Pirates end 6 game slide

cpawfan · Sep 13, 2008

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08257/911996-63.stm

Paul Maholm came within an inning of a shutout and Nate McLouth came within a single of hitting for the cycle last night.

Those were the only areas where the Pirates came up short in posting a 10-2 victory against St. Louis in front of an announced crowd of 14,903 at soggy PNC Park.

Maholm, starting after a rain delay of 73 minutes, allowed three hits through eight innings before three consecutive hits in the ninth produced a Cardinals run and a fourth consecutive hit put him in the dugout.

The ninth inning runs he yielded were not a big disappointment for a pitcher who's one game over .500 for a team that's 25 games under .500.

"He was pretty much in control the whole game," manager John Russell said after the Pirates ended their six-game losing streak. "That's the consistency he's showed the whole year."

Maholm also had two hits in a six-run fifth inning, starting the rally with a leadoff single and capping it with a two-run single.

Maholm is the first pitcher to have two hits in an inning since Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick did it June 13 of this season.

He's the first Pirates pitcher to do it since Kip Wells had a single and double in a 17-10 win at Milwaukee Aug. 24, 2002.

"I hadn't gotten a hit in three or four months," said Maholm, who's 8 for 62 this season. "It's fun to get hits and go out on the bases, but I'll take the pitching."

McLouth, who walked in the first inning, hit a two-run home run in the third -- which gave him his 100th run scored -- lined a three-run double and scored in the fifth and tripled high off the Clemente Wall and scored in the sixth.

He batted again in the eighth and reached base -- this time, though, on a throwing error by second baseman Brian Barden.

"It would have been neat," McLouth said of hitting for the cycle, "but I'll take the result over that any day. It was a win we certainly needed."

"Nate really propelled our offense," Russell said. "We swung the bats much better, and we'll continue to build off that."

Russell would like this one to produce a string of victories during the final two weeks.

"You'd like to finish on a pretty strong note and have the players wishing it wasn't over as opposed to they can't wait to pack their bags to go home," Russell said. "It's what we've been striving for."

A strong, positive finish can have an impact on a club.

Take the 1987 Pirates, for example.

General manager Syd Thrift made a flurry of trades that year as the Pirates continued to lose and seemed headed for a fourth consecutive trip to last place in the National League East.

Aug. 23, they were 53-71. The next day, Thrift had what pitcher Bob Walk called a "cheer-us-up" meeting.

Thrift told that group that they now had their team, that all the trading was done. He asked them to set a goal as to the number of wins they would get in their remaining 38 games.

"Jim Gott was always 'Mr. Positive,' " Walk said, "and he jumped up and said we'd win 25 games. It was a ridiculous goal. We're like, 'Are you out of your mind?' It kind of turned out to be a little bit of a joke."

It also turned out to be, as Walk conceded, "kind of a big deal."

Those Pirates went 27-11 in their final 38 games, finished 80-82 and wound up tying Philadelphia for fourth place by sweeping a season-ending three-game series from the Phillies.

"We were whooping and hollering like we won the playoffs," Walk said.

That successful sprint to the finish carried over into the 1988 season. Little question the foundation for that success was laid in the final fourth of the 1987 season.

"You could see it was there," Walk said. "The nucleus of the team was there -- the future superstars."

Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, Chico Lind, Doug Drabek ...

"It was just a matter of them playing better -- and they did," Walk said. "But that finish [in 1987] certainly helped. Heck, a good spring training can carry into the season. You can say there's no momentum in baseball, but there IS confidence.

"That team really gained a lot of confidence. Everybody felt very positive."
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cpawfan · Sep 13, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_588072.html

Paul Maholm and Nate McLouth are glad it finally stopped raining in Pittsburgh on Friday.

Following a 73-minute delay to start the game, McLouth enjoyed a career night, and Maholm may have done him one better.

Maholm tossed eight solid innings and had two singles in the same inning, and McLouth went 3 for 4 and drove in a career-high five runs in a 10-2 victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park.

Maholm became the first Pirates pitcher to have two hits in the same inning in more than six years.

"He had a great night," manager John Russell said of Maholm. "Everyone was pulling for him to get that last hit."

The Bucs snapped a six-game losing streak.

McLouth hit his 25th home run of the season and scored three runs, giving him 102 on the season. Second baseman Luis Cruz, in his first game at PNC Park, went 3 for 5 with three runs, and Raul Chavez and Nyjer Morgan each had a pair of hits, as the Pirates won for only the fourth time in their past 21 games.

Maholm (9-8) took a shutout into the ninth inning before allowing four consecutive hits to open the inning. Maholm ended up allowing two earned runs on seven hits against the NL wildcard-hopeful Cards. He struck out three and walked three while moving within seven innings of 200 for the season.

"You always want to finish the ninth," Maholm said, "but they started getting some hits, and (manager John Russell) made the right move. Earlier, I was getting ahead and throwing the ball down."

It was his second solid performance since his tough Aug. 30 loss to Milwaukee. The announced crowd of 14,903 gave him a standing ovation when he left in the ninth.

At the plate, Maholm had two singles in the fifth inning, as the Pirates sent 11 to the plate and scored six runs to take a 9-0 lead. The last Pirates pitcher with two hits in the same inning was Kip Wells on Aug. 24, 2002.

So what was more impressive, for Maholm? Offense or pitching?

"I'll stick with the mound because I hadn't gotten hits for three or four months, and I've been pitching better," he said. "It's fun to get hits and go out on the bases, but I will leave that stuff for the position players."

The left-handed Maholm singled off Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro (6-6) to open the inning and added a two-run single off reliever Randy Flores later in the fifth to make it 9-0.

"I was going up there figuring I was about to strike out anyways," Maholm said. "I was just trying to swing and hope."

Maholm, who is batting .108 this season with one RBI in 58 at-bats, finished 2 for 4 with one run and two RBI.

McLouth walked in the first, hit a two-run homer in the third, a three-run double in the fifth and a triple to the right-field wall in the sixth.

In the eighth, McLouth, needing a single to hit for the cycle, hit a slow roller to second base. He reached base safely when Brian Barden threw wildly to first base for an error.

The Cardinals have lost 9 of their past 13 games.

The Pirates took a 3-0 lead on Cruz's single and McLouth's two-run homer in the third.

"I feel like I did my job," said Cruz, batting .304 since being recalled Aug. 31. "I'm trying to do the best I can."
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