Paul Maholm allowed just four singles, a triple and two runs in seven innings to beat KC. He put the Pirates in a hole early as Billy Butler had RBI singles in the first and third innings. But Delwyn Young popped a three run homer in the fourth and added an insurance RBI in the 8th to pace the offense.
Bruce Chen was the loser. He made his way back from Tommy John surgery to make his first appearance since April 20, 2007.
John Grabow and Jeff Karstens finished up with an inning each of shutout relief.
The Good
Young continues to be a productive bat.
Maholm has scuffled a bit lately (4-6 with a 5.22 ERA in his last 10 starts). It’d be great to get him going.
The Bad
Andrew McCutchen failed to reach base for the first time since June 10 and had his first ever streak of consecutive hitless games.
The Rest
Chen’s last start was 8/4/06. Chen’s last appearance against Pittsburgh was 6/8/05 when he was beaten by the pitching of Kip Wells and four RBI from Rob Mackowiak.
Young established a career best in RBI.
