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Pirates blow lead, lose in 11 innings

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Salomon Torres
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Shawn Chacon
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Rob Biertempfel is the Pirates beat writer. He can be reached via e-mail. Also check out Biertempfel's blog, Pirates Q&A or follow him on Twitter.

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Shawn Chacon outdueled a legend Thursday, but wound up with nothing to show for it as the San Diego Padres upended the Pirates, 4-2, in 11 innings.

Chacon tossed seven scoreless innings, overshadowing a fine effort by Greg Maddux. But Chacon had a victory snatched away when closer Salomon Torres coughed up a two-run lead in the ninth inning.

It was Torres' fifth blown save in 15 chances this season. When asked what wasn't working for him on the mound, Torres smiled wryly.

"My head, I guess," Torres said.

"That's a very, very tough one to lose, and I'm very embarrassed by it. I expect more out of myself than what I showed today. If I want to be a good closer in the future, I need to clean up my act."

Mike Cameron tied the game with an RBI double off Torres. Then, Cameron gave the Padres their first lead in the 11th with a solo homer off Josh Sharpless (0-1).

Josh Bard followed Cameron's shot with a blast to right-center that bounced off a railing near the first row of seats. At first, it was ruled a homer. But when Pirates manager Jim Tracy protested, the umpires huddled and ruled it a ground-rule double.

"It hit the rail and then came back into play," Tracy said. "They got the call right."

Bard stormed onto the field, and had to be restrained. Both Bard and Padres manager Bud Black were ejected.

Cla Meredith (2-2) tossed one scoreless inning for the win. Trevor Hoffman got the save -- his 16th this season and No. 498 in his career.

Maddux, 41, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, was impressive in what might have been his final start in Pittsburgh. The Padres right-hander gave up just nine hits and worked his way out of several jams.

Chacon, however, was magnificent. He tossed seven scoreless innings, and notched 10 strikeouts, three shy of his career high.

"It was one of those nights when you come out and feel like everything's there, everything's working," Chacon said. "I had, I guess, sort of an invisi-ball going."

It was obvious from the first inning, when Chacon struck out the side on 13 pitches.

Last night was Chacon's second start since replacing Tony Armas in the rotation. In his debut Saturday against Cincinnati, Chacon lasted just 32/3 innings -- an early exit not because he was awful (three hits, one run) but because he kept falling behind hitters (80 pitches, only 41 strikes).

Against the Padres, Chacon spread 102 pitches (67 strikes) over seven innings. He yielded three hits and walked one.

"You kept waiting for the fatigue -- he threw all those pitches in Cincinnati -- but I never saw it," Tracy said. "You couldn't ask for anything more from the guy."

The Pirates had chances to break it open against Greg Maddux in each of the first four innings. In that span, however, they scored just one run -- Jason Bay's sacrifice fly plated Jose Bautista in the first -- and stranded six runners.

Maddux escaped a jam in the second inning. Ryan Doumit and Jack Wilson hit back-to-back singles, and Chacon bunted them over. But Bautista popped out on the first pitch and Chris Duffy grounded out.

Bay and Adam LaRoche were on base with one out in the third. Xavier Nady grounded into a double play.

With one out in the fifth, Freddy Sanchez was hit by a pitch and Bay singled to left. But LaRoche jumped on the first pitch and rolled into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Pirates were aggressive at the plate against Maddux, who faced three-ball counts on just five batters.

In the seventh, Nate McLouth pinch-hit for Chacon and led off with a double to right. It snapped an 0-for-20 skid for McLouth off the bench.

Bautista bunted McLouth to third. With two outs, Sanchez lined an RBI single to left.