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PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates' best run producer this season is learning he can drive in runs not just with the long ball, but with some short ones, too. Aramis Ramirez had a game-winning bases-loaded single in the 11th and Jason Kendall hit a three-run homer before tripling to start the winning rally as the Pirates beat Colorado 4-3 Sunday. Rookie left-hander Joe Beimel (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings for the victory. Gabe White (0-3), who had worked a scoreless 10th, took the loss -- the Rockies' seventh in 10 games. Kendall, who put the Pirates up 3-2 with a three-run homer off Denny Neagle in the fifth, started the 11th with a triple to left field that dropped out of Greg Norton's glove a step away from the wall. "The wind was blowing in all day and knocking balls down, that one wasn't too high and he hit it well," said Norton, who shifted from third base to left in the eighth. "It was a long way to go, I jumped and it came out of my glove before I hit the wall. I should have caught it." Derek Bell and Brian Giles were intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force play at any base. Jose Jimenez was brought in to face Ramirez, a .448 hitter with runners in scoring position. Jimenez got ahead in the count 0-2, but the right-handed hitting Ramirez fought off a pitch and lined it into right field against a drawn-in infield and outfield. Ramirez leads the Pirates with nine homers and 26 RBI. "Any player should like to hit in those situations, show your skills," said Ramirez, who is only 22 but is playing in his fourth season. "I've been trying to hit the ball the other way, use the whole field." Ramirez first came up with the Pirates as a 19-year-old in 1998, but didn't secure a starting job until the middle of last season, when a partially dislocated shoulder sidelined him for the final month. After he got well, he went to winter ball and began working on his swing. "It used to be he wanted to pull everything," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Now he's using the whole field, and he's stronger and more mature." The Pirates have won three of four after dropping four in a row and six of seven. Kendall's homer followed singles by Pat Meares and pinch-hitter Craig Wilson and came after Don Wengert, making his first start for Pittsburgh, pitched out of a jam in the top of the inning. "I'll still say it, I'm not a power hitter," Kendall said. "I don't know how some guys do it." The Rockies, losing for the second time in the three-game series, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on consecutive singles starting the fifth by Juan Pierre, Neifi Perez, Larry Walker and Todd Helton. After a groundout and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out, Wengert got Terry Shumpert -- a .407 career hitter against Pittsburgh -- to line into an inning-ending double play. Wengert, who came into the game 14-30 with five major league teams, allowed nine hits in five innings and stranded eight runners. Terry Mulholland and Scott Sauerbeck followed Wengert with a scoreless inning each, but Brent Mayne tied it at 3 with an RBI single in the eighth off Josias Manzanillo. Kendall's homer off Neagle, who pitched for the Pirates during Kendall's rookie season in 1996, was his second of the season and came on a 91-mph fastball Neagle really didn't want to throw. "He's caught me and he knows me. He's a smart guy, and one of the best hitters in the league," Neagle said. "Those guys know how to make adjustments. I made a bad pitch and I think it's because I didn't believe in the pitch." The homer represented the only runs off Neagle in seven innings. Game notesNeagle was lifted for pinch-runner Mike Hampton after reaching on a force play in the eighth, a move involving $173 million in contracts (Hampton's $121 million and Neagle's $52 million). ... OF Tike Redman, recalled Saturday by Pittsburgh, was leading the PCL with a .385 average at Nashville. ... The three-game series drew 105,164. ... The Pirates did not sell all 2,507 club level seats and have begun selling them on a per-game basis. ... The team will hold an in-season ticket selling drive Saturday at PNC Park. ... Walker failed to walk for the first time in nine games. ... Helton has eight multihit games in his last 12 starts.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
| OTHER GAMES Baseball Scoreboard Colorado Clubhouse Pittsburgh Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 10 Tampa Bay 3
Philadelphia 10
Pittsburgh 4
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