MILWAUKEE -- Paul Maholm had his house in order Tuesday night. In more ways than one.
On the day when the Pirates' rookie pitcher learned his home in Mississippi had been spared serious damage by Hurricane Katrina, he took care of some other important business. Maholm pitched eight shutout innings to win his major-league debut, helping the Pirates snap a five-game losing streak with a 6-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Staked to a five-run lead before he took the mound, the 23-year-old left-hander efficiently dispatched the Brewers on four hits until Salomon Torres took over in the ninth and completed the shutout.
Maholm struck out five and walked three in a dazzling 108-pitch performance. He also became the first Pirates pitcher to win his debut since Joe Beimel on April 8, 2001.
"He was pretty impressive," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I'm almost at a loss for words."
Maholm also exceeded his own expectations, even collecting his first hit.
"Of course, I wanted to do what I did, but I expected to have some rough innings and battle through it," he said. "What happened was way better than I expected."
The debut wasn't without its share of distractions for the former first-round draft pick. Maholm was supposed to start Monday at PNC Park against the Cincinnati Reds until the game was postponed because of rain.
Maholm also was closely monitoring Hurricane Katrina, which cut a path of destruction through Mississippi. Maholm recently purchased a home in the Biloxi suburb of Ocean Springs, and he didn't learn until 11 a.m. yesterday that the damage to the house was minimal.
"Unfortunately," he said, "a lot of other people will be hurting for years."
Maholm watched news reports of the hurricane until it was time to take the field for the pre-game stretch.
"It was game time," he said. "One of my strengths is I can block a lot of things out and go after it."
Sort of like Zach Duke, whose meteoric rise to success this season Maholm can only hope to duplicate.
Maholm already has exceeded his fellow rookie left-hander in one regards. He can boast a win in his debut in Milwaukee. Duke received a no-decision when he made his debut July 2 at Miller Park and allowed three runs in seven innings.
"I watched Zach's game against them," Maholm said. "We throw somewhat similar. I watched his film to get a feel for what they do and tried to follow the same game plan."
Ironically, it was an ankle injury to Duke that led to Maholm joining the Pirates.
Maholm was able to settle in thanks to a 5-0 lead handed to him before he threw his first pitch. That was unexpected considering Brewers starter Doug Davis (9-10) retired the first two batters. Davis also allowed two hits in the inning, but was done in by four walks.
Jason Bay and Craig Wilson drew consecutive walks, and Ryan Doumit brought Bay home when he dropped a single into shallow center field. Davis walked Brad Eldred and Ty Wigginton, and Jack Wilson broke it open with a three-run double to right.
Maholm's biggest test came in the fourth when a throwing error by second baseman Freddy Sanchez negated a potential inning-ending double play and put runners on first and second with one out. A walk loaded the bases, but Maholm buckled down and got a shallow fly ball and grounder to end the threat.
"That's the sign of a good pitcher, when you pick your defense up when it lets you down," McClendon said. "He never flinched."
The only time Maholm let his guard down was in the eighth when Jack Wilson made a diving stop behind second and, from his belly, turned a nifty double play to end the inning.
As he walked off the mound, Maholm pumped his fist.
"I knew I was done," Maholm said. "I was trying to let the emotions out."
