The hidden beauty of baseball

Saturday, June 21, 2008
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Zach Duke throws against the Toronto Blue Jays in a baseball game at Pittsburgh, Friday, June 20, 2008.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Occasionally, there is a jewel of a baseball game that makes you wonder why the people who run and play the sport sold their souls to smaller ballparks, juiced balls and -- yes -- steroids and human growth hormones, all in the quest of more offense.

The Pirates beat the Toronto Blue Jays in a 1-0, 12-inning beauty last night at PNC Park that lasted three hours, 31 minutes.

It didn't seem nearly long enough.

I could have watched all night.

The game is absolutely beautiful when there is that kind of pitching.

You can keep those 13-12 slugfests.

Pirates pinch-hitter Jason Michaels got all the pats on the back after his ground ball skipped by shortstop John McDonald, knocking in Doug Mientkiewicz with the winning run. The real stars, though, were the starting pitchers, Zach Duke of the Pirates and Roy Halladay of Toronto. For seven tense innings, they matched pitch for pitch, strike for strike, out for out. It's a shame they ended up with no-decisions.

Halladay's performance came as no surprise. He's one of the game's top pitchers and has a Cy Young Award to prove it.

Aside from being concerned about him personally, first and foremost, that's why the Blue Jays were so upset, when a screaming line drive off the bat of Pirates right fielder Nyjer Morgan in the seventh inning deflected off Halladay's glove and right temple on the fly to third baseman Scott Rolen to end the Pirates' bases-loaded threat. Halladay walked off the field and left the game, and reports out of the Toronto clubhouse were that he was OK and should be able to make his next start.

But Duke's effort was a shocker. Wasn't he little more than a batting practice pitcher the past two seasons? I know he's been better this season, but seven masterful shutout innings?

In baseball, there are some things that just seem impossible to explain.

In the Pirates' case this season, there is the brutally bad pitching of starters Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny. How many games over .500 might the team be if they were pulling their weight?

But there's also the re-emergence of Duke. The man deserves a lot of credit for saving his career. It looked as if Duke soon might be out of baseball after opponents hit a mind-blowing .358 off him last season. His record was 3-8, his earned-run average 5.53.

Clearly, it wasn't the same guy out there last night.

The Blue Jays managed six hits off Duke, but only one came with a runner in scoring position.

Mientkiewicz, getting the start at third base, saved a run on that infield single by Vernon Wells in the third by diving to backhand a shot down the line with a runner on second.

What made Duke so successful was the way he threw strikes and challenged the Toronto hitters. He walked leadoff man Marco Scutaro to open the game and then didn't walk another batter.

It's a lot easier to pitch when you give your defense a chance to make plays, such as Mientkiewicz's gem and another strong stop he had in the sixth inning when he took a double from Rolen by diving to backhand his hit down the line.

The performance dropped Duke's ERA to 3.91, more than a run-and-a-half better than a year ago. That will save a guy's career in a hurry.

It is a shame Duke didn't get the win. He deserved it more than the great Halladay. The Pirates also had better scoring chances, not just on the ball that Morgan smoked, but in the fifth inning when Mientkiewicz tried to score on Raul Chavez's fly out to right field only to be thrown out at the plate by Wells.

Not that Duke was complaining afterward. He was thrilled to pitch so well.

Not that the Pirates were complaining after pulling out the win. They really needed this one.

Duke's effort couldn't have come at a better time considering the Pirates' three-game fiasco in Chicago against the White Sox this week.

A quick recap, fully realizing it might ruin your morning breakfast: Pirates pitchers combined to give up 36 earned runs, 44 hits, 10 home runs, 13 walks and two hit batters.

What do they say about chicks digging the long ball?

The Chicago fans certainly seemed to love seeing the ball fly all over U.S. Cellular Park.

But me? Give me Halladay and Duke on a beautiful summer night at the ballpark.

Give me a 1-0 game any time.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com
First published on June 21, 2008 at 12:00 am