Saturday, May 17th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Soriano almost beats Pirates
Alfonso Soriano did everything he could to beat the Pirates on Saturday afternoon, going 5-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. Nate McLouth, however, continued his quest to prove that April was not a fluke, hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning to put the Pirates ahead 7-5. That lead would become uncomfortable in the bottom half of the ninth as Matt Capps let up a run, with the Pirates managing to just hold on to the 7-6 victory.
McLouth’s home run put him in fourth place in the National League home run race as well as tied with teammate Xavier Nady for second in the RBI race. The season that he is having is just phenomenal and it’s probably fair at this point to say that it is not a fluke. McLouth is just a producer, the type of player who will put up numbers no matter what level he is playing at as long as he is getting regular at bats. (It is worth noting that the home run in the ninth came off of Carlos Marmol who had a 1.04 ERA and had given up 10 hits in 26 innings prior to today.)
The Pirates’ defense finally stood up in this game as Damaso Marte had an excellent play in the bottom of the eighth, letting the ball bounce off of his leg and then sprinting to about halfway between first and second base, picking the ball up and making a diving throw to get Mike Fontenot at the bag for the third out of the inning. That play, while important and while ending what could have been a disastrous inning, was not the most impressive play of the game.
That honor has to go to the Brian Bixler-Ronny Paulino connection that kept Geovany Soto from scoring in the bottom of the third inning as Mark DeRosa lined the ball to left, where Jason Bay got to it quickly. Bay threw it in to Bixler, who rifled a throw to Paulino who had the plate blocked perfectly, preventing Soto from scoring and allowing him to apply a perfect tag. The play was particularly impressive because both Bixler and Paulino struggle defensively on a regular basis, so to show that they have the ability to step up and make plays is vital for their future as Pirates.
The pitching, particularly out of the bullpen, wasn’t great today as Zach Duke gave up four runs in his 6 and 1/3 innings, Tyler Yates gave up a run in his 2/3 innings and Capps surrendered one in his inning. Duke pitched well enough to win, but, like usual, there is still the feeling that he is just getting lucky again and again as he gave up eight hits and one walk to go with four strikeouts. Duke is a solid major league pitcher who can win some games, I’m still just not totally sold on him being capable of doing so consistently.
The struggles of Yates and Capps are a bit disconcerting, as both were having issues finding the plate. Both pitchers need to have control to be effective, particularly Capps who specializes in control, and the lack of it was clearly evident today. The lack of control is something to keep track of, but isn’t anything to worry about too much just yet.
The Pirates are back to being one game under .500 with season-saver Phil Dumatrait going tomorrow. And that magic number is now at 60.
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