James McDonald continued his second half struggles with arguably his worst start of the season. He was given a 7-1 lead to work with in the fifth inning, but let up six runs to tie it up in the matter of six batters. He was pulled from the game after allowing two home runs, seven earned runs, and only pitching 4.1 innings. His ERA since the all star break has been 8.71.
Chris Resop pitched outstanding in relief setting down the five batters he faced but
Tony Watson allowed a home run to
Chase Headley, which was his second of the game, and stood as the winning two runs.
Starling Marte had a RBI single and
Garrett Jones hit a solo home run as well in the early innings. The Bucs were able to push five runs across in the fourth inning on a three run home run by
Travis Snider, his first a Pirate, and a two run single by
Pedro Alvarez.
Rod Barajas had a RBI single in the sixth but that was all the Pirates would get.
The bullpen has really struggled as of late and something has clearly happened to James McDonald as well. A.J Burnett is set to start tomorrow, with another 7:05 start.
