MILWAUKEE -- Chris Stewart quickly has become familiar with the repertoire of tough Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez. Mario Addison Elite Jersey . It paid off for the backup catcher Wednesday night. One night after grounding out in a nine-pitch at-bat against Rodriguez, Stewarts single keyed a three-run burst in the ninth inning and sent the Pirates past Milwaukee 4-1, ending the Brewers three-game winning streak. "I saw quite a few pitches from him (Tuesday) night, so I think that helped going into the at-bat," Stewart said. "He stayed away from me (Tuesday) night, so it gave me a read on what he was going to try and do in that situation." Rodriguez (1-1) threw two quick strikes to Stewart, but left a changeup high on the outside corner of the plate on his third pitch and the Pirates catcher belted it to centre, allowing pinch-runner Clint Barmes to score from second with the go-ahead run. "It was a big swing of the bat for us," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. Rodriguez had given up only one run in 21 innings in his first 21 games. But the Pirates tagged the Milwaukee closer for four consecutive hits to beat the Brewers for only the second time in nine games. Rodriguez said he was having a trouble with all his pitches and left both his fastball and changeup high in the strike zone against the Pirates. "Unfortunately, it wasnt my day," he said. "I didnt perform at the level I was expecting or everyone else was expecting. You just have to turn the page quick and be ready for the next day." Milwaukee managed only six hits and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position minus Carlos Gomez. The star centre fielder dropped his appeal Wednesday and began a three-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing fracas at Pittsburgh on Easter Sunday. "We didnt swing the bat that well," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. Ike Davis singled past diving first baseman Mark Reynolds in the Pittsburgh ninth and Jordy Mercer singled sharply to centre. Stewart, making only his eighth start of the season, then singled to centre. The throw from Gomez replacement, Elian Herrera, was wide of the plate, allowing pinch-runner Clint Barmes to score without a play and snap a 1-all tie. Starling Marte, playing for the first time since exiting Saturday with tightness in his back, then hit a two-run double to the centre-field wall. Tony Watson (4-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his fifth save in six chances. Pittsburgh won for just the fifth time in 16 road games. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano rebounded from two straight mediocre outings, but remained winless in nine starts. He received his fifth consecutive no-decision after allowing one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings. "I expect the best is yet to come from Frank," Hurdle said. "Its just what I believe. Its the time of the year for him when he normally makes his move." Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta had another strong outing, giving one run on five hits and a walk while striking out four in seven innings. The right-hander received a no-decision but lowered his ERA to 2.05 in eight starts. Herrera, Gomezs replacement, went 0 for 4 and grounded out to strand Khris Davis at third in a 1-all game to end the seventh. NOTES: Brewers LHP Tom Gorzelanny threw two scoreless innings in his first rehab start for Single-A Brevard County against Fort Myers in the Florida State League. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out one while coming back from off-season surgery on his left shoulder. ... Trainers examined Liriano in the fifth inning, but the left-hander stayed in the game. He said he slipped on the mound but didnt suffer any injury. Dwan Edwards Blue Jersey . Berdych, coming off a semifinal run at the Australian Open and Davis Cup win over the Netherlands, didnt face a break-point. A semifinalist two years ago here, he will play the winner of an all-French faceoff between Gilles Simon and Nicolas Mahut. Greg Olsen Womens Jersey . The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled to arrive in Boston in time for a workout on Tuesday afternoon. Much of Mondays discussion focused on Bostons lineup considerations as the series progresses, specifically when the venue shifts to St.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, Thanks for taking time to read my question. So here goes... I understand that throughout the playoffs, the relative rankings in the regular season determines which team gets home ice advantage as they move through each round. I completely understand the logic regarding this rule and it makes total sense...more points earned = home ice advantage. And with this advantage, the home team benefits by having the energizing and supportive participation of their home crowd, whereas the visiting team is disadvantaged by having 19,000 fans who desperately want them to lose. But what I dont understand is why a visiting team must automatically submit their lineups first? Obviously this knowledge provides another strategic advantage to the coaching staff of the home team. Specifically, what has the home team done to EARN receiving this information/advantage first, other than simply being the home team? My question also applies to the stick-to-the-ice requirement on faceoffs by the visiting team first. Why is this so? Wouldnt it be more fair for the teams to call head or tails on the flip of a coin for these two issues, like they do in football for the kickoff? Couldnt they flip a coin five hours before game time - one coin flip for the lineup submission, and a second flip for the faceoff stick placement? It seems that these two additional unearned benefits bestowed to the home team in the playoffs need re-examination, unless Im missing something here. Thank you very much,BillLaval, Quebec Hi Bill: The founders initiated a policy that since one team had to submit their starting lineup and playing roster first. Given that the season schedule was balanced the visiting team coach was ultimately designated in the rules as the one required to blink first! Recognizing that over the course of the regular season a team plays an equal number of games at home and on the road Rule 33.3 outlines the process as follows: It is the policy of the National Hockey League that the coach of the visiting club provide to the Official Scorer, a list of eligible players, his starting line-up and designated Captain and Alternates, within five (5) minutes of completion of the warm-up twenty (20) minutes prior to faceoff. These twenty (20) minutes gives the Official Scorer time to obtain the completed home team line-up, return it to the visiting Coach and provide a copy of both line-ups to the Referees. The Official Scorer must file a report to the Commissioner or his designate if either Coach fails to cooperate within these recommended guidelines. (Report to be forwarded to NHL Toronto office). The starting lineup is simply a one-time event during the course of a game. Matching lines against key players can become an issue throughout the entire game for the visiting team Coach since the home team has the benefit of last change. Changes on the fly can become an integral part of the strategy employed by both teams and when not executed cleannly can result in scoring opportunities. Greg Olsen Authentic Jersey. We have seen situations where the line matching process can even take place immediately following the opening puck drop whereby the visiting team might dump the puck deep and then head to the bench for a designated line change. In a playoff series that goes the full seven games, the team that won the right to host the deciding game (and it was won over the long haul and not arbitrarily bestowed) also receives the full bundle of rights associated with home ice advantage; recording starting line-up last, centre stick down last in faceoffs and most importantly, the last line change. Over the course of my career I encountered more than a few glitches with team starting lineups and rosters that were submitted prior to the game. I assessed a bench minor for the incorrect starting line-up on more than two occasions when an appeal was made prior to the next face-off by the non-offending team. I also removed players from the game once I was informed by the official scorer that those players were not listed on the roster that had been submitted by the Coach. The most bizarre situation occurred when I had to enforce rule 5.2 to take away a goal that had just been scored by a team with an ineligible player on the ice. It didnt matter that the ineligible player was not involved in the scoring but simply that he had been on the ice at the time the goal had been scored and it was brought to my attention at that stoppage of play. When I showed the Coach the copy of the roster in my back pocket he admitted that he had entrusted the team trainer with filling in the roster sheet prior to the game! Near the end of my career I had a game in Madison Square Garden and Ken Hitch**** was coaching the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Once we added a second referee to the crew I always entrusted the starting line-up sheets to my junior partner. In other words I never put them in my pocket because every other referee was junior to me. This night I was working with Bill McCreary so he held the roster sheets. Following the national anthem, Coach Hitch**** called McCreary to the Flyer bench. I saw him take the roster sheets out of his pocket, examine them briefly and then wave me over and to the bench. Upon my arrival, McCreary attempted to hand me the sheets and said Hitch wanted to make sure he had the correct players circled for the starting lineup. I refused to take the roster sheets and told McCreary to check them himself. The more McCreary persisted in trying to hand the sheets to me the more I resisted taking them. Finally as this Keystone Cops routine went back and forth the Flyers Coach intervened and asked what the F we were doing? We admitted that neither one of us carried our reading glasses onto the ice nor could we see the fine print or the players that were circled! McCreary handed the sheets to Hitch and said who are you starting? Coach Hitch**** rolled his eyes and said, "Man, we are in trouble tonight with you two out here. Youre both F-n blind!" (My contact lenses worked great on the long shots, however) ' ' '
