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Michaels, Bay help Pirates rally past Cardinals

Jun 3, 2008 - 4:25 AM By Jim Walsh PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Adam Wainwright was cruising along until a nightmarish seventh inning.

Jason Michaels hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay singled in the go-ahead run one inning later as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

The Cardinals' ace, Wainwright (5-3) faced the minimum through five innings. He continued pitching well into the sixth and carried a 4-0 lead into the seventh before faltering and suffering his first home loss in eight starts.

"I don't really know why that happened in the seventh inning," said Wainwright, who had only one three-ball count through his first 21 batters.

"The wheels completely came off, and I lost aggressiveness and starting leaving the ball up in the zone. It's the worst I've ever felt after a game."

The uprising began when Bay hit a one-out, ground-rule double to left-center field and Xavier Nady walked. One batter later, Wainwright uncorked a wild pitch and then walked Jose Bautista to load the bases.

Pirates manager John Russell summoned Michaels to hit in place of catcher Raul Chavez. Michaels, who was acquired from Cleveland on May 9, responded by depositing the first pitch he saw from Wainwright over the wall in left to tie the game.

"I figured (Michaels) was our one shot," Russell said. "We hadn't had much offense to speak of at all and we were talking about it on the bench and, fortunately, that one inning worked out for us."

"I was looking first pitch," Michaels said. "I was able to get a good pitch that I could put some wood on, fortunately, I hit one out of the park. I'm not trying to hit home runs. I'm going up there just trying to have a good at-bat, trying to hit the ball hard."

It was the third career grand slam for the 32 year-old Michaels and his first as a pinch hitter.

The misery continued for Wainwright in the eighth. Nate McLouth led off with a single and was a sacrificed to second by Jack Wilson. One batter later, Bay plated McLouth with a single to right.

"Wainwright threw the ball well," Bay said. "Then all of a sudden - boom - we gave ourselves a chance to win it. It's been the big difference so far from teams past to this team is the late inning character we have."

Franquelis Osoria (3-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief for the win and Matt Capps tossed a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny hit a rough spot in the first inning when Albert Pujols smashed a double off the wall in left-center, scoring Joe Mather from first. Two batters later, Ryan Ludwick laced a line drive to center to plate Pujols and give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

Pujols and Ludwick contributed run-scoring singles in the fourth to double the advantage.

Gorzelanny was shaky at times coming off his worst outing of the season, where he was tagged for six runs in just two-thirds of an inning at Cincinnati on Thursday. The lefthander allowed four runs and seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts in six innings.

"This was definitely a step in the right direction," Gorzelanny said. "It's something to build on, but I'm definitely not satisfied."

Wainwright allowed five runs with seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in eight innings.

"It was a really difficult game to lose for us and for him," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He really pitched well, just a couple walks and a bomb."