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Gorzelanny lifts Pirates past Diamondbacks

Aug 8, 2007 - 6:26 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Tom Gorzelanny took advantage of some extra days off and tossed seven solid innings to help the Pittsburgh Pirates post an 8-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday.

Ronny Paulino had two RBI and Jose Bautista added two hits and an RBI to help the Pirates snapped their two-game losing streak.

Gorzelanny (10-6) was scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds but the game was postponed due to rain. The 25-year-old lefthander was able to get some extra work in and improved his arm strength.

"I felt really strong. I had a long time off and was a bit worried I would be rusty but I felt really good," Gorzelanny said. "I was able to work on a bunch of stuff mechanically on the break and was able to fine-tune some things and things clicked."

In picking up his first victory since July 5, Gorzelanny allowed just two runs on only four hits while striking out a career-high nine batters.

"To bounce back in the manner that he did was great," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "He showed no ill effects of the arm stiffness evidenced by the life on his fastball. He had as good a slider as he has had in a long while. It was really, really good to see him bounce back in the manner that he did."

His effort trumped a brilliant game by Diamondbacks rookie Justin Upton, who went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and first career home run.

The 19-year-old Upton is 7-for-17 with a homer, triple and three doubles in five games since making his debut Thursday for the Diamondbacks, who lost for only the third time in their last 16 games. He missed a chance for a cycle when he grounded out to end the game.

"This is the first time guys have seen me being fresh and they are trying to figure me out and I happen to see some good pitches," Upton said. "Just being able to focus and getting help from some of the guys who have been around awhile, they have been putting their two cents in and it helps me feel comfortable."

Arizona took an early 1-0 lead after Upton tripled to center and scored when Chris Snyder hit a slow grounder to shortstop Jack Wilson, who bobbled the ball.

Pittsburgh took the lead for good in the fourth. After Ryan Doumit drew a one-out walk, Bautista then hit a slow roller to the right of Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings, who picked the ball up and threw the ball over first baseman Conor Jackson's head. That allowed Doumit to go to third and Bautista to second.

Paulino then singled to right on the first pitch scoring Doumit and Bautista. Wilson then followed with an RBI single to left-center for the third run of the inning and a 3-1 Pirate advantage.

Arizona cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning when Upton connected for his first major league home run, a 375-foot shot over the left field wall.

Owings (5-6), who is now 0-5 in his last eight starts, went 6 1/3 innings and surrendered four runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out five.

"I felt good but I got in a little funk there, but felt that I fought through it," Owings said. "It wasn't pretty but we will have games like that. It was a sloppy game."

Pittsburgh picked insurance tallies in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, Wilson led off with a double to left, moved to third on Gorzelanny's sacrifice and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Nathan McLouth.

In the next frame, Pittsburgh's Jason Bay reached base on an error by left fielder Eric Byrnes and scored on a double to center by Bautista.

Arizona had a chance to tie the game in the seventh. After Upton doubled, Chris Snyder hit a drive to deep left. Left fielder but Bay ran back to the fence and made a leaping catch to rob Snyder of a game-tying homer.

"We were six inches away from tying the game," Diamondbacks manger Bob Melvin said. "That was huge but we weren't very good tonight. Defensively we weren't very good, four errors. We didn't run the bases very well. We have games where we haven't played very well. We have a younger group. They make mistakes and sometimes they stick out."