James McDonald hasn't pitched in a winning effort since July 18th in Colorado, but that all changed tonight in St. Louis. McDonald threw 6 shut-out innings allowing only 2 hits, 3 walks, and 7 K's. The should have been all-star seems to have found whatever it was he lost following the mid-season break.
McDonald's curveball frustrated the Cardinal batters all night, none more than Rafeal Furcal who saw 3 straight in the bottom of the 5th inning. James can also thank some outstanding defense from his position players for his success tonight, especially 1st basemen Garrett Jones. Jones had a mind boggling diving grab and flip to first to rob the Cardinals of a hit. Rookie Starling Marte's unbelievable throwing arm held runners at 3rd in the bottom of the 7th as the Pirates escaped a scary half inning only giving up 1 run.
With Pirates ace AJ Burnett being the only constant force coming from the starting rotation since the all-star break Clint Hurdle and the fan base have been clamoring for someone to step up. James McDonald had come close to a win last Friday night against the Padres but blew a 7-1 lead in the 5th inning. Tonight McDonald held it together and pitched his way to victory even with a few extra-curricular distractions.
For the 4th time in 2 games the Pittsburgh Pirates saw someone from the opposing team get ejected as Cardinal 3rd base coach José Oquendo was tossed arguing a strike called on Jon Jay. McDonalds curveball caught the top of the outside corner to bring the count to 2-2 and the festivities began when Oquendo charged home and other coaches were needed to restrain and escort him off of the field. Needless to say Jay grounded out to 1st base for the 2nd out.
Joel Hanrahan closed out the game for his 34th save, McDonalds 11th win, and the Buccos 66th victory. With the win the Pirates extend their Wildcard lead over the Cardinals to 2 games. Tomorrow afternoon we'll see Erik Bedard take on Cardinals Lance Lynn which may end up being another great pitching duel. However, tonight belongs to James McDonald as he will undoubtedly sleep well after this win.
Zach Helbling is a senior writer for chatsports.com who writes about Pittsburgh teams including Pirates, Steelers and Penguins. He works full time as a contractor in the Pittsburgh area and can be reached directly at zhelbling@chatsports.com or follow him on twitter @DJZachyzach.
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