By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Jason Bay watches as ball drops in between him and second baseman Freddy Sanchez on a base hit by the Diamondbacks Stephen Drew in the fifth inning last night at PNC Park.
It seemed a questionable choice, to be generous.
Arizona was slithering back into the game, down four runs in the seventh inning, and bases were loaded. A big hit was needed, and the Diamondbacks' pinch-hitter for light-hitting Robby Hammock surely would be switch-hitting slugger Tony Clark, owner of 232 career home runs and extraordinary power.
And Pirates manager Jim Tracy's signal to the bullpen was to summon ...
Marty McLeary?
The same Marty McLeary who had been hit hard in every outing since his recall from Class AAA Indianapolis two weeks ago?
The same Marty McLeary who had been used only in mopup duty?
Right.
Boom!
Clark's grand slam high into the center-field seats brought a tie that stunned and silenced the crowd of 30,677 at PNC Park, and Arizona's two-run eighth off Matt Capps would cap an astounding 9-8 victory for the Diamondbacks last night.
Pirates reliever Marty McLeary walks back to the mound after surrendering Tony Clark's tying grand slam in the seventh inning last night at PNC Park.
Tracy had all his relievers available except John Grabow, who had created the mess that inning, and Shawn Chacon, who had pitched five innings Thursday. He could have brought in Damaso Marte, Jonah Bayliss or Matt Capps, those he usually uses with the game on the line.
Or even Salomon Torres. Some managers in recent years have taken to calling on their closers in the game's most critical situations rather than just the ninth inning.
Instead, Tracy chose McLeary, whose first three appearances with the Pirates resulted in eight hits -- three of them home runs -- and a 7.36 ERA.
Tracy was asked the glaring question: Why?
"Well, you saw what happened in the eighth inning with Matt Capps," Tracy replied. "And some of that still has to do with the hangover that we're suffering from a couple days ago."
That was a reference to the six innings the bullpen turned in Thursday, although five of those came from Chacon. Capps did not pitch that night but recorded four outs Friday.
"He does that and goes out there tonight, and his fastball was not quite as crisp as it normally is," Tracy said, still discussing Capps. "And that's what happens when you start having to extend guys further than where they need to be."
Asked if he might have chosen Marte rather than McLeary, Tracy turned to the topic of control. Grabow's two walks were pivotal in that seventh inning.
"One thing for certain, what we definitely needed were strikes," Tracy said. "We weren't throwing too many. Damaso came into the last game, and the first three pitches he threw were balls one, two and three."
But Marte recovered that night and got a grounder that resulted in an error. It was his only batter. Marte has walked only five batters all season, has a 0.71 ERA and has limited opponents to a .196 average.
And that was it on the subject of McLeary.
McLeary, who pitched well for the Pirates as a September callup last fall and for Indianapolis early this season, had not been placed in a situation such as this since his most recent recall. But he would not offer it as an excuse.
Freddy Sanchez is unable to turn double play as the Diamondbacks Mark Reynolds breaks it up.
"I've got to be able to come in and get that out," McLeary said. "I try to stay ready whenever down there. I'm going to be ready whenever that phone rings."
The Pirates had the game in a vise grip early on, taking a 7-1 lead in the third inning with Tom Gorzelanny, one of their two aces, on the mound.
The highlights of that inning included Jason Bay's five-pitch walk off Arizona rookie Micah Owings with the bases loaded, Ryan Doumit's 12-pitch walk right after that, Xavier Nady's RBI single and Gorzelanny's two-run bouncer through the right side.
Gorzelanny would keep it at 7-2 by the time he exited after six innings, but Grabow found immediate trouble in the fateful seventh.
That started with Conor Jackson's leadoff home run and continued with a walk to Orlando Hudson.
"That's what killed us," Tracy said. "OK, so Conor Jackson hits a home run, and it's 7-3. The last thing you want to do is walk somebody."
One out later, Mark Reynolds singled. Carlos Quentin bounced into a forceout that might have been a 6-4-3 double play except that second baseman Freddy Sanchez was slow on the transfer.
"It seemed a little slow in developing," Tracy said.
Chris Snyder walked to load the bases.
Tracy pulled Grabow.
McLeary ran up a full count on Clark, including two swinging strikes on high heat. But the sixth pitch, a right-down-the-pipe fastball, resulted in his towering blast and a 7-7 tie.
"I was trying to stay in on him, and it ran back over the plate," McLeary said.
"I was fortunate to get into a count where, obviously, he doesn't want to walk a run in," Clark said. "And I put a good swing on it."
It was Clark's sixth home run of the season in just 66 at-bats -- all six left-handed -- and his third career grand slam.
Arizona made that count by scoring twice off Capps in the eighth. Stephen Drew and Jackson singled, then were bunted up a base. Eric Byrnes was intentionally walked and, one out later, Quentin lined a two-run single to center.
Bay's two-out RBI single pulled the Pirates within 9-8, but Doumit's popup stranded two, and they went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.
"That's baseball," Gorzelanny said after his chance to improve to 6-2 -- and tie for the National League lead in victories -- was wasted. "Games like this happen."
(Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@post-gazette.com.)
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