Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Associated Press
CINCINNATI
The Pirates’ best hitter on the road gets even better when he’s down to his final swing.
Ryan Doumit hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night — his second game-deciding homer in three days — and Pittsburgh held on for a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, who couldn’t stop the Pirates’ Mr. Clutch.
“You knew somebody was going to score sooner or later,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We didn’t know they were going to score like that.”
Brandon Phillips tied it 1-all in the eighth with his 100th career homer off reliever Joel Hanrahan (1-0), who took over for left-hander Paul Maholm. Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 tries — he’s 7 for 7 in May.
Doumit, who is Pittsburgh’s top hitter on the road with a .333 average, had the first game-ending homer of his career Sunday in the 10th inning of a 3-2 win over Atlanta. This time, he connected off Nick Masset (3-3), sending the Reds to only their fourth loss in 11 games.
“Especially of late, he’s been swinging the bat well,” manager John Russell said. “That’s a huge hit.”