The Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 Tuesday night, halting a four-game losing streak and again bringing them within a game of .500.
The Pirates scored three runs in the first on a two-run double by Garrett Jones and a sacrifice fly by Neil Walker, then added runs in the second and third to make it 5-0.
The Bucs nearly squandered that lead in the fifth when James McDonald - who had been shaky in the first four innings - allowed a solo shot by J.J. Hardy and a two-run bomb by Adam Jones, then put two more runners on base. Chris Resop then entered in relief and struck out Robert Andino to end the threat, and the Bucs' bullpen shut down the Orioles after that.
McDonald, as he often is, was very inefficient, and ended up throwing 104 pitches in 4.2 innings. He might have gotten a break on the Hardy home run if a fan hadn't snatched the ball out of Jose Tabata's reach, but he also didn't pitch particularly well.
Fortunately, the Pirates provided more than enough offense, adding on four more runs between the seventh and eighth in addition to those they scored in the first three innings. Five Pirates had two hits apiece.
The Orioles and Pirates will conclude their series at 12:35 PM Wednesday.