|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Saturday, Apr. 8 4:35pm ET
Gilkey sinks Bucs in final at-bat | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- Bernard Gilkey doesn't get a lot of chances to be a hero these days, especially as a starter. When his time finally came Saturday, he made the most of it. Gilkey lined a two-out single to right field with the bases loaded in the ninth, his first hit of the season, to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Manager Buck Showalter intends to use Gilkey in right field against left-handed pitchers, so he got his first start Saturday. Otherwise, Gilkey's role will be as a pinch hitter. "It's tough," Gilkey said. "It's a different mindset so I'm just going to have to really work hard and adjust so I can continue to play the way I feel I'm capable of playing. I feel I have a lot to give the game." It was the second time in three days that Arizona won in its last at bat, something the Diamondbacks did 24 times in winning the NL West title last year. Luis Gonzalez and Jay Bell both hit their second home runs of the season for Arizona. Brian Giles hit his third homer and Pat Meares hit his first for the Pirates, a solo shot to tie it at 5 in the seventh. After going 4-for-4 with three doubles in Arizona's 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night, Gonzalez had a homer, RBI groundout, single and sacrifice bunt to advance the winning run to third. "We kept pluggin' away and found a way to get it done," Showalter said. "Luis continued to swing the bat good and got down a great bunt, that was one of the differences in the game." The other difference, Showalter said, was the performance of relief pitchers Greg Swindell and Russ Springer. Swindell (1-0) allowed two hits in the ninth but struck out Kevin Young on a 3-2 pitch with runners on first and second to end the inning. Jason Christiansen (1-1), who got the victory against Arizona on Friday night, walked Hanley Frias and Jay Bell to start the ninth, then Gonzalez's bunt advanced the runners. Christiansen walked Greg Colbrunn intentionally to load the bases, and Steve Finley popped out to second for the second out. Gilkey lined a 1-1 pitch to right field to win it. "We had a chance," Pirates manager Gene Lamont said. "The walks backed Jason into a corner. We got the big out with Finley, but Gilkey's a good hitter." The Pirates, 17-30 against lefties last season, faced a left-handed starter for the first time. Swindell is also a lefty. "We're a better hitting team this year. I thought we swung the bat well," Lamont said. "I can't tell you what our record will be with lefties, but we'll have better at bats this year." Brian Anderson started for Arizona and Jimmy Anderson for Pittsburgh in what the Elias Sports Bureau said was the first Anderson vs. Anderson matchup in big-league history. Neither got the decision. All of the pitchers struggled with umpire Tim McClelland's tight strike zone. Giles' two-run homer with one out in the third put the Pirates up 3-1, but Arizona cut it to 3-2 on Gonzalez's line-drive home run into the Pittsburgh bullpen in right field. Bell homered off Jimmy Anderson's first pitch in the fifth inning to tie it at 3. After Colbrunn walked with one out, Finley hit a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third. Gilkey drove in Colbrunn with a sacrifice fly, then Danny Klassen singled to score Finley from second and make it 5-3. Pittsburgh cut it to 5-4 in the sixth but it could have been much worse for Arizona. Young doubled off the center-field wall with one out, then scored on Wil Cordero's single. Warren Morris singled and Brian Anderson was replaced by Russ Springer. Springer gave up a single to Luis Sojo to load the bases, but got Chad Hermanson on a foul out to first and pinch-hitter Bruce Aven on a fly ball to center to end the inning. Game notesThe roof was open at Bank One Ballpark, with the temperature on the field at game time at 94 degrees, but cloudy skies kept the heat down the rest of the day. ... Until Hermansen's RBI single in the second inning, the Pirates had never scored an earned run against Brian Anderson -- a span of 22 innings. ... Showalter had four new players in his lineup to face the left-handed Jimmy Anderson -- Klassen at third, Colbrunn at first, Gilkey in right field and Hanley Frias at shortstop. ... Arizona turned three double plays in the first four innings. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Pittsburgh Clubhouse Arizona Clubhouse RECAPS Baltimore 2 Detroit 1
Arizona 6
  | |||||