Thursday, July 22, 2010
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
The Pirates' Pedro Alvarez is congratulated by third base coach Tony Beasley after his second home run Wednesday at PNC Park.
Is this for real?
It was one thing to trample the Houston Astros over the weekend.
Another to tee off Tuesday against Milwaukee's soft-tossing Dave Bush.
But this offensive outburst for the Pirates, something few could have foreseen from a lineup that had been batting .235 with barely any pop, is now bursting at the seams: Pedro Alvarez homered twice for a second consecutive game to become the franchise's first rookie to achieve that feat, and Delwyn Young homered and had five RBIs in an 18-hit assault that blew away the Brewers, 15-3, Wednesday night before 13,532 at PNC Park.
Yeah, just two more touchdowns.
And 48 runs over five games.
"It's amazing, man," shortstop Ronny Cedeno said after three more hits of his own. "And it's exciting. We have another game tomorrow, and I can't wait."
"These guys are having a lot of fun together and, when they start hitting, it gets contagious," manager John Russell said. "Especially with this young bunch, I can't emphasize enough: These are pretty talented players."
Therein might lie the most satisfying aspect for the Pirates over these five games: Alvarez is 9 for 20 with the four home runs, a double and nine RBIs. Walker is 14 for 24 with four doubles and six RBIs. And Jose Tabata, atop the order since Andrew McCutchen's injury, is 9 for 23 with eight runs.
From a team standpoint over the five games:
• The Pirates' 48 runs are as many as they had in the previous 18 games.
• Half their double-digit scoring outputs for 2010 have come in this span, with 12 Saturday and 11 Tuesday.
• They are batting .373 -- 71 for 190 -- which is tantamount to sending a breathing Ted Williams to the plate every time up.
• There even has been power, with 20 doubles, a triple and six home runs, half of the latter with men on base.
This was no pushover on the mound, either: It was the 300th game of Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf's solid career, and it was his worst in being rocked for 12 runs and 13 hits over six innings.
But that was less the focus of the Brewers' manager, Ken Macha, than the opposition.
"These are talented young guys," Macha said of the Pirates. "Once they get around the league and get some at-bats, people are going to be looking at it. They pretty much put a thumping on us."
One in particular.
"I think we're going to need a little advice on how to pitch Alvarez."
With a man aboard in the fifth, Alvarez made no mistake with Wolf's first-pitch 88-mph fastball, sending it 406 feet into the center-field landscaping for a 10-3 lead.
Opening the eighth, Alvarez's laser struck high off the foul pole in right, this off Kameron Loe's 2-2 curve.
Alvarez's seven home runs are just five off the team lead, barely a month into his major-league debut, but his demeanor -- always cool, calm -- was not visibly different than after those tough late losses a few days ago in Milwaukee.
Which might explain how he transformed that .156 June into this tear.
"Those first few weeks, everything was going at a million miles an hour," Alvarez said. "As time goes on, I'm getting used to it a little more. I'm a lot more relaxed. You kind of just play and not do too much."
Mention the team's transformation, though, and he breaks out a smile.
"It's a lot more fun. It's winning. It's what we want to do. It makes it that much better when, after you have a good day, you can share it with your teammates."
Tabata got this one going with the Pirates' first at-bat by working an 11-pitch walk off Wolf, then stealing second. Young singled him home, and Walker's double made it 2-1.
Starter Zach Duke looked shaky in allowing the Brewers to pull ahead, 3-2, but he recovered to last six innings.
"This was all about the offense," Duke said. "They dominated."
That began in force with the Pirates' six-run fourth inning: Garrett Jones and Alvarez opened with singles, and Lastings Milledge's RBI double to left-center brought a 3-3 tie. After an out, Cedeno put down a perfect bunt single for an RBI. After another out, Tabata singled, and Young drove Wolf's 0-1 curve into the base of the left-field rotunda for a three-run shot that made it 8-3.
Young had not started since June 26 until going 5 for 7 with six RBIs the past two nights.
"I'm just trying to do the best I can," he said.
Despite seldom playing, Young also has been a leader to some of the rookies and, perhaps in that role, advised the public to manage its expectations.
"We all have to gather ourselves," he said. "People are watching them grow up in the big leagues right now."
With Alvarez's five RBIs Tuesday and Young's five Wednesday, it marked the first time since 1973 that Pittsburgh teammates achieved that in consecutive games: Al Oliver and Rennie Stennett had six each May 3-4 of that year.
There was this, too: The Pirates improved to 23-22 at PNC Park, a violent contrast from their 11-38 road record.
It has all been a violent contrast of late.
Dejan Kovacevic: dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.
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