Barajas, Alvarez lift low-scoring Bucs over KC

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Rod Barajas went to his “dance moves.” Pedro Alvarez deftly waited out the perfect moment to take off in a sprint. Both scored on plays that should have been outs.

Talk about a lift for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who rank last in the majors in runs but just keep winning anyway.

Bedard pitched seven solid innings, Neil Walker had three hits and Pittsburgh beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Friday night for its 10th victory in the past 13 games.

The 250-pound Barajas scored the Pirates’ second run when he used a nifty slide to avoid the tag from Humberto Quintero following Clint Barmes’ single in the second. Alvarez made it 4-2 an inning later when he took off from third after Jose Tabata was picked off first but got into a rundown.

“These are the small things we have to do to win ballgames as a team that’s not going to go out and hit three-run homers every night,” Walker said.

Bedard (4-6) allowed two runs and five hits as Pittsburgh captured the opening game of a series for the sixth consecutive time. The Pirates (30-27) also moved three games over .500 for the first time this season and trail NL Central-leading Cincinnati by two games after taking two of three from the Reds in their previous set.

“Dance moves, I think,” is how the 36-year-old Barajas described his dive to the inside of home, roll over and lunge to extend his finger tips to the plate.

“Unbelievable,” Walker deadpanned. “Everyone knows he’s one of the fastest guys on the team, but when you slide like that, you’re not going to get thrown out too many times at home.”

Pirates players laughed in the dugout.