Worth noting

• Hurdle was confident Mark Melancon, who has been scored upon in three of his last four appearances, would have his A-list cutter back after a four-day layoff since his previous outing on Saturday. Melancon led Pirates pitchers with 72 appearances, and even with the rough finish, he wound up with the lowest ERA (1.39) in club history of anyone with 50-plus relief innings.

• Byrd said he is OK with it if people begin calling him by a new nickname, Charlie Parker. The outfielder laughed heartily when reminded that Parker, the great jazz saxophonist, was better known by his nickname, Bird. Even better, according to his biographer, Parker's full nickname, which was usually shortened, was actually Yardbird.