Pirates' Sunday notebook

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com

RECAP: Paul Maholm threw six shutout innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates battered the New York Yankees 8-0 Sunday at McKechnie Field. Maholm allowed two hits, walked three and struck out two, improving to 2-0 in his three starts this spring. Maholm, who has appeared in five games overall, is 2-1. The Pirates (9-15) had 16 hits on the day, five of which were doubles. Xavier Nady and Jose Bautista cracked two doubles each, with Bautista driving in three runs.

THE LONGEST DAY: Maholm’s six innings were the most pitched by a Pirate this spring. And the lefty made the most of his time, firing 40 of his 74 pitches for strikes. His lone snag came in the fifth inning, which he opened by walking Jason Lane and Cody Ransom. But Maholm got Chris Woodward to ground into a fielder’s choice before Chad Moeller rolled into an inning-ending double play.
“It was the only time where I really struggled to get back into rhythm,” Maholm said. “But to get back into rhythm in the middle of an inning is good.”
Maholm, who lowered his ERA to 3.60, has one more start left before the regular begins on March 31. He said he wants to throw around 95 pitches, and continue to work on pinpointing his fastball and breaking pitches.
“You’re itching to get ready and get going,” he said. “But I still have one more (start), and I still have some stuff I just need to smooth out, and make sure everything is good.”

ROTATION SET: Pittsburgh manager John Russell said the Pirates’ rotation will be Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Maholm, Matt Morris and Zach Duke once the regular season begins.

BACK IN THE SWING?: It has been a rough spring for Nady, who entered Sunday’s game batting .154 (6-for-39). But there was a glimmer of hope Sunday, when he went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The performance raised his average to .190.

MAKING A RUN: Sean Burnett is making a pitch to get back to the big leagues.
Burnett, the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2000 who went 5-5 in 2004 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in September of that season, threw a perfect inning against the Yankees on Sunday, striking out one.
Burnett has appeared in a team-high eight games this spring, and has a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings. He’s allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two.

RIVAS IS ROLLING: Infielder Luis Rivas went 2-for-2, upping his spring mark to .349. Rivas has reached base in 14 of 16 games this spring.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Either way you look at it, the Yankees’ lineup is pretty tough.” Maholm, when asked if the Yankees’ lineup was tougher without comedian Billy Crystal, who Maholm faced the last time he pitched against New York.

UP NEXT: The Pirates head back up to St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in one of the final spring games to be played at Al Lang Field. The teams got two innings in Saturday before the game was called because of rain. Matt Morris is expected to go for the Pirates, while Edwin Jackson will throw for the Rays.
Game time is 1:05 p.m.