NewsNo brotherly love for Bucs in Philly
Capps accepts blame for heart-breaking setback
By Kevin Roberts / Special to MLB.com
07/11/09 11:55 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA -- Matt Capps sat at his locker for a long time after Saturday's loss, head down. When he rose to speak, the words came pouring out, as Capps took the blame for a gut-punch 8-7 loss in which he gave up five runs in the ninth inning."With a four-run lead, that's pretty sad. There's no excuse. It's all me," Capps said. "That was a bad night all the way around. There's no other way to look at it, no other way to put it, no other way to write it -- I stunk. That was embarrassing."
Capps inherited a 7-3 lead in the ninth, and the Pirates seemed a good bet. Capps had allowed just one hit to the previous 10 batters he faced before he took the mound on Saturday. He'd been scored upon just four times in his last 17 games. But it all went sour.
"They're an explosive offensive team, and no lead is safe -- especially in this ballpark," Pirates manager John Russell said. "We played a really good game. We did some good things. We just couldn't finish it off."
The Pirates hit three home runs, including two in the first inning for the first time since Sept. 17, 2005, but still they missed plenty of chances to add on, finishing the night just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
It seemed harmless enough at the time, but leaving Andy LaRoche at third base after a one-out triple in the eighth loomed large after this game. Russell called for a suicide squeeze with Jack Wilson at the plate, but Phillies reliever Scott Eyre adjusted in mid-delivery and threw the pitch up and in -- and Wilson could only foul it back.
"I still should have gotten it down,'' Wilson said. "Just a bad at-bat there."
Wilson called the loss "a tough one," but he added that Capps was not entirely to blame.
"It's the park,'' Wilson said. "Honestly, it's the park. That's the way their offense is built. They're built to hit home runs. They're the only team with four 20-homer guys at the break. We're lucky to have four 20-homer guys in two years combined.
"In this park, no lead is safe. Those guys are built to do what they did."
Matt Stairs started the ninth inning with a pinch-hit homer. Jimmy Rollins then walked, and with one out, Rollins stole second. Chase Utley singled, moving Rollins to third and bringing up Howard.
Pittsburgh pitching coach Joe Kerrigan went to the mound to talk things over, but Howard pounded a 1-0 Capps pitch deep to left-center field for the game-tying homer.
Raul Ibanez followed with a double to center, and Jayson Werth was intentionally walked. Pedro Feliz lined a ball off Capps' shoe, loading the bases for Paul Bako.
"You could sense it in the dugout,'' Bako said. "Guys were in attack mode. It was a great comeback."
"The pitch to Howard was down -- but that's where he prefers it," Capps said. "Just poor execution. This is not going to be an easy one to get over, especially after watching Ross [Ohlendorf] pitch the way he did."
Ohlendorf delivered a solid effort, blanking the Phillies for five innings before faltering a bit in the sixth.
Chase Utley dribbled a one-out cue shot down the third-base line for an infield hit. Howard then drilled a liner just past a diving Sanchez for a single. Ibanez doubled to deep center, easily scoring Utley and sending Howard to third. Ohlendorf walked Werth to load the bases, and Greg Dobbs' sacrifice fly made it 5-2. Jesse Chavez came on in relief, and he gave up an RBI single to Bako before escaping the inning.
Ohlendorf allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings, but it seemed the Bucs had enough to win.
The Pirates got their lineup back together this weekend, with the return of Ryan Doumit from a wrist injury and Freddy Sanchez from a back injury. It didn't help much Friday, in a 3-2 loss. On Saturday, that lineup showed some firepower in knocking around Phillies ace Cole Hamels -- but it wasn't enough.
The Pirates have dropped 10 of their past 13 games.
Garrett Jones got Pittsburgh on the board with a homer in the first inning. Seven of his first 11 hits with the Bucs have been for extra bases. Delwyn Young added a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
Jones added an RBI on a bases-loaded walk, and Doumit had an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Kevin Roberts is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
