series. The two locked up in a pitchers' duel where solo home runs were the only real blemishes until the 10th-inning explosion.
For Maholm, the Pittsburgh starter lasted seven innings in only his second quality start this season. He wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam of his own in the fourth and finished allowing two Cincinnati runs.
After his last outing, Maholm questioned his aggressiveness in tight situations. He said he was going to look for the aggressiveness that had been key to his success late last season.
Wherever his search took him, he found the answer.
"I stayed aggressive the entire time," said Maholm, who pitched through the seventh for the first time since May 10. "For some reason, the last few starts, I didn't know if I had the pitch to get out of it. But tonight I went after them and it was going to be one of those things, I was going to throw my pitch and if they got a hit, they got a hit. It was just a mentality thing."
Pittsburgh needed a strong outing from Maholm to stay even with Harang, who settled in after allowing solo homers to Jason Bay and Nady in the second.
And after the game, the music blaring in the Pirates clubhouse gave you the feeling that at least for one night, the team was going to enjoy this finish -- one that had been a week in the making.
"We came in and said, 'This is a new series today,'" said catcher Ronny Paulino. "'We're going to start the season tonight.'"
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070525&content_id=1985211&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit
