PITTSBURGH – Freddy Sanchez tied the score with a triple and scored on Jack Wilson’s single as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-7.
Ty Wigginton walked on four pitches to open the eighth off Matt Belisle (4-8) and scored when Sanchez hit a drive off the glove of Ryan Freel as the left fielder crashed into the wall. Wilson singled for an 8-7 lead and scored on Brad Eldred’s single.
Mike Gonzalez (1-3) pitched the final two innings for the Pirates, who have won four of five.
Pirates starter Oliver Perez, making his third start since coming off the disabled list, allowed five runs – four earned – five hits and five walks in 2 2-3 innings.
Reds starter Eric Milton gave up six runs and six hits in two-thirds of an inning. Luke Hudson, followed with 5 1-3 scoreless innings of two-hit relief. He struck out Craig Wilson with the bases loaded to end the sixth.
Jason LaRue hit a three-run homer in the first, but Pittsburgh went ahead with six runs in the bottom half on RBI singles by Jason Bay and Humberto Cota, a bases-loaded walk to Jose Bautista, a two-run, two-out single by Perez and an RBI single by Sanchez that chased Milton.
Freel hit an RBI single in the second and scored from first when Rich Aurilia hit a slow roller to second. Sanchez threw wildly to first for an error and Eldred, the first baseman, threw the ball into left field for another error when he tried to get Aurilia at second.
Austin Kearns tied it with an RBI grounder in the fourth, and Wily Mo Pena put Cincinnati ahead 7-6 with a sacrifice fly off Bryan Bullington, who relief Perez in the third and was making his major league debut.
Notes: Pirates GM David Littlefield said Sunday that Dave Williams (strained muscle) and Mark Redman (broken finger) will not pitch again this season. Redman was injured Sept. 3 at Chicago … LaRue also homered Sept. 11 against Pittsburgh … Perez stole second base in the first inning, becoming the first Pittsburgh pitcher to steal since Josh Fogg against Florida on Aug. 28, 2003.
AP-ES-09-18-05 1711EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.