Ohlendorf wins 1st salary arbitration hearing

Pitcher Ross Ohlendorf has defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first salary arbitration hearing this year, even after going 1-11 last season.

Ohlendorf was awarded a raise from $439,000 to $2,025,000 Wednesday by arbitrators Steven Wolf, Fredric Horowitz and Robert Herzog, who heard the case a day earlier. The Pirates had argued he should be paid $1.4 million.

The 28-year-old right-hander had a 4.07 ERA in 21 starts for Pittsburgh last year, and his record on a team that went a major league-worst 57-105 was down from 11-10 the previous year.

Ohlendorf's ERA was lower than the 4.31 of Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez, who will make $1,625,000 this year. Volquez was 4-3 last year after returning from elbow surgery and a 50-game suspension following a positive drug test.

Twelve more players remain in arbitration, with hearings scheduled through Feb. 18.