Big inning helps Pirates to stop slide
NEW YORK — After five innings Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates had managed one infield hit against Oliver Perez and trailed by a run. Eleven batters had gone down in a row, four straight on strikeouts. It was a depressingly familiar pattern for a team that had lost 10 of 11 games since the All-Star break.
Quickly, everything changed. And before they knew it, the Pirates had an 8-4 victory over the Mets.
"When you put hits together, good things happen," noted Pirate manager Jim Tracy, repeating an baseball adage.
Nate McLouth opened the sixth inning with a broken-bat single, and pitcher Paul Maholm followed with an infield hit. Then Perez threw away a bunt, allowing the tying run to score and setting up a five-run rally. Xavier Nady delivered a two-out, two-strike single for two runs, and Josh Phelps followed with a two-run homer.
"We caught a break on that bunt," Tracy said. "That set the stage, and then we got two huge two-out hits. When we do things like that, we're a good club."
Maholm (7-12) made it all possible. He matched Perez after allowing a first-inning run, waiting for Pirates hitters to do something positive. This is a team that is next to last in the NL in runs, but the pitcher had faith in the offense.
"Oliver was throwing great," Maholm said. "The offense had to figure him out. That's kind of what happened. I've got a job to do no matter how many runs we score. I have all the confidence in the world in my team."
It was the third win in four starts for Maholm, and Tracy was delighted with the left-hander.
"Maholm gave us another excellent pitching effort," the manager said. "His command was terrific. The first inning, he was a little out of kilter but he minimized the damage."
New York jumped ahead in the first inning when Jose Reyes led off with a single and stole second. He moved to third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by David Wright.
Perez protected the 1-0 lead into the sixth,
"Everything happened kind of quick," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "But before that, you've got to field the position. It was a pretty good bunt, but if you make the throw, you get the guy out."
After Lastings Milledge homered against Maholm in the bottom of the sixth, Pittsburgh added three runs in the seventh on five straight two-out hits. Jason Bay and Nady had RBI singles, and Phelps doubled against reliever Joe Smith, who was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans after the game.
