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PITTSBURGH -- Ryan Vogelsong, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 39-year-old starting pitcher, literally gave them all he had in his first start in 2 1/2 months.
Now that Vogelsong is starting again for a team that has labored all season to find a reliable rotation, the Pirates hope the right-hander can give them a similar outing Wednesday against the San Diego Padres and another veteran starter, Edwin Jackson.
Vogelsong, reacquired by the Pirates this season to give them a veteran arm who could start or relieve, allowed Atlanta only one run and three hits over six innings Thursday in his first start since being slammed in the face by a Jordan Lyles pitch May 23 against the Colorado Rockies.
Vogelsong's face still bears some visible damage of taking 94-mph fastball to his upper left cheekbone, and there were some doubts immediately after he sustained facial fractures whether he'd pitch again this season. But, taking the mound again for the first time since that scary moment, he was more than outstanding against the Braves.
It was the kind of give-them-all-you've-got-and-more performance the Pirates have seen only sporadically during an up-and-down season, even though they eventually lost the game 5-2.
Vogelsong wasn't sure at times during his recovery that he'd be back.
"I've been doing this a long time and I don't know much else other than baseball," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's kind of scary when you think about what you might have to do if you can't play anymore. I was pretty determined to get back and not let this thing beat me.
"(But) there were moments when I wasn't sure. To be able to make it back and pitch a big league game and throw the ball like that again, it was icing on the cake."
Vogelsong probably didn't figure to be in the Pirates' rotation this late in the season, but the trade of Francisco Liriano and the repeated failings of Jonathon Niese, Juan Nicasio and Jeff Locke -- a former All-Star who's now in the bullpen -- have him starting again.
The Pirates, now out of the NL Central race that's being dominated by the Chicago Cubs, remain in the mix for a fourth consecutive NL wild card berth, but the rotation's struggles aren't helping those chances.
Similarly, the Padres certainly didn't plan on the well-traveled Jackson being in their rotation less than a month away from Labor Day, but the constant adjustment of their starting five led them to sign him to a minor league deal in June. In four starts with his 11th major league team, he's flirted with a no-hitter while going 2-1 with a 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 innings.
Jackson is 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA while pitching 40 2/3 innings in PNC Park during a career that began with the Dodgers at age 19 in 2003 -- or three years after Vogelsong debuted with the Giants at age 22.
"I just want to go out every fifth day and give the team a chance to win," Jackson told the San Diego Union-Tribune, repeating the oft-spoken theme of almost every starting pitcher. "At the end of the day, that's your job -- just to keep the team in the game. So you go out every five days trying to do that as much as you can."
The Pirates won 6-4 on Tuesday in the first game of the three-game series, with Gregory Polanco's three-run homer driving a four-run Pirates fifth inning. The Padres, who are 2-2 against Pittsburgh this season, started six rookies.
