Edmonds hits homer off Beimel for 6-3 win

Friday, August 22, 2003

By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS -- In a season of missed opportunities, the Pirates let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers last night in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Pirates starter Nelson Figueroa waits for Jim Edmonds to rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run for the Cardinals in the fifth inning yesterday at St. Louis. (Tom Gannam, Associated Press) Click photo for larger image. More Pirates Coverage: Pirates Report: 8/22/03 Columnist Shelly Anderson: Don't count J.R. House out of the Pirates future Columnist Gene Collier: Mays made play an art; for Bonds it's cold science August 22, 1903 The Pirates swept a doubleheader from the host Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 and 7-4. It was the third doubleheader in as many days for the Pirates (70-37). In the first game, the Pirates had 13 hits and overcame a 4-0 deficit. Fred Clarke homered, and Honus Wagner and Claude Ritchey each had three hits. The Pirates jumped to a 6-0 lead in the third inning of the second game. Five consecutive hits, including a double by Clarke, highlighted the third. -- By Randy Stoernell

Abraham Nunez won a hard-fought battle against reliever Jason Simontacchi for a tying, two-run triple in the eighth. But the Pirates squandered a chance to go ahead in the ninth when the heart of the order failed to deliver with the go-ahead run on third base and nobody out.

They paid for that failure in the bottom of the ninth when Jim Edmonds crushed a three-run home run off Joe Beimel to give the Cardinals the win in the series finale. It was the second home run of the game for Edmonds.

Edmonds was nearly retired in that at-bat. He popped out along the third-base line and was walking back to the dugout. But Jose Hernandez failed to catch the ball. Given a second chance, Edmonds came through with his 32nd home run of the season.

After battling back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, the Pirates were on the brink of taking their first lead of the game in the ninth. Tike Redman led off with a triple into the right field corner, and Kendall walked on a full count.

With the infield playing up, Brian Giles took a called third strike from reliever Cal Eldred. Matt Stairs popped up to the catcher in foul territory. Craig Wilson drove a ball deep to left, but it was playable for the third out. Wilson stranded seven runners while going 0 for 5.

The Pirates stranded 11 runners.

Nunez had breathed life into the Pirates with a classic duel against reliever Jason Simontacchi. With the count at 2-2, Nunez fouled off seven pitches before drilling a ball in the gap in right center. The hit capped a two-out rally that began when Hernandez doubled to left and pinch-hitter Reggie Sanders, who had two home runs in the fifth inning of Wednesday's game, was walked on four consecutive pitches.

The Pirates got their lone run off starter Woody Williams in the seventh, and it took a two-out rally to do it. Crusing along with a five-hit shutout, Williams had struck out Nunez and pinch-hitter J.J. Davis.

Redman legged out a double to left center, and Jason Kendall got him home with another double. It was Kendall's third hit of the game that kept a hot streak going. He has 22 hits in his past 43 at bats, and he has had more than one hit in seven of his past 11 games.

Kendall's hit finished Williams and brought on left-hander Steve Kline to face Giles. Giles struck out on a full count to end the inning.

Once again, the Pirates didn't have to face Albert Pujols, the league's leading hitter who is still weakened by the flu after serving a two-game suspension. But the two home runs by Edmonds, a solo shot by Miguel Cairo and a run-scoring double by Scott Rolen made up for it.

The Pirates finished at 5-5 in Busch Stadium but were 7-10 against the Cardinals this the season.

Nelson Figueroa was seeking his third win in as many starts since he was recalled from Nashville. But he fought control problems on a sweltering night -- it was 94 degrees at game time, 10 degrees off the afternoon high -- and it cost him. Although he allowed five hits in five innings, he also issued five walks. Only 49 of his 90 pitches were strikes.

The first of those walks, to Cairo in the first inning, led to a run when Cairo scored from first on Rolen's two out double down the left-field line.

Edmonds homered on a 1-1 pitch into the right field seats in the fifth to make it 2-0.

Cairo's homer came in the seventh off reliever Mike Gonzalez, who had not allowed a run in his first four big-league appearances. It was the 20th homer give up by Pirates pitchers in the past 14 games.

When three trades came in rapid succession beginning July 20, Lloyd McClendon took offense at the notion the Pirates would pack it in after losing so many veterans. His words sounded like a manager putting damage control on front office decisions that were driven by money.

But the Pirates still have a winning record (16-15) since the turnover began. It seems as inexplicable as a team giving up 10 runs in an inning one night and then scoring 10 runs in an inning the next.

"We have Giles. We have Kendall. We have Sanders. We have Stairs. We have [Jeff] Reboulet, a guy who plays with passion and heart. We have Jack Wilson, who leaves it all on the field. We have a pretty good pitching staff. More than anything we have each other. We're professionals, and we care about what we're doing. So why should we quit?" McClendon said. "This certainly has been a season of some missed opportunities, but it hasn't been for a lack of effort."

It's been almost two months since they've had a three-game losing streak. Their record of 33-28 record since June 14 is still the best in the Central Division.

"Obviously, we've really been swinging the bats extremely well. We've had a couple of lapses where we didn't take advantage of opportunities to drive in runs. But other than that, if you look at our numbers since the break, we've certainly been coming on pretty good," McClendon said.

"Our problems have been in the bullpen. It's been well documented," he added. "Early on, we just didn't get the job done. We didn't get it done with a combination that for us last year was almost automatic, but for some reason, it just didn't happen."

Robert Dvorchak can be reached at< ahref=mailto:bdvorchak@post-gazette.com> bdvorchak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1959.

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