The Pittsburgh Pirates got by the Houston Astros by the score of 4-3 on Thursday evening.  The Pirates got off to a good start in the first inning with three runs, and then scored another run in fifth inning and made sure those were enough runs even though things got crazy in the ninth inning.

With the Pirates up 4-3 in the ninth inning with two outs, the Astros had runners on third and first but Matt Capps was finally able to record the final out when Hunter Pence flied out to center.  Capps was shaky but did his job and picked up his 13th save of the season.

Paul Maholm had a great start as he pitched eight innings to pick up the win.  Maholm is now 4-5 on the season after earning the victory.  Maholm allowed eight hits but only three runs scored in the game.

Jason Michaels had a three run home run in the first inning and than Jason Bay had a rbi triple in the fifth inning to account for all four of the Pirates runs.

Pirates Blog