Bonus Bucs

• Pirates lefty reliever Tony Watson allowed an uncontested steal of second base during a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday, something manager Clint Hurdle acknowledged his pitcher was still working on preventing. Watson wound up as the winning pitcher and moved to 4-0 when the Pirates scored three times in the ninth and his ERA dropped to 1.50.

"Tony's release time can be lengthy. … That's just a part of his game that he has to continue to hone to the best of his ability," Hurdle said. "You don't want to lose focus on what he can do at the plate. He's been very effective this year."

• The Pirates bullpen has picked up eight of the team's last nine wins and four of the last five road wins. Pittsburgh leads the Major Leagues in bullpen wins with 13.

• Both Neil Walker and Jordy Mercer singled in their final at-bats Wednesday to extend hitting streaks to six games and five games, respectively. Walker has reached safely in 13 consecutive games and leads all MLB second basemen with 23 RBIs