Pirates 7, Astros 3
Neil Walker continued his stellar hitting on the road with three RBIs to lift Pittsburgh to a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros and put the Pirates above .500 in June for the first time in 12 years.
Xavier Paul belted a two-run homer – his first since May 2009 – and Andrew McCutchen extended his hitting streak to 14 games as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games and moved above .500 for the first time this late in the season since 1999.
Walker had an RBI triple in the first, an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in a three-run sixth. He has hit safely in 11 straight road games and has 12 RBIs in that span.
The offensive eruption by Pittsburgh, which had scored only eight runs in its previous five games, made a winner of Charlie Morton (7-3). He allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings.
Joel Hanrahan got the final two outs for his 19th save in as many chances.
Michael Bourn had three hits and an RBI for the Astros, who have lost 10 of their last 12. Reliever Enerio Del Rosario (0-1) took the loss in relief of J.A. Happ.