Pirates come up short to St. Louis

Associated Press

st. louis

Just a few more outs, and James McDonald beats the St. Louis Cardinals for the second time in three starts. Safe to say the Pittsburgh Pirates have been happy with the 26-year-old right-hander, who’s in his first year in the rotation.

McDonald worked into the seventh inning of a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night, leaving with a one-run lead. The only damage came on a three-run home run by Yadier Molina in the second inning.

After McDonald’s 13th quality start in 26 games, manager Clint Hurdle said the right-hander’s form was good.

“He’s definitely maintaining velocity,” Hurdle said. “At the beginning of the game he was at 93 [mph] and threw a couple at 94, and he was still in the 90s throughout. That’s always a good sign when the velocity is consistent.”

McDonald gave up three runs on five hits, leaving after Rafael Furcal’s single to start the seventh. He beat the Cardinals on Aug. 15, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

“I felt good. I made one mistake, one pitch, and it was a three-run homer,” McDonald said. “It was a bad pitch and he made me pay for it. Overall, I was pleased.”

McDonald is 8-6 with a 4.22 ERA. His goal for the rest of the way is not complicated.

“Day in, day out, I want my team to know what they’ll get from me,” McDonald said. “I just want to be a consistent major league pitcher.”

Lance Berkman hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning and the Cardinals overcame a pair of deficits with all the runs coming via the long ball. Matt Holliday walked with one out in the eighth against Jose Veras (2-4) before Berkman hit his 30th homer.

Hurdle gave no thought to getting closer Joel Hanrahan into the game in the eighth given Veras’ reliability.