April 15, 2000
Pittsburg Pirates 2, New York Mets 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Rookie Jimmy Anderson allowed five hits in eight innings and Kevin Young hit a two-run homer in the seventh as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Mets 2-0 on Saturday. Anderson (1-0) gave up five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings to Arizona in his first start of the year. On Saturday, Anderson walked one, hit a batter and struck out five. Mets starter Glendon Rusch (0-1) had allowed just two hits through six innings in his first appearance of the year. Brian Giles then opened the seventh with a single, breaking a stretch in which Rusch had retired 12 consecutive batters. Young followed by hitting a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall for his second home run in as many games. Mike Williams pitched the ninth for his second save.
April 14, 2000
New York Mets 8, Pittsburg Pirates 5 (12)
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Mike Piazza homered twice in his first career five-hit game and Melvin Mora had a go-ahead, two-run single in the 12th inning as the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 Friday. The Mets outhit the Pirates 20-11, but didn't win it until Mora followed Rey Ordonez's single and Benny Agbayani's bad-hop double with a bloop single to center off Jose Silva (2-1). Piazza, who had homered in the seventh, followed with his third homer of the season. He went 5-for-6 with two homers, a double and four RBIs. John Franco (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Piazza and Robin Ventura homered on consecutive pitches off Jason Schmidt to put the Mets ahead 4-2 in the seventh, but their bullpen couldn't hold it. Kevin Young, 0-for-15 until he doubled in the fourth, hit his first homer in the eighth off Al Leiter.
April 13, 2000
Pittsburg Pirates 4, Montreal Expos 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Bruce Aven and Jason Kendall hit two-out RBI singles in the bottom of the ninth as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied against Montreal closer Ugueth Urbina to beat the Expos 4-3. Warren Morris, who went 3-for-4, hit a one-out single off Urbina (0-1), who blew his second save in four chances. One out later Adrian Brown singled for his third hit of the game, setting up Aven's pinch-hit single that tied it. Kendall followed with a single up the middle and Brown scored without a play. Jose Silva (2-0) got the win despite allowing a go-ahead single to Vladimir Guerrero in the top half of the ninth. It was Guerrero's third hit of the game. The Expos got one run in the ninth despite getting the first three runners on base.
April 12, 2000
Pittsburg Pirates 6, Montreal Expos 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) - John Vander Wal homered for the second time in three pinch-hit at-bats this season, a three-run drive that rallied the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Montreal Expos, 6-4, Wednesday night. Vander Wal's sixth-inning shot off reliever Miguel Batista (0-1) overcame a 4-3 deficit and was his 15th career pinch-homer, his second in nine days. He had a two-run homer in the season opener against Houston on April 4. Jose Silva (1-0) got the final two outs in the sixth for the victory. Jason Christiansen followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Mike Williams got the final four outs for the Pirates' first save this season.
April 11, 2000
Montreal Expos 7, Pittsaburg Pirates 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Jose Vidro hit a pair of two-run homers and Lee Stevens added a two-run shot off Kris Benson as the Montreal Expos won their fifth in six games, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 Tuesday night. Vidro has at least one hit in all nine Expos' games and his .515 batting average leads the National League. Stevens restored Montreal's lead at 4-2 after the Pirates tied it on Pat Meares' two-run triple in the third. Stevens hit a two-run shot that barely cleared the left-field wall near the foul pole in the fourth inning for his second homer in three games. Benson (0-2) struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, but was roughed up for his second consecutive start by allowing seven runs and nine hits. Javier Vazquez (1-0) yielded three runs -- two earned -- in six innings for the victory.
April 9, 2000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Pittsburg Pirates 0
PHOENIX (AP) - Randy Johnson pitched a five-hitter and struck out 13 to beat Jason Schmidt as the Arizona Diamondbacks closed out their season-opening homestand with a 1-0 victory over the Pirates on Sunday. Steve Finley singled with one out in the seven, took third on Travis Lee's bloop single to center and scored on Lenny Harris' sacrifice fly. Johnson (2-0) didn't walk a batter and struck out the side in the third and eighth innings. He allowed only a double by Jason Kendall on the first pitch of the game and infield singles by Kevin Young in the fifth and Mike Benjamin in the sixth. Johnson got his 26th career shutout and 69th complete game. Johnson has 127 double-digit strikeout games in his career, including both of his starts this season. Schmidt (0-2) allowed four hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked four.
April 8, 2000
Arizona Diamondbacks 6, Pittsurg Pirates 5
PHOENIX (AP) - Bernard Gilkey lined a two-out single to right field off Jason Christiansen (1-1) with the bases loaded in the ninth, his first hit of the season, to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. It was the second time in three days that Arizona won in its last at bat, something the Diamondbacks did 24 times in winning the NL West title last year. Luis Gonzalez and Jay Bell both hit their second home runs of the season for Arizona. Brian Giles hit his third homer and Pat Meares hit his first for the Pirates, a solo shot to tie it at 5-all in the seventh. Reliever Greg Swindell (1-0) allowed two hits in the ninth but struck out Kevin Young on a 3-2 pitch with runners on first and second to end the inning.
April 7, 2000
Pittsburg Pirates 7, Arizona Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX (AP) - First baseman Erubiel Durazo's error opened the way for Pittsburgh's six-run eighth inning Friday night as the Pirates beat Arizona 7-2, snapping the Diamondbacks' season-opening winning streak at three games. Durazo's inability to field a grounder allowed the tying run to score, then pinch-hitter Kevin Young singled in the go-ahead run, Wil Cordero doubled in two more, Warren Morris drove in one, and Bruce Aven doubled home another. Steve Finley's second-inning home run had given the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. Luis Gonzalez was 4-or-4, three of them doubles to tie a team record. In seven-plus innings, Armando Reynoso (0-1) allowed three runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two. Jason Christiansen (1-0) retired three of the four batters he faced in the seventh to get the victory.
April 6, 2000
Pittsburg Pirates 10, Houston Astros 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Francisco Cordova lost his no-hitter with one out in the eighth, his shutout one batter later. That didn't diminish how he dominated the Houston Astros -- again. Cordova, who teamed with Ricardo Rincon for the only two-pitcher extra-inning no-hitter in major league history in 1997, kept Houston hitless for 7 1/3 innings before yielding two hits in the eighth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates' 10-1 romp Thursday. Brian Giles went a career-high 5-for-5 with two solo homers and a triple as the Pirates finally won after being outscored 16-5 in the first two games of the series. The Astros had hit only two balls out of the infield and didn't have anything resembling a hit off Cordova (1-0) until Mitch Meluskey doubled off the center-field wall in the eighth. Tim Bogar ended the shutout bid with an RBI double. Chris Holt (0-1) took the loss.
Pirates re-sign reliever Clontz
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh re-signed right-handed reliever Brad
Clontz to a minor league contract Thursday after he was released
by Arizona following a poor spring training. The Diamondbacks
acquired Clontz from the Pirates on Dec. 13 for minor league
pitcher Roberto Manzueta. But Clontz was ineffective all spring,
allowing 15 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings. Clontz was 1-3 with a
a 2.74 ERA and two saves in 56 appearances for the Pirates last
season, holding right-handed hitters to a .197 average. In 268
career games, Clontz is 22-8 with eight saves and a 4.32 ERA. He
was assigned to Triple-A Nashville.
April 5, 2000
Houston Astros 11, Pittsburg Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Jose Lima shook off control problems to pitch seven effective innings and Daryle Ward homered in the Houston Astros' 11-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Lima (1-0), a 21-game winner last season, walked two and gave up three singles in the first, including a hit by Aramis Ramirez that drove in two runs. An extra-base hit might have driven Lima from the game, but he settled down to finish up with six shutout innings. Pirates starter Kris Benson (0-1) gave up seven runs -- five earned -- in six innings, quickly got into trouble again in the third. Ward, starting only because newly acquired center fielder Roger Cedeno has a sore right elbow, was 2-for-3 and reached base three times.
April 4, 2000
Houston Astros 5, Pittsburg Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Richard Hidalgo, back after missing the final two months of last season with a knee injury, hit a grand slam and drove in all of Houston's runs in a 5-2, rain-delayed opening-night victory Tuesday over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Moises Alou, who sat out last season with an even more serious knee injury, was one of three Astros walked by Jason Schmidt (0-1) ahead of Hidalgo's drive in the sixth -- the first opening day slam in Astros history. Shane Reynolds (1-0) pitched seven effective innings to outduel Schmidt, whose 1.16 spring ERA led all major league starters. Reynolds improved to 3-1 with one no-decision in openers by allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings. John Vander Wal broke up Reynolds' bid for his eighth career shutout with a two-run pinch-hit home run in his first Pirates at-bat in the seventh. Billy Wagner got the save.
April 3, 2000
Houston Astros at Pittsburg Pirates, Postponed
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates have never met on Opening Day in Pittsburgh. Their rainout Monday night means they must wait at least a day to play the final opener in Three Rivers Stadium. The Astros and Pirates now will play their opener at 7:05 p.m. ET Tuesday on what originally was a day off for both teams. It was the first Opening-Day rainout in Pittsburgh since 1982. The two scheduled starters -- Shane Reynolds, making his fifth consecutive Opening-Day start for Houston and the Pirates' Jason Schmidt -- will start Tuesday. All tickets for the washed-out game Monday will be honored Tuesday.
April 1, 2000
Pirates' Morris may miss opener with shin injury
(AP) - Second baseman Warren Morris will probably miss the
Pittsburgh Pirates' home opener against Houston with an infected
left shin. Morris was discharged from the Jupiter (Fla.) Medical
Center on Saturday after having fluid drained from his ankle for
the second time in a week. Doctors told Morris not to play until
Thursday, and trainer Kent Biggerstaff said he probably will not
play Monday. Mike Benjamin or Luis Sojo would take his place. The
Pirates were considering putting Morris on the disabled list. "He
could miss three days to a week, but it could be as long as 15
days," Biggerstaff said. Morris, who finished third in NL Rookie
of the Year voting last season, missed the final four spring
training games because of the injury. On March 3, Pirates third
baseman Aramis Ramirez accidentally stepped on Morris' shin.