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Nady's clutch hitting helps Pirates edge Braves

Apr 4, 2008 - 4:56 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Xavier Nady continues to collect big hits for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nady singled home the game-winning run after Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox made an unusual pitching change in the 10th inning to lead the Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Braves in the rubber game of the three game set on Thursday.

Pinch hitter Nyjer Morgan led off the 10th by drawing a walk off of Atlanta reliever Chris Resop (0-1) and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Morgan took third after Corky Miller was charged with a passed ball on a walk to Jason Bay.

Cox followed with an unorthodox move, signaling for southpaw Royce Ring to face lefty Adam LaRoche, but kept Resop in the game in left field. The move paid off as Ring struck out the former Brave LaRoche.

But Cox pressed his luck, by bringing in Resop to face Nady.

After Resop was allowed his customary warmup tosses, Nady won the game by smashing the 1-1 offering into center field for a base hit, plating Morgan.

"That was an interesting move," Nady said. "I don't know if I've ever seen it. I just tried to have a good at bat and put the ball in play."

The 29-year-old capped a fantastic opening series against Atlanta. Nady, who is prone to fast starts, batted .429 with two homers and seven RBIs in the series, notching the game-winning hit in both of Pittsburgh's victories.

"When you win a game for your team, it's always nice," Nady said. "For me, it's just about trying to have good at-bats and having a nice, even-keeled approach."

Resop became the first player since Jeff Nelson of the Seattle Mariners on July 15, 1993 to pitch and play the outfield in the same game according the Elias Sports Bureau. But in that one, Nelson started the eighth inning and moved to left field before facing the Boston Red Sox batters again in the ninth inning.

The last player to mimic Resop's feat - pitching, playing the field and pitching again in the same inning - was Les Lancaster of the Chicago Cubs, who did so in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets on June 13, 1990.

However, Resop would not blame the bizarre circumstances for the loss.

"Warming up (again) is not the issue," Resop said. "One mistake is the difference between winning and losing. My location (has been off). I've been struggling putting the ball where I want to."

Tyler Yates (1-0) retired the side in order in the ninth to record the victory over the club that traded him during spring training. Matt Capps worked around a two-out triple to Mark Kotsay to record his first save.

Cox's move was dictated by necessity as the overtaxed Atlanta pitching staff, which used 23 pitchers during the three-game set, was dealt a serious blow when Mike Hampton failed to answer the starting bell after straining his left pectorals muscle while warming up in the bullpen.

After Jeff Bennett made the emergency start for Atlanta and allowed two runs and four hits in four frames, the Atlanta skipper burned everyone in the bullpen except for Peter Moylan, Ring and Resop.

With Moylan unavailable, Resop was the last available pitcher available in the pen.

"Resop was going to finish the game," Cox said. "Moylan had the night off. Resop would have been the hitter (in the bottom of the 10th). He's been an outfielder. It's no big deal, but we didn't hold him."

It was another devastating setback for the oft-injured Hampton, who has not pitched in a major league game since August 19, 2005 and was looking to return after undergoing two "Tommy John" surgeries on his left elbow.

Hampton's first attempt at rehabbing from the surgery during winter ball in Mexico was aborted after the southpaw tweaked a hamstring an inning into his first rehab start. He was also briefly sidelined after his second spring training start after tweaking a groin injury.

This latest injury will land the 35-year-old southpaw back on the disabled list, a place that has become way too familiar for Atlanta's highest paid player, who is in the final year of an eight-year $121 million contract.

"I felt it warming up," Hampton said. "Once I turned it up a notch in the bullpen, it started biting me. I didn't want to take a chance and alter my mechanics and hurt something else.

"It's the last thing I had hoped to deal with. I got to this day, two-and-a-half years (later) and to think that you're ready to go and start a new career and to have to step of the mound, it's definitely a tough pill to swallow."