In A.J. Burnett’s two starts since the All-Star break, the base hits allowed have come in droves. During his outing Saturday night, a game the Pirates lost to the Washington Nationals, 9-3, at PNC Park, he allowed a hit in every inning but one, and two hits in four of them.
Burnett allowed 11 hits for the second consecutive outing. Despite not walking a batter and striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings, Burnett allowed five runs. One RBI single was a soft grounder that hit Burnett, while another single that led to a run was a broken-bat dribbler.