GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: ARIZONA (88-69) at PITTSBURGH (67-90)

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">NL AT PITTSBURGH - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Salazar hit for J Upton.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ARIZONA 1
PITTSBURGH 5 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: J Salazar (.282, 1 HR, 10 RBI)</div>

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ARIZONA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITTSBURGH 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 x 5 15 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: ARI - LIVAN HERNANDEZ, JUAN CRUZ (5TH), DOUG SLATEN (7TH), BOB
WICKMAN (7TH), BRANDON MEDDERS (8TH), BILL MURPHY (8TH) AND
MIGUEL MONTERO

PIT - MATT MORRIS, SALOMON TORRES (8TH), MATT CAPPS
(9TH) AND RONNY PAULINO

HOME RUNS: ARI - NONE

PIT - XAVIER NADY (20) OFF LIVAN HERNANDEZ IN THE 5TH, 0 ON</div>

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ARIZONA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITTSBURGH 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 x 5 15 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: ARI - LIVAN HERNANDEZ, JUAN CRUZ (5TH), DOUG SLATEN (7TH), BOB
WICKMAN (7TH), BRANDON MEDDERS (8TH), BILL MURPHY (8TH) AND
MIGUEL MONTERO

PIT - MATT MORRIS, SALOMON TORRES (8TH), MATT CAPPS
(9TH) AND RONNY PAULINO


WP - MATT MORRIS (10-11)
LP - LIVAN HERNANDEZ (11-11)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: ARI - NONE

PIT - XAVIER NADY (20) OFF LIVAN HERNANDEZ IN THE 5TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:40 ATT: 16,289

PROBABLES: ARI - BRANDON WEBB (17-10, 3.02)
PIT - PAUL MAHOLM (10-15, 5.02)</div>

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">ARIZONA (1) VS PITTSBURGH (5) - FINAL

ARIZONA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Young cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .238
S Drew ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .233
E Byrnes lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .288
C Jackson 1b 4 0 1 1 0 1 3 .281
M Reynolds 3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .280
M Montero c 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .224
J Upton rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .226
b-J Salazar ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .291
A Ojeda 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .276
L Hernandez p 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .213
J Cruz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Slaten p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Wickman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-A Callaspo ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .209
B Medders p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Murphy p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 34 1 8 1 1 9 12

a-struck out looking for B Wickman in the 8th; b-singled to center for J Upton
in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - C Jackson (28, M Morris). RBI - C Jackson (58). 2-out RBI - C
Jackson. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A Ojeda 1, C Jackson 1, M
Reynolds 1. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - E Byrnes (49, 2nd base off M Morris/R Paulino).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - C Young (J Bautista at 1st base), E Byrnes (R
Paulino at 3rd base). DP: 3 (A Ojeda-S Drew-C Jackson, C Young-S Drew-C
Jackson, M Reynolds-A Ojeda-C Jackson).


PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N Morgan cf 4 1 2 1 1 1 0 .289
C Izturis ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 3 .257
A LaRoche 1b 3 0 2 3 1 0 3 .275
X Nady rf 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 .283
J Bautista 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .259
N McLouth lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .256
R Paulino c 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .261
J Castillo 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .242
M Morris p 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 .228
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-M Kata ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .253
M Capps p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

Totals 34 5 15 5 3 6 13

a-singled to center for S Torres in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - A LaRoche 2 (40, D Slaten, L Hernandez); J Castillo (17, L
Hernandez); R Paulino (25, B Medders). HR - X Nady (20, 5th inning off L
Hernandez 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - A LaRoche 3 (87), N Morgan (6), X Nady (71).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Izturis 2, J Castillo 1, N McLouth
2. GIDP - A LaRoche, J Bautista. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - R Paulino (2, 2nd base off L Hernandez/M Montero). Picked
Off - N Morgan (1st base, L Hernandez).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (N Morgan-C Izturis).


----------------------------------------------------
ARIZONA - 000 001 000 -- 1
PITTSBURGH - 002 110 10x -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

ARIZONA ip h r er bb so hr era
L Hernandez (L, 11-11) 4 10 4 4 3 3 1 4.93
J Cruz 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 3.15
D Slaten 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 2.52
B Wickman 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.60
B Medders 1/3 3 0 0 0 0 0 4.30
B Murphy 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.06

PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
M Morris (W, 10-11) 7 6 1 1 0 7 0 4.89
S Torres 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 5.44
M Capps 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.31

L Hernandez pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.
D Slaten pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

HBP - X Nady (by B Wickman). Pitches-strikes: L Hernandez 93-56; J Cruz
24-15; D Slaten 4-2; B Wickman 9-4; B Medders 10-6; B Murphy 5-5; M Morris
97-70; S Torres 19-12; M Capps 14-11. Ground balls-fly balls: L Hernandez 5-3;
J Cruz 1-1; D Slaten 0-0; B Wickman 3-0; B Medders 0-0; B Murphy 1-1; M Morris
4-9; S Torres 1-1; M Capps 1-1. Batters faced: L Hernandez 23; J Cruz 5; D
Slaten 2; B Wickman 3; B Medders 3; B Murphy 2; M Morris 26; S Torres 5; M
Capps 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Tony Randazzo. 1B--Greg Gibson. 2B--Larry Vanover. 3B--Dana
Demuth.

T--2:40. (Plus rain delay totaling 58 minutes in the 2nd). Att--16,289.

Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, right to left.</div>

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
ARIZONA 1
PITTSBURGH 5 FINAL</div>

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARIZONA (1) AT PITTSBURGH (5) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PITTSBURGH 3RD: M Morris singled to right. N Morgan singled to right,
M Morris to third. C Izturis grounded out to catcher, N Morgan to second.
A LaRoche hit a ground rule double to deep left center, M Morris and N Morgan
scored. X Nady flied out to right, A LaRoche to third. J Bautista walked.
N McLouth struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 2.

PITTSBURGH 4TH: R Paulino fouled out to first. J Castillo doubled to deep
right. M Morris singled to left, J Castillo to third. N Morgan singled to
left, J Castillo scored, M Morris to second. C Izturis singled to right,
M Morris to third, N Morgan to second. A LaRoche grounded into double play,
second to shortstop to first, C Izturis out at second.(1 Run, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)
ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 3.

PITTSBURGH 5TH: X Nady homered to right. J Bautista singled to center.
J Cruz relieved L Hernandez. N McLouth flied into double play, center to
shortstop to first, J Bautista doubled off first. R Paulino struck out
swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 4.

ARIZONA 6TH: C Young struck out looking. S Drew flied out to right.
E Byrnes singled to center. E Byrnes stole second. C Jackson doubled to deep
left, E Byrnes scored. M Reynolds grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 4.

PITTSBURGH 7TH: D Slaten relieved J Cruz. C Izturis singled to left.
A LaRoche doubled to deep center, C Izturis scored. B Wickman relieved D Slaten.
X Nady hit by pitch. J Bautista grounded into double play, third to second to
first, X Nady out at second, A LaRoche to third. N McLouth grounded out to
first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 5.</div>

 

Morris, Pirates slow down first-place Diamondbacks

<h3>PITTSBURGH 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>By Chris Adamski
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't making thingseasy on the Arizona Diamondbacks in their quest to clinch a NationalLeague playoff spot.


Matt Morris hurled seven strong innings and Xavier Nady hit his20th home run as the last-place Pirates beat the first-placeDiamondbacks for the second consecutive night with a 5-1 victoryon Wednesday.


Adam LaRoche had three RBI for Arizona (88-70), which holds a 11/2-game lead in the NL West over the second-place San DiegoPadres (86-71) and a 2 1/2-game advantage over the third-placeColorado Rockies (85-72).


The Padres and Rockies both are in action later Wednesday night.

Stephen Drew and Augie Ojeda each had two hits for Arizona,which has lost three in a row. The Pirates entered this seriescarrying a season-worst nine-game losing streak.


Morris (10-11) pitched his best game as a Pirate since beingacquired at the July 31 trade deadline. He allowed one run andsix hits while striking out seven without a walk, improving to3-4 as a Pirate.


After the two teams sat through a 59-minute delay in the bottomof the second inning, Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the thirdwhen LaRoche hit a grounds-rule double to left center off ofDiamondbacks starter Livan Hernandez that drove in Morris andNyjer Morgan.


Pittsburgh added to that the following inning when Morgansingled in Jose Castillo. The Pirates threatened to break thegame open with the bases loaded and nobody out, but Hernandezgot LaRoche to ground into a double play to keep the Pittsburghlead at 3-0.


But the Pirates eventually got that run anyway on the next pitchthey saw from Hernandez. Nady led off the fifth with his homerto right and, when Jose Bautista then singled on Hernandez'snext pitch, the righthander's night was over.


Hernandez (11-11) allowed 13 baserunners - 10 hits and three<div class="pre">walks in his four-plus innings, striking out three and walking</div>three. His final start of the season also was tied for hisshortest outing of the campaign.


Arizona finally got on the board in the sixth when Eric Byrnessingled with two outs and scored when Conor Jackson followedwith a double.


But LaRoche doubled in Cesar Izturis in the seventh to make it5-1.


Morgan, Izturis, LaRoche, Ronny Paulino, Castillo and Morriseach had two hits for Pittsburgh.

 

NL: ARIZONA at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARIZONA (1) AT PITTSBURGH (5) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona Starting Lineups -- C Young CF, S Drew SS, E Byrnes LF, C Jackson 1B,
M Reynolds 3B, M Montero C, J Upton RF, A Ojeda 2B, L Hernandez RHP.

Pittsburgh Starting Lineups -- N Morgan CF, C Izturis SS, A LaRoche 1B, X Nady RF,
J Bautista 3B, N McLouth LF, R Paulino C, J Castillo 2B, M Morris RHP.

Umpires -- Tony Randazzo (HP), Greg Gibson (1B), Larry Vanover (2B),
Dana Demuth (3B).

Gametime Weather: 79 degrees, Cloudy, wind right to left at 9 mph.


ARIZONA 1ST: C Young grounded out to third. S Drew struck out looking.
E Byrnes flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 1ST: N Morgan walked. N Morgan picked off first. C Izturis
lined out to second. A LaRoche walked. X Nady grounded out to second.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

ARIZONA 2ND: C Jackson struck out swinging. M Reynolds struck out swinging.
M Montero lined out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 2ND: J Bautista struck out looking. N McLouth struck out
looking. R Paulino singled to left. R Paulino stole second. J Castillo
grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

ARIZONA 3RD: J Upton grounded out to shortstop. A Ojeda singled to center.
L Hernandez singled to left, A Ojeda to second. C Young flied into double
play, center to second, L Hernandez doubled off first.(0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 3RD: M Morris singled to right. N Morgan singled to right,
M Morris to third. C Izturis grounded out to catcher, N Morgan to second.
A LaRoche hit a ground rule double to deep left center, M Morris and N Morgan
scored. X Nady flied out to right, A LaRoche to third. J Bautista walked.
N McLouth struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 2.

ARIZONA 4TH: S Drew singled to left. E Byrnes lined out to center.
C Jackson popped out to third. M Reynolds struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 2.

PITTSBURGH 4TH: R Paulino fouled out to first. J Castillo doubled to deep
right. M Morris singled to left, J Castillo to third. N Morgan singled to
left, J Castillo scored, M Morris to second. C Izturis singled to right,
M Morris to third, N Morgan to second. A LaRoche grounded into double play,
second to shortstop to first, C Izturis out at second.(1 Run, 4 Hits, 0 Errors)
ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 3.

ARIZONA 5TH: M Montero flied out to left. J Upton struck out swinging.
A Ojeda singled to shallow right. L Hernandez flied out to center. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 3.

PITTSBURGH 5TH: X Nady homered to right. J Bautista singled to center.
J Cruz relieved L Hernandez. N McLouth flied into double play, center to
shortstop to first, J Bautista doubled off first. R Paulino struck out
swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 0, PITTSBURGH 4.

ARIZONA 6TH: C Young struck out looking. S Drew flied out to right.
E Byrnes singled to center. E Byrnes stole second. C Jackson doubled to deep
left, E Byrnes scored. M Reynolds grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 4.

PITTSBURGH 6TH: J Castillo grounded out to second. M Morris struck out
looking. N Morgan struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1,
PITTSBURGH 4.

ARIZONA 7TH: M Montero grounded out to shortstop. J Upton fouled out to
first. A Ojeda struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1,
PITTSBURGH 4.

PITTSBURGH 7TH: D Slaten relieved J Cruz. C Izturis singled to left.
A LaRoche doubled to deep center, C Izturis scored. B Wickman relieved D Slaten.
X Nady hit by pitch. J Bautista grounded into double play, third to second to
first, X Nady out at second, A LaRoche to third. N McLouth grounded out to
first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 5.

ARIZONA 8TH: S Torres relieved M Morris. A Callaspo hit for B Wickman.
A Callaspo struck out looking. C Young walked. S Drew singled to right, C Young
to third. E Byrnes flied out to center. C Jackson grounded into fielder's
choice to third, S Drew out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1,
PITTSBURGH 5.

PITTSBURGH 8TH: B Medders relieved B Wickman. R Paulino doubled to deep
center, R Paulino out stretching at third. J Castillo singled to center.
M Kata hit for S Torres. M Kata singled to center, J Castillo to second.
B Murphy relieved B Medders. N Morgan grounded out to pitcher, J Castillo to
third, M Kata to second. C Izturis flied out to right. (0 Runs, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 5.

ARIZONA 9TH: M Capps relieved S Torres. M Reynolds struck out swinging.
M Montero flied out to right. J Salazar hit for J Upton. J Salazar singled to
center. J Salazar to second on fielder's indifference. A Ojeda grounded out to
first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) ARIZONA 1, PITTSBURGH 5.</div>

 

Morris, Pirates slow down first-place Diamondbacks

<h3>PITTSBURGH 5, ARIZONA 1</h3>By Chris Adamski
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't makingthings easy on the Arizona Diamondbacks in their quest to clincha National League playoff spot.


Matt Morris hurled seven strong innings and Xavier Nady hit his20th home run as the last-place Pirates beat the first-placeDiamondbacks for the second consecutive night with a 5-1 victoryon Wednesday.


Adam LaRoche had two hits and three RBI for the Pirates.

Arizona (88-70) holds a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL West over thesecond-place San Diego Padres (86-71) and a 2 1/2-game advantageover the third-place Colorado Rockies (85-72).


The Padres and Rockies both are in action later Wednesday night.

"This definitely puts the pressure on us," said first basemanConor Jackson, who had the Diamondbacks' only extra base hit andlone RBI. "But on the flip side of that, you can't push thepanic button. We're still in a good spot. But we have to getback to playing the way we have for the past two months.

"This is kind of uncharacteristic of us."


Stephen Drew and Augie Ojeda each had two hits for Arizona,which has lost three in a row. The Pirates entered this seriescarrying a season-worst nine-game losing streak.


Morris (10-11) pitched his best game as a Pirate since beingacquired at the July 31 trade deadline. He allowed one run andsix hits while striking out seven without a walk, improving to3-4 as a Pirate.


"I pitched like it was the last game of the year, which it is,"Morris said. "Whatever was in my tank, I was going to leave itout on the field. I was able to make some pitches and get outs,and we had some great defensive plays."


After the two teams sat through a 59-minute delay in the bottomof the second inning, Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the thirdwhen LaRoche hit a ground-rule double to left center offDiamondbacks starter Livan Hernandez that drove in Morris andNyjer Morgan.


Pittsburgh added to that the following inning when Morgansingled in Jose Castillo. The Pirates threatened to break thegame open with the bases loaded and nobody out, but Hernandezgot LaRoche to ground into a double play to keep the Pittsburghlead at 3-0.


"I'm very, very big on the integrity of the game, the integrityof the playoff races," Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said. "Tohave the other side of the field go out there and play againstyou the way we did the last couple days, I think if they didn'trealize it they certainly do now.


"We are not here for them to just show up and beat us two orthree times and get themselves closer or have a party overthere."


But the Pirates eventually got that run anyway on the next pitchthey saw from Hernandez. Nady led off the fifth with his homerto right and, when Jose Bautista then singled on Hernandez'snext pitch, the righthander's night was over.


Hernandez (11-11) allowed 13 baserunners - 10 hits and three<div class="pre">walks in his four-plus innings, striking out three and walking</div>three. His final start of the season also was tied for hisshortest outing of the campaign.


"I felt good early," Hernandez said. "But after the rain delay,I don't think I felt as good. It seemed like (the delay) tookall my energy. The body didn't respond to it too well."

Arizona finally got on the board in the sixth when Eric Byrnessingled with two outs and scored when Jackson followed with adouble. But those were two of only nine baserunners theDiamondbacks had all night.


"I don't know if we're pressing or trying to do too much orwhat," third baseman Mark Reynolds said. "We're not getting thebig hit right now."


LaRoche doubled in Cesar Izturis in the seventh to make it 5-1.

Morgan, Izturis, LaRoche, Ronny Paulino, Castillo and Morriseach had two hits for Pittsburgh.


"If you're sitting in spring training and they tell you you'llhave four games left in the season and you'll have the(division) lead, you'd have to take it," Arizona manager BobMelvin said. "We need to get our mind-set back to that."