Bowker, Pirates support J-Mac and beat the Dbacks 9-6

J-Mac continued to pitch well at home since being acquired from the Dodgers. With Saturday’s 9-6 win over the Dbacks, McDonald picked up his fourth victory –just one loss in five starts at PNC Park– and has a lowered his ERA to 2.60.

McDonald was done after five innings (he ran his pitch count up to 101) allowing two runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out six.

“He was just a tad off,” said Snyder. “He wasn’t missing by much, but it was right out of the strike zone. Even on a night like tonight, where he didn’t have his best stuff, he battled, grinded, got himself through five and kept us in the ballgame.”

Enright knocked in a two-out single in the fourth inning ending J-Mac’s streak of 20 straight scoreless innings.

The last Pirates pitcher to achieve this feat was Kip Wells in 2002 with 22.

On Saturday night, however, the Pirates offense had his back.

John Bowker and Chris Synder had three-hit nights. And the nine runs scored was the most in a game since July 21st at PNC Park.

The line-up, one through nine, played a huge part in the victory. Every batter had at least one run scored, or drove in a run.

“From top to bottom, we got some big hits all the way through,” manager John Russell said. “Arizona has a pretty good offensive club. No lead is really ever safe with these guys. It was good that we continued to add on and keep the pressure on them.”

Bowker –who started at first-base for an injured Garrett Jones– went 3-for4 with two RBI and also hit his first home run as a Pirate.

“He’s a threat at the plate,” Russell said prior to the game. “Some balls he is just missing. If he can get on those balls a little bit better, he could be a very dangerous guy.”

“I’ve kind of been unlucky, but tonight [I] squared up some balls good,” said Bowker, who has started six of the team’s past seven games. “It’s a matter of playing consistently and being aggressive. I feel like I’ve been a little bit late on some balls. I’m trying to be more aggressive right now.”

J-Mac finally -after going 0-for-28– hit his first major league hit.

“They picked me up real big,” McDonald said of his teammates. “I wasn’t on my A-game today. I just wanted to fight for those guys. As hard as they’re playing, I wanted to keep them in the game.”

The Bullpen surrendered four runs late in the game, but Evan Meek ended the threat with getting Church to pop-up to Alvarez.

I missed the game due to my uncle’s wedding. Dissapointed I missed out on such a great game, McDonalds first Major League hit and Bowker’s first home run as a Pirate. It’s nice to spend time with my family though.

Here is a picture of my little cousins from Kentucky. Madison, Jordan, me and Karen. I did their hair and make-up. =)