SARASOTA, Fla. — Pirartes right-hander James McDonald struggled during Pittsburgh’s 11-5 Grapefruit League victory over Baltimore Wednesday.

McDonald allowed five runs and six hits in three innings. In three spring starts, McDonald has allowed eight runs and nine hits in eight innings.

“You could tell by watching. I didn’t feel too good,” McDonald said.

“Got to keep the ball down. They put good swings on the ball. I’ve got to execute better. I’ve just got to make better pitches. These are big league hitters. If you throw bad pitches, they’re going to make you pay — spring training or regular season — it didn’t matter.”

Manager Clint Hurdle didn’t give McDonald a pass.

“Today was mediocre,” Hurdle said.

“The problems he had was he was behind in counts, the ball got up and flattened out. He didn’t have much command today and didn’t have any secondary pitches to go to. The positives to take is that he threw 60 pitches.”