McCutchen leads Pirates past Astros
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Andrew McCutchen drove in three runs during a four-hit night and Wandy Rodriguez earned a victory against his former team, as the Pittsburgh Pirates dumped the Houston Astros, 6-2, to snap a four-game losing streak.
Rodriguez (10-13), acquired from the Astros for three minor leaguers in July, scattered four hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven shutout innings.
"It's very special for me because I played for the Astros for a long time," said Rodriguez, who spent the first seven-plus years of his career in Houston.
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Brock Holt, in his fourth career game, went 4-for-5 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot for the Pirates, who lost the opener of this three-game series, 5-1, on Monday.
Pittsburgh is 2 1/2 games back of a wild card spot.
Jordan Lyles (3-11) surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and one walk over 4 2/3 innings to take the loss, Houston's eighth in its last 10 games.
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Brett Wallace and Chris Snyder each drove in a run off Pittsburgh's bullpen in the eighth inning, but by then the Astros trailed, 6-0.
McCutchen pulled one down the third-base line in the first inning, and the ricochet off the stands in foul territory allowed Travis Snider to score from first.
Run-scoring singles by McCutchen and Garrett Jones in the third made it 3-0, and the Pirates tacked on three more in the fifth -- the first coming on another RBI single by McCutchen.
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The other two runs came around to score when Tyler Greene missed a routine pop-up in the infield, and the hosts rolled from there.
"They have a nice team over there. They have a couple of veterans with some young kids mixed in," Astros interim manager Tony DeFrancesco said of the Pirates.
Game Notes
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Rain delayed the start of the game one hour, 15 minutes ... The Pirates improved to 41-27 at home this year, clinching their second-ever winning season at PNC Park (2006) ... Snider exited the game after scoring in the first inning with discomfort in his right hamstring ... McCutchen has six four-hit games this season ... Rodriguez threw 61 of his 89 pitches for strikes.