Bucs stun Marlins
Ross Ohlendorf allowed two hits over seven innings during Pittsburgh’s third shutout in four games and Nate McLouth drove in four runs as the Pirates ended Florida’s seven-game winning streak, winning 8-0 Monday night.
The Marlins began the night with a major league-best 11-1 record and were coming off three consecutive come-from-behind victories in their final at-bat in Washington. This time, they fell behind 1-0 in the first and never caught up during their first loss in seven road games.
The majors’ hottest team ran into one of its most surprising and, as it often does, pitching made the difference. The Pirates are pitching much better than they did while losing 95 games last season, and it has permitted a team coming off 16 consecutive losing seasons to get off to a modest but encouraging 7-6 start.
With four shutouts, the Pirates already have twice as many as last season, when their 5.10 ERA was the NL’s worst and the third worst in franchise history. They’ve cut that by more than two runs per game to 3.08, even while losing 11-1 Sunday to Atlanta. They shut out the Braves 3-0 and 10-0 in the first two games of that series.
Ohlendorf (1-2), finally getting some run support, won for the first time in eight starts since being traded to the Pirates by the Yankees last season. He was sharp from the start against a team that had scored a combined 16 runs in its previous two games, giving up only singles to leadoff batters Emilio Bonifacio in the first and Hanley Ramirez in the fourth while striking out five and walking one.
Tyler Yates and Jesse Chavez finished off the shutout with a scoreless inning each.