Ron Cook: A lot to like about Pirates' first win

Pirates' Ronny Paulino, left, and Salomon Torres celebrate their 4-2 win over the Astros in 10 innings on opening day in baseball Monday in Houston.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

The Associated Press

HOUSTON -- Amazed. That's the only word to describe the Pirates' Ryan Doumit last night. Absolutely amazed. Not because Jason Bay hit a 10th-inning home run to give the Pirates a most unlikely 4-2 win against the Houston Astros in a place that has been a house of horrors for them. Because five minutes later Bay was in a quiet corner of the clubhouse studying the game tape.

"You just hit a two-run home run to win the game and you're looking at that at-bat?" Doumit asked, referring to Bay's double-play ball in the sixth inning with men on first and second and no outs.

"I'm looking at all of 'em," Bay said.

What?

You think the guy has become one of baseball's premier hitters by accident?

"I do it after every game," Bay said of his film study. "Sometimes, I come in during the game after a specific at-bat to see what happened. I always want to know how I'm swinging."

Bay insisted he liked his first four at-bats even though they produced a strikeout looking, a weak ground ball to shortstop, that double-play bouncer to third and a broken-bat check-swing roller to first. But there was no arguing his take on his final at-bat. It was a thing of pure beauty. His shot off reliever Chad Qualls took about 1.3 seconds to soar into the left-field bleachers at Minute Maid Park.

"I'm in the middle of the order to drive in runs," Bay said. "Those two were pretty meaningful."

Do ya think?

Just like that, the Pirates had that rarest of precious commodities, a win against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. They lost all six games at Minute Maid last season and were 11-42 all time in the otherwise charming ballpark.

To make things even more wonderful, the win came in a game that the Astros started Roy Oswalt. If he's not the best pitcher in the National League, he's No. 2. Ask Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche. His much-anticipated debut didn't go well at all -- he went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts -- in large part because of Oswalt, who punched him out twice. Oswalt owned just about all of the Pirates for 7 2/3 innings before Astros manager Phil Garner did them a favor by going to his bullpen.

"The early Cy Young favorite," Bay said of Oswalt.

Bay's home run off Qualls wasn't surprising. The man hit 35 last season, 32 in '05, 26 in '04. Certainly, it wasn't as stunning as Xavier Nady's two-out homer off troubled Astros closer Brad Lidge in the ninth inning or as shocking as Nate McLouth's two-strike, pinch-hit homer off the great Oswalt in the eighth.

What was unexpected was Bay's reaction. Normally, he's emotionless on the field, the ultimate been-there, done-that guy. This time, though, he fairly jumped into teammate Jack Wilson's arms as he crossed home plate.

"I think it was the moment and that it came against those guys here," Wilson said. "If it had happened in Milwaukee or Cincinnati and we win a game like that, it would have been great. But it means so much more here. They have such a good team and this place has such a tough atmosphere to play in."

True, Bay said.

All true.

But there was more to that emotion that came pouring out of him.

"It's the manner in which we won," Bay said, ripping off the particulars: the way starter Zach Duke battled through seven innings, the big flies by McLouth and Nady and the "unreal" defense that saw center fielder Chris Duffy throw out two runners on the bases, third baseman Jose Bautista start two double plays and second baseman Jose Castillo start a third with a superb, diving, back-handed catch of a liner by Astros slugger Carlos Lee.

There really was a lot to like about this win.

Hey, it beats tipping your cap to Oswalt and being 0-1, doesn't it?

"This is the way we have to win games," Bay said. "We're not going to win 15-8 slugfests. We're not that type of team. We have to win with pitching, defense and timely hitting."

A little work with the videotape doesn't hurt, either.

Doumit and the other young Pirates shouldn't just appreciate Bay's greatness.

They should learn from it.