Post by dengdai on Jan 9, 2014 6:29:18 GMT
PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen and the Pittsburgh Pirates hope theyve finally put an end to their hitting woes. Authentic Mavericks Jersey . McCutchen hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and drove in three runs to lead Pittsburgh past the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Friday night. The Pirates entered the game batting .153, the second-worst average for a major league team through nine games since 1921, according to STATS. The 2003 Detroit Tigers hit .140 in their first nine games on the way to a 119-loss season. McCutchens leadoff shot to left field off J.J. Hoover (0-3), his second homer of the season, snapped a 5-all tie. Cincinnati had just tied the score in the top of the seventh on Brandon Phillips second home run of the game, a two-run drive to centre off Tony Watson (1-0). "It was important for us to answer back right away," McCutchen said. "Thats the type of team we are. Were fighters." The first four batters in Pittsburghs lineup -- Starling Marte, Neil Walker, McCutchen and Garrett Jones -- had two hits each as the Pirates totalled 12. They entered the game with a .153 batting average, worst in the major leagues, and had scored only 21 runs in their first nine games. Every Pirates position player had a hit by the end of the fifth inning. "This is what were capable of doing," McCutchen said. "We have good hitters in our lineup. Its a matter of getting in that Michael Jordan-type mentality where you start thinking that you can outdo the next guy. Thats how we were tonight. One guy started hitting, then everyone else did. Thats how its always been in baseball." Hoover took over the big league lead in losses after giving up the decisive homer to McCutchen. "It seems like he leaves that one pitch out over the plate and theyre not missing it," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. "Youre going to give it up sometimes and he gave it up to one of the best. McCutchen isnt a slouch. Hes one of the best players in the league." Walker and McCutchen hit consecutive two-run singles in the second to give Pittsburgh a 5-1 lead. Marte extended his streak of multihit games to six. He is 12 for 24 during that stretch. The leadoff batter also has had a hit in the first inning in each of those six games. "He may not be the typical leadoff hitter who draws a lot of walks, but the thing he does well is that he swings at good pitches," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "When he sees the first hittable pitch, he goes after it aggressively and puts a good swing on it." The Pirates had not scored more than four runs in any of their previous 13 games against the NL Central rival Reds. Pittsburgh has won three of four overall after starting the season 1-5. Phillips hit a leadoff homer in the second inning off Pirates starter A.J. Burnett. The cleanup-hitting second baseman has four home runs this season and 10 career two-homer games. "He hit two home runs to straightaway centre and you just dont see that very often in this ballpark," Hurdle said. "That was impressive." However, Phillips struck out to end the game with runners on first and second as Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth save in as many opportunities. Burnett went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out eight and walked three. "I need to start working deeper into games," said Burnett, pulled after 106 pitches. "Im trying to throw nasty pitches to get strikeouts when I dont necessarily make nasty pitches and its running up my pitch counts." Cincinnati starter Mike Leake is now winless in eight career starts at PNC Park, more than any visiting pitcher in the history of the 12-year-old ballpark. He gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings with two walks and two strikeouts. "He really settled down after those first two innings and gave us some innings, which is important with the stretch of schedule were facing now where we cant afford to blow out the bullpen," said Baker, whose team began a string of playing on 20 consecutive days. Pittsburgh catcher Russell Martin, who entered with a .043 batting average, singled home a run in the first inning to open the scoring. After Walker and McCutchen gave the Pirates a four-run lead in the second, Cincinnati cut the deficit to 5-3 as Devin Mesoraco drove in a run with a groundout in the fourth and then hit an RBI double in the sixth. NOTES: Pittsburgh designated RHP Chris Leroux for assignment and recalled RHP Bryan Morris from Triple-A Indianapolis. Morris arrived in time for the game but did not pitch. ... Baker decided to give C Ryan Hanigan and 3B Todd Frazier the night off. Hanigan is hitting .043 with one hit in 23 at-bats and Frazier is hitless in his last 11 at-bats. ... Burnett is two strikeouts shy of 2,000 for his career. ... RHP Johnny Cueto (1-0, 2.77 ERA) starts Saturday night for the Reds against Pirates LHP Jeff Locke (0-1, 6.00). Cueto has a 12-4 lifetime record against Pittsburgh. ... Pirates LHP Wandy Rodriguez, who left his start Monday at Arizona with a strained left hamstring in the third inning, played catch before Fridays game. But the Pirates will not decide whether he will be able to start Sunday against the Reds until Saturday. Mavericks Jersey . He was the NBAs Rookie of the Year. "This award is for us," Irving said to his father, Dred, who raised his son after his wife, Elizabeth, died 15 years ago. "Were bringing it back home and were going to put it right on the mantle and were going to put some flashing lights on it so it shines throughout the whole entire house. Dallas Mavericks Jersey . Buchholz gave up four hits with three strikeouts while J.D. Drew hit a solo home run in the win for the Red Sox. Yamaico Navarro drove home the game- winner in the ninth. Canadian coach Don Hay hopes the players patched together for the IIHF world under-18 hockey championship can bring back some unexpected gold. The annual tournament is always a test for Canada because many top players are still involved in playoffs with their junior clubs. A team led by Kootenay Ice forward Sam Reinhart and 16-year-old phenom Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters will be seeking Canadas first gold since 2008. The tournament begins Thursday at the two 2014 Olympic rinks in Sochi, Russia, with the United States seeking a fifth straight gold medal. "Its a great challenge," said 59-year-old Hay. "You start with one group, then you add players as teams get eliminated from the playoffs. "The challenge is to continue to grow as a team and to embrace the new players coming in." The most recent additions were Owen Sound Attack stars Zach Nastasiuk and Craig Bigras, both ranked in the top-33 for the June NHL draft by NHL Central Scouting. Madison Bowey of the Kelowna Rockets, Carter Verhaeghe of the Niagara IceDogs and Nicolas Baptiste of the Sudbury Wolves are to arrive this week but wont be available for Canadas first game Thursday against Slovakia. Hay did not want to discuss the players who couldnt come because of playoff duty, including top juniors like Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads, Aaron Ekblad of the Barrie Colts and Max Domi of the London Knights. A finger injury has also deprived the team of six-foot-five defenceman Darnell Nurse of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, considered to a be top-10 or even top-5 draft prospect. With its full cast of players for the under-18 Ivan Hlinka tournament in August, Canada won gold with MacKinnon scoring a hat-trick in the final against Finland. Reinhart, who is only eligible for the 2014 draft, was captain of that team and will wear the C again in Sochi. Hay prefers to focus on the players on hand, who are a promising group in themselves. Some key players could be defencemen Josh Morrissey of the Prince Albert Raiders, returning from last years team, six-foot-six Samuel Morin of the Rimouski Oceanic and Shea Theodore of the Seattle Thunderbirds. Up front, soft-handed six-foot-five centre Frederik Gauthier of Rimouski, who is ranked seventh among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Morgan Klimmchuk of the Regina Pats and Laurent Dauphin of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens can do some damage.dddddddddddd. The speedy McDavid is the early favourite to be drafted first overall in 2015. Whether he is ready to play a prominent role against players two years ahead of him on the world stage at the U18 remains to be seen. The Newmarket, Ont., native is the second youngest to play in the tournament for Canada after John Tavares in 2006. With Erie this season, McDavid had 25 goals and 66 points in 63 games and was named OHL rookie of the year. Not bad for a guy who was 15 when the season started. "I hope he learns a lot and it turns into a prominent role," said Hay. "Hes shown in the Ontario Hockey League that hes a real talented player who can be counted on." Hay will need to decide the starting goaltender among Philippe Desrosiers of Rimouski, Austin Lotz of the Everett Silvertips and Spencer Martin of the Mississauga Steelheads. Canada wont be the only team missing players because of junior playoffs. Host Russia is without Kirill Vorobev of the Portland Winterhawks and Nikita Zadorov of the Knights. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies still have forwards Nikita Kucherov of Russia and Sven Andrighetto of Switzerland. And Russias top prospect, Valeri Nichushkin, may join the team late because of KHL playoffs with Traktor Chelyabinsk. The Russians open Thursday against the U.S., which gets most of its players from its national development program. "I suppose our fans will be a big plus for us, but it means our team will have big responsibilities," coach Igor Kravchuk told the IIHF website. "Also, the under-18s in Sochi will be a test competition before the Olympics. This means our team will be under big attention." Canada will play the first round in Group B against Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden at the 7,000-seat Shayba Arena. Russia and the U.S. are in Group A with Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic at the 12,000-seat Bolshoy Ice Dome. The semifinals are on April 26 with the final on April 28. A new format has the top four teams in each group advancing to the quarter-finals. Previously, first place teams got a bye to the semis. Canada won gold in 2003 and 2008 but then was out of the medals until it took bronze at last years U18. ' ' '