A great win for the Pirates over the defending league champs. I'll dispense with this first bit of information before moving on to the game itself: The Marlins played with only eight guys. After giving up one out the first time through, they collapsed the lineup and batted eight. Offensively, it may have helped; defensively it hurt them at times, but not enough to marr what turned out to be a pretty terrific ballgame.
Calhoun started for the Bucs, Godamski for the Fish. After five innings, it was deadlocked at two. The home team Marlins plated four in the bottom of the sixth, however, to take what appeared to be a commanding 6-2 lead.
But the Pirates erupted for six runs in the top of the seventh, with the key blow being a two-out, two-run double by Dave Moreau with the score 6-5 in the Marlins favor.
On to the bottom of the seventh, Bucs up 8-6. A walk, an out, and a booming double by Randy Craft -- who continues to make phenomenal plays at shortstop, on this day twice gunning down a Pirate at the plate -- made it 8-7. In comes Mike Kane to face Pirate-killer Mike Girard, then some Monster in the cleanup spot named Curt. An error on a very close play allowed Girard to reach first base safely, with Craft holding at second. Then a grounder deep in the hole at SS was knocked down, no play. All hands safe, bases loaded, one out. The next batter hit a semi-shallow fly to RF, but Craft wisely held at third on a strong throw. Up comes Tom Maney. Game on the line.
Now one thing about Tom Maney: Everybody on the Pirates loves this guy. We went to San Antonio together and had the Greatest Time Ever. He's just a great player and a good man. So Tom scalds a screaming liner to RF . . . into my glove for the final out . . . and it was over. Bucs prevail, 8-7.
So, yeah, the Marlins only had eight guys. But we'll take it, gladly. The thing is, we brought 14, used (and needed) every one, and one of our guys was too injured to dress (but you can't keep Ron Smaka away from a Pirates game). On this one day, from my biased perspective, the better team won. The Marlins have such talented players. They are the league champs, deservedly. And over the years they've been unkind to us on the playing field. So it makes this win all the sweeter. Six runs in the seventh. Wow. Anytime you beat the Marlins, under any circumstances, you've done something.
For the Bucs, great contributions across the board: Agneta, Kane, Calhoun, Lounello, Comensky, McQuade, Tryon, Johnson, Knaupp, Preller, Yakatan, Moreau, Zamory and, yes, even Smaka in street clothes. A total team effort. Very proud of those guys.
Six runs in the seventh! What an amazing comeback for the Pirates. I'm sure Mr. Jordan was smiling down between puffs! Where was Ralph C. to shut the door?
My hats off to the Bucs. Through six innings the Pirates couldn't muster more than two runs off of Mash, who was locating the ball exceptionally well. Randy Craft continued to make plays at short that no other 38+ shortstop makes. When we scored 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth, I thought we were going to record our second win with 8 players in as many games. The pinpoint control that had baffled the Pirate hitters all night, left Mash in the seventh and with more balls in the hitting zone the Pirate hitters teed off for a memorable rally. There were many extra bases had at the expense of the two outfielder alignment, but the real story was that the Pirates didn't give up when most others would have. Congrats on a quality win. We look forward to playing you guys down the road.
