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(04/12/07 4:00am)
PITTSBURGH – So Taguchi couldn’t have had a much better day, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and reaching base four times. With the game on the line in the ninth inning, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa felt he had an even better option.\nChris Duncan, pinch hitting for the perfect-until-then Taguchi, homered off Pittsburgh closer Salomon Torres to give St. Louis a 3-2 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday and a three-game sweep.\n“That second spot was hot today,” La Russa said.\nDuncan’s homer was his fourth as a pinch hitter in 28 at-bats the last two seasons and made for another rough day for Torres, who squandered a 2-0 lead and a save opportunity during the ninth Tuesday night before the Cardinals won 3-2 in the 12th.\n“When I saw Torres warming up, I figured that’s who I was going to face,” Duncan said. “Tony kind of gave me a head’s up. I made sure I stayed warm and I was ready to go when I got my opportunity.”\nDuncan saw nothing but fastballs when he walked against Torres the night before, and he kept looking for the fastball again until he got one below the knees on a 2-2 pitch.\n“Late in the game, you can’t afford to walk guys and (the relievers) are a little more aggressive,” Duncan said. “I knew he had a good fastball, I just wanted to make sure I was ready to hit it.”\nLa Russa said he didn’t automatically hit for Taguchi because a right-hander was on the mound – Taguchi doubled against right-hander Jonah Bayliss in the seventh.\n“It’s late in the game, the (Pirates) bullpen’s not very deep, and you know Chris has a shot to do some damage,” La Russa said. “I wasn’t thinking home run, but I thought he’d get on first base ahead of Albert (Pujols).”\nTorres blamed himself for not going after the hitters like he usually does, saying he was trying to pinpoint pitches so he didn’t get behind in the count.\n“I’ve got to put it behind me,” Torres said. “I wanted to get back out there, but I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been. Now I know what I’ve got to fix, and I’m going to fix it. I’ve done it before. I don’t have to go to school for four years to find out what I’m doing wrong.”\nThe Cardinals are 36-15 against the Pirates since 2004 and have won 31 of their last 40 against their NL Central rivals, but had not swept a three-game series in PNC Park since Aug. 27-29, 2004.\nRyan Franklin got four outs for the victory as the Cardinals won their fourth in a row and fifth in six games since dropping their first three of the season to the Mets. The Pirates lost their third in a row and are 1-5 since sweeping Houston in a three-game series.\nSt. Louis didn’t need many runs to sweep, scoring only nine runs – three in each game. But the Cardinals didn’t require many runs with the pitching they got, limiting the Pirates to four runs in 30 innings.\n“We’re doing a little bit on offense, we’re pitching well, we’re defending well,” La Russa said. “Just like when we lost three in a row, that didn’t mean we were a bad ball-club, and getting above .500 doesn’t mean we’re a juggernaut, either.”\nAdam Wainwright, a converted reliever, made his second effective start of the season by limiting the Pirates to two runs in 6 2-3 innings. But he couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the seventh as he hit pinch-hitter Don Kelly with a pitch and walked Chris Duffy ahead of a sacrifice bunt and Freddy Sanchez’s sacrifice fly.\nWith the bases loaded and two outs, Brad Eldred hit a long drive into the gap in left-center about 400 feet from home plate, but Taguchi ran the ball down.\n“We had some tough luck with that 408-foot out,” manager Jim Tracy said. “If he pulls it just a little, it’s four runs. (Taguchi) had to go a long way to get that ball. (Center fielder) Jim Edmonds had no chance.”\nEldred reached base on a force play and on Humberto Cota’s RBI single in the fourth. The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the fifth against Pirates starter Paul Maholm on run-scoring singles by David Eckstein and Preston Wilson.\nNeither team was efficient with runners on base – the Pirates stranded 13 runners and the Cardinals 11.\n“It’s very frustrating,” Sanchez said. “We’ve got to do a better job of hitting with runners on base. Hopefully, everybody will start heating up at the same time.”
(01/05/07 5:23am)
PITTSBURGH -- Bill Cowher is returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers -- to say goodbye.\nThe Steelers will begin a coaching search Friday to replace the departing Cowher, a source familiar with Cowher's status said Thursday night. Cowher called owner Dan Rooney on Thursday to tell him of his decision, and the team announced a Friday news conference not long after that. Cowher is expected to attend.\nThe 49-year-old Cowher, one of the NFL's most recognizable faces and most successful coaches for 15 seasons, has weighed resigning since shortly after the Steelers finally won the Super Bowl in February after numerous misses.\nCowher has talked of wanting to spend more time with his family, especially now that they are living in a new home in Raleigh, N.C., where he and wife Kaye attended North Carolina State. Cowher's two oldest daughters are at Princeton and the youngest has only 2 1/2 years of high school remaining, time Cowher apparently doesn't want to spend away from her.\nWhile Cowher would be resigning with one season left on his contract, there is no indication he would retire from pro football. He said recently he is not close to being burned out, and still likes coaching and dealing with players.\nCowher, who led the Steelers to the playoffs 10 times, the AFC title game six times and the Super Bowl twice, met with Rooney and team president Art Rooney II on Tuesday and asked for several days to weigh his future plans. There was an understanding a decision would be made quickly because the Steelers don't want any top candidates accepting other jobs before talking to them.\nWhile the Steelers would have given Cowher until next week to make up his mind, he decided not to make them wait and called Dan Rooney on Thursday.\nTwo strong contenders to replace Cowher -- Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm -- already are in place and are interviewing with other teams. The team would interview at least one minority candidate, possibly more, and talk with several candidates outside the organization.
(09/25/06 4:26am)
PITTSBURGH -- Carson Palmer wasn't about to lose this one. Not against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he says he hates -- the team he spent eight exhausting months rehabilitating his mangled knee mostly for the chance to face.\nAlternating between brilliant and awful, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback threw two touchdown passes to T.J. Houshmandzadeh less than a minute apart midway through the fourth quarter following Steelers turnovers, and the unbeaten Bengals rallied for a 28-20 victory Sunday against the Super Bowl champions.\nOnly three games into the season, the Bengals (3-0) own a two-game lead in the AFC North over the Steelers (1-2), who couldn't withstand a second mediocre game in seven days by their own rehabilitating quarterback.\nBen Roethlisberger, recovering from an offseason motorcycle accident and appendicitis attack, was an ineffective 18-of-39 for 209 yards and appears to be lacking strength on his downfield throws. The game ended when Roethlisberger was intercepted for the third time, this time by Kevin Kaesviharn, on a third-and-10 from the Bengals' 16 and with Pittsburgh trying to drive for the tying score.\nPalmer -- whose focus has been on this game almost since the moment Kimo von Oelhoffen tore apart his knee by rolling atop it early in the Steelers' 31-17 playoff victory in January -- had three fumbles and two interceptions, yet withstood them with four touchdown passes. He went 18-of-26 for 193 yards and now has seven touchdown throws in two games in Pittsburgh since December, both victories.\nWith the Bengals scoring 21 points off Steelers turnovers, Palmer twice hit Chris Henry for touchdowns in a first half largely dominated by Pittsburgh. Then, after the Steelers seemed in control even while leading only 17-14 in the fourth, Palmer took advantage of fumbles by punt returner Ricardo Colclough and running back Verron Haynes to hit Houshmandzadeh on touchdown throws of nine and 30 yards only 54 seconds apart. Houshmandzadeh had missed two games with a heel injury.\nThe Colclough fumble at the Steelers 9-yard line, recovered by Tony Stewart, was the turning point. An inexperienced returner, Colclough tried to catch a tumbling punt that was aided by a strong wind with his hands over his head but never controlled it, and the Bengals scored on the next play. Rookie Willie Reid was supposed to be the Steelers' punt returner but was deactivated for a third consecutive game -- a move coach Bill Cowher might now regret.\nThe Steelers, coming off a 9-0 loss Monday to Jacksonville in which they ran for only 26 yards, couldn't have gotten off to a much better start. They drove 80 yards for the first of Willie Parker's two short touchdown runs, a 3-yarder less than six minutes into the game. Parker ran for 133 yards.
(09/18/06 2:48am)
PITTSBURGH -- Five Duquesne University basketball players, all but one of them new players who enrolled only this month, were shot early Sunday morning during an apparent act of random violence on campus. Two players were in critical condition at a hospital.\nPittsburgh police were searching for a man believed to have committed the shootings and were investigating whether anyone else was involved. The shootings occurred at about 2:15 a.m. as several players were returning from an on-campus party at the student union and others were sitting on benches outside Vickroy Hall, the dormitory where the shootings took place.\nThe players most badly injured were 6-foot-7 forward Sam Ashaolu, a transfer from Lake Region State College and a cousin of former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, and Stuard Baldonado, a 6-7 transfer from Miami Dade College who was considered the Dukes' best recruit.\nAshaolu is from Toronto, and his parents were traveling to Pittsburgh on Sunday to be with their son.\nTreated and released from Mercy Hospital were 6-10 Shawn James, the nation's leading shot blocker last season at Northeastern University before transferring to Duquesne; Kojo Mensah, a guard who averaged nearly 17 points last season at Siena before transferring, and Aaron Jackson, a guard who is one of only two returning players from Duquesne's 3-24 team of last season.\nNew Duquesne coach Ron Everhart, formerly at Northeastern, had rebuilt the Duquesne program almost from scratch after being hired in March by bringing in 10 new recruits -- one of the most sweeping upheavals of any Division I program in recent years.\nAccording to police, two players were returning from a social function on campus when they encountered a man who apparently had been disruptive at the party. After the players tried to calm down the man, they began walking away, only to be shot. Several other players who were nearby rushed to their aid, also to be shot.
(09/14/06 3:49am)
FARMINGTON, Pa. -- Stuck in the oft-ignored fall portion of the PGA Tour, the 84 Lumber Classic tried to make a name for itself by spending. And spending. And spending.\nNow that money-tossing is about to end as the lumber company pulls out of pro golf after laying out tens of millions of dollars to land and run a tournament that's moving to a prime tour date next June.\nThe 84 Lumber Classic that starts Thursday at the Nemacolin Woodlands resort's Mystic Rock course will be the fourth and last, replaced next year by the St. Paul Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn.\nWith 84 Lumber packing its money bags and saying goodbye, the Pittsburgh area must once again be content with seeing only occasional glimpses of top-tier pro golf. There is no tournament with PGA Tour golfers scheduled in the region beyond next year's U.S. Open at Oakmont, Pa..\nIt's obvious who will be the poorer for 84 Lumber's pullout: the golfers who welcomed coming to rural Pennsylvania each September to be lavished with the kind of Hollywood star treatment that even the big names rarely receive elsewhere.\n"Not having the tournament here anymore is sad," said John Daly, the unofficial tournament host whose endorsement deal with 84 is worth nearly $1 million per year.\nDaly is so close to 84 Lumber founder Joe Hardy that he calls him "Dad," and he isn't the only golfer with ties to Hardy, who built the 7,511-yard Mystic Rock course about 10 years ago with the idea of someday playing host to a PGA Tour event.\nTeen star Michelle Wie, playing against the men again this week with a sponsor's exemption, regularly visits Nemacolin Woodlands and once had Thanksgiving dinner there with Hardy and daughter Maggie Hardy Magerko, the lumber company's top executive.\nPat Perez, set to play in his fourth 84 Lumber Classic, said many of the PGA Tour players are very upset that the tournament will no longer be held.\nNo wonder, as Hardy's spending habits quickly became legendary among the golfers. He gave expensive presents to some of the top players and their families several times a year, chartered a private jet to fly them to a European tournament two years ago and built a $66 million on-course lodge with full butler service for them.\nHardy also poured millions of dollars into near-annual redesigns of Mystic Rock to make it tougher after a mostly no-name field shot numerous rounds in the mid-to-low 60s in 2003.\nAll that spending added up to annual losses for the tournament despite adequate attendance. And when 84 Lumber began questioning whether it was worth an estimated $100 million to run a summertime tournament for the next six years, the PGA Tour awarded 84 Lumber's 2007 dates to Hartford without giving any warning beforehand.\n84 Lumber's surprise exit from PGA golf coincided with the privately held company's decision last spring to close 67 stores in 12 states as part of a retrenching in which the company expects to open 125 new stores in fast-growth areas. Unlike the consumer-oriented Lowe's or Home Depot, 84 Lumber sells primarily to private contractors and does little advertising outside of the tournament.\nThe final 84 Lumber Classic has attracted few marquee players. Only six of the top 25 money winners are entered in the $4.6 million tournament, led by No. 5 Vijay Singh, the 2004 champion, and No. 9 David Toms.
(08/31/06 3:56am)
PITTSBURGH -- Freddy Sanchez and Jason Bay are among the few Pittsburgh Pirates with something tangible to achieve in September. They hope it's not too long until the entire club is playing for something in the final full month of the season.\nSanchez's second two-run single of the game finished off Pittsburgh's three-run rally in the 11th inning as the Pirates withstood 20 hits to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-9 Wednesday to sweep the series.\nMichael Barrett's run-scoring single and Ronny Cedeno's sacrifice fly off Marty McLeary (1-0) put the Cubs up 9-7 in the top of the inning. But Jose Castillo's fourth hit, an RBI single, got the Pirates to within a run, and Sanchez won it with a pop-fly single down the right field line against Ryan Dempster (1-7).\nSanchez is the NL batting leader with a .347 average and is better still in clutch situations with a .423 average (52-for-123) with runners in scoring position.\n"You don't want anyone else up there," said Xavier Nady, whose third hit of the game started the rally. "He's been awesome in those situations."\nSanchez insists he doesn't do anything differently at the plate when he has a chance to keep a rally going or win a game.\n"That's the situation you want to be in," Sanchez said. "Everybody did their part there. All I did was come up with the bases loaded, and you just try to be confident in those situations."\nBefore getting his single, Sanchez hit a roller down the line that first baseman Derrek Lee argued was fair. TV replays appeared to show it crossing the foul line before reaching the bag.\n"If it was fair, that would have been the game," manager Dusty Baker said. "It seems like razor thin always cuts us."\nThe Pirates also had 20 hits in completing their first three-game sweep of the Cubs since 2000 and first in Pittsburgh since April 9-11, 1999. The Pirates also dodged their 82nd loss, which would ensure them of a 14th consecutive losing season. The Phillies set the major league record with 16 in a row from 1933-48.\nStill, Bay sees some positive signs in a Pirates team that is 23-21 since the All-Star break after being 30 games under .500 before it. The Pirates also are 9-2 in one-run games after having a major league-worst 25 such losses at the break.\n"We do believe now we can pull it out, instead of hoping we can pull it out," said Bay, who is one homer away from joining Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner as the only Pirates right-handed hitters with consecutive 30-homer seasons. "Maybe we can stay on a little roll and carry it into September."\nBay had three hits as the Pirates closed to within 1 1/2 games of overtaking the Cubs for fifth place in the NL Central. The Pirates have been in last place since starting 0-6, but the Cubs went 11-17 in August.\nIn the second 11-inning game between the NL's two worst teams in less than 24 hours, the Cubs tied it at 7 in the eighth on Ryan Theriot's career-high fifth hit. Jones had four hits, while Matt Murton and Cedeno each drove in two runs.\n"You go out and hope for the best and prepare for the worst, and you take what comes," Barrett said after the Cubs ended an 0-6 road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh. "Right now, it seems to be the worst."\nIn a game featuring 40 hits, even the pitchers were hitters. Pirates starter Victor Santos helped himself with two hits. including a double that started a three-run third inning and an RBI, only the second in his career, on a bunt single in the fifth.\nCubs rookie right-hander Juan Mateo sustained a deep bone bruise when he was struck on the right forearm by a Jose Bautista line drive in the third, but X-rays did not reveal any fracture. The right-hander made his fifth career start since being called up Aug. 1, giving up three runs and four hits in two-plus innings before leaving. Sanchez followed with a two-run single off David Aardsma.\nCubs shortstop Cedeno's throwing error also led to a run in the first, only about 14 hours after the Cubs committed a season-high four errors in a 7-6 loss.
(06/15/06 12:04am)
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger's broken jaw did not have to be wired shut, a factor that could hasten his recovery from his scary motorcycle accident, and the Steelers quarterback got out of his hospital bed Wednesday to talk with teammates and family members.\nRoethlisberger's doctors said a second round of tests again showed no brain injuries, although he has a concussion. Initial CT scans taken shortly after Roethlisberger's motorcycle collided with a car at a busy Pittsburgh intersection Monday morning also showed no apparent problems.\n"The results of this second and final scan confirm our previous findings that Mr. Roethlisberger has suffered no brain injury," said Dr. Larry Jones, the chief of Mercy Hospital's trauma unit.\nBecause Roethlisberger's multiple facial fractures, broken nose and broken upper and lower jaw are being held in place by screws and 2-inch titanium plates, he can eat soft foods, and not be restricted to liquids during an estimated six to eight week recovery period.\n"We take a titanium plate, bend it and adapt it to the contours of the facial bones and then secure it in place with screws," surgeon Daniel Pituch said. "This kind of state-of-the-art technology allowed us to successfully treat Mr. Roethlisberger's facial fractures."\nAs a result, the 240-pound Roethlisberger probably won't lose as much weight as he would have on an all-liquid diet. The Steelers have not given a timetable for his return, but they are optimistic he will be ready for their Sept. 7 opener against Miami.\nOne of the team's concerns was how long Roethlisberger would need to regain his weight and strength after being unable to work out for what might be an extended period.
(04/17/06 4:23am)
PITTSBURGH -- If a team wants to get its offense going, PNC Park is the place to go.\nTodd Walker hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Aramis Ramirez added a two-run shot and the Chicago Cubs finished another successful series in Pittsburgh by defeating the Pirates 7-3 Sunday.\nDerrek Lee hit a two-run double that chased starter Ian Snell (0-1) in a four-run sixth -- Lee's 43rd hit against the Pirates since 2004, the most by any major league player against another club in that span.\nLee's success against the Pirates is reflected in the Cubs' 13-2 record in Pittsburgh since May 30, 2004. The Cubs have won 11 of 15 and 21 of 27 against their NL Central rival, and they haven't had a losing record against Pittsburgh since 2000.\n"This is a good ballpark to hit in," said Ramirez, whose average was in the low .200s before he had a double Saturday and an RBI single and the homer Sunday. "The wind's not a factor here like it is at Wrigley Field."\nThere's something else inviting about Pittsburgh: the home team's starting pitching staff. After seven games of a 10-game homestand, the Pirates are allowing opponents an average of 7.3 runs per game.\nIan Snell (0-1) was the latest Pirates starter to be roughed up, allowing six runs and six hits in five-plus innings. He has yielded at least five runs in all three of his starts and has a 9.60 ERA on a starting staff that has a 7.25 ERA through 14 games.\nIt was obvious Sunday that all this losing -- the Pirates are 4-10 -- and all this opposition scoring is wearing on new manager Jim Tracy. He was critical of Snell's pitch location, concentration and focus, saying that being a good pitcher in the minors like Snell was in no guarantee of success in the majors.\nTracy was unhappy that Snell got ahead of Walker 0-2 in the count in the first, only to give him a hittable fastball that Walker hit out of the park. In the sixth, Snell fell behind Lee 3-1 and again left a fastball high in the hitter's zone.\nSnell said he made the kind of mistakes young pitchers make, but an irritated Tracy said that isn't an acceptable excuse.\n"He's been told one, two, 200 times in the minor leagues that when it's 0-2, a ball in the middle of the plate is unacceptable," Tracy said. "Against major league lineups, especially a lineup like this, you have to be able to locate pitches. There has to be a real understanding of that."\nThe Cubs won two of three in the weekend series, despite losing 2-1 to Zach Duke on Saturday night. Glendon Rusch (1-2) gave them an effective start Sunday to beat the Pirates for only the second time in nine career decisions, taking a two-hit shutout into the sixth before giving up Craig Wilson's three-run homer.\nWilson's homer was his sixth of the season and fifth in 19 at-bats and Pittsburgh's 13th in seven home games.\nBut, as usual, the Pirates had fallen behind early as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead in a span of five batters. Juan Pierre and Ramirez singled ahead of Walker's first homer, a drive into the right-field seats.\n"If we can get them going in the middle of the lineup and get Juan Pierre on base, we've got a chance to have a lot of stuff happening," manager Dusty Baker said.\nSnell didn't allow a hit over the next four innings, then gave up singles to Pierre and Freddie Bynum starting the sixth ahead of Lee's two-run double. Ramirez made it 7-0 with his second homer, off rookie reliever Matt Capps, who has permitted three homers in six innings.\n"It's real tough, but that's the game," Snell said. "You have to go through your bumps and bruises before you get going."\nRoberto Novoa pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings in his first appearance for the Cubs this season, and closer Ryan Dempster finished in the ninth in a non-save situation.
(01/23/06 5:55am)
DENVER -- Happy homecoming, Jerome Bettis.\nThe NFL's fifth-leading career rusher doesn't ask much of his Pittsburgh teammates, but now that each game could be his last, the senior Steeler called in a favor during an impassioned pep talk before the AFC championship game in Denver.\n"Just get me to Detroit," said Bettis, who came back this season mostly for the chance to end his career by playing in the Super Bowl in his hometown. "Just get me to Detroit."\nInspired by Bettis, the Steelers shook off a dozen years' worth of bad karma, bad luck and badly played AFC championship games, beating Denver 34-17 Sunday to reach their second Super Bowl in 26 years.\nIt's a first Super Bowl for Bettis, coming in what is certainly the last season for one of the most-liked and most productive athletes in Pittsburgh sports history. No wonder there were hugs all around after he finally made it in his 13th season -- from team chairman Dan Rooney, from the parents who have never missed a game in his career, to every person in the locker room from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to the equipment managers.\n"I can't imagine anything better," Bettis said, drenched in Gatorade and showered with praise by his teammates. "I'm going home."\nThus fulfilling a promise made by Roethlisberger during last year's 41-27 AFC championship loss to New England. Then, fearful Bettis might retire, Roethlisberger begged him to come back.\n"He was boohooing, and I was boohooing, and he turned to me and said, 'Come back next year, I will get you to the Super Bowl. Give me one more year,'" Bettis said. "That meant a lot."\nSo much so, Troy Polamalu said Bettis made only two requests during his from-the-heart Saturday night talk.\n"He asked for something that he knew we would give -- and that's 100 percent. With that, the game came into our favor and we took him home, which was the second request," he said.\nAll-Pro guard Alan Faneca said Bettis' speech made his teammates realize they couldn't get this far again without winning. They had lost two AFC title games in the previous four seasons and four under coach Bill Cowher.\n"He had me choked up a little bit, it means so much to him, to be in the league this long -- to give him a shot like this, it definitely means something," Faneca said.\nWhat a Bus ride it's been, too. Exiled to the playoff road by a three-game midseason losing streak that sent the AFC North title to Cincinnati, the Steelers are the first team to beat the No. 1-, 2- and 3-seeded teams in consecutive weeks to reach a Super Bowl.\nThe Steelers' sixth AFC championship also is the first they've won away from home since they upset Oakland in January 1975 -- starting them on a run of four Super Bowls in six years. What this title does is set up Bettis for the best possible end to the career of one of the biggest running backs in NFL history, and one of the best.\n"We want to win it for him," linebacker Joey Porter said after Bettis ran for 39 yards and a touchdown. "But we want to win it for us, too."\nBettis' plea was reminiscent of that of another by an aging Pittsburgh superstar whose career was winding down but, in his mind, remained unfulfilled.\nIn 1971, with the Pirates driving for their first NL pennant in 11 years, 37-year-old Roberto Clemente promised his teammates, "Just get me to the World Series and I'll win it for you."\nThe Pirates kept up their end and so did Clemente, putting on a one-man show rarely rivaled in baseball's showcase event, leading them to a seven-game upset of the Baltimore Orioles.\nJust as Clemente then, Bettis isn't the best player on this team or even close. Each was bypassed by a Willie -- Willie Stargell got the '71 Pirates into the World Series by hitting 48 homers; Willie Parker started ahead of the Bus this season and rushed for more than 1,200 yards.\nBut it is Bettis' stature, not his role, that matters in a town that embraces its sports stars like few cities do, treating them as friends or like family members. Go to a Steelers home game, and it seems as if half are wearing a No. 36 Bettis jersey.\nHines Ward, like Roethlisberger, broke down in tears after last year's AFC title game loss to New England, saying the Steelers had let Bettis down and he couldn't bear to think he would retire without going to a Super Bowl.\nGo back to last weekend, and the feeling was the same. Bettis' fumble at the Colts' 2-yard line in the final two minutes gave Indianapolis the chance to stage an impossible comeback, and the disbelieving look on Bettis' face said: "I can't possibly end my career this way. This can't happen."\nHe won't, and it didn't. Because the Steelers did on the road what they couldn't do in Pittsburgh, Bettis is going home. To the Super Bowl. Finally.\n"Yes, we're happy to get there, but we want to win it," Ward said. "We don't want to be content with just getting there. We want to win it for him"
(01/20/06 5:19am)
PITTSBURGH -- Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's arm-waving, finger-pointing and nonstop gesturing at the line of scrimmage seemed especially frantic against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and for good reason.\nAfter all, what quarterback could possibly be prepared for the sight of a 5-foot-11 defensive back, especially one whose chaotic yet passionate play and free-flowing hair have earned him the nickname of the Tasmanian Devil, lined up at nose tackle?\nThat's right, nose tackle.\nTroy Polamalu, an All-Pro defender who hits like a miniature-sized linebacker but can drop into deep pass coverage, presents the most problematic matchup for the Denver Broncos in Sunday's AFC championship game, just as it did for the Cincinnati Bengals and Colts before them.\nHow do they prepare for a one-of-a-kind defender, a man who is never out of position because he doesn't really have one? A player so disruptive that coach Bill Cowher compared drafting him in 2003 to a child opening a special package on Christmas, he didn't know for sure what he was getting, but he knew it would be good.\n"It was like getting a new toy," Cowher said. "You start putting him everywhere and anywhere."\nPolamalu, a Pro Bowl player in each of his two seasons as a starter, didn't have any of the Steelers' five sacks of Manning in Indianapolis, yet was one of the players most responsible for the 21-18 upset that sent them to Denver, even though his fourth-quarter interception was wrongly overturned after a replay.\nThe Steelers used Polamalu in so many ways, bringing him off the edge as a rush linebacker, slipping him into pass protection or blitzing him up the middle, that Manning could be seen looking for him on nearly every play. The blitzes so disrupted Manning that he complained afterward about his lack of protection.\n"He's a very rare athlete," Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "A lot of what we do is because of what he lets us do"
(01/20/05 5:32am)
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger is issuing this warning to the Patriots: The gloves are coming off for the AFC championship game.\nRoethlisberger is one victory away from becoming the first rookie quarterback to take a team to the Super Bowl. But since he threw two interceptions in a playoff victory over the Jets while wearing gloves, Roethlisberger's handwear has become Pittsburgh's No. 1 topic of debate.\nTo a city that grew accustomed to the tough-guy Super Bowl Steelers of the 1970s, who played in bare sleeves no matter the weather, it was unsettling to watch a quarterback in gloves.\nWith snow showers forecast for Sunday night and the likelihood of a wet, sloppy field, Roethlisberger plans to discard the gloves. That should please those Steelers fans who remember Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw beating teams barehanded.\n"I'm going to try to go without it," said Roethlisberger, who wore a glove on his left hand but not his throwing hand in practice Wednesday. "If it's wet, it makes it worse (to throw). We'll see if we can go without this week."\nMaybe Roethlisberger is expecting, ahem, a bare-knuckle brawl against the Patriots, whose perplexing defenses throttled NFL MVP Peyton Manning of the Colts during New England's 20-3 second-round victory.\nIf a quarterback who threw a record 49 touchdown passes this season can't do anything against a Bill Belichick- and Romeo Crennel-designed defense, how can a raw rookie expect to do much better?\nActually, Roethlisberger already has, throwing for two scores -- and no interceptions -- during a nearly flawless performance Oct. 31 in a 34-20 Pittsburgh victory that ended New England's 21-game winning streak.\n"I didn't think anybody could stop the Colts," Roethlisberger said. "Their offense is so powerful in what they do, but New England obviously finds a way. ... They do so many things, throw so many things at you. If they can slow down that defense, who knows what they can do to ours?"\nTo keep the pressure off Roethlisberger, the Steelers probably will try to pound the ball from the start with powerful backs Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley, who will split time in an effort to wear down the Patriots.\nNew England's run defense will be weakened if lineman Richard Seymour, perhaps its best defensive player, can't play. He didn't practice Wednesday because of a sore knee and is listed as questionable.\nThat's why the Steelers don't necessarily need Big Ben to win the biggest game of his life; instead, he might just need to make he sure he keeps from losing a matchup of streaking quarterbacks. Roethlisberger is 14-0 as an NFL starter; the Patriots' Tom Brady, the two-time Super Bowl MVP, is 7-0 in the playoffs.\n"My rookie year, there is no way I could have done what he did," said Brady, who occasionally wears gloves himself to get a better grip on the new footballs used in every game. "I was awful. I couldn't do anything. I was hoping to show up and bring my playbook. He is out there and hasn't lost a game."\nRoethlisberger nearly did Saturday, though, throwing one interception that was returned for a touchdown and another that led to Jets kicker Doug Brien's failed game-winning field goal try to end the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger recovered to lead a decisive scoring drive in overtime as Pittsburgh escaped with a that-was-close 20-17 victory.\nSteelers coach Bill Cowher isn't necessarily treating his prized rookie with kid gloves, but he was careful to not be too critical despite the near-escape against the Jets.\n"We wouldn't be sitting here today if he hadn't done some of the things that he's done, let's not lose sight of that," Cowher said. "I'm not going to overanalyze it. Certainly there were some choices he made he would like to have back, but we overcame it and we're moving on."\nGloves or no gloves.\n"If the guy's open, just throw it to him," Cowher said, passing on the advice he offered Roethlisberger. "Whatever that entails, you wear"
(09/26/03 6:27am)
PITTSBURGH -- The rivalry began in 1970, the very year the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Terry Bradshaw and moved into Three Rivers Stadium. The Titans were still the Houston Oilers, playing in a stadium nicknamed, with just a hint of Texas-sized braggadocio, the Eighth Wonder of the World.\nThe rivalry has survived the Steelers' move to Heinz Field and the Oilers' relocation to Nashville, where the Titans' stadium is known, with just a touch of Tennessee-sized modesty, simply as The Coliseum.\nBum Phillips and Chuck Noll once patrolled the sidelines; now Jeff Fisher and Bill Cowher walk confidently in their footsteps. Dan Pastorini and Bradshaw have long since given way to Steve McNair and Tommy Maddox -- one a possible prototype of the NFL QB of the future, the other a throwback to the days of the pass-it-on-every-down AFL that spawned these very Titans.\nIt's a rivalry that extends beyond the playing field, too. Want to know how much the coaches like each other? Consider this: Cowher, then with the Eagles, once took part in a special teams hit that broke ex-Bears defensive back Fisher's leg.\nThat's a sore spot with Fisher, much like the Titans' 9-2 record in their last 11 meetings against Pittsburgh is with Cowher. Despite the disparity, the games usually are tightly played and physical, so much so that Steelers lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen said, "After these games, everything else seems a little easier."\nThat's why Sunday's game at Heinz Field -- or, as the Titans call it, the Big Ketchup Bottle -- has the look, feel and familiarity of a division game. This will be the first time they've met in Pittsburgh when they weren't in the same division, yet this will be the fifth time they've played in three seasons and the third in less than a calendar year.\n"We're so used to playing them," Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. "We know them and they know us."\nThe Steelers (2-1) won't say so publicly, but they've had this date circled on their calendars for months.\nThey still haven't gotten over a 31-23 loss at Tennessee last season that saw a seemingly routine hit by Keith Bulluck put Maddox in the hospital with temporary paralysis, perhaps the scariest moment of the NFL season.\nAnd they certainly haven't gotten over their 34-31 overtime playoff loss at Tennessee, when Dewayne Washington was penalized for brushing Joe Nedney's leg during an overtime field-goal attempt. Given a second chance, Nedney sent the Titans into the AFC title game and the Steelers into the offseason, albeit kicking and screaming.\nAsked about those games, Maddox said, "I've already forgotten one" -- a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact he has no memory of the Bulluck hit. The other, though, he'll always remember.\n"I think everybody, after that game, wanted to hurry and get back to the season because everybody was still hungry to play," said Maddox, the AFC's leading passer.\nThe Titans (2-1) feel the same way, but for a different reason. They still have bad memories of their last trip to Pittsburgh, a 34-7 loss in 2001. They went on to finish 7-9 and miss the playoffs.\n"We look forward to going out there," McNair said. "The last time we were there, we were embarrassed."\nThat was one of McNair's few failures against the Steelers. He is 8-3 against them. The only team he's beaten more often are the Bengals, going 9-3.\nLast season, McNair threw for 595 yards and four touchdowns against a Pittsburgh defense that struggled in pass coverage from September through January. The Steelers have since tightened up their defense without making numerous personnel changes and currently lead the AFC in total defense and pass defense. Tennessee is first in the AFC against the run and second in total defense but only eighth against the pass.\n"Their entire defense is playing fast and putting on good pressure," Fisher said. "They were always a pressure-oriented defense, and it's easier to play pass defense when you get good pressure up front."\nThe Steelers' challenge is to get a running game going against a Tennessee defense that allows only 61.3 yards per game rushing. The Steelers had little success running against the Ravens or Chiefs before gaining a season-high 138 yards against the Bengals last week.\n"Tennessee's front seven has always been their strength," Steelers guard Alan Faneca said. "They all get to the ball. It's not two or three guys making a tackle ... it's the other five guys running in there to get a hit. That's the way they play the game."\nHmm, sounds like a Titans-Steelers game.\n"We both pride ourselves on being the most physical team in the NFL," von Oelhoffen said. "They're going to try to pound on us, we're going to try to pound on them. You just love playing these games"
(04/21/03 5:41am)
PITTSBURGH -- Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa had only a couple of small cuts Sunday despite what he called his scariest moment on a baseball field, being slammed in the side of the head by a pitch.\nSosa had no time to react as Pirates reliever Salomon Torres' fastball struck him on his left temple, breaking Sosa's batting helmet and leaving him shaken but apparently OK.\nSosa left the game after the scary beaning in the fourth inning of the Pirates' 8-2 victory, only three innings after Sosa tied Eddie Murray for 17th place in career home runs by hitting his 504th homer.\n"That was one of the worst helmet cracks I've ever seen or heard," said a relieved Dusty Baker, the Cubs' manager. "I'm surprised he was conscious. He's really lucky he wasn't hurt seriously."\nSosa walked off the field without assistance and was examined immediately by two Pirates doctors. He then went to nearby Allegheny General Hospital for a CT scan, which proved negative. The tests were examined by both a physician and a neurologist.\nOther than a couple of small cuts on his left ear and temple caused when the batting helmet broke, Sosa apparently wasn't injured. He was well enough to leave on the Cubs' charter flight later Sunday and could play Tuesday unless he develops headaches or any other problems.\n"I'm going to go home and relax and ... make sure I don't have any headaches," he said. "If that doesn't happen, I'll be ready for Tuesday."\nSosa doesn't think Torres was trying to hit him in retaliation for homering off Pirates starter Josh Fogg in the first. Torres took over in the second when Fogg strained an abdominal muscle, and the Pirates led 7-2 at the time Sosa was hit.\n"I didn't have a chance to get out of the way," Sosa said. "But the doctors said everything's OK. I don't think it was intentional."\nThe Cubs are off Monday before playing the Padres at home Tuesday night.\nSosa has been hit with pitches before, but said he has never been hit as hard or in such a potentially dangerous area.\n"The helmet saved me," he said. "Yeah, I've never gotten hit like that before."\nThe impact caused either paint or colored tape to peel away from the helmet, which cracked immediately.\nSosa did not go down, initially standing in the batter's box and glaring at Torres, then clutching at his helmet. Sosa looked somewhat dazed while walking off the field, but was clear-eyed and talking normally a few hours later.\n"He was really upset, scared and a little shocked" with being hit, Cubs trainer Dave Tumbas said. "But we're comfortable with the results and he's fit to travel."\nSosa's big scare came in his next at-bat after hitting Fogg's 2-1 pitch over a section of seats in PNC Park's left-field corner, his fifth homer of the season and 475th with the Cubs. He had 29 homers in the AL with the Rangers and White Sox.\nThe homer was Sosa's fourth in nine games and ran his hitting streak to 10 games. He needs seven homers to tie Mel Ott for 16th place and eight to tie Ernie Banks and Eddie Matthews for 14th.
(02/03/03 5:32am)
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Dany Heatley did something that's almost impossible to do in an exhibition like the NHL All-Star game -- he made it dramatic and exciting.\nHeatley, a not-so-well known star from a last-place team playing in his first All-Star game, joined hockey greats such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux by scoring a record-tying four goals Sunday, though he couldn't prevent the Western Conference from beating the East in the first All-Star shootout in NHL history.\nAfter a 5-all regulation tie set up the fourth overtime All-Star game, the West won 6-5 when Markus Naslund, Bill Guerin and Paul Kariya scored in the shootout against goalie Patrick Lalime. Only Heatley -- of course -- scored for the East against goalie Marty Turco.\nThough Heatley put the puck in the net five times, the NHL announced several minutes after the game he would be credited only with four goals -- the fifth player to do so.\nMost of the fans left thinking the score was 8-6, as the West outscored the East 3-1 in the shootout; that also was changed by the NHL's hockey operations department after most had departed.\nHeatley, a 22-year-old overshadowed at times on his own Atlanta Thrashers team by Ilya Kovalchuk, matched Gretzky (1983), Lemieux (1990), Vincent Damphousse (1991) and Mike Gartner (1993) as the only players in the All-Star game's 53-year history with four goals.\nBy not counting Heatley's shootout goal, the NHL also prevented him from matching Lemieux's 1988 record of six points in a game.\nAfter getting his fourth goal with six minutes still remaining in the second period, Heatley flashed a typical hockey player's missing-tooth grin, then spent the rest of the fast-moving and relatively low-scoring game trying to get his record fifth goal.\nHis linemates, who usually included home-ice star Olli Jokinen of Florida and Washington's Jaromir Jagr, tried to get it for him too, repeatedly giving him the puck every time he hit the ice.\nThe relatively quiet fans in Office Depot Center, who didn't throw the traditional hats onto the ice after Heatley's third goal, began to realize what was happening, too, and picked up the noise level whenever he touched the puck.\nHe didn't get that fifth goal in regulation, but he did set up Jokinen's first career All-Star goal midway through the third period. Jokinen, a late addition to the game, also had a memorable debut with a goal and three assists.\nHeatley's big game came only one year after he played in the Young Stars game, held the night before the All-Star game.\nFittingly enough, his big game highlighted an afternoon in which the NHL's young stars -- for a change -- truly did overshadow the traditional names such as Roy, Roenick, Lidstrom, Forsberg and Jagr.\nMarian Gaborik, who at 20 is nearly two years younger than Heatley, had a goal and two assists to lead the West's first victory in the All-Star game since 1992 -- when it was still known as the Campbell Conference. Maybe Gaborik was pumped up from a pregame compliment by Lemieux, who said the Minnesota Wild forward already is one of the game's five best players.\nHe looked it, too, as the fastest skater on the ice, scoring the goal that put the West up 3-2 in the first by beating Tampa Bay goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who gave up three goals a year after having a rare All-Star shutout period.\nThere were some impressive efforts in net, though, especially considering the All-Star score was 14-12 with a World vs. North America format only two years ago. Martin Brodeur of New Jersey allowed only a goal in the first overtime All-Star game since 1988. And Lalime and Turco gave up only a goal each until the shootout.\nAnd the old-timers weren't entirely left out, either -- the 39-year-old Al MacInnis also scored for the West in his first All-Star appearance in three years, as did longtime stars Mike Modano of Dallas and Peter Forsberg of Colorado. Jagr, who had only eight points in seven previous All-Star appearances, also had two assists for the East.\nThe East-West format was back for the first time since 1997 after five years of World vs. North America. The East won the three previous games before the change.\nThe relatively low score was a welcome change from the football-like scores of the most recent All-Star games; 212 goals were scored in the previous 13 games.
(09/09/02 6:08am)
One of an NFL team's primary challenges each season is getting its rookies up to speed -- namely, a much faster game speed than they were accustomed to playing in college.\nThe Pittsburgh Steelers don't expect that to be a problem with rookie wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.\nRandle El, the former Indiana quarterback, had little problem adjusting to the blink-and-it's-over world of the NFL during the preseason, scoring three times in a span of two games.\n"You watch him one-on-one, and he's going to beat his one-on-one coverage," Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress said. "I don't think the regular season is going to speed up for him. He plays with speed."\nWith Randle El set to make his debut Monday night against defending the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, the Steelers are more interested in seeing how he handles the various nuances that NFL defenses employ against receivers: The two-deep zones, the line-of-scrimmage contact, the press coverages.\n"I haven't seen any indication that with everything that's being thrown at him -- blitz pickups, reading routes -- that he has missed them," coach Bill Cowher said. "There will be things that he sees each week that he will learn from, and he will grow from. The biggest adjustment will come week to week as he grows and gets a feel for this game."\nRandle El's addition is the most intriguing new element of the Steelers, who otherwise return virtually intact from their 13-3 regular season of a year ago.\nHe is undersized for an NFL receiver at 5-foot-9, but Randle El has excellent jumping ability -- he can dunk a basketball while wearing sandals -- and his speed has never been an issue.\nRandle El will be used any time the Steelers employ more than two receivers, and his presence -- and speed -- should make it more difficult for defenses to employ extra-defender coverages against Burress, their top playmaker last season.\nWhat has most surprised the Steelers is the seamless transition Randle El has made from a successful college quarterback to a pro receiver.\nAfter throwing for more than 6,000 yards and running for more than 3,000 yards in a big-time conference such as the Big 10, some players would have been reluctant to change positions, but Randle El wasn't.\n"I've always wanted to play in the NFL," he said. "I didn't want to have to go to Canada just to play quarterback."\nThe Steelers also hope Randle El will help them as a punt returner, one of their many special teams deficiencies last season. They ranked only 23rd in the league in punt returns, trailing Detroit, which won only twice all season.\n"I want to make some plays in the kicking game, too," he said. "I've been trying to get them to let me return some kickoffs. Special teams can get you. I know in college we lost some games on special teams."\nMemo to Randle El: The Steelers have, too. Most notably, he might want to watch tapes of the Steelers' 24--17 AFC championship game loss to New England, which was decided by two New England special teams touchdowns.\nAnd while it's been speculated the Steelers will employ Randle El in some sort of Stewart-like "Slash" role, perhaps to take an occasional snap from center, Randle El doesn't think it will happen Monday night.\n"We don't have time for wrinkles in this game," he said. "New England isn't falling for that."\nThe Patriots likewise shouldn't expect Randle El to be nervous or edgy in his NFL debut, despite the setting or the importance of a game matching the defending champion against a team favored to win the AFC this season.\n"Nah, I won't be nervous," Randle El said. "For what? It's football, nothing more. It's a little faster, with some more coverages, and they hit harder. But it's still football"
(06/13/02 3:47am)
DETROIT -- Everything is going Dominik Hasek's way, with the Detroit Red Wings in control of the Stanley Cup finals and the cup so close he can almost feel it in his arms. \nNothing was going to upset his mind-set or his routine, the luck he feels going his way and the moment that soon could be his. \nSo when Hasek walked into a room filled with reporters and saw a stage and a microphone Tuesday, he shook his head and said, "No" -- the same word he's been telling the Carolina Hurricanes for most of the series. \nHasek talked, but not in such a formal setting. To him, sitting on a stage and answering questions should be reserved for only one moment at this time of year, winning the Stanley Cup, and he wasn't about to push his luck. \n"I am sort of superstitious," Hasek said Tuesday, the first of consecutive off days before the Red Wings go for the Cup in Game 5 Thursday night. "I said this year, I will go on the stage -- but not in the playoffs." \nHasek might want to prepare himself because center stage at the Stanley Cup finals may belong to him very soon. \nThe goalie who has never won the cup but was seen as the one player the Red Wings needed to win it, Hasek is within one victory of lifting the one major prize in hockey he has never claimed. \nHe has an Olympic gold medal and enough individual awards that he would seem to be a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yet, just like Ray Bourque a year ago, his portfolio will not be complete unless he wins a championship. \n"The goal right from the beginning was to win the Cup," said the 37-year-old Hasek, who asked the Buffalo Sabres to trade him after last season. "I believed this team, with my help, was good enough to be the best in the NHL ... So my only goal was to win the Cup, because I believed this team was good enough to win it." \nIf the way he played in Detroit's 3-0 victory in Game 4 on Monday night is an indicator, he is obsessed with winning it. \nHasek ranged far from the net to push passes up the ice -- one set up the pivotal goal of the game, by Brett Hull -- and to knock the puck off the stick of Carolina's Erik Cole on a breakaway. That play probably was the biggest gamble so far by any goalie in this season's playoffs. \nYes, there was luck, too, such as when Ron Francis' one-timer missed an open net, skittered along the goal line and deflected off the opposite post on a turning-point play that kept Detroit in the lead. \n"Those are the things he can do, steal saves," Brendan Shanahan said Tuesday. "From playing against him over the years, he has an incredible presence. It's not too often when you have a meeting about the other team, and the first guy you start talking about is the goaltender." \nThat sounds like the meeting the Hurricanes had Tuesday as they tried to figure out how to get to the goalie who shut them out for 127-plus minutes over two games. \nThe Hurricanes don't have a goal since Jeff O'Neill scored in the third period of their 3-2, three-overtime loss in Game 3, and they have only three goals in the last 12 periods. \n"It's been tough," Cole said. "Hasek is out of his net quite a bit to play the puck ... he's out there throwing picks and moving the puck along. But it's part of the game, and we've got to find a way to fight through it." \nClearly, to keep from losing Game 5 and the series before what certainly will be a revved-up, ready-to-celebrate-the-Cup crowd in Joe Louis Arena, the Hurricanes must find a way to get the puck past Hasek. They have gone into the third period of each of the first four games with a chance to win, yet have done so only once. \n"We just have to go to Detroit and really play the best game of the series," defenseman Glen Wesley said. "And if we don't, obviously we're going to be coming back." \nAnd he didn't mean with the Stanley Cup, either. \nRed Wings captain Steve Yzerman and Hasek said the Red Wings want to wrap up the finals now, and not risk going back to Carolina for a Game 6 Saturday that could lead to a win-or-else Game 7. \n"No doubt we want to close it out," Hasek said. "We want to finish it here, and we want to do anything we can to win"
(04/15/02 6:10am)
PITTSBURGH -- The way the Chicago Cubs' offense is going, they would have waited all day and night to get a victory -- and, for a while, it seemed they would do exactly that.\nJon Lieber withstood more than three hours of rain delays to remain unbeaten against his former club, limiting Pittsburgh to a run over five innings in the Cubs' soggy 5-1 victory Sunday.\nThe game was called midway through the eighth inning following three rain delays totaling 3 hours, 53 minutes.\n"I don't mind as long as we get out of here with the win," reliever Joe Borowski said. "We've been struggling lately, so any way we can get a win we'll take it."\nThe delays were wearying enough for both teams, but what made it worse for the Pirates was facing Lieber in-between the stops and starts.\nLieber (2-0) won for the 19th time in 22 decisions dating to last season and improved to 7-0 in 10 career starts against the Pirates, who dealt him for outfielder Brant Brown before the 1999 season.\n"It's tough to get anything going because he forces you to hit at his pace," Kevin Young said. "He keeps everything moving fast. Hitting is a rhythm ... and when it's his rhythm, it's more difficult."\nLieber was cruising with a 4-1 lead when play was stopped for 1:33 with the Cubs two outs away from making it an official game in the fifth. Lieber returned to get those outs, which he needed to earn the victory, before being replaced by Donovan Osborne to start the sixth.\n"It was fine going back out," Lieber said. "I just tried to do the same things I tried to do before. I didn't throw that many pitches, so I tried to stay loose."\nLieber was his usual efficient self, walking none while throwing 59 pitches -- all but 15 for strikes -- over five innings, even after sitting through an initial delay of 1:39 before play started.\nWhile Lieber was breezing against a Pirates team that is hitting an NL-low .212, Pirates starter Ron Villone (1-2) was roughed up early, allowing four runs and six hits and walking four in three innings. The start was similar to his 6-2 loss to the Mets on opening day, when he needed 62 pitches just to get through two innings.\n"He didn't have it," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He was getting the ball up and couldn't throw his pitches for strikes."\nVillone got himself in trouble by walking Chris Stynes, batting .167, to start the four-run third, and Sammy Sosa was intentionally walked following Darren Lewis' sacrifice bunt. Fred McGriff singled into right field to load the bases.\nAlex Gonzalez, who grounded into the ninth-inning double play that ended the Pirates' 3-2 victory Saturday, gave the Cubs the lead with a two-run single into left. Mark Bellhorn followed later a two-run double that made it 4-0.\nThe big inning was a rarity for the Cubs, who scored more than two runs only three times in their first 10 games.\nThe Pirates' only run off Lieber came in the fourth on a pair of singles and Armando Rios' force-play grounder.\n"That's tough getting here at 8 in the morning, then staying here until 9 at night and not winning," Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson said. "They threw those four runs up there (in the third), then we had to sit down again. That was really tough."\nThe Cubs won twice in the three weekend games for their first series victory of the season. Pittsburgh has dropped four of five, all at home, since winning five straight.\n"It was a tough day, sitting around, starting and stopping," McClendon said. "Those weren't real ideal conditions."\nCubs manager Don Baylor said the Pirates erred by turning on the lights in the middle of the third before umpire Ed Montague requested them. But, aware the rain was supposed to return, he didn't want to delay play by demanding they be turned off.\nNotes: Saturday's game was delayed by rain for 58 minutes. ... By the time the game ended at 7:44 p.m. EDT, there only a few hundred fans in the stands. ... The Cubs lost their first three series. ... The Pirates are 4-1 on the road and 2-4 at home. ... Lieber has a 2.67 ERA in 10 starts against Pittsburgh. ... The Cubs, who left afterward for Montreal, may have set an unofficial record for fastest departure, leaving PNC Park barely 45 minutes after the game ended. ...Borowski pitched the seventh for his first save.