James McDonald gave up four runs in two innings as the Pirates lost to their Double-A Altoona affiliate 8-6 on Saturday. Well, to be fair, Altoona did get to use four Pirates pitchers, while the actual Pirates used just two before going with minor leaguers. Still, it doesn't look very good to lose to the Double-A team. McDonald was one of the NL's best pitchers for the first half of last season, but he hasn't really looked like that guy this spring. Mixed leaguers can do better.