James McDonald pitched six scoreless innings and the Pirates won 2-0 despite a strong outing from Madison Bumgarner before another sparse crowd at PNC Park on a Wednesday evening in which the Penguins had a playoff game.
McDonald didn’t pitch brilliantly, allowing four walks, but he scattered four hits, and another strong performance by the Bucs bullpen shut the door. Bumgarner racked up seven strikeouts, but Chris Snyder hit a shallow fly ball that fell for an RBI single, and Jose Tabata hit another RBI single off Guillermo Mota, and that proved to be plenty of offense.
The Pirates also designated John Bowker for assignment after the game, making way for new outfielder Xavier Paul, recently acquired off waivers from the Dodgers. Paul and Bowker both are bench outfielders who hit left-handed, so the writing was on the wall for Bowker when Paul’s acquisition was announced. Hopefully Bowker will make it through waivers and wind up at Indianapolis.