Pirates go 12 innings to beat Atlanta
Pirates 12, Braves 11
ATLANTA (AP) - Tom Glavine's homecoming was long forgotten by the time Pittsburgh finally got the win.
Xavier Nady hit his second homer of the game, a three-run shot in the 12th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates overcame a horrific ninth to ruin Atlanta's home opener, winning 12-11 on Monday night.
Moses Lake's Ryan Doumit managed three hits with seven times at bat starting his season with a .429 average. Doumit started the game behind the plate for the season opener.
The former Moses Lake Chief is sharing catcher duties with Ronny Paulino and backing up right field.
"I feel like we have a pretty good tandem at catcher," Russell said. "It's nothing against Ronny, but what we're going to do every night is put the best lineup out there that we feel like gives us the best chance that night. I think it's going to be a good situation for both of them."
It also means that Doumit is primed to see significant playing time this season.
Paulino hit lefties at a .407 clip last season. Doumit, contrastingly, had a .246 average against southpaws. But against Braves starter Tom Glavine, Russell said he believed Doumit's patient plate approach fared better than Paulino's, making him the natural choice to hit against the Atlanta lefty.
"He's been very patient in spring training," Russell said of Doumit. "He's cut down on his very aggressive approach. From what I've seen in spring training at how both are swinging the bat, I just felt like Ryan had a better approach."
During the opening game, the Braves took advantage of four walks and a huge defensive blunder to erase the Pirates' 9-4 lead. But Nady, who led off the eighth with a homer, lined a 2-0 pitch from Blaine Boyer (0-1) into the right-field seats with two outs and two aboard in the 12th.
Franquelis Osoria (0-1) pitched three innings for his first major league win. But it was in doubt right to the end: Jeff Francoeur homered, Matt Diaz had an RBI single and the Braves had the potential tying run on base when Corky Miller flied out to center, ending the 4-hour, 28-minute marathon.
Glavine left after the fifth, turning over a 4-2 lead to a bullpen that couldn't hold it. Most of the crowd of 45,269 broke for home on a cool night when Pittsburgh went ahead with a four-run eighth off Manny Acosta. They missed quite a finish.
The Pirates had a five-run cushion with Atlanta down to its last three outs, but no lead is safe for a franchise that hasn't had a winning season since 1992.
Damaso Marte walked two, then closer Matt Capps walked two more to bring home a run. Chipper Jones followed with a two-run single, making it 9-7, then it looked as though Pittsburgh would escape. Mark Teixeira popped out, slapping his helmet in disgust, and Brian McCann followed with a soft fly to left.
Game over?
Not so fast.
Jason Bay inexplicably ran by the ball, apparently thinking Nate McLouth had called him off. But the ball fell between them, allowing the two runs to score.
John Russell watched stoically from the Pirates dugout in his first game as a big league manager, perhaps wondering what he'd gotten himself into.
Glavine was the big story at the start of the night, returning to the Braves after five seasons with the New York Mets. He lasted five innings, giving up one earned run.
With the game tied at 4, the Pirates teed off on Manny Acosta in the eighth. He gave up the homer to Nady after getting two quick strikes. McLouth lined another one over the right-field wall in nearly the same spot for a three-run homer.
Yunel Escobar, taking over a shortstop for Edgar Renteria, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs but made a costly throwing error that allowed the tying run to score in the seventh. McCann homered for the Braves.