Bucs look to win more close ones

[BnGBleeder]

Bucs look to win more close ones - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Bucs look to win more close ones

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Pirates played in 55 one-run games last season, the most in the major leagues.


For outfielder Jason Bay, figuring out what that means was harder than filling out his NCAA Tournament bracket.

"I guess it's better than saying you were involved in the most 10-run blowouts," he quipped.

Were so many close calls a sign of competitiveness, proof that the Pirates were better than their 67-95 record suggests? Could it mean better days are ahead for the franchise? That the end of 14 consecutive losing seasons is in sight?
Or was it nothing more than a statistical anomaly?


The Pirates went 24-31 in those one-run games, a .436 winning percentage, and they had the second-most defeats in all of baseball behind Atlanta's 33. But just as their overall record improved in the second half of last season, when they rebounded to finish 37-35, so did their mark in tight games. The Pirates went 15-4 in one-run games after the All-Star break, the best such record in the majors.

"In the first half, we were always in the ball games," pitcher Zach Duke said. "Then, in the second half, we started doing the little things that allowed us to win. The difference is that we started to figure things out."

For the Pirates, continuing their success in one-run games throughout the course of an entire season will mean remembering the lessons learned late in 2006. For Bay, that also means doing the "little things" right - whether it's laying down a bunt to move a runner over, executing a hit-and-run or hitting the cut-off man from the outfield.

"You have a bunch of guys who now know that one thing could make a difference in a game," Bay said. "That's what happened in the second half. We understood that, 'Hey, if I get this bunt down now, and we get a couple of runs in the third inning and end up winning 2-1, it's makes a big difference.'

"The biggest thing is learning how to win the close games, putting yourself on the other side of those games, where you're winning them rather than saying, 'We were so close so many times.'"

Manager Jim Tracy said that being so close in so many games has had a huge impact on his team.

"That's the best teacher right there," he said.

And he said there has been a carryover into spring training. He used the first inning of Monday's 6-1 win over the Cleveland Indians as an example.

Chris Duffy began the inning with a single off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers and stole second base. The next batter, Brian Bixler, fought off an inside pitch from Sowers and grounded out to first base, allowing Duffy to move to third.

"I looked over my right shoulder, and when Bixler got back to the dugout, everybody was waiting for him," Tracy said.

Bay followed with a walk, and with Indians first baseman Ryan Garko guarding him at the base, Adam LaRoche singled through the hole that was created, scoring Duffy to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

"That's how you win, when you do things like that," Tracy said. "What I've seen this spring is better than what I saw a year ago. We've set higher standards for ourselves, and that's a good feeling."

Freddy Sanchez said Tracy's message has been simple.

"It's just execution," he said. "We have to get a hit-and-run down. We have to get a bunt down. We've got to take the extra base. We're starting to do that. Tracy has done a great job of working on those things."

A look at last year shows that success throughout the course of a season in one-run games can translate into a winning record.

The top three teams with the most wins in one-run games - Oakland (32), the New York Mets (31) and San Diego (30) - made the playoffs. Boston, which won 29 one-run games, finished 10 games over .500.

But there are exceptions, namely the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, who finished with only a slightly better winning percentage in one-run games (.449) than the Pirates.

"Success in one-run games, it's just hard to quantify," general manager Dave Littlefield said. "We've been competitive. I think it's real. I believe it. But I know there a few that think it was happenstance."

And, for some, the record in one-run games was overrated. Sanchez said the defeats were no different than the two-, three-, or four-run losses.

"In my eyes, if we don't win, we don't win," Sanchez said. "A loss is a loss, and a win is a win. It's tough for me to look back and say, 'Hey, we lost (31) games by one run.' "
Sanchez said there's a danger the Pirates could also settle for being close in 2007. "We can't hang our hats on the fact that we were competitive in all those games," he said.

"Let's forget that we lost by one run. Let's go out and win those games."

I like Freddy's attitude that they need to not get complacent with being competitive but instead to go out there and win those games.

I sure do hope they remember how they played after the All-Star break,if they do...we'll be the Detroit Tigers of 2007.

[Witlon]

The bullpen hasn't been the reason for all the close games, though, and that's a good thing. If that continues to be a strength for us, then expirience in those games are only going to help us move forward.

I'm a little less optomistic about the team, but I'm certain that it's going to be a fun year of Pirates baseball.

[BnGBleeder]

The bullpen hasn't been the reason for all the close games, though, and that's a good thing. If that continues to be a strength for us, then expirience in those games are only going to help us move forward.

I'm a little less optomistic about the team, but I'm certain that it's going to be a fun year of Pirates baseball.

I didn't mean be the Tigers as in go to the World Series...but as in being the team nobody saw as doing anything but lose.I feel we can push for the division and possibly grab the Wild Card,but I see us being one-and-done if we get to the postseason.