PITTSBURGH — In the span of one near-historic inning Sunday, the Pirates went from getting shut down to winning in a rout.
The Pirates scored 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, three of which were driven in by Nate McLouth, to turn a three-run deficit into a seven-run lead as they rallied for an 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park.
The Pirates took two of three in the series and were 4-2 on their six-game homestand after returning to Pittsburgh on an eight-game losing streak.
“It was crazy,” Pirates right fielder Delwyn Young said. “I didn’t realize how many runs we had scored until I went back out to the outfield the next inning and saw we had 10. You don’t see that every day.”
The Pirates just missed the modern-day (since 1900) club record for runs in an inning of 11, set on Sept. 7, 1942 against St. Louis and equaled on May 4, 1992 against Cincinnati. The all-time record is 12, set on April 22, 1892 against St. Louis and matched on June 6, 1894 against Boston.
The Pirates trailed 4-1 going into the seventh as Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez held them to a third-inning solo home run by Nate McLouth and to five hits.
“I don’t want to say we look dead but it we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Pirates manager John Russell said. “Then balls started falling for us, we started having good at bats and everything snowballed.”
They sent 14 batters to the plate in the seventh and had nine hits, two each by McLouth and Young, off four Rockies relievers. Center fielder Ryan Spilborghs made two errors in the inning, including a dropped fly ball that allowed the winning run to score, and right fielder Brad Hawpe also misplayed two balls that were ruled hits.
Eric Hinske, pinch hitting for Zach Duke (5-3), started the inning with a walk, went to second on Young’s single then scored on Freddy Sanchez’s double off the glove of a diving Hawpe. Sanchez broke a 0-for-13 skid with the hit.
McLouth hit a two-run single to center to tie the score then scored the go-ahead run when Spilborghs dropped Adam LaRoche’s fly while trying to make a back-handed catch in front of the 410-foot mark in left-center.
Ahead 5-4, the Pirates kept rolling. Andy LaRoche hit a two-run double, Jack Wilson singled in a run, Hinske had an RBI single and McLouth capped the inning with a run-scoring double.
The rally made a winner of Duke, who allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Duke now has as many wins this season as last year when he was 5-14.
McLouth went 3-for-5 with a double, his seventh home run and four RBIs to lead the Pirates’ 15-hit outburst. Andy LaRoche had two hits and two RBIs while Young and Wilson had two hits each.
Alan Embree (1-2), who failed to retire either of the two hitters he faced in the seventh, took the loss.
E-mail John Perrotto at jperrotto@piratesreport.com.
Sports Central
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AP PHOTO
May 18, 2009
Bucs bust out in 7th, win series
- Sports Central
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Four straight
Adam LaRoche had a two-run double in the 10th inning Tuesday night, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their season-high fourth straight, an 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals, who lost their sixth in a row.
Both streaks feature plenty of offense. -
Saving the day
You know the endpoint — goal after goal, the undefeated season, the state championship hardware that’s reserved a spot in the Fairmont Senior trophy case.
The Polar Bear girls’ lacrosse team, though, had humble beginnings. Most of this year’s senior class had not played the sport, had done little else than pick up a stick, until their first high school game. -
Bucs bust out in 7th, win series
In the span of one near-historic inning Sunday, the Pirates went from getting shut down to winning in a rout.
The Pirates scored 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, three of which were driven in by Nate McLouth, to turn a three-run deficit into a seven-run lead as they rallied for an 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. - Yates goes on DL; Pirates make minor trades Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Tyler Yates was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park with elbow inflammation. Yates has been unable to pitch multiple innings this season and has appeared on consecutive days just twice because of the elbow.
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Twice as nice
Pure joy.
It was all over the field Saturday night. In the form of smiles, hugs, a team pile-on and boys lacrosse equipment strewn across the East-West Stadium turf.
The first stick to go airborne started the celebration, and made Fairmont Senior’s season-long goal a reality, as the Polar Bears upset No. 1 Morgantown, 9-8, for their first state title. -
Polar Bears go back-to-back
The perfect season now has a perfect ending.
Fairmont Senior’s girls’ lacrosse team capped an undefeated season Saturday afternoon with an 11-9 victory over Morgantown in the state title game at East-West Stadium.
The Polar Bears, who finished at 17-0, are believed to be the first state champion in school history to go unbeaten. -
Double duty
While both have a date with Morgantown — and perhaps destiny — Fairmont Senior’s girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams have different motivating factors heading into today’s WVSLA state title games.
For the Polar Bear girls, it’s an opportunity to repeat history and capture a second straight title. -
County to send 37 to state meet
In all, 37 Marion County athletes have earned the right to compete at the West Virginia state track meet on May 22-23 at the University of Charleston Stadium.
The top three finishers in each event during regional competition as well as the next four times from all regions combined qualify for the state meet. -
Flying high
When the chips were down for East Fairmont’s softball team the Bees came through with flying colors.
Madonna Gribble homered and drove in three runs and Nikki Nuzum kept the Polar Bears off balance on the mound as the Bees defeated Fairmont Senior Thursday in the Class AAA, Region I semifinal. -
Fairmont Senior wins sectional title
Fairmont Senior head coach Steve Naternicola was looking for his Polar Bear baseball team to get up for Thursday’s Region I, Section 3 championship game against North Marion.
The two teams split the first two games of the series, both of which were closely contested.
But it was a different story. - More Sports Central Headlines
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