Indy Stars key in win over Rays
Yup - Jason Bay is still the leader of this now offensive Pirate ball club. The former All-Star has found his stroke once more. Bay lifted the Buccos to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday Night, smacking a walk-off shot to center off reliever Jason Hammel.
As if it was a September game, Triple-A pitchers made their mark on a huge win for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Making his first start as a Pirate, Ty Taubenheim did an excellent job over six innings, holding the Rays to two runs. Taubenheim walked three and struck out four, but an RBI ground-rule double in the fifth was a huge momentum builder for the 'rats.
TJ Beam, after being demoted just a couple of nights ago, returned to Pittsburgh and pitched two flawless innings of relief. He committed an error, but struck out two in a bounce-back appearance from his previous two.
John Van Benschoten picked up his second MLB win after pitching a perfect 13th. JvB is the likely choice to pitch on Wednesday for John Russell's crew with starters Ian Snell and Phil Dumatrait still out. With multiple injury hits to the Bucs' pitching staff, tonight's affair was of great importance as these trio of minor leaguers pitched very effectively for the team's 38th win.
Damaso Marte was the barer of a bad break in the eighth. After a clutch pinch-hit RBI double from Doug Mientkiewicz, Marte yielded a bomb to Johnny Gomes that tied the game up at three. The homer came after fourteen pitches as Gomes battled against the Pirates left-handed set-up man.
At 38-42, the Bucs look to take the rubber match tomorrow in their last Interleague series, though they still have the make-up of Thursday's contest to finish against the New York Yankees (rescheduled for July 10th). After being outscored 20-5 the previous two games, the Bucs did a much better job tonight, giving fans a small ounce of hope that .500 is still... a possibility.
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