[Yahoo.com]-----------------
There were a bunch of things working in the Pirates' favor tonight. Thankfully, they cashed in.
------
The Bucs were returning home, while Houston was coming off a 17 inning loss where the whole bullpen was spent. That game was delayed by rain, and the team's flight to Pittsburgh was delayed, so the 'Stros didn't get into Pittsburgh until 3 AM today.
Oh, and this Hernandez dude was pitching.
-----
With the dead bullpen, the Astros needed him to go deep in the game. So, when he was getting completely destroyed in the early innings, what do you do?
-
Leave him in to keep getting destroyed, of course!
The Pirates offense liked that. A lot. Everybody hit--the whole lineup. McLouth (an All-Star, have you heard?) and Doumit homered, LaRoche tripled, Rivas and Nady doubled, and Phil Dumatrait got his first career hit and RBI.
All that came in the first 4 innings.
---
Ehhhhhh, speaking of Dumatrait.....yeah. Bad. He gave up two bombs in the first for a quick 3-0 hole, and once the Pirates climbed out of it, he gave it all back with a 4-run 4th. That's right, with all that offense, we were still losing at two points in this game, 3-0 and 7-6. Phil looked just like he did before he went on the DL.
--
Luckily, though, Denny Bautista came in to save him. He was a heck of a lot better than he was yesterday, and he got rewarded for hit with another win. 2 and 2/3 innings of scoreless work for him and three quick innings from Yates and Marte (who picked up a save) made a virtually perfect night for the much-maligned Bucco bullpen. Bautista also poked a grounder up the middle and hustled to first to beat a throw for his first career hit and RBI. Good for him, and so far this trade is really looking good.
-------
The final was 10-7. It was a terrible game for Dumatrait, which is definitely a problem, but it was a great night for just about everybody else.
And, we're out of last place. I'll take it.
