Thursday, April 05, 2007
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jose Bautista lashes a run-scoring double in the second inning last night against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
HOUSTON -- Spring training must not mean much.
Take Jose Bautista, owner of a .182 average in the Grapefruit League and zero hits in his final 19 at-bats.
Worst hitter on the team.
Or Tom Gorzelanny, owner of that 7.96 ERA and the 15 walks that had everyone muttering all of March.
Worst pitcher on the team.
Well ...
It was Bautista who went 3 for 5 with three RBIs, continued sound defense and some slick baserunning to help the Pirates rally once again past the Houston Astros, 5-4, last night at Minute Maid Park.
It was Gorzelanny who shrugged off some shoddy work behind him to strand seven runners, limit the Astros to three runs in five sweat-filled innings and take the victory.
And it was the team as a whole - a collection that never put much of anything together while in Bradenton -- opening the 2007 season with a three-game sweep and taking sole possession of first place in the Central Division, a game up on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yes, really.
Spring training, anyone?
"Must not mean much," Bautista said, grinning.
"Spring training doesn't mean anything," Gorzelanny said. "I've said all along that, when the lights go on, it's a whole different ball game. The lights went on here, and we just swept the Houston Astros in Houston. How often does that happen?"
Not very. The sweep was the Pirates' first of three games or more in Minute Maid's eight-year history, and it improved their record here to 14-42.
This one was ignited, as were the first two victories, by the starting pitching.
Although Gorzelanny was not as effective as Zach Duke or Ian Snell, he was dealt a more difficult hand. First baseman Adam LaRoche had a ball stick in his glove that killed a Gorzelanny pickoff and resulted in a Houston run in the first. Second baseman Jose Castillo allowed a popup to hit the grass in fourth, bringing another run.
On the latter occasion, Gorzelanny left the bases loaded by drawing a forceout from Lance Berkman.
"You just try to keep battling," Gorzelanny said. "That's all that was in my mind."
"Give our starting pitcher credit," manager Jim Tracy said. "He never let the game get out of hand at any point. That's the difference in the game right there."
Second baseman Jose Castillo can't make the catch on a ball hit by the Astros' Jason Lane in the fourth inning last night.
The offensive difference was made by Bautista, whose average is at .462 after a 6-for-13 series. That began with his RBI double to the right-center gap in the second that briefly tied the score at 1-1 and continued with the hit that sparked the Pirates' defining rally.
The Astros led, 3-1, entering the fifth. With one out, Ronny Paulino powered a ball to the grass hill in center for an RBI double. Xavier Nady hit one nearly as far that center fielder Chris Burke dropped on the run for a two-base error. And Bautista sent both runners home with a liner over second base that brought a 4-3 lead.
That came while fighting off a tight Woody Williams fastball.
"Great at-bat," Tracy said. "Jose stayed right on that ball."
He would do more in the inning.
Two batters later, with two outs now, Chris Duffy bounced to Adam Everett, and one of the National League's finest shortstops remarkably committed two errors on the play. First, Everett failed to glove the ball, partly because of Bautista's stutter-step on the basepaths that screened him. Next, he dropped the ball upon retrieval in shallow center, allowing Bautista to sprint home from third after reaching a full stop.
Pirates manager Jim Tracy questions home plate umpire Kerwin Danley on a foul call in the first inning.
"I slowed down and jumped right over the ball," Bautista said of his screen. "Nice bounce for us."
And a 5-3 lead that would be plenty enough for a bullish bullpen.
Shawn Chacon followed Gorzelanny with two perfect innings, and Matt Capps turned in his third perfect eighth inning in as many nights.
Salomon Torres gave up a Craig Biggio home run with two outs in the ninth for some small suspense as Houston pulled within 5-4. But Torres immediately settled and became the second player in Major League Baseball history to record saves in his team???s first three games ???- Milwaukee???s Derrick Turnbow did it last season -- by getting Burke to whiff over a diving splitter.
The Biggio shot was the only run the bullpen allowed in 11 innings for the series.
And get this: The relievers walked no one, the starters only three.
"I give credit to Jim Colborn," Chacon said of the Pirates' pitching coach. "He's the one who's been stressing to us to stay aggressive, attack the hitters and let our defense make the plays. I know it's only the first series, but this was a pretty nice start."
In more ways than one.
"This team's history suggests it hasn't had a very good time here," Tracy said. "But this is what happens when you play the kind of baseball that we saw here and when you have a group of players believing. And these guys believe."
The Pirates are 3-0 for the first time since winning their first four in 2003, for the third time since 1984.
(Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.)
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