PNC Park Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| Team | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Colorado Rockies | 10 | 8 | 2 |
 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 8 | 13 | 3 |
Highlights
The Rockies jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the top of the 3rd but had to hold on as the Bucs chipped away to lessen the disparity to 1 run by the end of the 5th. However, it was perhaps sweet justice for Colorado since the hapless Pirates really didn’t deserve this one as they committed 3 official errors and as many as half a dozen near error bobbles & mental mistakes in what seemed to almost be a subconscious effort to give the game away. It all began when Pittsburgh starter John Van Benschoten plunked lead off hitter Willy Taveras with the very first pitch of the ball game. Then after getting Kazuo Matsui to ground out to first, Matt Holiday hit a soft liner to short left for what should have been a single but due to hustle on Holiday’s part and a less than sincere effort by left fielder Jason Bay, Holiday made it into second standing up. 2 Walks & 2 more base hits later and the Rockies had a 5-0 lead before the Pirates had yet come to bat. Needless to say, the sparse (16,423) but no less vocal crowd was not happy and they jeered their hometown team loudly when the game mercifully concluded 3½ hours after it started. The 18 runs scored in the game came off 21 hits and remarkably the only one to leave the park was a ground rule double off the bat of Yorvit Torrealba in the 3rd. Of the 8 runs scored by the Pirates, only 1 player had multiple RBI’s with Ryan Doumit collecting 2 on a pair of singles in five trips to the plate. Holiday had 3 RBI’s for Colorado and Torrealba & Troy Tulowitzki knocked in 2 apiece. Van Benschoten went 2 plus innings while not recording an out in the 3rd and left with runners on second and third. He took the loss allowing 9 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and a hit batsman. Although Rockies starter Taylor Buchholz left the game with a 9-6 lead, he did not figure in the victory since he was lifted after the 4th. LaTroy Hawkins was credited with the win with one & a third one hit scoreless relief.