Pirates beat Cincinnati for sweep

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Two nearly flawless starts dug the Pirates out of their deepest slump.

James McDonald pitched into the seventh inning Thursday and Neil Walker doubled home a pair of runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 5-3 victory and a two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Pirates arrived in town with a six-game losing streak and came away with their first series sweep in Cincinnati since 2003. They did it with pitching — Charlie Morton threw a five-hitter for a 5-0 win in the opener. McDonald (3-3) allowed one run and seven hits in 62/3 innings, handling one of the NL’s most prolific lineups in one of its most hitter-friendly ballparks.

“This is a good hitting team with a lot of great hitters in their lineup,” McDonald said. “For us to come in here and hold them to that many runs is a big accomplishment.”

The Pirates finally broke through against Johnny Cueto (2-1), who had won his past seven decisions against them. Ryan Doumit added a solo homer.

The sweep left Pittsburgh 13-12 on the road, a vast improvement over last year’s 17-64 mark away from home. The Pirates didn’t get their 13th road win last season until July 28.

The Pirates’ starters gave up one run and 12 hits in 152/3 innings during the series. Jay Bruce led off the second with a homer off McDonald, a drive to center that made an impact.

“The first inning was kind of slow,” McDonald said. “I think that Bruce homer kind of woke me up a little bit, got a little fight in me. That’s when I turned it on. I need to work on having that from the first inning on.”

Joey Votto singled home a run in the eighth off Joe Beimel. Bruce hit another solo homer in the ninth off Joel Hanrahan.