Walker homers as Bucs top Reds

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

James McDonald doesn’t consider himself a strikeout pitcher.

Funny, he’s sure starting to look like one.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ right-hander extended his strong start, striking out seven in 61/3 innings and relying on his defense for the rest in a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

McDonald (2-1) has 25 strikeouts over his last three games and is growing into Pittsburgh’s most reliable starter.

“James gave us just what we needed again tonight,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Neil Walker had two hits, including his first homer since last September, and Alex Presley added a solo shot for Pittsburgh. Joel Hanrahan worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save as the Pirates continued their weird start.

Save for a brief two-game slide in St. Louis earlier this week, Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses since April 18. Most of the games have followed a similar script — six have been decided by three runs or less.

“You think, let’s get that one hit, something to break it open,” Hurdle said. “That’s not where we’re living right now.”

Instead, the Pirates are getting by with pitching and defense. They turned four double plays — only one of them conventional — and received a big boost on Jose Tabata’s running grab to end the sixth that preserved a one-run lead.

“This might be one of the better games we played, and needed to play, to win the game,” Hurdle said. “It was above and beyond what you normally get. Those are big-time plays. We needed every one of them.”

Cincinnati starter Mike Leake (0-4) remained winless but showed improvement after a rough opening month, allowing three runs and four hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out four.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said Leake, whose ERA dropped from 6.65 to 5.97. “Even though I had four walks, I was still happy with the way I threw the ball. I had a couple more mistakes than what showed, but they made me pay for two of them.”