Burnett beats Expos, runs his winning streak to four

Rob Mackowiak's homer helped the Pirates defeat Livan Hernandez.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh rookie Sean Burnett made numerous mistakes, Montreal All-Star Livan Hernandez made only one. In this season of misfortune for the Expos, one mistake sometimes is more than enough.
Burnett limited the Expos to one run in seven innings to beat them for the second straight time, and Rob Mackowiak hit a two-run homer in the first inning, leading the Pirates to a 2-1 victory Tuesday.
The Pirates won their 11th in 12 home games but still dropped the season series to the Expos for a third consecutive season -- losing four of six games.
Escapes trouble
Burnett (4-2), a 2000 first-round draft pick, pitched much like he did during a 10-hit shutout as Pittsburgh beat Montreal 11-0 on July 9 in San Juan. There were plenty of baserunners -- nine in the first four innings -- but the left-hander repeatedly pitched himself out of trouble.
"No offense, huh?" Frank Robinson said, a much-heard refrain from the manager of the majors' lowest-scoring team. "Other than that home run, [Hernandez] was in complete control."
Only it was Burnett who won his fourth in a row since dropping his first two decisions. Burnett induced the Expos to hit into three double plays in the first four innings and got a lift when catcher Jason Kendall threw out Endy Chavez as he tried to steal second with two outs in the third.
Brian Schneider hit an RBI single in the fourth, but Burnett prevented a bigger inning by getting Jamey Carroll to bounce into an inning-ending force play with two on and two outs.
Before that, Burnett squirmed out of two-on, one-out jams in each of the first two innings with double-play grounders.
"He made some mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but he loves to compete. He has a knack for getting big outs, but he also has a knack for getting himself in trouble," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I'd much rather he get easy outs."
Burnett was lifted after throwing 100 pitches in seven innings in a game that lasted just 2 hours, 14 minutes. The left-hander struck out one and walked three in lowering his ERA to 2.18.
No complaints
"I can't complain about anything," Burnett said. "I'm trying to prove I belong here and can compete at this level, but I'm doing everything I expected to do."
Brian Meadows and Mike Gonzalez combined for a scoreless eighth, and Jose Mesa gave up a hit and a walk in the ninth before earning his fourth save in five games and 26th in 27 opportunities.
Hernandez (6-10) was far more dominating than Burnett after allowing Jason Kendall's leadoff single and Mackowiak's two-run drive in the first. Expos pitchers have given up four homers in the first inning in the last four games.
"I threw a changeup, he hit for a home run and that was the ballgame," Hernandez said. "It was only one pitch, but that was two runs right there."
Hernandez gave up only two harmless singles by Tike Redman following Mackowiak's homer, striking out eight over eight innings but still lost his third straight. He faced the minimum 21 batters over the final seven innings, retiring the final 11.
"We were fortunate to get two [runs], the way he was throwing," Mackowiak said. "He was pumping strikes and keeping the ball down ... and kept us off balance all day long."
Hernandez bounced back from consecutive poor starts against the Braves in which he gave up 13 earned runs and 15 hits in 61/3 innings.
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