McDonald tames Reds as Pirates win 4th straight

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

There were times earlier in his career when James McDonald would run into trouble and innings would slow to a crawl. Even worse, runners would disappear, and not in a good way.

Too much thinking. Not enough attacking.

“Certain guys got up and I would think about it, ‘What if this happens? What if this happens?’ ” McDonald said. “Now I just don’t care. It’s a hitter up there and I’ve got a job to do and that’s get him out.”

He’s doing it as well as anybody in baseball at the moment.

McDonald scattered five hits over eight shutout innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 on Monday to climb back to .500. The 27-year-old right-hander wiggled free of a pair of two-on, no-out jams in the third and the fifth before retiring the final 12 batters he faced.

“I think my mental approach is different,” McDonald said after improving to 4-2.

So are the results.

Pittsburgh has worked diligently with McDonald over the last two seasons trying to get him to corral his control issues, believing he has the talent to become a No. 1 starter down the road.

He appears to be on his way, trimming his ERA to 2.20 while quieting Cincinnati’s high-powered offense. The Reds, who hit 17 homers during a seven-game homestand that concluded with a win over Colorado on Sunday, had just one extra-base hit.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today, but we didn’t either,” Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. “He threw a good game against us. We weren’t swinging real good against him.”

Pedro Alvarez, Rod Barajas and Neil Walker had two hits apiece and each drove in a run for the Pirates, who have won a season-high four straight to improve to 24-24. Joel Hanrahan got the final out for his 12th save as Pittsburgh reached .500 for the first time since the fourth game.

Bronson Arroyo (2-3) lasted just four innings on a sweltering day in which he struggled with his command. He threw 79 pitches over four innings in his shortest stint of the season and had trouble working efficiently.

The Pirates have remained competitive despite the most woeful offense in baseball, though they are finally showing signs of life. Pittsburgh posted a season-high 10 runs to complete a sweep of the Cubs on Sunday then followed it up by giving McDonald an early cushion.