Nate McLouth extended his hitting streak to thirteen games with a big hit last night.With two outs in the top of the ninth and two men on base, McLouth won the game for the Pirates with a three-run home run off Dodgers closer Takashi Saito. It brought McLouth’s home run total to two and his RBI count to 14, and kept his batting average at a hitting-streak-juiced .383. McLouth wasn’t the only player in the game to keep a thirteen-game hitting streak going; the Dodgers’ first baseman James Loney kept his streak alive with a RBI single in the sixth.

The batting was a better story than the pitching for either team; Pittsburgh’s starter Zach Duke gave up eight hits, two walks and three runs (plus one unearned) over six innings, while failing to record a strikeout. For Los Angeles, starter Hiroki Kuroda gave up seven hits, three runs, and no walks while striking out two over six innings.