PITTSBURGH — A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock) doesn’t have a trophy case filled with awards or a closet packed with All-Star jerseys.
The veteran right-hander does, however, own a pair of World Series rings and the scars from a tumultuous career in which he’s never seemed to really become the staff ace his high-priced salary demanded.
At least, not until now.
Burnett scattered two hits over seven innings, Matt Hague delivered a two-run double and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Wednesday night to move back to .500 (25-25).
The Pirates capped off their best May in four years with another solid performance from Burnett (4-2), who has embraced his role as No. 1 starter for a team looking to end 19 years of misery.
“I’ve been around a long time,” Burnett said. “I’m no All-Star, I’m no Cy Young, but I’ve been through the battles. I know what it’s like to win. I know what it’s like to lose. ... I’ll do anything I can to help. That’s why I’m here.”
Burnett, acquired in a February trade with the New York Yankees, escaped a potentially disastrous first inning then settled down to retire 17 consecutive batters at one point, with only three balls reaching the outfield.
Relying heavily on his fastball, Burnett silenced one of the National League’s top offenses by having them repeatedly bang the ball harmlessly into the PNC Park turf.
“He’s been very consistent,” Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle said. “I think that’s one of the things he was looking forward to was coming here and being ’the guy.’ ” PHILLIES 10, METS 6 Pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz came through with a tying home run in the seventh inning, Jimmy Rollins added a three-run shot and visiting Philadelphia busted loose late to beat New York. Shane Victorino drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
BRAVES 10, CARDINALS 7 Freddie Freeman homered and drove in three runs, wearing his new glasses, to help host Atlanta recover after blowing a five-run lead to beat St. Louis.
MARLINS 5, NATIONALS 3 Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th home run in May and host Miami defeated Washington.
CUBS 8, PADRES 6 Darwin Barney hit a tworun home run in the bottom of the ninth to give host Chicago a victory over San Diego.
ROCKIES 13, ASTROS 5 Carlos Gonzalez hit three home runs, Michael Cuddyer belted a grand slam and Dexter Fowler also homered, leading host Colorado past Houston.
American League RED SOX 6, TIGERS 4 David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks each hit two-run home runs and surging Boston beat visiting Detroit. Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 5 with three doubles and drove in a run for Detroit.
TWINS 4, ATHLETICS 0 Francisco Liriano (1-5) retired the last 11 batters he faced and struck out nine to lead host Minnesota over Oakland.
WHITE SOX 4, RAYS 3 Alexei Ramirez drove in two runs and visiting Chicago extended its winning streak to a season-high eight games with a victory over Tampa Bay.
BLUE JAYS 4, ORIOLES 1 Edwin Encarnacion hit one of Toronto’s four home runs, pitcher Brandon Morrow (6-3) left the game after being struck by a line drive and host Toronto beat Baltimore.
MARINERS 21, RANGERS 8 Justin Smoak hit two three-run home runs against his former team and visiting Seattle used two eight-run innings early to rout Texas.
ROYALS 6, INDIANS 3 Bruce Chen (4-5) overcame a rocky second inning and visiting Kansas City scored its first five runs with two outs in a victory over Cleveland.
Wednesday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Chicago Cubs 8, San Diego 6 Pittsburgh 2, Cincinnati 1 Philadelphia 10, NY Mets 6 Atlanta 10, St. Louis 7 Miami 5, Washington 3 Colorado 13, Houston 5 Milwaukee at LA Dodgers, (n) Arizona at San Francisco, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Kansas City 6, Cleveland 3 Chicago White Sox 4, Tampa Bay 3 Minnesota 4, Oakland 0 Toronto 4, Baltimore 1 Boston 6, Detroit 4 Seattle 21, Texas 8 NY Yankees at LA Angels, (n)
Sports, Pages 22 on 05/31/2012