Paul

Maholm

Maholm’s destination in the minors will be determined by Pirates coaches at an evaluation in Bradenton, Florida.

Maholm was carried off on a stretcher after pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings. No word yet on his condition.

“He’ll go back to his apartment and rest for three or four days,” said Bo McKinnis, Maholm’s agent. “We won’t know how bad everything is until the swelling goes down, but the preliminary probe shows no vision problems, and he has feeling in all of his extremities.” In a best-case scenario, Maholm might be ready to pitch in game sitations in about a month.

Salomon Torres, Matt Capps and Damaso Marte finished the shutout. Maholm has turned in three straight quality starts to lower his ERA to 4.58. He still looks like a poor play with the lefty-mashing Reds up next on the schedule.

Maholm gave up seven hits and walked four while striking out one, so he needed some help in the contest. That he was able to pitch out of a bases loaded jam in the first certainly helped, but so did Damaso Marte stranding a pair of runners after both Maholm and reliever Matt Capps had departed in the seventh. Salomon Torres and Mike Gonzalez then each added a scoreless inning of their own to protect a 5-3 lead, giving Gonzalez his 24th save in as many opportunities this season.

Reliever Matt Capps bailed Maholm out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth by inducing a double play ball from Aaron Boone to preserve a 2-1 lead. Capps then blew that one-run lead in the seventh when gave up an RBI double to Jhonny Peralta. Maholm has a 15/4 K/BB ratio in his last two starts and there are worse options than using him in NL-only leagues against the Astros next time out.

Maholm took a shutout into the seventh, but he started that inning by allowing three straight singles and a bases-loaded triple. Jim Tracy might deserve some blame here for sticking with Maholm even with only right-handers due up after the second single, but the left-hander’s pitch count was still quite low. Maholm dropped to 0-3 in his last eight starts.

He gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out three in his first win since May 16 and third overall. Maholm could use another outing like this next time out to solidify his spot in the rotation. The Pirates have Victor Santos coming back and Oliver Perez could be recalled before the end of the month, so Maholm needs to step it up in order to guarantee his place.

Maholm’s ERA is back over 5.00 for the first time in nearly two months. Maybe the Pirates will consider dropping him from the rotation to make room for Victor Santos next week. It’s still more likely that they’ll sent Tom Gorzelanny back to Triple-A.

Maholm enjoyed a breakout first half, but he struggled mightily down the stretch and had to be shut down in August with a shoulder strain. The Pirates could decline the hefty $9.75 million option and try to re-sign him at a lesser salary. But he would be eligible for free agency at that point.