Maholm all business in win vs. Reds
SARASOTA, Fla. — There wasn't as much laughter this time, but Paul Maholm still had fun as he helped pitch the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 exhibition victory Tuesday over the Cincinnati Reds.
In his last outing Thursday, Maholm struck out comedian Billy Crystal, who got to bat for the New York Yankees. On Tuesday, Maholm breezed through three innings before the Reds' Joey Votto hit his first home run of the spring, driving in three runs. Maholm finished his work with a perfect fifth inning.
"There was no circus today. It was fun," Maholm said. "Early on, I was falling behind, but I was able to throw a sinker and get a ground ball or jam shot.
"I got extended to 80 pitches; that was the goal. Everything is extremely close to being where I need to be," said Maholm, part of a young projected starting rotation for the Pirates.
"Paulie did a great job. He had command of all his pitches," said Pirates manager John Russell.
The Pirates are looking for consistent outings from their starters.
"We know they can pitch. We know that they're good young arms, but we've talked to them about being consistent. So we can get those day-in, day-out good starts," Russell said.
Jose Bautista hit a home run, a single and a sacrifice fly to drive in three runs. The Pirates hit three sacrifice flies in the game. Ryan Doumit and Xavier Nady each had two hits and an RBI.
