James McDonald did not have his stuff tonight and threw a ton of pitches, only able to pitch four innings. He gave up three runs and struck out two while walking two. That set up a long night for the bullpen, who once again was up to the challenge. Chris Resop was the first to take the ball and pitched a scoreless inning plus despite giving up three hits. Doug Slaten got two outs without allowing a base runner and then it was all Jared Hughes and Joel Hanrahan from there. Hughes pitched 2.1 innings giving up just one hit and stranding a runner on second. Then it was hammer time and the Pirates won their third straight game and moved within a game of first place in the division.
They’ll go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:35 before traveling to Baltimore.