Monday, June 28, 2004
He drove in four runs in a 14-4 rout of Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Jason Bay hit his seventh homer in June and drove in four runs, one in Pittsburgh's eight-run ninth inning, and Josh Fogg allowed two runs in six innings to help the Pirates send the Cincinnati Reds to a rare home series loss with a 14-4 rout Sunday.
Bay wasn't activated until May 7 after undergoing shoulder surgery in November.
"The rust is starting to come off," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He's getting used to the speed of the game at this level."
Fogg 4-1 against Reds
Fogg (5-6) improved to 4-1 in his career against the Reds, who lost just their third of 11 home series this season.
"They're a free-swinging team," Fogg said of his success against Cincinnati. "If you can keep the ball below the knees and get a lot of ground balls, you have a chance."
He allowed three hits as the Pirates won back-to-back road games for the first time since May 26.
Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4 to fall to 1-for-27 since hitting his 500th career home run last Sunday at St. Louis. He's hitless in his last 24 at-bats, surpassing the previous career high of 21 he set in 1993.
Dunn hits pair
Adam Dunn homered twice for the Reds, whose 22-12 record at home is still the best in the National League.
Paul Wilson (7-2) lost his second consecutive start since opening the season with seven wins. Wilson, who hasn't won since May 25 and has been the victim of three blown saves in that span, allowed four runs on five hits and a season-high six walks.
"I knew it wasn't going to be peaches and cream all season, but character is made when bad things happen," Wilson said. "I didn't do my job. I was trying to throw strikes and get ahead in the count. I was trying to pitch to contact, and I didn't do the job."
With the Pirates trailing 1-0, Bay followed Jason Kendall's third-inning leadoff walk and Craig Wilson's two-out single with an opposite-field shot into the right-field bleachers on a full count for his ninth homer of the season.
It was Bay's second three-run homer of the series. He finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
After Bay's homer gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead, Cincinnati's Juan Castro led off the third with a double off the right-field wall, moved to third on Wilson's groundout and scored on D'Angelo Jimenez's sacrifice fly.
The Pirates regained their two-run lead in the sixth when Paul Wilson walked the bases loaded, including one intentionally to Bobby Hill with two outs to get to Fogg, who lined a single to center.
Broke game open
After the Reds again cut the deficit to one on Wily Mo Pena's pinch-hit infield single in the seventh, the Pirates broke the game open with a two-run eighth on Kendall's sacrifice fly and Jack Wilson's RBI double off the left-field wall.
Dunn hit his 21st homer in the second, as the ball caromed off the base of the right-field foul pole and into the Pirates bullpen. He connected for his second homer of the game to lead off the ninth off Ryan Vogelsong.
The Pirates broke open the game with eight-run ninth, their largest inning of the season -- highlighted by Chris Stynes' two-run double and Jack Wilson's two-run triple. Craig Wilson added two doubles and scored two runs in the inning.