A.J. Burnett Helps Pirates Blank Cardinals

Good thing A.J. Burnett didn't waste that start in Altoona, eh? You can discuss Burnett's excellent seven-strikeout performance here, and I'll have more in this thread in the morning.

UPDATE: Watching now. The first inning certainly was an adventure, and Clint Barmes really bailed Burnett out by snaring that line drive with two outs and the bases full. But it's great to have a starting pitcher with a fastball good enough to challenge hitters with high strikes without just serving it up. Burnett looks terrific.

It's also nice to see Pedro Alvarez produce a bit of offense. He was lucky that David Freese couldn't quite get to his RBI single in the fourth, but he did hit it fairly hard.