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Walker helps Pirates down Reds

May 19, 2011 - 9:47 PM Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Neil Walker had a pair of doubles and drove in two runs, as the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for a 5-3 win over the Reds to complete the sweep of a brief-two game set at Great American Ball Park.

Ryan Doumit hit a solo homer and Andrew McCutchen added an RBI double for the Pirates, who had dropped six straight entering the series.

James McDonald (3-3) worked 6 2/3 solid innings, yielding one run on seven hits. The right-hander struck out four and walked one. Joel Hanrahan allowed a solo homer to Jay Bruce leading off the ninth inning, but was able to recover and lock down the win to record his 12th save of the season.

Bruce had two solo homers and Joey Votto had an RBI single for Cincinnati, which had won five in a row coming into the set.

"The Pirates have given us a tough time so far this year," Bruce said.

Johnny Cueto (2-1) surrendered three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in a five-inning start.

Bruce's lead-off homer to center in the second gave the Reds the lead, but Pittsburgh put three on the board in the fifth.

"The first inning was kind of slow. I think the Bruce home run kind of woke me up a little bit," McDonald said.

McCutchen reached with a two-out double and crossed the plate on Xavier Paul's base hit to right. After Garrett Jones walked, Walker hit a two-run double off the center-field wall to make it a 3-1 game.

Cueto, making only his third start of the season after beginning the year on the disabled list, allowed his first earned runs in 18 1/3 innings.

Doumit clubbed a shot into the left-field seats leading off the sixth.

The Reds stranded a pair of runners in the seventh and the Bucs tacked on one more in the eighth on McCutchen's double down the left-field line.

Votto's RBI single in the eighth drew Cincinnati to within 5-2.

Hanrahan came on for the bottom of the ninth and yielded a lead-off homer to Bruce. The right-hander settled down to retire the next three batters to end the game.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh took three of four from the Reds earlier in the season...Despite taking the loss, Cueto is still 9-3 in 14 career games against the Pirates...McDonald improved to 2-1 in five lifetime appearances versus the Reds.