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McLouth, Maholm too much for Yankees

Jul 11, 2008 - 2:54 AM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Given a mulligan, Paul Maholm had two weeks to think about what he could do better against the New York Yankees. This time, the lefthander got it right.

All-Star Nate McLouth snapped a tie with a two-run homer in the seventh inning and Maholm tossed eight strong frames as the Pittsburgh Pirates posted a 4-2 interleague triumph over the Yankees on Thursday.

Freddy Sanchez drove in a pair of runs for Pittsburgh, which had lost four of its previous six games and was playing in front of the third-largest crowd in PNC Park history.

"I've got to put this up there," Pirates manager John Russell said when asked whether it was his team's most complete win of the season. "The way we pitched, the way we played defense and the quality of at-bats that we took... When you play a team like this, you have got to do those kinds of things. It was a great night for everybody."

After getting tagged for three runs and five extra-base hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Yankees on June 26, Maholm got a reprieve as the game was rained out. This time around, he fared much better.

Maholm (6-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in this one, walking only one and striking out four en route to his fourth straight win. Without a loss since May 20, he has pitched 23 innings over his last three starts, allowing only five runs.

"I kept pitches down, mixed speeds and let the defense play," Maholm said. "My job is to get deep into the game and give the team a chance to win. Fortunately, that happened tonight."

"Their starter did an outstanding job," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He didn't give us many opportunities. We really had only one opportunity, and we took advantage of it in the seventh."

Maholm's outing was especially welcome as Pittsburgh recently has had issues with its bullpen being overtaxed and battling minor injuries.

"We desperately needed this kind of start, and he's the kind of guy who has been giving us these starts," Russell said. "He was outstanding."

Damaso Marte worked around a walk in the ninth for his fourth save.

On to pitch in relief of Mike Mussina, Jose Veras (2-1) walked leadoff hitter Jack Wilson in the seventh. McLouth bunted the first pitch foul before lining a shot into the elevated seats in right field, snapping a 2-2 deadlock.

"I missed the bunt, but the pitch after, luckily, I got a nice pitch to hit," McLouth said. "They had just gotten the momentum on their side, so to take it back was really nice."

"We knew he'd hit a home run," Russell joked, referring to why he took off the bunt sign.

It was the team-leading 18th homer of the season for McLouth, Pittsburgh's lone representative in next week's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. He has recorded four doubles, three home runs and nine RBI in his last five games.

Girardi was not willing to place blame on Veras.

"Veras has been so great for us. None of our relievers are going to be perfect," Girardi said. "McLouth jumped on a fastball and hit it well. He's done a lot of that this first half (of the season)."

Sanchez gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead, plating Wilson with a single in the third inning before lifting a sacrifice fly that scored McLouth in the fifth. But the Yankees rallied with two outs in the seventh to pull even.

Justin Christian began the uprising with a single and pinch hitter Wilson Betemit followed with a base hit. After Derek Jeter was hit by a 3-2 pitch to load the bases, Bobby Abreu singled to right field, driving in two runs.

Mussina surrendered two runs and nine hits in six innings for New York, which had its four-game winning streak halted. The veteran righthander, who has won just one of his last four starts, struck out five without a walk.

"Today, I didn't have my best stuff," Mussina said. "I think I got some breaks. I got some line drives at people. But I spread the hits around, I didn't walk anybody, got the outs when we needed them. Two runs in six innings isn't bad. It could have been a little better, and it certainly could have been a lot worse."