Pittsburgh erupts to snap losing skid

Associated Press

Pittsburgh

Neil Walker had three hits, drove in two runs and scored three times as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 12-6 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

Jose Tabata and Lastings Milledge each had two hits and two RBIs as every Pittsburgh position player except for leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen had at least one RBI as the Pirates beat Houston for the first time in eight meetings this season.

The game, matching two of the National League’s worst teams, featured four lead changes, 12 pitchers and took 3 hours and 17 minutes to complete.

Hunter Pence hit his 13th home run and Michael Bourn had a two-run double during a four-run second inning for the Astros, who had won five of their previous seven.

The Pirates took the lead for good in the fifth with four consecutive two-out singles — the latter two, from Ronny Cedeno and pinch-hitter Ryan Church, led to two runs to make it 7-6.

The Pirates added two more runs in the sixth and three in the eighth.

The NL’s worst team in terms of runs, hits and batting average, the Pirates had season highs in runs and hits (17).

Pittsburgh’s Javier Lopez (2-1) earned the victory despite allowing Chris Johnson’s two-run double that gave the Astros their final lead in the top of the fifth.

Brendan Donnelly, Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Octavio Dotel each followed with a perfect inning of relief to cover for starter Ross Ohlendorf, who retired only four batters in throwing 46 pitches. Ohlendorf was charged with four runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout.

But Houston’s Bud Norris (2-7) wasn’t much better. He was charged with seven runs — four earned — on nine hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 42/3 innings.

The attendance of 36,665 — buoyed by a postgame fireworks promotion — marked the fifth sellout of the season at PNC Park. The Pirates improved to 6-1 this season and 13-3 the past two years in front of home crowds in excess of 30,000.

Making his major league debut, Pirates 30-year-old C Erik Kratz went 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI.