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Gorzelanny carries Pirates to fifth straight win

May 11, 2008 - 3:24 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Tom Gorzelanny didn't want to be known as the pitcher who ended the Pittsburgh Pirates' recent good fortunes.

Gorzelanny impressed after a slow start and Ronny Paulino drove in three runs as the Pirates pushed their season-high winning streak to five games with a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Gorzelanny gave up two runs and seven hits with four strikeouts through 7 1/3 innings for his first pair of back-to-back wins of the season. He was forced to leave his last start due to lower-back discomfort and used.

"I wanted to get the back healthy again and I felt comfortable out there," Gorzelanny said. "I got to work on some stuff in between starts, which was definitely beneficial."

The lefthander (3-3) started off on the wrong note in the first inning as Omar Infante hit a leadoff double against the wall in left field before coming home two outs later on Mark Teixeira's two-run homer.

"Gorzelanny threw the ball very well," Pittsburgh manager John Russell said. "He attacked hitters even after he gave up the two-run homer in the first, and he had some crispness to his pitches. That's what we've been looking for, and we've seen signs of it and he did well. I think the back issue is hopefully behind us now, but I thought he did a great job."

But Gorzelanny settled down, holding the Braves scoreless the rest of the way en route to his first career win in the series.

Pirates reliever Franquelis Osoria got two outs in the eighth and closer Matt Capps retired the final three batters in the ninth for his ninth save this season.

"We've been playing good baseball," Russell said. "I think you have to attribute it to our starting pitching. They have been throwing the ball very well, and Gorzelanny did a great job."

With Atlanta holding a 2-1 edge in the fourth inning, Jason Bay delivered a two-run home run against Braves starter Chuck James (2-2) to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.

"I hit a fastball that kind of got up a little bit," said Bay, who has seven homers this season. "(James) did a good job keeping the ball down, and I had two strikes and I was trying to see it deep. He was throwing that changeup a lot, too. He got it up, and for me, those are the times where you're not trying to hit the home run."

Pittsburgh added some insurance in the sixth when Paulino laced a two-run double to right field, plating Jason Michaels and Adam LaRoche to make it 5-2.

Paulino's sacrifice fly in the second opened the scoring for the Pirates, who sent the Braves to their sixth straight road loss.

James surrendered five runs and five hits in six innings as he watched his personal two-game winning streak get snapped. The lefthander fanned a season-best seven batters and walked four.

"I went back and looked at all the hits I gave up," James said. "They were belt high down the middle. It's tough to win that way. To be successful up here, I have to hit my spots and put the ball on the corners."