Burnett stymies Indians, wins 6th straight

Associated Press

cleveland

A.J. Burnett was more concerned about stopping a team streak than extending his own run.

He did both as the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four homers to beat the Cleveland Indians 9-2 Saturday.

Burnett became the first Pittsburgh pitcher since 1990 to win six straight starts, Pedro Alvarez homered twice and Casey McGehee also went deep and drove in four runs as the Pirates broke a four-game losing streak.

“I wanted to stop the bleeding, but this one is not about me,” said Burnett, who extended the best stretch by a Pirates pitcher since Doug Drabek won six in a row during his NL Cy Young Award-winning season.

“The offense did the job today. The defense, too. I left a lot of guys on base. Guys made plays behind me.”

The last Pirates pitcher to win six straight decisions was rookie Zach Duke in 2005. He did it over eight starts to open his career 6-0.

Burnett had not done well at Progressive Field until handing the Indians their fourth loss in five games. He came in 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in six previous starts in Cleveland.

“He had an easy day of work,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “We didn’t even run his pitch count up. He got us the whole day. We couldn’t do much.”

Cleveland’s Michael Brantley went 0 for 3 with a walk, halting the majors’ longest hitting streak this season at 22 games.

After being shut out for the sixth time on Friday night, the Pirates broke loose for 12 hits and most runs since a 10-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on May 27.

“It’s not about the homers, but about having better at-bats,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “It is what is going on underneath the helmet than the swings.”

Hurdle liked how McGehee bounced back from being called out on strikes in the first inning and grounding into a double play against Ubaldo Jimenez (6-5) in the third.

“Casey was in a rough place early,” Hurdle said. “Those things can send you the wrong way. Then he got a hanging breaking ball and banged it into the left-field bleachers.”

The two-run shot in the sixth made it 4-2.

Alvarez’z first homer tied it at 1 in the second. He added a two-run shot in the ninth off Nick Hagadone. That came after McGehee’s two-out, two-run blooper to right made it 7-2.

Burnett walked four and gave up six hits, including homers to Asdrubal Cabrera in the first and Casey Kotchman in the fifth. He worked out of two jams.

Jimenez gave up seven hits and four runs over six innings. The right-hander had allowed only two earned runs in two previous starts this month.