J-Mac, Cutch Pace Bucs to Win

     James McDonald took another no-no into the sixth as the Buccos split the two game series with the Nationals with a 5-3 win.

     McDonald retired the first thirteen batters, nine coming from strikeouts, before walking Bryce Harper in the fifth. J-Mac would experience trouble in the sixth. He would allow back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning before getting a ground out and strikeout. He wouldn't see the final out though as he would allow a Ryan Zimmerman single and a triple from Adam LaRoche to make the score 4-3. Tony Watson would get the next batter and stop the bleeding. Juan Cruz, Jason Grilli, and Joel Hanrahan would throw three scoreless to close it out.

     The offense pounded out ten hits, led by the stellar performance of Andrew McCutchen. Cutch started out the scoring with a solo shot with two out in the first. He crushed another in the third that barely curved foul as it reached the seats. Rod Barajas would add to the long-ball barrage with a two run shot in the fourth and Cutch would add to his total with his second of the game in the sixth. The scoring would be capped off with a Neil Walker fielders choice in the seventh.

Starters Lines
McDonald: (W, 3-2) 5 2/3 IN, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K's
Zimmerman: (L, 2-4) 6 IN, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's (1 to McDonald)

Turning Point
     Tony Watson stranding Adam LaRoche at third in the sixth after three runs crossed the plate. With the tieing run at third, Watson got Bryce Harper to pop out to the catcher to end the threat.


Stud/Dud of the Game
Stud: Cutch - 2-4, 2 homers, 2 RBI's, 2 runs scored.

Dud: Jose Tabata - 0-4, walk, 2 strikeouts, 2 LOB


Final Thoughts
-- Cutch owns the Nationals this year. In the five games this season, Cutch is 10-17 (.588) with 4 homers, 6 singles, 3 walks, 6 RBI's, and 6 runs.

-- J-Mac now has a total of 50 strikeouts after his 11 K performance vs. the Nats. Good for 10th in the majors and 6th in the NL.

-- The Pirates will now travel to Detroit to start interleague play. They will play 3 against the Tigers before the Tigers make a trip to Pittsburgh next month. This is the first time the Bucs will play 2 series against an AL team in one season since interleague started.

This Day in '92 - L 6-5 vs. SD
     Randy Tomlin gave up 6 runs on 7 hits in 4 1/3 innings for his third loss.
     Jay Bell went 2-5 with a single, double, and 2 RBI's while Gary Varsho went 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI's.
     Andy Van Slyke went 3-5 with a single, double, triple, an RBI, run scored and 2 strikeouts.