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Snell, Bautista power Pirates past Rangers

Jun 14, 2007 - 4:23 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Ian Snell tossed his first career complete game as the Pittsburgh Pirates used a balanced attack to defeat the reeling Texas Rangers, 8-1, on Wednesday night.

Jose Bautista reached base four times, drove in three and finished a home run shy of the cycle as the Pirates won back-to-back games at PNC Park for the first time since May 17-18. Each Pirate in the starting lineup reached base at least once, with seven having at least one hit.

"I think we're all putting it together at the same time, and that definitely helps," Bautista said. "We're scoring runs in bunches and I think that's been translating into the two wins we've had the last two nights."

Snell (6-4) gave up seven hits and no earned runs while fanning seven in going the distance for the first time in 52 career starts.

"It's a great feeling, the first one, to get it out of the way," Snell said. "I was tired of hearing people say you can't go more than seven innings, so here you go. "I saw (reliever John) Grabow throwing (in the eighth inning) and I was like, 'What is going on?'" Snell said. "And I told (pitching coach Jim Colborn), 'Don't take me out; what is wrong with you?' So I thought they were taking me out, but then (Pittsburgh manager Jim) Tracy was like, 'Finish it.' So I finished it."

Snell has won four consecutive starts at home and has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his seven outings at home this season.

"He had command of three pitches tonight and with the stuff he has, when he's commanding three pitches like he was, the task at hand on the other side of the field is obviously very, very difficult," Tracy said.

The game was delayed at the start for 30 minutes due to rain, but that did not slow down the Pirates, who scored two runs in the first inning.

Bautista led off that inning with a double and after Chris Duffy reached on an error, Freddy Sanchez followed with an RBI double. Jason Bay then plated Duffy with a groundout to shortstop.

"Anytime you can get ahead first and get a lead, it puts so much more pressure on them. Now, they're playing from behind and anytime they get runners in scoring position, there's a little more on them to get that big hit," Duffy said. "It's amazing how much more pressure you have on you when you're playing from behind as opposed to being ahead."

The Pirates scored again in the second when Jose Castillo led off with a double and scored three batters later on a Bautista single.

In the Pirates' fourth, Snell reached base on a walk and later scored on Sanchez's sacrifice fly, making it 4-0. The Pirates failed to add on more that inning, leaving the bases loaded, but Texas manager Ron Washington had seen enough from his starter Robinson Tejeda and lifted him for a pinch hitter in the next inning.

Tejeda (5-7) allowed seven hits, three walks and four runs in his four innings of work.

"There was couple of things that didn't happen tonight (for me) but we were still in the game," Tejeda said. "I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do in the game but it wasn't working like that."

The Pirates opened up the game up in the fifth, scoring four runs off reliever Joaquin Benoit. Castillo had an RBI double, Bautista a two-run triple and Duffy an RBI infield single in the inning.

In the two games of the series, Bautista has gone 6-for-9 with one homer, one triple, three doubles, five RBI and four runs scored. "I'm seeing the ball good and I'm trying to hit it hard every time and it's been falling for me," he said. "I just hope it keeps going as long as it can."

The Rangers' best chance against Snell came in the third when Kenny Lofton and Frank Catalanotto led off with back-to-back singles, putting runners at first and third with none out. But after a nine-pitch at-bat in which Michael Young lined out to Bautista, Marlon Byrd bounced into a double play to end the threat.

Texas did get on the board in the sixth with an unearned run when Catalanotto singled and three batters later scored on an error by Bautista.

Catalanotto reached base three times for the Rangers, who have dropped five out of their past seven and are now a season-low 19 games under .500.

"We didn't play a good game at all; there's no way around that," Young said. "We could've done better in every facet of the game."