Pirates Use What They Know to Beat Dodgers

PITTSBURGH —  Knowledge is power. So that explains it.

Armed with inside information from coaches who switched sides during the off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates belted four home runs for the second game in a row to trot past the Dodgers, 9-5, Wednesday night at PNC Park.

Knowledge must be speed as well.

The Pirates stole four bases, getting huge jumps against relievers Hong-Chih Kuo and Yhency Brazoban, jogging horrific memories of last year’s Dodger team that allowed a humiliating 130 stolen bases and threw out less than 20% of runners trying to steal.

Of course, the manager of that team, Jim Tracy, was watching from the Pirate dugout this time.

More pertinently, he was giving the steal signs.

“Most of us still obviously know tendencies of their guys,” Tracy said.

Jim Lett and Jim Colborn, the bench coach and pitching coach, held the same positions with the Dodgers last year. They were responsible for using information from advance scout Kent Tekulve and forming a game plan that resulted in eight Pirate homers the last two games.

“That was a part of the reason,” Tracy said. “There was one situation in particular that Kent picked up on. For competitive reasons, I’m not going to say what it was.”

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are struggling with a lack of knowledge -- of one another. And it appears that unfamiliarity breeds contempt.

Like so many Dodgers, starter Brett Tomko and catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. are new to the team. After Tomko gave up three home runs that turned a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 deficit after five innings, he said he should have shaken off Alomar’s signs.

“It’s what he called,” Tomko said. “I’ve had success against these guys before and I should have stepped back and adjusted to what’s worked in the past.

“It was a brief lapse, and before I knew it they hit a couple of two-run homers because I didn’t make adjustments on the fly.”

Alomar, a 19-year veteran, said it wasn’t so much the pitches as their location. All the home runs came with the count even or the batter behind.

Tomko “was supposed to go up and in and he went middle in,” he said. “You shouldn’t give up homers when the count is 0 and 2. We threw too many strikes in that situation.”

The Dodgers scored in the first inning for the seventh time in their last eight games and led, 3-0, after two innings. But Freddy Sanchez homered in the fourth and Jack Wilson and Craig Wilson each hit two-run homers in the fifth, chasing Tomko.

A pinch-hit double by Cody Ross and a single by Rafael Furcal drove in Dodger runs in the sixth, tying the score. The focus shifted to a bullpen that so far has been woefully lacking.

Kuo, a rookie left-hander, has been either very good or very bad -- and this outing fell in the latter category. He gave up a leadoff walk in each of his two innings, and three runners got huge jumps to steal bases.

The big damage, however, was a two-run homer by Craig Wilson, who also hit a key homer Tuesday and is playing only because Sean Casey is out with a rib cage injury.

Brazoban was no better, giving up two runs, three hits and a stolen base in one inning, raising his earned-run average to 5.40 in five appearances. As bad as that is, it’s better than the 5.72 ERA of the Dodger staff.

The Dodgers have given up 17 home runs in 78 2/3 innings -- 13 by starters. So even though they are batting .306 and averaging more than six runs a game, they are 4-5.

“We have some hitters putting on a show,” Little said. “I think we’ll get better pitching. They are going to be given every opportunity. How long that opportunity lasts, I’m not sure.”