Pirates fall in opener vs. Brewers 

Pirates fall in opener vs. Brewers

MILWAUKEE -- In the big-picture scope of a 162-game baseball season, the Pittsburgh Pirates had to feel good about the Opening Day performance of their starting pitcher, Oliver Perez, who will undoubtedly be one of the keys to the team's success in 2006.
But in the condensed reality of Opening Day, the Pirates left Miller Park on Monday feeling as though they let one get away after dropping a 5-2 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers before a sellout crowd of 45,023.

Perez, who is coming off a disappointing 2005 season, looked like the staff ace again. Making his second consecutive Opening Day start against Milwaukee, he allowed just one run on three hits and three walks while fanning nine in 5 1/3 innings.

Perez was, in a word, dominant. The only run scored against him came on a first-inning home run by J.J. Hardy.

"I was feeling good," said Perez. "I was trying to use all of my pitches. I missed a ball with Hardy, but that's baseball. I was trying to focus to go five to seven innings. I was feeling good. Everything is getting better."

Perez seemed to get better as the game went on. He struck out seven of the final 10 batters he faced and did not allow a hit after the second inning.

"He was throwing the ball better as he went along," said Jim Tracy, who managed his first game with the Pirates. "He got stronger. His location got better. The ball was down in the strike zone much better.

"He did a terrific job. He threw a great ballgame."

Perez masterfully mixed his slider and splitter in with a fastball that reached 92 mph. But it was a mixup with his catcher, Humberto Cota, that ultimately led to Perez's exit with one out in the sixth inning.
After striking out Hardy to begin the sixth, Perez threw a two-strike fastball past Geoff Jenkins for what should have been the second out of the inning. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the ball also got past Cota, and Jenkins was able to reach first base safely.

"[Perez] crossed me up," said Cota. "I called a slider and he threw me a fastball.

"I think if I had my face in front of that fastball it would have ripped it off."

With Perez's pitch count at 95 and the dangerous Carlos Lee due up next as the potential go-ahead run, Tracy called in setup man Salomon Torres. Tracy said after the game that he would have allowed Perez to face Lee if Jenkins had not reached base.

"Perez was really tough. He never gave in, he was in and out," said Lee. "Facing a lefty all day, I felt a lot better facing a righty."

Torres ended the threat by inducing Lee to fly out to left field and striking out Prince Fielder. However, he ran into trouble of his own doing in the seventh inning and was not able to get out of it.

Torres (0-1) walked each of the first two Milwaukee batters he faced in the seventh before facing Brewers catcher Damian Miller. Having already anticipated a sacrifice bunt attempt by Miller, Torres charged off the mound and appeared to get the ball in plenty of time to throw out the lead runner at third base. But he slipped at the last moment and had to settle for the out at first base.
Tracy called upon lefty Damaso Marte to put out the fire. But Brewers pinch-hitter Jeff Cirillo came through in the clutch, drilling a two-run single past Pirates third baseman Joe Randa, who was playing in on the grass on the play.

"Cirillo didn't hit the ball well at all," said Tracy. "He just hit it in a wonderful spot."

Lee put the game away with a two-run home run off Pittsburgh rookie Matt Capps in the eighth inning.

With the exception of Perez's RBI single after two outs in the second inning, the Pirates were unable to come through with many timely hits of their own. Pittsburgh batters went 2-for-7 with runners scoring position, but they stranded seven runners on base and hit into four double plays.

"We had our chances," said Randa. "We just didn't come up with the big hit. [Brewers starter Doug Davis] did his job and we didn't do ours."

Davis, in his first career Opening Day start, limited the Pirates to two runs on six hits and four walks but trailed when he left the game after six innings.

Brewers reliever Justin Lehr (1-0) tossed a scoreless seventh inning for the win. Closer Derrick Turnbow blanked the Bucs in the ninth for his first save.

"It's unfortunate that we weren't able to win the game," said Tracy. "But I don't consider it to be a bad beginning."

"It's really a great sign for us that [Perez] is going to anchor this rotation and really show the other four starters that [the team] can jump on his back every once in a while," said Cota. "We just didn't get enough runs for him."