Womack's outburst paces Pirates to 9-4 win
Posted: Sunday May 31, 1998 08:29 PM
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Continuing consistency: Cordova has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his 12 starts this season (AP) |
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Many managers and players argue there's no such thing as momentum in baseball, where pitching often dictates the flow of the game. For at least one day, the Pittsburgh Pirates disproved that.
Jermaine Allensworth broke an 0-for-15 slide with a two-run double, keying a four-run fourth inning that carried Francisco Cordova and the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Montreal Expos 9-4 Sunday.
Tony Womack added a triple and two RBIs to back Cordova's two-run pitching over seven innings as the Pirates won their second in a row since losing four straight.
Visibly lifted by their game-winning, three-run rally in the ninth inning of Saturday's 8-7 victory, the Pirates have produced 17 runs in two games after scoring more than three runs only twice in the previous 12.
"I often say there's no such thing as momentum," Pirates manager Gene Lamont said. "But it does seem like when one guy starts hitting and driving in big runs, everybody follows -- just like when it seems that when one guy stops hitting, everybody stops hitting sometimes."
Still, the Pirates were aided by first baseman Brad Fullmer's two-run error, six walks, a run-scoring wild pitch and a hit batsman as they needed only eight hits to score their nine runs.
"When they're not hitting the ball very hard and scoring that many runs, it's not good hitting, it's bad pitching," Expos starter Miguel Batista said. "You have to know the difference between the two."
All the Pirates know is it seems much different than it did a couple of days ago, when their sluggish offense led them to lose four in a row and five of six.
"Yeah, definitely, hitting can be contagious," Jason Kendall said.
So can pitching.
Cordova (6-3), who hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his 12 starts, carried a shutout into the sixth inning before yielding DaRond Stovall's first major league homer and Rondell White's RBI double.
"He [Cordova] isn't used to pitching with so comfortable a lead, and I don't think he went out there in the sixth with a good mindset," Lamont said. "I thought he pitched much better in the seventh."
Until the sixth, Cordova had pitched 12 consecutive scoreless innings against the Expos, seven in Pittsburgh's 4-0 victory in Montreal on opening day. Cordova, whose 2.30 ERA ranks fourth in the NL, was lifted Sunday after yielding seven hits and striking out three.
"He was not at his best, but he can still pitch," Expos manager Felipe Alou said. "He throws his changeup and his sinker and makes you hit ground balls. He's a smart pitcher and he has good control."
Womack got the Pirates' offense going Sunday, hitting a sacrifice fly in the third off Batista (1-3). Turner Ward followed Kendall's single and Kevin Young's walk with an RBI double in the fourth, and Allensworth's ground-ball double past third baseman Jose Vidro made it 4-0. Allensworth scored later on Batista's wild pitch.
Batista gave up four earned runs over four innings. He has surrendered eight runs and 12 hits over 9 2-3 innings in his last two starts.
Womack tripled and scored on Young's groundout in the fifth with Shayne Bennett on the mound. The Pirates needed only one hit -- Kevin Polcovich's leadoff double -- to score three in the sixth against Anthony Telford, with two runs scoring when Fullmer misplayed shortstop Mark Grudzielanek's throw on Ward's grounder.
"There were some balls that were hit hard -- and some that weren't hit that hard," Alou said.
Fullmer, who hit a grand slam Saturday, went 3-for-4 with a triple, double and single. White was 2-for-3 with a double to finish the series 8-for-11 with two homers, three doubles and five RBIs.
Notes: Polcovich's seventh-inning error ended Pittsburgh's 46-inning errorless streak. ... The Pirates completed their first winning May (15-14) since they were 17-8 in 1991. ... Cordova has allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his 12 starts. ... Mark Smith's pinch-hit double for Pittsburgh made him 4-for-8 since he started 0-for-31. ... Aramis Ramirez, the Pirates' 19-year-old rookie third baseman, is 0-for-19 since being called up Tuesday. He went 0-for-4 Sunday and showed signs of frustration by slamming his helmet to the ground after popping up with the bases loaded in the sixth.
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