truebluefan

With one sensational swing, it was over.

Really, truly, amazingly, stunningly ... finally over.

Still, it took a moment for it all to resonate with Freddy Sanchez, even though it was his laser of a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning that lifted the Pirates over the Chicago White Sox, 7-6, yesterday at PNC Park, and lifted the burden of the franchise's modern-record 13-game losing streak.

"I thought I hit it pretty well, but I didn't know it was gone," Sanchez said later. "Especially someone like me, I can't assume it's going to go out. I was running right out of the box."

By the time he saw that a fan in the front row of the left-field bleachers had caught the ball -- and not backtracking left fielder Scott Podsednik -- it was OK to breathe again.

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