PITTSBURGH -- Tony Sanchez may have one foot back in Indianapolis. With veteran catcher Russell Martin on the verge of coming off the disabled list, Sanchez may soon return to his Triple-A lab.Before departing, Sanchez gave one more swing of his clutch bat, singling in the seventh inning Wednesday night to break a tie and give the Pirates an exhausting 9-8 Interleague victory over the Orioles.Sanchez has a relatively modest total of 12 RBIs, but most have come late in close games. 
Sanchez drilled his opposite-field single off Ryan Webb to score Starling Marte, who had led off with his second bunt single of the night and motored to third on Ike Davis' third single of the game.A catcher's primary responsibility is looking out for his battery mate, and Sanchez also did that with the key hit, removing some of the sting from another harrowing start by Wandy Rodriguez.The lefty allowed six runs, albeit only one of them earned, in 1 2/3 innings, in the process squandering a 4-0 lead he had been given in the first.The Bucs' initial four-run inning was just a first-inning warm up. Andrew McCutchen lit the scoreboard fuse by doubling to drive in his 51st run in Interleague Play, tying Brian Giles' club record, then Marte tripled for two runs and scored himself on Davis' single.The last time the Pirates had muscled up for a big, early lead was behind another left-hander. On May 5, Jeff Locke had an 8-2 lead over the Giants after five innings. Soon after, Locke was gone, and so was the lead in what became an 11-10 defeat in 13 innings.This big lead vanished quicker, in a second inning that fit Rodriguez for a straitjacket. Pitcher Chris Tillman, of the American League, laid down a two-strike bunt on which Rodriguez threw wildly for an error. Chris Davis, a night after hitting a quarter-mile worth of home runs, check-swung a 60-foot single. A 4-4 tie was snapped when Nelson Cruz -- who had led off the inning with a homer -- bounced a two-run double off the third-base bag.It all added up to six runs, and a departure with two outs in the inning for Rodriguez, who sprinted off the mound in a futile attempt to outrun the boos.Remarkably, thanks to his own error making five of those runs unearned, Rodriguez's ERA actually went down, from 6.84 to 6.75.Even more remarkably, minutes after that debacle, the left-hander was off the hook, as the Bucs responded with another four-spot to chase Tillman. Run-scoring hits were delivered by Pedro Alvarez and Ike Davis, with two other runs scoring on an error and a double-play grounder.Ike Davis' single off reliever Brad Brach snapped a 6-6 tie and came with the bases loaded, enhancing his '14 reputation in that situation. Davis has had five plate appearances with the bases loaded and has converted them into 11 (of his total of 15) RBIs, going 4-for-5 with a pair of grand slams.After four innings of silence at the arms of Vin Mazzaro and Justin Wilson, the Orioles, perhaps inevitably, broke through for the two tying runs in the seventh. Wilson departed after Chris Davis' leadoff double, and the O's got to Bryan Morris on RBI singles by J.J. Hardy and pinch-hitter Steve Pearce.Tom Singer / MLB.com
Sanchez drilled his opposite-field single off Ryan Webb to score Starling Marte, who had led off with his second bunt single of the night and motored to third on Ike Davis' third single of the game.A catcher's primary responsibility is looking out for his battery mate, and Sanchez also did that with the key hit, removing some of the sting from another harrowing start by Wandy Rodriguez.The lefty allowed six runs, albeit only one of them earned, in 1 2/3 innings, in the process squandering a 4-0 lead he had been given in the first.The Bucs' initial four-run inning was just a first-inning warm up. Andrew McCutchen lit the scoreboard fuse by doubling to drive in his 51st run in Interleague Play, tying Brian Giles' club record, then Marte tripled for two runs and scored himself on Davis' single.The last time the Pirates had muscled up for a big, early lead was behind another left-hander. On May 5, Jeff Locke had an 8-2 lead over the Giants after five innings. Soon after, Locke was gone, and so was the lead in what became an 11-10 defeat in 13 innings.This big lead vanished quicker, in a second inning that fit Rodriguez for a straitjacket. Pitcher Chris Tillman, of the American League, laid down a two-strike bunt on which Rodriguez threw wildly for an error. Chris Davis, a night after hitting a quarter-mile worth of home runs, check-swung a 60-foot single. A 4-4 tie was snapped when Nelson Cruz -- who had led off the inning with a homer -- bounced a two-run double off the third-base bag.It all added up to six runs, and a departure with two outs in the inning for Rodriguez, who sprinted off the mound in a futile attempt to outrun the boos.Remarkably, thanks to his own error making five of those runs unearned, Rodriguez's ERA actually went down, from 6.84 to 6.75.Even more remarkably, minutes after that debacle, the left-hander was off the hook, as the Bucs responded with another four-spot to chase Tillman. Run-scoring hits were delivered by Pedro Alvarez and Ike Davis, with two other runs scoring on an error and a double-play grounder.Ike Davis' single off reliever Brad Brach snapped a 6-6 tie and came with the bases loaded, enhancing his '14 reputation in that situation. Davis has had five plate appearances with the bases loaded and has converted them into 11 (of his total of 15) RBIs, going 4-for-5 with a pair of grand slams.After four innings of silence at the arms of Vin Mazzaro and Justin Wilson, the Orioles, perhaps inevitably, broke through for the two tying runs in the seventh. Wilson departed after Chris Davis' leadoff double, and the O's got to Bryan Morris on RBI singles by J.J. Hardy and pinch-hitter Steve Pearce.Tom Singer / MLB.com
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