James McDonald sparks as Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Atlanta Braves 3-1 – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates’ starter, James McDonald had an extraordinary day with his pitching as he pitched just over five score-less innings with an ERA of 3.95 and gave the Pirates a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, Atlanta on July 25.
At the top of the first inning, Xavier Paul was struck-out looking; Garrett Jones struck-out swinging and Neil Walker also struck-out looking without scoring any run. Similarly, Martin Prado was saved at first base on the error of the Pirates’ third baseman
Pedro Alvarez but Jason Heyward struck-out swinging and Chipper Jones also struck-out swinging, at the bottom of the first inning.
The Pirates opened their scoring account by posting two runs and got a 2-0 lead during the second inning. Ronny Cedeno was grounded out to third base and Andrew McCutchen added one run. The second run for the Pirates was taken by Alvarez when Michael McKenry
drove a single-run shot towards left-field. Later on, McKenry moved to second base on the throwing error of the Braves’ fielders.
The pitchers did not permit any run from third to fifth inning of the game. McDonald surrendered just eight hits and struck-out nine batters on his 92 pitches, without giving any walk and homer to the Braves’ batters.
In the sixth inning, the Pirates extended their lead 3-0 when Garrett Jones contributed a single run on the drive of McCutchen towards centre-field. Then, McCutchen advanced to second base on the error of the Braves’ centre-fielder Nate McLouth. Lyle Overbay
singled to right-field during the seventh inning but Steve Pearce was grounded out to second base and McKenry grounded out to short-stop position.
McDonald commented on the game and said, “It's really important. It's been an issue for me this year. I told myself in the second half I was going to keep my walks down. Being ahead is a big key for me. They're a good-hitting team.”
During the eighth inning, Jones hit a solo homer (402 feet) towards right-field to give the Braves their first run and reduced his team’s lead 3-1. In the ninth inning, the Braves missed some scoring opportunities and got out as Alex Gonzalez lined out to
second base, Prado flied out to centre-field and Julio Lugo struck-out swinging.
After having an impressive win, the Pirates led off the four-game series 1-0 played at Turner Field.
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