Michaels' pinch-hit slam lifts Pirates past Cards

[June 03, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Jason Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Monday night.

Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from starter Adam Wainwright. The two-out blast landed in the Pirates' bullpen and was just the second hit of the inning. It was his first homer with the Pirates and his first since hitting one against Texas on Aug. 1, 2007, while with Cleveland.

Wainwright (5-3) allowed just one single to Jack Wilson through five innings and faced the minimum after getting Freddy Sanchez to ground into a double play. Signs of fatigue started showing in the sixth during which the Pirates got two two-out singles, but Wainwright escaped without allowing a run.

He then gave up a double to Bay and walked two to bring up Michaels in the seventh.

In the eighth, Nate McLouth singled to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Wilson. Bay broke the tie one out later with a single to right field.

Wainwright gave up seven hits and five earned runs in eight innings.

Franquelis Osoria (3-1) allowed two hits in 1 2-3 innings to earn the victory. Matt Capps pitched the ninth to remain perfect in 11 save opportunities.

Tom Gorzelanny struggled at the start the game, giving up two runs on three hits in the first and third innings, using 62 pitches -- including 30 in the third. From there, he allowed a bloop single from Wainwright before being pulled to start the seventh.

Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick both drove in two runs, each with RBIS in the first and third. Pujols finished 2-for-4 in the game and is now 10-for-21 in the past seven games.

Notes: Michaels' pitch-hit slam was the first for Pittsburgh since Craig Wilson hit one against Milwaukee in 2003. ... Xavier Nady, who was 6-for-13 coming in against Wainwright, went 0-for-3 with a walk ending his eight-game hit streak. ... McLouth received a prolonged ovation from the crowd after making a dazzling catch to take away a possible triple from Aaron Miles in the first.

[Associated Press; By ROB MAADDI]

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