Game 134 Recap-
LF Ryan Braun made Pirates LH Tom Gorzelanny pay for his 1st inning wildness with a tremendous 3 run shot to right, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night at PNC Park. Gorzelanny allowed a walk and hit to start the inning and Braun then took him deep for his 34th homer.Braun is now 8 for 17 with 3 home runs and 9 rbis vs the veteran LH, although he did not think it was a big deal postgame. “It’s just lefties in general,” Braun said. “I normally see the ball well. He’s a good pitcher. Hopefully, I can keep that up. We’ll see what happens.”
RH David Bush(9-9,4.12) was strong over 6 2/3 innings, allowing 6 hits and 1 run(solo shot to Pirates All Star CF Nate McLouth in the 4th) while striking out 2 and walking 2. Gorzelanny also pitched well and after the homer, he retired 21 of 24 and the oppostion manager noticed, “He started banging strikes and keeping the ball down,” Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. “We never really had another opportunity. He pitched really, really well.”
For the vanquished Pirates, loser of 12 of 14 games, not much to get excited about. McLouth continues to battle hard and put out but Gorzelanny has looked better and closer to the 2007 version(14-10,3.88). He sounded like someone who has turned a corner after the loss, “I didn’t get down on myself after the first inning,” said Gorzelanny, who’s lost his past three major-league starts, all to Milwaukee. “I put it behind me and didn’t let it get me down.”
The underrated Brewers bullpen was also strong for 2 1/3 innings. LH Brian Shouse(4-1,2.35,14 holds) went the first 2/3 innings, while RH Eric Gagne(4-2,5th hold,6.23) got the game to the ninth. RH Salomon Torres(6-3,2.44) earned his 26th save with only 14 pitches on 3 ground ball outs.
I like this message…
Pirates Manager John Russell post game:”He threw the ball better than he has all year,” he said. “But at some point, our pitchers have to understand that a good outing is a win. … You can lose a game in the first inning. We have to change the mentality that someone threw well, but lost 4-3, 10-5, or whatever.”
Star of the Game-
Braun- With one swing, he totaled 3 of the 4 runs in the game
Pirates Notes-
SS Jack Wilson was 1 for 4 and has a hit in 13 of his last 14 home games… Russell intends to employ a 6 man rotation September… McLouth and 2b Freddy Sanchez had 2 hits apiece
Next Game-
Game 2 of 3 game weekend series vs Milwaukee
Pirates LH Paul Maholm(8-7,3.62) vs Brewers RH Jeff Suppan(9-7,4.58)
