Pirates get more great pitching and hitting

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a dominant performance from starter Paul Maholm and team hitting as they beat the Houston Astros 8-2 Tuesday night.  Maholm pitched 8 innings allowing just 5 hits and 1 run and walk while striking out 5. As for the Pittsburgh offense, they combined for 11 hits and got home runs from Nate McLouth, Freddy Sanchez, and Ryan Doumit that provided six of the eight Pirates runs.  Houston watched as the Pirates scored a run in each of the first three innings and were well on their way to beating the Astros for the second night in a row.  Sean Burnett closed it out for Pittsburgh as he allowed 1 run in his inning of work.  The Pirates will go for the sweep on Wednesday as they take on the Astro's at 2:05.