Diamondbacks topple Bucs in extras
PITTSBURGH -- They were badly outhit, committed an error, had two men thrown out attempting to steal, missed coaches' signals and had a passed ball.
But none of that mattered, because the Arizona Diamondbacks somehow found a way to snap a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12 innings on Tuesday night at PNC Park.
"We needed a win, period," manager Bob Melvin said. "We just kept fighting, and finally got it.
"I saw a lot of things I didn't like seeing early in the game today. We missed a hit-and-run sign, tried to steal when we're not supposed to be stealing -- a lot of things that usually end up costing you games. But we kept playing hard and came up on the wining side."
Chad Tracy and Chris Snyder scored runs in the 12th inning for the Diamondbacks, who were 9-22 since tying for first place on July 31.
That poor play appeared to continue as starter Javier Vazquez was peppered for 11 hits through his first five innings but allowed only the two solo home runs to appear on the scoreboard, as the Pirates stranded 10 men on base. Vazquez's line was not pretty in terms of the 13 baserunners he allowed during his six innings and 104 pitches, but he got out of trouble when he needed to.
"Javy kept fighting out there," Melvin said. "He gave up a bunch of hits but made good pitches when he had to and got us through [six] innings, which at the time, I didn't think he had a chance."
The only runs Vazquez allowed were solo shots by Brad Eldred in the second and Ty Wigginton in the fourth. But a better example of Vazquez's night came in the fifth, when the Bucs had loaded the bases with one out, and Vazquez got Wigginton to ground into a double play.
"I'm glad I could get out of trouble when I was in it," Vazquez said. "The whole night it seemed like I was in trouble.
"I was just battling out there. I thought I threw some good pitches and the balls just kept [finding] the holes."
Four relievers combined to pitch three-hit, shutout ball over the final six innings of the game, including Jose Valverde and Buddy Groom.
Valverde (2-4) earned the win with two innings of scoreless relief, striking out the side in the 11th. Groom pitched the bottom of the 12th for his first career National League save.
"Everybody out there did a great job," Vazquez said of the bullpen. "It seemed like they weren't in trouble at all. They made their pitches. That was big for us."
Nine of the first 10 Diamondbacks did not reach against Pittsburgh lefty Paul Maholm, who was making his second career start. Arizona did not record a hit until an Alex Cintron double to lead off the fourth. Cintron scored two batters later on a double by Troy Glaus to tie the game at 1.
Luis Terrero's one-out single in the seventh scored Conor Jackson for the D-Backs' second run.
That would be all the runs scored in the game until the 12th, when Pirates reliever John Grabow (2-2) walked Tracy to open the inning. He was sacrificed to second by Terrero.
Snyder followed with a single to right and Craig Wilson's throw home had Tracy beat by 20 feet. Tracy stopped and was hit in the back by catcher Ryan Doumit's throw, sending the ball awry and allowing Tracy to trot home.
"It was just one of those things where the ball probably bounced our way," Snyder said. "We were fortunate to come out on the winning end of it,"
Two batters later, Royce Clayton singled off of Rick White to score Tracy.
Arizona could have ended the game in the 10th, when Jose Mesa hit Terrero with a pitch and he moved to second on a passed ball by Doumit. Pinch-hitter Quinton McCracken bunted to move Terrero to third and reached on a fielder's choice when Mesa's ill-advised throw to third was too late.
But after pinch-hitter Shawn Green lined out, Terrero was thrown out at home on a comebacker to Mesa.
"We just kept battling," Melvin said. "We were so many times in a situation, say, where we had first and third with nobody out and we don't score and throw the momentum back to the other side. But we kept playing hard."
Hard enough to earn a win.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
But none of that mattered, because the Arizona Diamondbacks somehow found a way to snap a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12 innings on Tuesday night at PNC Park.
"We needed a win, period," manager Bob Melvin said. "We just kept fighting, and finally got it.
"I saw a lot of things I didn't like seeing early in the game today. We missed a hit-and-run sign, tried to steal when we're not supposed to be stealing -- a lot of things that usually end up costing you games. But we kept playing hard and came up on the wining side."
Chad Tracy and Chris Snyder scored runs in the 12th inning for the Diamondbacks, who were 9-22 since tying for first place on July 31.
That poor play appeared to continue as starter Javier Vazquez was peppered for 11 hits through his first five innings but allowed only the two solo home runs to appear on the scoreboard, as the Pirates stranded 10 men on base. Vazquez's line was not pretty in terms of the 13 baserunners he allowed during his six innings and 104 pitches, but he got out of trouble when he needed to.
"Javy kept fighting out there," Melvin said. "He gave up a bunch of hits but made good pitches when he had to and got us through [six] innings, which at the time, I didn't think he had a chance."
The only runs Vazquez allowed were solo shots by Brad Eldred in the second and Ty Wigginton in the fourth. But a better example of Vazquez's night came in the fifth, when the Bucs had loaded the bases with one out, and Vazquez got Wigginton to ground into a double play.
"I'm glad I could get out of trouble when I was in it," Vazquez said. "The whole night it seemed like I was in trouble.
"I was just battling out there. I thought I threw some good pitches and the balls just kept [finding] the holes."
Four relievers combined to pitch three-hit, shutout ball over the final six innings of the game, including Jose Valverde and Buddy Groom.
Valverde (2-4) earned the win with two innings of scoreless relief, striking out the side in the 11th. Groom pitched the bottom of the 12th for his first career National League save.
"Everybody out there did a great job," Vazquez said of the bullpen. "It seemed like they weren't in trouble at all. They made their pitches. That was big for us."
Nine of the first 10 Diamondbacks did not reach against Pittsburgh lefty Paul Maholm, who was making his second career start. Arizona did not record a hit until an Alex Cintron double to lead off the fourth. Cintron scored two batters later on a double by Troy Glaus to tie the game at 1.
Luis Terrero's one-out single in the seventh scored Conor Jackson for the D-Backs' second run.
That would be all the runs scored in the game until the 12th, when Pirates reliever John Grabow (2-2) walked Tracy to open the inning. He was sacrificed to second by Terrero.
Snyder followed with a single to right and Craig Wilson's throw home had Tracy beat by 20 feet. Tracy stopped and was hit in the back by catcher Ryan Doumit's throw, sending the ball awry and allowing Tracy to trot home.
"It was just one of those things where the ball probably bounced our way," Snyder said. "We were fortunate to come out on the winning end of it,"
Two batters later, Royce Clayton singled off of Rick White to score Tracy.
Arizona could have ended the game in the 10th, when Jose Mesa hit Terrero with a pitch and he moved to second on a passed ball by Doumit. Pinch-hitter Quinton McCracken bunted to move Terrero to third and reached on a fielder's choice when Mesa's ill-advised throw to third was too late.
But after pinch-hitter Shawn Green lined out, Terrero was thrown out at home on a comebacker to Mesa.
"We just kept battling," Melvin said. "We were so many times in a situation, say, where we had first and third with nobody out and we don't score and throw the momentum back to the other side. But we kept playing hard."
Hard enough to earn a win.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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