It is tough not to like what James McDonald brought to the mound. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just three singles and one walk. He struck out eight. And he got some support.

The Indianapolis Indians and Durham Bulls were washed out in Durham, NC tonight.� They will try for the make-up with a double-header on Friday -- first game to start at 5pm.

Ryan Doumit was scheduled to play the entire game in right field, and then return to the Pirates tomorrow....he'll probably just miss off this last rehab game.

The Pirates have officially optioned C Jason Jaramillo to the Indians today.� In order to make room on the roster, INF/OF Brian Bixler was reassigned to the Altoona Curve.

Thursday's action with the Pirates' minor league affiliates....

Altoona Curve� 6,� Akron Aeros� 1 (box)

Starter Tony Watson dominated the Aeros with 6 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits, no walks, while striking out 3 batters.� Watson retired the first 13 batters he faced, before allowing a single with one out in the 5th.� The second hit, also a single, also came in the 5th, but both runners were left on base.� After retiring the side in order, with 2 strikeouts, in the 6th, Watson was relieved by Ramon Aguero.

The Curve also went down in order in the first three innings.� With one out in the 4th, 3B Josh Harrison was hit by a pitch, then stole second and third bases.� He scored on 1B Matt Hague's single.� SS Jordy Mercer reached on a throwing error by the Aeros pitcher.� C Hector Gimenez singled, driving in Hague.� A balk moved Mercer up to third base and Gimenez to second, then RF Miles Durham walked to load the bases.� DH Yung Chi Chen's line drive into left field plated both Mercer and Gimenez to give the Curve a 4-0 lead.

Aguero gave up 2 singles in the 7th but kept the Aeros from scoring.� Then in the 8th, two singles were combined with a walk, to bring in a run.� Anthony Claggett pitched the 9th inning, and gave up a walk and a single, but left the runners stranded.

2B Chase d'Arnaud singled and stole second base (his 23rd of the season) in the 5th, then he doubled in the 7th.� The Curve added two runs in the 8th.� LF Andrew Lambo led off with a single and Hague walked.� Mercer dropped down a sacrifice bunt toward third base, and a throwing error by the Aeros' third baseman allowed Lambo to score, and put Curve runners on first and third.� After two outs, Chen again brought in a run when Hague scored on his RBI single.

Over the past couple weeks, the Pirates unloaded four veteran relievers who had helped contribute to a solid bullpen in 2010. Yesterday, in an attempt to solidify the disrupted pen, the Bucs claimed Chris Resop and Chan Ho Park off waivers. The Resop addition was applauded, but critics have scoffed at the decision to bring in Park. I have spent parts of the morning wondering why.

The good news is that Andrew McCutchen didn't miss a game despite being hit in the back of the neck with a pitch. He also homered in his first time up. The good news stops there as Johnny Cueto continued his mastery over the Pirates.

A few roster moves:� The Pirates have designated pitcher Steven Jackson for assignment, so that a roster space on both the 25-man and 40-man rosters will be available.� That will make room for reliefer Chris Resop, who the Pirates picked up off waivers from the Braves today.

1B/OF Steve Pearce's surgery on his knee went fine, and he is expected to be out of commission for at least 4 months.� He has been moved to the 60-day disabled list, which frees up another spot on the 40-man roster.� That will be taken by reliever Chan Ho Park, who the Pirates claimed off waivers from the Yankees today.� The Pirates will still need to open a spot on the 25-man roster, but they will have a couple more days to do that, since Park won't be joining the team until Friday.

And, today's action in the Pirates' minor league organization.....� The Indianapolis Indians had a scheduled day off today; the West Virginia Power's game against the Delmarva Shorebirds was rained out, so they'll try again tomorrow.

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Altoona Curve� 5,� Akron Aeros� 1 (box)

Starter Rudy Owens pitched another stellar start, going 6 innings and allowing only a solo home run to the second batter he faced in the top of the 1st.� After that homer, Owens retired the next 17 batters he faced, including 4 strikeouts.� Tom Boleska relieved Owens and earned his second save with the Curve.� He pitched 3 scoreless innings and allowed only a triple and a walk, with 2 strikeouts.� The triple was hit by Jason Kipnis, the first batter Boleska faced.� After a short fly out, Kipnis tried to tag up and score on another short fly out to new Curve LF Andrew Lambo. Lambo's throw to C Kris Watts was on target and on time, and Kipnis was thrown out at the plate.

The Curve posted 13 hits and gave Owens and Boleska 5 runs worth of support.� 2B Chase d'Arnaud had 3 of the hits, all singles, and four Curve batters, Lambo, Watts, 1B Matt Hague, and RF Miles Durham each had 2 hits.� The first Altoona run scored in the 2nd inning.� Durham singled, CF Anthony Norman walked, and a fielding error allowed Durham to score.� Lambo walked to lead off the 2nd inning rally.� A single by Hague and a double by Watts followed, with Watts picking up the RBI.� A sacrifice fly by Norman brought in Hague with the second run of the inning.

Singles by d'Arnaud and 3B Josh Harrison led off the 4th inning, and a double steal moved both into scoring position.� Hague's RBI single plated d'Arnaud.� Watts walked to load the bases, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.� The Curve scored their final run of the game in the 7th inning without a hit.� SS Yung Chi Chen and DH Jose De Los Santos worked back-to-back walks, and both advanced a base on d'Arnaud's sacrifice bunt.� Harrison's sacrifice fly brought in Chen with the Curve's 5th run of the game.

Probable Starters LHP Jeff Francis vs. RHP James McDonald RHP Jason Hammel vs. LHP Zach Duke LHP Jorge De La Rosa vs. RHP Ross Ohlendorf RHP Esmil Rogers vs. LHP Paul Maholm

The Pirates have claimed right-handed pitchers Chris Resop and Chan Ho Park off waivers in an attempt to bolster a depleted bullpen. Steven Jackson was designated for assignment and Steve Pearce was placed on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster.

Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects reports that the Pirates have signed fourth round draft pick Nick Kingham. No financial details are known at this time, but Kingham will surely receive an above-slot bonus.

Andrew McCutchen was hit in the back of the neck, just below the helmet, by a pitch from Mike Leake. He left the game and the team exploded for six runs in the second inning.

Indianapolis Indians� 5,� Norfolk Tides� 3 (box)

The Indianapolis Indians avoided being swept out to sea by the Tides with a 5-3 victory at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia this afternoon.� Starter Jeremy Powell (photo) earned his 8th win of the season, and reliever Joe Martinez earned a Save in his Indians' debut.� Another debuting Indian, 1B/RF John Bowker, made a good impression with a 3-for-4 day at the plate including 2 doubles and an RBI.

The game began with the Tribe batters securing a nice packet of run support for their starter Powell, as they batted around in the top of the 1st.� The first four batters reached base safely.� LF Kevin Melillo led off with a double into center field, and a wild pitch sent Melillo to third.� SS Pedro Ciriaco blooped a single into right, scoring Melillo with the first run of the game.� Ciriaco stole second base, then advanced to third base on CF Alex Presley's single through the hole into right field.� The hot-hitting DH Brandon Moss added a double, bringing in both Ciriaco and sending Presley to third.� After a strikeout by the rehabbing RF Ryan Doumit, newcomer John Bowker began his Indians' career with an RBI single that plated Presley.� Norfolk starting pitcher Chris Tillman tried a pick-off throw, but it went wild, and Moss scored from third base.� 3B Jim Negrych also singled, moving Bowker to second base.� Both were left on base when two strikeouts ended the inning, but the Indians had secured a 4-0 lead for Powell.

Powell missed a complete game shutout by a strike in his last start (July 29th), and today he looked just as good.� He retired the first 15 batters he faced, including 3 strikeouts, zipping through 5 innings.� But in the 6th, Powell began to struggle.� He gave up a lead-off walk to 1B Brandon Snyder and a single to former Indy Indian (2008) C Michel Hernandez.� A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position.� CF Matt Angle singled, scoring Snyder, and former Indy Indian (2009) RF Jeff Salazar lifted a sacrifice fly, allowing Hernandez to score.� One more single, by SS Robert Andino, drove in Angle, and the Tides had come within a run of the Indians, 4-3.� Powell was relieved by Corey Hamman, who finished the inning with a strikeout.

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Andrew McCutchen left tonight's game after being hit in the neck with a fastball. McCutchen passed all preliminary tests and was officially listed as day-to-day.