"Once again, it was Ryan Doumit vs. Trevor Hoffman.

Once again, ninth inning.

And once again, Doumit prevailed, belting Hoffman's trademark changeup for a tying home run on the way to the Pirates' 6-5, 14-inning victory Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

"It's cool," Doumit said.

This one was different, too, and more impressive in several ways.

For one, Hoffman clearly was avoiding the changeup Tuesday night -- only three of 20 pitches -- when he allowed Ronny Cedeno's home run and Doumit's grand slam in the Pirates' 7-3 victory. That brought heavy questioning afterward, including about Hoffman's health.

So, this time, Hoffman went all-changeup at Doumit, four in a row. On the home run, Doumit had to bend his knees a bit, reach down and essentially one-arm it over the fence in right.

"What am I supposed to say?" Hoffman said. "It was a good pitch. He stayed back long enough to get good wood on it."

Milwaukee catcher Gregg Zaun: "He had one hand on the bat, he's a big guy, and he put the barrel on it. Tip your cap. He hit a great pitch."

Doumit called Hoffman's changeup "filthy" and said: "The pitch I hit fooled me a little bit. I didn't put the best of swings on it, but I guess I got enough of it."

Hoffman, a future Hall of Famer as baseball's all-time saves leader with 594, now has blown four in seven chances and has a 13.00 ERA."