Baseball roundup: Thursday's action on the diamonds
May 16, 2008Jason Bay delivered the latest blow to beleaguered reliever Jason Isringhausen.
The Canadian slugger's three-run shot off Isringhausen, working the eighth inning instead of the ninth, was the go-ahead run in the Pittsburgh Pirates' rally from an early four-run deficit in an 11-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. It also brought manager Tony La Russa's fear to fruition - you can't hide anyone for long in the bullpen.
"Right now, he's problem No. 1," La Russa said. "He's beside himself, puzzled, the whole thing."
Isringhausen, saddled with an 8.00 ERA and six blown saves in 17 chances, seemed to think he wouldn't be part of the bullpen for this weekend's interleague series against the Rays. He reiterated that the problem is not physical, so that would leave a minor-league demotion or an outright release as options if the Cardinals have lost patience with him.
"I'm out of answers, out of excuses so to speak," Isringhausen said. "We've just got to go to the next step, whatever that might be. I expect probably an answer tomorrow when we get here or even tonight, I don't know."
Nate McLouth added his 11th homer for the Pirates, who outscored the sagging Cardinals 10-0 the last five innings to take two of three in the series. The finale was played in 13 C chill accompanied by steady rain throughout the comeback, with nearly 10,000 no-shows in paid attendance of 41,244.
"We know we're in the game until it's over," Pirates manager John Russell said. "Our pitching gives us the opportunity to score late in the game."
Bay, who has started all but two of the Pirates' 41 games, had a feeling he might get a partial day off after Pittsburgh closed the deficit to a run in the fifth. The native of Trail, B.C., would have been happy with a sacrifice fly with runners on second and third, but got a pitch that probably caught more of the plate than Isringhausen wanted.
"I fully anticipated getting in at some point," Bay said. "I wasn't expecting to do that. When it went out, I was like, 'Wow!"'
Elsewhere in the National League, it was: Nationals 1 Mets 0; Dodgers 7 Brewers 2; Pirates 11 Cardinals 5; Cubs 4 Padres 0; Astros 8 Giants 7; Phillies 5, Braves 0; and Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 5.
At St. Louis, ,Troy Glaus had three hits and an RBI, and Albert Pujols extended his hitting streak to 14 games for the Cardinals, who failed to put the game away against Ian Snell. St. Louis had 11 hits during Snell's four-inning stint but only a 5-1 lead while stranding eight runners.
The Cardinals stranded 13 runners a day after leaving 15 on - one off their season high - in a 5-1 victory. They lead the major leagues in runners left on, and have lost seven of nine.
Isringhausen (1-5) was demoted from the closer's role last week and had been serving as the setup man for Ryan Franklin for a variety of reasons. Mike Parisi was held back in case Kyle Lohse, who skipped his bullpen session on Thursday due to shoulder soreness, can't make his next start on Sunday. Russ Springer pitched the previous two days and La Russa went to his bullpen early after Joel Pineiro faltered in the fifth. The manager had already used Kyle McClellan and Randy Flores.
"If we're playing games with a chance to win, the guys in the bullpen are all important," La Russa said. "If you have games that are getting away from you, it's different.
"You can only do so much not to use Izzy in a situation."
Bay is 2-for-11 with a pair of homers against Isringhausen and 2-for-12 for his career as a pinch hitter after lofting his eighth homer, and the first pinch-hit shot of his career, just beyond the left-field wall and out of the grasp of a staggering Chris Duncan on a 1-2 pitch for an 8-5 lead.
"I hit one way better than that last night," Bay said. "You take what you can get."
Isringhausen's throwing error on a bunt, a wild attempt to get the lead runner at third, allowed the tying run to score. The 35-year-old right-hander, who was 32-for-34 in save chances last year, lasted one-third of an inning and was charged with four runs - three earned.
John Grabow (3-1) got two outs in the seventh for the Pirates, who nailed down their eighth victory in 10 games with three more runs in the ninth off Ron Villone.
Pujols was 2-for-5, also extending his streak of reaching base in all 42 of his games to start the season. Duncan had a two-run double in a three-run fourth that put the Cardinals ahead 5-1.
Nationals 1 Mets 0
At New York, Willie Harris's diving catch in the ninth saved Washington, which beat the Mets behind Jason Bergmann's fantastic pitching performance.
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Dodgers 7 Brewers 2
At Milwaukee, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Gary Bennett homered during a six-run seventh inning, leading Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers past Milwaukee.
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Pirates 11 Cardinals 5
At St. Louis, Trail, B.C. native Jason Bay's pinch-hitter three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen snapped an eighth-inning tie and capped Pittsburgh's rally from an early four-run deficit.
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Cubs 4 Padres 0
At Chicago, Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C., struck out a career-high 12 and hit a go-ahead single against Greg Maddux during a four-run fifth inning, leading Chicago over the punchless Padres.
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Astros 8 Giants 7
At San Francisco, Lance Berkman splashed his major league-leading 15th home run into McCovey Cove, breaking a ninth-inning tie and helping Houston rally past the Giants.
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Phillies 5, Braves 0
At Philadelphia, Cole Hamels pitched his first career shutout, Ryan Howard homered and the Phillies moved within a game of the NL East-leading Florida Marlins.
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Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 5
At Phoenix, backed by Stephen Drew's career-high four hits, Brandon Webb became the major leagues' first nine-game winner when the Dbacks defeated the Colorado Rockies.
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Along with a recent spat of roster-diminishing injuries, the stuck-in-last-place Toronto Blue Jays needed something positive to build on.
A three-game sweep at Minnesota will do for starters.
Dustin McGowan survived his wildness without much damage, the bullpen was spotless and Joe Inglett picked up his first career pinch-hit to lift the Blue Jays past the Twins 3-2 Thursday for their fourth straight victory.
"It does good for any team when you get on a roll like this," Inglett said after slicing a two-out, bases-loaded single through the infield in the 11th inning. "Hopefully we just keep on trucking."
Scott Rolen started the inning against Toronto-born Jesse Crain (1-2) with a double into the right-field corner that Michael Cuddyer couldn't quite catch. Lyle Overbay was walked intentionally with two outs, and pinch-hitter Gregg Zaun drew a walk.
Then Inglett, called up last weekend from triple-A Syracuse, batted for Jorge Velandia and poked his hit just out of shortstop Adam Everett's reach. Inglett was hitless in 10 previous pinch-hitting appearances.
"We'll win a few in a row and then lose a few in a row," manager John Gibbons said. "You want to steady it out a little bit more."
Minnesota's Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., reached base three times and drove in a run on his 27th birthday, but the Twins twice ended innings with runners thrown out at home on his hits. They left 11 on base, five in scoring position.
Jason Kubel tried to score from first and, with his head down rounding third, ignored third-base coach Scott Ullger's stop sign in the seventh. He was thrown out easily, as was Brendan Harris in the fifth when Ullger waved him in. Harris has had tightness in his right hamstring.
"He says his legs are fine," manager Ron Gardenhire said, "but he wasn't really motoring around there."
Elsewhere in the American League, it was: Rays 5 Yankees 2; Royals 8 Tigers 4; Indians 4 Athletics 2; and White Sox 4, Angels 3.
At Minneapolis, Shawn Camp (1-1) picked up the victory by getting the last out of the 10th, and B.J. Ryan finished off the Twins by converting his seventh save in as many attempts. Ryan is unscored upon in 12 innings after returning from major elbow surgery that ended his 2007 season after only five appearances.
Praises were necessary, too, for fellow relievers Jason Frasor, Brian Tallet, Armando Benitez and Jesse Carlson after McGowan finished only five innings.
"I can't say enough about them," McGowan said. "I wish I could've went a little deeper into the game to give them a little more rest, but I guess that's going to happen sometimes."
After getting clobbered by Cleveland for nine hits and nine runs in 3 2-3 innings in his last appearance, McGowan kept the game close this time - but couldn't find the plate.
Against a lineup missing Carlos Gomez (flu) and Joe Mauer (rest), McGowan threw 94 pitches before giving up a hit. He walked five and hit a batter and allowed Minnesota's first run on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Frasor and Tallet warmed up while the no-hitter was still intact. His bid ended on a one-out single by Harris, who was thrown out on Morneau's double that drove in Adam Everett.
Starting pitching has not been the problem for the Blue Jays, whose 3.63 ERA for the rotation is third-best in the league. Without Wells, who went down last week with a broken wrist that will keep him out for most of the rest of the season's first half, Toronto is missing some punch in the middle of the lineup.
Twins starter Glen Perkins, like McGowan, was able to sidestep self-induced trouble for the most part by getting a popup or a weak grounder when he needed it.
Alex Rios (single) and Rolen (grounder) drove in runs in the third, but Perkins completed six innings and retired his last eight batters.
Rays 5 Yankees 2
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Scott Kazmir sparkled in his first start since agreeing to a US$28.5-million contract extension, and the surprising Rays dropped New York into last place.
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Royals 8 Tigers 4
At Kansas City, Mo., Jose Guillen homered and drove in three runs, Gil Meche pitched seven solid innings and the Royals completed another three-game sweep of the Tigers.
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Indians 4 Athletics 2
At Cleveland, An unearned run against Aaron Laffey caused by his own throwing error ended the scoreless streak by Cleveland starters at 44 1-3 innings but didn't interrupt their string of dominant outings.
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White Sox 4, Angels 3
At Anaheim, Calif., Jim Thome hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning, A.J. Pierzynski's RBI double capped a three-run second against former batterymate Jon Garland, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels.
