Pirates pull out opener against Marlins

07/21/2006
MIAMI -- Nate McLouth and the Pirates are finding that even after a key mistake, there's always a chance to right the ship
With the game tied at 3 after a solo home run by McLouth in the eighth, Jeromy Burnitz and Jack Wilson each delivered an RBI hit in the top of the ninth off Marlins reliever Randy Messenger to put the Pirates ahead. Mike Gonzalez then picked up his 16th save, despite a shaky bottom of the ninth, to seal a 5-3 win over the Marlins on Thursday night at Dolphin Stadium.
Burnitz and Wilson's clutch hits capped a three-run comeback by the Pirates over the final two innings. Trailing, 3-2, in the eighth, McLouth hit a blast off Marlins reliever Logan Kensing to tie the score and redeem himself after striking out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
"Shows your growth," McLouth said. "You know, I had that strikeout with the bases loaded, so it kind of atoned for that, tie the game up late. It's kind of nice for myself, but also nice to get the win."
Growth by young players like McLouth is something Pirates manager Jim Tracy said he has seen a lot of in the past seven games. In that time, the Pirates have gone 5-2 and have finally been able to get the big hits that had eluded them so often in the first half of the season.
"We came up with some timely hits, and, obviously, that's something that's haunted us through much of the first half," Tracy said. "We have played I don't know how many games like that this year, and if we continue to understand those little things right there and the execution of them, just our fair share of them, it will help to make a genuine understanding of how great that group of players is capable of being."
The Pirates' comeback ensured that Ian Snell's latest start wouldn't completely go to waste. A home run to Mike Jacobs, along with RBI hits by Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez, were the only blemishes on an otherwise solid outing for Snell. The young right-hander allowed three runs on six hits over six innings, with four strikeouts and just one walk, taking his fifth no-decision of the year.
Though he didn't get the victory, it was a bit of revenge for Snell after his last outing against the Marlins. In that disastrous start, Snell gave up seven runs on seven hits over just 1 1/3 innings.
"I held a grudge against them since that game we had against them in Pittsburgh," Snell said. "They're an aggressive young team, just like us. I just didn't fall into the same routine that I fell into last time -- fastball, fastball. I just kept mixing up my pitches and locating my pitches."
Trailing 1-0 following Ramirez's RBI double, the Pirates briefly took the lead when Jason Bay extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run homer in the fourth off Marlins starter Josh Johnson.
In the fifth, the Pirates had a chance to add on to their lead. Jose Bautista and Jose Castillo belted back-to-back singles with one out off Johnson. Then Snell got to first on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. But McLouth struck out and Wilson grounded out to third to end the inning.
Jacobs tied it again with his homer to lead off the fourth and Uggla stroked an RBI triple in the sixth to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead.
Salomon Torres (3-4) entered with one out in the eighth and struck out Cabrera and Uggla to pick up the win.
The Pirates kept up the offensive surge in the top of the ninth. Bautista walked to open the inning, and Castillo put down a key sacrifice bunt to advance Bautista. Then, on a wild pitch by Messenger, Bautista advanced to third. Following a walk to Ronny Paulino, Burnitz and Wilson tacked on their RBI hits.
Despite the two-run cushion, Gonzalez managed to make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. After striking out the first two batters he faced, the Pirates closer gave up a walk and a single to Miguel Olivo and Wes Helms, respectively.
"I just hit the wall there, kind of lost my composure a little bit," Gonzalez said. "Got two quick ones and either way I went deeper into counts. That's just one of those things I've got learn -- where after you get two outs, try to get the ground ball instead of trying to strike the guy out."
Gonzalez did get the strikeout, though, on Alfredo Amezaga in the next at-bat to get out of the jam and pick up the save.
Gonzalez credited the All-Star break with giving him and the Pirates a chance to reboot and contributing to the team's strong play so far in the second half.
"At the All-Star break, I went home and I felt like I recharged my batteries, got ready to go," Gonzalez said. "I feel like a lot of these guys thought about what was going on, thought about what they're going to need to do to be successful, and they're doing it."

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/