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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks benefitted from this
rule of pennant-race baseball: Winning isn't always dictated by how
your starters start, but how your finishers finish.
Greg Colbrunn homered and drove in three runs and Arizona's
bullpen shut out Pittsburgh after the fourth inning, rallying the
Diamondbacks past the Pirates 7-6 Sunday.
Mike Morgan (5-3) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the
victory, Byung-Hyun Kim followed with two hitless innings and Matt
Mantei finished up as the Diamondbacks overcame deficits of 2-0,
4-3 and 6-4.
"Our bullpen came in and threw some zeros and we were able to
come back," Morgan said. "Kim was outstanding again; we haven't
been able to get to our closer lately, and he made sure we did."
Kim has struck out four in three hitless relief innings since a
brief demotion to Triple-A Tucson to work on his delivery.
"The reason we sent him down was to get him pitching like this.
He's come back and had two good outings," manager Buck Showalter
said. "We need him to get to the ninth."
The Diamondbacks' second victory in the three-game series -- they
blew two leads in losing 9-6 Saturday -- and the Mets' 2-0 victory
over San Francisco cut Arizona's deficit in the NL West to one
game.
"We knew what the (Giants') score was because it was right
there in front of us, but I can't say we were thinking about it,"
Jay Bell said.
Colbrunn had a two-run homer off Bronson Arroyo (2-5) that tied
it at 6 in the fifth. Luis Gonzalez followed with a go-ahead RBI
double in the sixth. Gonzalez went 2-for-3 and was 19-of-35 (.543)
in the season series against Pittsburgh.
Matt Williams, hitless in 12 at-bats before homering in the
ninth inning Saturday, was 3-for-5 with two RBI as the
Diamondbacks finished 8-2 in Three Rivers Stadium, which closes
after this season.
The never-on-Sunday Pirates, 18 games under .500 at 49-67, still
can't see the light of day after losing their ninth in 12 games --
and their ninth in a row on Sunday. They are 3-15 on Sundays and
have lost their last eight home day games, dating to May 14.
Brian Giles hit a two-run homer in the first off Diamondbacks
starter Brian Anderson, who opposed Pirates rookie Jimmy Anderson
in the third Anderson-vs.-Anderson matchup this season.
Jimmy Anderson couldn't hold the lead in the shortest of his
five starts since returning from the minors, leaving after five
successive singles by the top of the Arizona order made it 3-2 in
the third. Tony Womack started the inning by beating out an infield
single on a play the Pirates thought he was out, and Anderson never
got another out.
Jay Bell and Williams had RBI singles.
The Pirates retook the lead at 4-3 on their second two-run
homer, by Kevin Young off Brian Anderson in the third. Young went
4-for-5. Williams' second RBI single in as many innings tied it in
the fourth, but the Pirates went ahead 6-4 in their half of the
inning as the two teams combined for 20 hits, 10 apiece, through
four innings.
"Right now, I'd have trouble getting out a good college team,"
said Brian Anderson, who allowed six runs and nine hits in 3 1-3
innings. "It's ugly. It's not even borderline, I'm missing by 2 or
3 feet. I've got no ideas, I got no answers."
Colbrunn tied it again in the fifth with his eighth homer, after
Arroyo walked Steve Finley.
"The big hit was the homer by Colbrunn," Pirates manager Gene
Lamont said. "We were holding them down until then, but they kept
putting the runs up on us."
Arizona won despite having two runners thrown out at the plate
in successive innings, Gonzalez by center fielder Adrian Brown in
the third and Bell by right fielder Emil Brown in the fourth.
Matt Williams exchanged words with animated Pirates reliever
Josias Manzanillo who screamed after Williams flied out in the sixth,
but there was no incident.
"Matt thought he was talking to him, and he wasn't," Lamont
said. "But I can't blame Matt for thinking he was."
Womack left in the fourth with irritation in his left knee. He
will be re-evaluated Monday in Philadelphia, but doesn't expect to
go on the disabled list.
Game
notes
Jimmy Anderson allowed three runs and eight hits in 2 1/3
innings after going 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA since returning from the
minors. ... Young is 17-for-41 (.415) in August. ... Arizona is
18-7 against Pittsburgh since joining the NL in 1998. ... Gonzalez
was 6-for-11 with two homers and 5 RBIs in the series. ... Colbrunn
is 11-for-24 (.458) during a six-game hitting streak. ... Mantei
converted his ninth save in 11 chances. ... Arizona made a
post-game roster move, putting reliever Johnny Ruffin (groin) on
the disabled list and recalling OF David Dellucci from Tucson.
Ruffin allowed a grand slam to Aramis Ramirez on Saturday.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Arizona Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Stargell's latest health woes create void in Pirates front office
RECAPS
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