Sunday, May 11, 2008
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
Jason Bay warms up on-deck in the second inning. In the fourth inning Bay hit a two-run home run off Braves pitcher Chuck James.
One afternoon a week ago, all players were ordered out of the Pirates' clubhouse by pitching coach Jeff Andrews.
All except five.
His starting pitchers.
Having grasped their undivided attention, he held up a statistical printout that showed the team's terrific record when scoring first and its terrible record when giving up the first run.
"If you want to win, here's the evidence: Hold them off the scoreboard, and give us a chance," Andrews recalled telling them. "For some reason, we've lost our competitiveness, our aggressiveness. We've lost our zeal to play the game."
The message: This is all on you.
And, evidently, something resonated.
Sure, Tom Gorzelanny gave up an early two-run home run to Atlanta's Mark Teixeira last night at PNC Park, but he persisted and gave up nothing else over 7 2/3 innings as the Pirates overtook the Braves, 5-2, to extend their winning streak to a season-high five.
The common thread in the streak has been as clear as Andrews' message: The five starters in those games, the full rotation, have gone 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA.
It is only a beginning for a rotation that still has the National League's highest ERA at 5.29, but ...
"We're playing good baseball right now, and you can attribute that to starting pitching," manager John Russell said. "We like what's been happening."
"Look at how we came back from Washington with our tails between our legs," left fielder Jason Bay said of losing three of four to the Nationals before this so-far spotless homestand. "All you've seen since then is five games where the starters have given us a good effort. That means everything. Everyone in here knows we're going to live or die with those guys."
Bay hit his seventh home run, Ronny Paulino had three RBIs, and the suddenly steady defense turned four double plays, but the most encouraging aspect for the Pirates surely was Gorzelanny's performance: Coming off a nine-day layoff to a lower back strain May 30 in New York, he scattered seven hits, struck out four and, most important, exhibited good control with two walks and 60 of 92 pitches going for strikes.
He had walked 27 in as many innings beforehand, a huge contributor to his 6.91 ERA.
"That was very big for me, to show that kind of command," Gorzelanny said. "It's been a struggle to throw strikes, but I was able to do that tonight. It means a lot for my confidence."
Gorzelanny and Andrews seized the extra time between starts to work on mechanical matters.
"The main idea is for his entire body to remain in the strike zone," Andrews explained. "Gorz has a tendency to get toward the first-base side, go a little wide. We're drawing a bowling analogy: Just stay in your lane. Stay within the width of the rubber, the width of the plate."
"That's all I was thinking about," Gorzelanny said. "Just throw strikes."
Bay almost singlehandedly turned the Pirates' 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
In the second, he doubled off Atlanta starter Chuck James, stole third and scored on Paulino's shallow sacrifice fly, narrowly beating the throw by diving headfirst to the right of catcher Brian McCann and slapping his left hand on home plate.
It was the kind of baserunning Bay had been unable to even contemplate the past two years because of various knee ailments.
"It used to be that I'd get on base and just stagnate," he said. "Now, it's like a whole new ballgame."
That is evident in the box, too.
After Jason Michaels opened the fourth with a single, his first of three on the night, Bay stayed with James' outside fastball and powered it into the seats beyond right-center to make it 3-2.
He is 12 for 25 with seven walks in his past eight games to raise his season average to .286.
"With Jason's knees, it's almost like he's a refreshed player," Russell said. "It's a great thing to see."
Paulino came through again in the sixth: With two aboard and two out, he drove a double to the track in right-center to boost the Pirates' lead to 5-2.
His clutch was no fluke: He is 7 for 17 with runners in scoring position, and the three RBIs last night gave him 11 in just 49 at-bats, much of his playing time having been lost to Ryan Doumit.
"Ronny's not getting up there consistently, but he's coming up with big hits," Russell said. "He's doing very well in the role he's in."
Franquelis Osoria got a double play out of his only batter in the eighth, and closer Matt Capps' 1-2-3 ninth brought his ninth save, the third in this streak.
The crowd of 28,141, as enthusiastic as any this season, included a day-of-game sale that exceeded 5,000, and this with no significant giveaway.
Oh, and that record when the Pirates score first is 13-5, and it is 4-14 when the opponent scores first.
Zach Duke will try to start the cycle anew this afternoon.
Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.
First published on May 11, 2008 at 12:00 am
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