Pirates win, one game below .500

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

James McDonald wasn’t as good as he usually is when he wins for the Pittsburgh Pirates. This time, he was just good enough when he had to be.

McDonald worked around eight hits and three walks, allowing two runs in six innings and the Pirates beat the New York Mets 3-2 on Saturday night.

“It was a big-time effort, with his want-to being better than his how-to,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He was pitching out of the stretch all night. He was up in the zone a lot, too. But he got outs when he needed to.”

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double, and Jose Tabata and Josh Harrison each had two hits and a scored a run against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Garrett Jones had an RBI double among his two hits for Pittsburgh, which had lost its previous two.

Jose Reyes, baseball’s leading hitter, had two hits and Ruben Tejada and Carlos Beltran each also had two hits for the Mets. New York lost for the second time in seven games.

McDonald (4-4) entered with a 1.09 ERA in the seven previous games he had won with Pittsburgh since being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers last July.

“Even when I got in good counts, they were able to get decent swings on the ball, but the defense was able to pick me up,” McDonald said.

“It was outstanding defense. ... They made some great plays behind me, and that was really, really big for me today.”

Tim Wood pitched a scoreless seventh, Jose Veras struck out Ronny Paulino looking with runners on second and third to end the eighth and Joel Hanrahan worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save.

“The one thing that I really feel good about is that these guys have grasped the idea of pitch and play defense,” Hurdle said. “Find ways to score on offense, but pitch and play defense. It makes for a good game.”

Drawn partly by a postgame fireworks show and Huey Lewis concert, the Pirates drew 39,273, their fourth sellout of the season and third-largest crowd in PNC Park’s 11-year history.

The runs that proved the difference came in the third on a two-out hit by McCutchen with Tabata at second and Harrison at first. McCutchen was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts against Dickey May 31.