Game 80 Recap-
RF Jason Bay hit a walk off home run, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Tampa Rays, 4-3 Saturday night at PNC Park. Bay hit a pitch from RH Jason Hammel(3-2,4.96) out to center, making RH John Van Benschoten(1-2,8.31) a winner after he pitched a scoreless 13th.
The teams got strong games from young starting pitchers and traded scores all night. Rookie 3b Evan Longoria hit a sacrifice fly in the 1st to put the Rays up 1-0. Pirates 1b Adam Laroche rbi groundout tied the game in the 2nd. Pirates SP RH Ty Taubenheim( 6 innings,7 hits, 2 runs with 4 Ks and 3 walks) helpled his team with an rbi double in the 6th.
Tampa responded with a run in the 6th after C Dioner Navarro’s rbi single. Pirates supersub Doug Mientkiewicz’s pinch hit double squared the game at 3. That ended the night for Rays SP Edwin(4-6,4.33) Jackson( 6 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs with 3 Ks and 2 walks). Rays PH Johnny Gomes took LH set-up man Damaso Marte(4-0,3.26) deep to center to once again tie the game.
The homer off of Marte marred a great performance by the Pirates relief corps,RHs Tyler Yates(3.52), TJ Beam(10.38, 2 innings) and closer Matt Capps(2.52, 2 innings) all pitched well and allowed Bay to win the game.
Star of the Game-
Bay- My rule…. You hit a walkoff u have this award!
Pirates Journal-
Nady & 3b Jose Bautista led the team with 2 hits… start of the game was delayed 45 minutes with strong storms in the Pittsburgh area
Next Game-
Sunday 1:35 PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Pirates LH Tom Gorzelanny(6-6,6.43) vs Rays RH Andy Sonnanstine(8-3,4.85)
