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RECAP
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Alex Ramirez got another huge hit in the pinch
for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ramirez hit his second pinch-hit homer in six days off 14-game
winner Darryl Kile and it snapped a seventh-inning tie in a 6-2
victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
"It's not that I like it, I just go with the situation,"
Ramirez said. "Most of the times they just go right at you, so I
was looking for a good pitch and he gave it to me."
John Vander Wal also connected in a four-run seventh and Brian
Giles homered for the third straight game as the Pirates won for
only the fifth time in 15 games. The NL Central-leading Cardinals
lost for the second time in seven games.
Leading off the seventh against Kile (14-9), Ramirez hit a 1-0
pitch that barely eluded an attempt at a leaping catch at the wall
by center fielder Jim Edmonds. The ball glanced off Edmonds' glove
and into the seats.
"They've been bringing so many of them back this year,"
Pirates manager Gene Lamont said. "Edmonds is the best and when I
saw him go up, it really scared me."
Ramirez has homered four times since being acquired from
Cleveland on July 29, and had his first career pinch-hit homer last
Wednesday at Houston, a three-run shot in an 11-10 loss. Ramirez
has struggled lately, going 3-for-16 before his homer, but Lamont
said he'd get a lot of chances to play regularly the rest of the
season.
"We'll see if he's part of our future," Lamont said.
Kevin Young hit a run-scoring double before Vander Wal's two-run
homer, his 16th.
Giles' two-run homer in the fifth gave him eight RBI in his
last three games. He's 17-for-35 (.486) during a 10-game hitting
streak with 12 of the hits for extra bases.
"If you make a mistake, he'll get you," Lamont said. "If you
make a good pitch, right now he might get you, too."
Kile, who has surrendered a team-leading 29 homers, lasted 6 2/3
innings. He gave up six runs on 11 hits to lose for the third time
in four starts.
"My next start's in five days," Kile said. "I'm going to get
ready for that one. I can't change what happened. The frustrating
thing about it is it was a game where we had the lead and I gave it
back to them."
Josias Manzanillo (2-1) struck out one in a scoreless sixth in
relief of Dan Serafini, who had his best outing of the season.
Serafini, who had allowed 19 runs in 20 20/3 innings entering
the game, gave up two runs on six hits in five innings.
Eric Davis had an RBI single in the third and Mike Matheny, who
singled twice, drove in a run in the fourth.
Game notes
Giles is 13-for-28 against St. Louis pitching with four
homers and 13 RBI. ... Vander Wal had been 1-for-15 against the
Cardinals before homering. ... Fernando Vina was hit by a pitch his
first two at-bats, raising his major league-leading total to 22. He
also extended his hitting streak to 14 games, longest for the
Cardinals this season. ... Left fielder Shawon Dunston made the
catch of the game, tracking down Warren Morris' gap drive to the
warning track in the second. ... Jim Edmonds, who appeared to have
broken out of a 2-for-27 slump with a three-run homer and single
Monday, was 0-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch. ... Kile is
7-11 with a 5.55 ERA for his career against the Pirates and hasn't
beaten them since throwing a shutout at Pittsburgh on July 10,
1997. ... J.D. Drew, who didn't play, had a case of vertigo
Tuesday. He said he's had recurring bouts of vertigo since junior
high school.
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