| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- Matt Williams tried to remain calm, especially
after talking with Arizona manager Buck Showalter.
"Buck had a couple of words for me tonight. He said, `Hey, let
the game come to you. Do what you do.' "
Williams, playing for the first time this season, went 2-for-4
and started three double plays at third base Tuesday night in the
Diamondbacks' 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"If liked it, I'd swing at it, and try to get on for Steve so
he can hit a three-run homer," Williams said.
Steve Finley drove in four runs with his 17th homer -- a 432-foot
shot into the right-field grandstand in the first inning off Jimmy
Anderson (1-2) -- and a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Rich
Loiselle.
"He continues to swing the bat as well as I've seen him over a
long period of time," said Showalter, who got a 44th birthday gift
when his team snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just
the second time in eight games.
Williams, who broke his right foot March 28 when he fouled off a
pitch during spring training, singled twice and scored one run. He
was coming off a short rehab assignment in the minors.
"I think I saw more ground balls tonight than I did the whole
six games in Double-A, so they tested me," Williams said. "When
those left-handers hit ground balls at you at third base, it's not
fun. But I saw the ball fine."
Brian Giles, a left-handed batter, hit into two of the double
plays started by Williams.
Brian Anderson (4-0) gave up the one run and eight hits, struck
out three and walked none in eight innings. He picked off Warren
Morris after a leadoff single in the first.
"We've had trouble with him before," Pirates manager Gene
Lamont said. "Maybe that's the kind of lefty we have trouble
with."
Anderson allowed five hits in the first two innings, but retired
14 of his last 16 batters and stayed in the game despite taking a
smash off the bat of Jason Kendall in the sixth inning. It bruised
Anderson's left shin and went for an infield hit.
"A lot of those early hits, they were just flipping the ball
in, and I knew if I stayed with a game plan and maybe made a pitch
an inch better here or there, I'd be successful," said Anderson,
who threw only 86 pitches before giving way to Matt Mantei.
"Pitch count has nothing to do with it," Showalter said.
"Matt Mantei needs to pitch. It's been really 19 days since he
pitched in a game."
Mantei, activated from the disabled list Sunday, finished with a
hitless ninth, walking one in his first appearance since May 4.
Jimmy Anderson was rocked for for six runs and seven hits in 4
1/3 innings. In addition to Finley's homer, Jay Bell hit an RBI
triple in the fifth and scored on a double by Luis Gonzalez.
Loiselle allowed three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings, his
first major league appearance since May 5, 1999, when he lost at
St. Louis. He spent most of last year and all this spring in
rehabilitation after surgery on a ligament in his right elbow.
Wil Cordero hit a first-inning sacrifice fly and extended his
hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the third inning.
Tony Womack singled in the eighth, extending his hitting streak
to 18 games to tie Dmitri Young for the longest in the NL this
season.
Game
notes
Finley's homer was his eighth off a left-hander. ... The
Pirates have had an extra-base hit in each game this year. Jason
Kendall extended the streak to 43 with a first-inning triple. ...
Jimmy Anderson has given up a run in the first inning in five
consecutive starts, a total of 13 in eight starts, and has not
started a game 1-2-3 all year. ... Arizona minor league RHP John
Patterson, long considered a future starter, will have surgery
Thursday to replace a ligament in his right elbow. Dr. James
Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., will operate. Andrews also did
Loiselle's surgery.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
Opening day in May: Williams 2-for-4 in return to Arizona lineup
RECAPS
Baltimore 4
Seattle 2
Toronto 3
Boston 2
Detroit 10
Cleveland 4
Tampa Bay 6
Oakland 4
Chi. White Sox 8
NY Yankees 2
Texas 4
Kansas City 3
Anaheim 7
Minnesota 4
NY Mets 5
San Diego 3
Houston 10
Philadelphia 2
Milwaukee 7
Atlanta 6
St. Louis 10
Florida 3
Colorado 10
Chicago Cubs 7
Arizona 6
Pittsburgh 1
Cincinnati 3
Los Angeles 1
Montreal 3
San Francisco 2
|