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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Now that he has learned how to win again, Jose Silva apparently isn't quite ready to stop.
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Silva beat Milwaukee for the second time in a week after going winless as a starter for more than a year, pitching four-hit ball over seven innings of the Pittsburgh Pirates' 5-4 victory Wednesday night.
Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Jimmy Haynes (9-10),
while two Pirates runs scored on errors as the Brewers lost their
fifth in six games.
Silva (7-4) matched a career high with eight strikeouts and
allowed only an unearned run in his second successive strong start
against the Brewers. Milwaukee's lone run off Silva came when third
baseman Ramirez threw away Marquis Grissom's apparent inning-ending
grounder following Haynes' two-out double in the fifth.
Silva insists his 14-month winless streak as a starter, a
stretch that included time in the bullpen and on the disabled list,
didn't deter his confidence.
"I'm the kind of guy who never knows how many pitches he's
thrown or what his record or his ERA is," Silva said. "I just
think about today. If I thought about the past, I'd go crazy."
Just as Haynes did, Silva helped himself by contributing a
run-scoring single to the Pirates' two-run sixth inning.
With the Pirates leading 3-1, Kevin Young led off the sixth with
a single and scored as left fielder Geoff Jenkins misplayed Pat
Meares' two-out single. Silva followed with a single to center,
only his third hit in 17 at-bats this season and his fifth hit in
two seasons.
"When you walk Silva and let him get a hit and an RBI, that's
not a good sign," Brewers manager Davey Lopes said.
It is to the Pirates, who are finally getting the kind of
starting pitching they envisioned back in spring training.
Silva's start continued a run of excellent starts by the Pirates
rotation, which has allowed five earned runs in its last 43
innings. The Brewers have one earned run off Pirates starters in
the first two games of the three-game series, a solo homer Tuesday
by Tyler Houston that was the only run allowed in nine innings by
Kris Benson.
Silva began the run of strong starts by winning in Milwaukee 9-2
on July 20, yielding two runs in eight innings. Before that
victory, he was 0-8 as a starter since beating Montreal on May 15,
1999.
"I think Jose's going to keep getting better," manager Gene
Lamont said. "If you look at his stats, he's missed a lot of time
with injuries and we've been constantly trying to build his arm
strength back again. He showed in 1998 he could be a good starter,
and I never got that out of my mind."
Silva was 6-3 in his first 14 starts in 1998 before breaking his
arm while batting. Last year, he was sidelined after being hit in
the face by a batted ball during spring training, then missed part
of the season with biceps tendinitis.
"I don't go out there thinking about what happened the last
time," Silva said. "My goal is to go seven or eight innings, but
I'm not trying to pace myself. I'm trying to go out there and throw
as hard as I can for as long as I can."
Ramirez's homer was his second since returning from the minors
June 19 and followed John Vander Wal's leadoff single in the
fourth.
"I'm more relaxed now than when I came back up," said Ramirez,
who is batting .219. "At the beginning, I was trying too hard but
I'm trying to settle down now and relax and swing the bat."
Haynes never did settle down after allowing the homer, giving up
two more runs before being lifted in the sixth.
"There are a few pitches I'd like to have back. The home run
was definitely one of them," he said. "That ball was just hanging
there and he got it. There were too many pitches that were right
down the middle."
Young led off the third with a double and scored as catcher Raul
Casanova threw wildly as Young moved up on Haynes' wild pitch.
Jose Hernandez had an RBI single off Scott Sauerbeck in the
Brewers' eighth. Mike Williams allowed an RBI double to Chris Jones
and a sacrifice fly Luis Lopez in the ninth, but still got his 15th
save in 17 opportunities.
Game notes
Seven of the past nine Brewers errors are by outfielders.
... Pirates RHP Francisco Cordova will come off the DL and start Saturday against San Diego, with RHP Todd Ritchie going on the DL
with a strained muscle in his right side. ... The Brewers are 11-5
in Pittsburgh since joining the NL, but have lost three of their
last four there. ... Silva is 10-17 as a starter. ... Pirates
All-Star OF Brian Giles went 0-for-3, dropping his average to .299. He was hitting .342 in mid-June. ... Haynes lost his third
successive start.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Kendall's contract talks with Pirates at impasse
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