Against the odds, Bucs beat Brewers
MILWAUKEE -- Digest these numbers and imagine the history the Pirates had to overcome Wednesday afternoon in their 8-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers:
A 12-40 record on the road.
A 7-27 record in day games.
A 6-28 record when facing a left-handed pitcher.
"I wouldn't say the odds were against us," said Craig Wilson, whose two-run double in the fifth inning snapped a 4-4 tie and vaulted the Pirates to a second consecutive win. "Obviously, in the past with all of those things aligned, we pretty much stunk. But the nice thing about this game is it really doesn't matter what happened in the past. Every day is a new day."
On this day, the Pirates trailed, 3-1 after the first and 4-2 after the third, before rallying for four runs over the next two innings en route to winning the series. Since the All-Star break, they are 7-6 and have won three of four series.
The difference from the first half, according to manager Jim Tracy, has been getting hits with runners in scoring position. Wilson's double was one of four produced by the Pirates in such situations. Freddy Sanchez, Sean Casey and pitcher Paul Maholm also had run-scoring singles.
"It's not that we've gone out there and been overwhelmed," Tracy said. "It's not like we didn't have opportunities to do things. It's just that we created opportunities for ourselves and didn't capitalize on them. That was one of the Achilles' heels throughout the first half of the season. We've done a better job of getting base hits at the right time."
Maholm (4-9) made a slight adjustment to his pitching mechanics, and the result was his second win in his past 13 starts. Despite giving up four early runs, Maholm worked through the seventh and threw 66 of his 98 pitches for strikes. He also chipped in an RBI single with two outs in the fourth that pulled the Pirates within 4-3.
"His ball-strike ratio was terrific," Tracy said.
Maholm appeared to be on his way to a 10th loss when he gave up a three-run homer to Bill Hall before recording an out in the first inning. Hall also hit a run-scoring groundout in the third, but that was the extent of the damage against Maholm.
And that allowed the Pirates to chip away at Chris Capuano (10-6), who couldn't sustain the run of success most left-handers have enjoyed against them. He couldn't protect those pair of two-run leads and fell behind for good with two outs in the fifth.
Jason Bay tied the score, 4-4, with his 24th home run. Casey singled, Joe Randa doubled and Wilson brought both runners home with a double to left.
The Pirates tacked on two more runs in the ninth against the Brewers bullpen, which reinforced the belief that they can beat left-handers. On the road. And in the daylight.
"You can find a certain stat to make anything look good or bad," Bay said. "This just goes to show you it doesn't mean anything."
Additional Information:
Sanchez watch
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| Last game: 1 for 4 Wednesday vs. Milwaukee. Sanchez has 124 hits in 353 at bats, including 35 doubles (tied for first in the National League), 2 triples and 5 home runs. He has 57 RBI. Next game: Friday, vs. Giants. (Through July 26) .332, C. Jones, Atl .327, N. Garciaparra, LAD .327, A. Pujols, Stl .326, S. Hatteberg, Cin |
| Note: Bill Madlock was the last Pirates player to win a batting title. He won in 1983, with a .323 average. |
Friday's game
San Francisco (51-51) at Pirates (37-66)
7:05 p.m. -- PNC Park
Probable starters: Pirates RHP Kip Wells (0-5, 8.28 ERA) vs. Giants RHP Jason Schmidt (7-6, 3.12 ERA)
TV/radio: FSN, KDKA (1020-AM) and the Pirates Radio Network
