Walker helps surging Pirates top .500 mark

Photo by: Gene J. Puskar

AP

Photo

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez fields a grounder by Los Angeles Dodgers' Rod Barajas during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh on Monday, May 9, 2011. Alvarez made the throw to first to record the out. The Pirates won 4-1.

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Neil Walker hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 on Monday night to move above .500 in mid-May for the first time in seven years.

Garrett Jones led off the eighth with a walk before Walker laced a shot into the right-field corner off Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley (2-2). Jones scored all the way from first to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

Lyle Overbay and Ryan Doumit followed with a pair of run-scoring doubles as the Pirates won their third straight.

Jose Veras (1-1) worked a scoreless eighth for the victory. Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth for his 11th save.

The victory lifted Pittsburgh to 18-17, the latest the Pirates have been above .500 in a season since they were 23-22 on May 29, 2004.

The Dodgers have lost seven of nine, and lost their cool in the eighth thanks to an acrobatic play and some solid acting by Pittsburgh outfielder Jose Tabata.

Veras found himself in some trouble after opening the eighth by hitting Matt Kemp on a 3-2 pitch. Juan Uribe followed by smacking a sinking liner to left.

Tabata slid and popped up with the ball in his glove. He immediately threw to Walker, who fired the ball to first to double up Kemp.

The ball appeared to skip into Tabata’s glove on replay, and Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly came out to issue a lengthy protest before retreating to the dugout.

That wasn’t enough for Uribe, who voiced his displeasure with third base umpire Mike DiMuro when the Dodgers returned to the field.

DiMuro ejected Uribe, and Mattingly soon followed his third baseman to the clubhouse.

The turn of good fortune seemed to spark the Pirates, who have posted 18 consecutive losing seasons, a North American major professional sports record.