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Doumit continues to mash as Pirates take series

Jun 12, 2008 - 10:05 PM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Ryan Doumit's big bat has the Pittsburgh Pirates thinking about ditching their losing ways.

Doumit homered for the third straight game and drove in three runs Thursday as Pittsburgh posted a 7-5 victory over the Washington Nationals in the rubber game of a three-game series.

It was the second straight win and fourth in the last five games for the Pirates, who moved within a game of .500 at 33-34. Pittsburgh also completed its fourth straight series where it has either won or tied.

Activated from the 15-day disabled list last Friday, Doumit has swung a huge bat in the last few days, collecting nine hits in the last three games - including four homers - and driving in seven runs.

"I don't think I've ever been as hot as he (Doumit) is right now," said Nationals outfielder Lastings Milledge. "It's kind of like unbelievable. He's hitting stuff like two feet off the ground, you can't really do anything about that. Pretty much anything you throw he's going to hit; there's no significant plan for that."

Doumit got the Pirates off to a great start in the first inning, connecting on a two-run homer off Jason Bergmann (1-4). He also singled home a run in the fifth for a 6-1 lead.

"I try not to think too much about it," Doumit said. "I'm trying to just ride the wave right now and right now things seem to be going in my favor."

The first two runs were big, especially for Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (5-5), who labored through the top of the first, allowing a walk and a single en route to a 34-pitch frame.

Gorzelanny fed off that early support, going on to allow three runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings en route to his first win in four starts. The lefthander also struck out six and walked three.

"It was a pretty good outing," Gorzelanny said. "I didn't feel great today; it was definitely a 'battle day'. It wasn't what I wanted to feel like but I got results and made some good pitches and toughed it out."

Gorzelanny also helped his own cause at the plate, drawing a walk against Bergmann with the bases loaded in the second for a 3-0 lead. He also led off the fifth with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Bay for a 5-1 lead.

Nate McLouth, who doubled directly after Gorzelanny in the fifth, made it 6-1 for Pittsburgh when he scored on the single by Doumit. McLouth finished with two hits and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second.

The Nationals attempted to rally in the sixth, getting three runs on a two-run single by Cristian Guzman and an RBI base hit by Elijah Dukes.

Washington further closed its deficit to 6-5 in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Guzman. However, the Nationals had runners on first and second when Pittsburgh relievers Franquelis Osoria and Tyler Yates combined to strike out two batters to end the threat.

"The guys are making progress, they know what the plan is," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "It's just that sometimes you run into guys that you can't do it, and today they (Nationals' hitters) were able to be patient at the plate, but it still didn't pay off."

Pinch-hitting for Yates, Jason Michaels added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double.

With closer Matt Capps working the previous three days, Damaso Marte set down the Nationals in order in the ninth for his first save.

"Obviously, Matt is our closer, but the way Marte has thrown, the way (John) Grabow and Yates (have pitched), we feel very confident that if it comes down to Matt not being able to go a day that we've got some good guys to bring in and shut it down, and Damaso did a great job today," Pittsburgh manager John Russell said.

Guzman finished with three hits and three RBI for Washington, which has lost 10 of its last 12 games.

"We had a good pitching performance yesterday and we (couldn't) score the runs and today we got a subpar pitching performance and scored some runs," Bergmann said. "If we're going to (stink) we should (stink) all at once and then just be good all at once, that way we'd be at least .500. We've just got to put things together; everybody is giving their best effort."