PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- James McDonald hurled seven shutout innings Tuesday and the Pittsburgh Pirates knocked Atlanta out of first place in the NL East with a 5-0 victory.
McDonald (3-5) mystified the Braves on five hits, yielding three walks and fanning three in a 108-pitch gem. The Pittsburgh righty came into the contest with three straight losses during which he had posted a 7.71 ERA.
The Pirates scored all five of their runs in the seventh, highlighted by Delwyn Young's two-run homer. Ronny Cedeno added a two-run triple and Pedro Alvarez chipped in with an RBI double.
Braves starter Tim Hudson (15-7) pitched six shutout innings before running out of gas and ended up allowing four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 frames.
Atlanta's loss, coupled with Philadelphia's win over Florida Tuesday, knocked the Braves into second place in the East, one-half games behind the Phils.
