Bats, Bullpen Fail Bucs In 5-2 Loss

The Reds went down 1-2-3 to Trevor Williams; the Bucs hit bullets off Robert Stephenson (Fraze's drive a gold glove grab by Jesse Winker) with only Cutch's screamer finding grass. Trevo worked a clean second; Pittsburgh stranded a walk. The Reds got a single in the third; the Pirates put up nada. The ball had eyes for Cincy in the fourth; a pair of ground ball raps and a sac fly made it 1-0. An infield single added a little more stress but Williams worked out of more trouble. Pittsburgh came up empty again. Trevo gave up an opening walk in the fifth then fanned the side. The Bucs also opened with a walk and did nothing afterward. The Reds caused some more problems in the sixth. Joey Votto's double was followed by a single and walk, loading the sacks with an out. Daniel Hudson came in and got a short fly, then lost a batter on a 3-2 count to make it 2-0 before a whiff that came a batter late. Trevo must lead the league in runners scored after he's gone.

Another good outing for naught (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Pirates got one back when Marte dropped one for a bingle, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on J-Bell's two-out knock off Mike Lorenzen, who had just entered the match. Bell took second on the throw home (Marte missed the dish and had to do a reach-back to score) and that base counted when Freeser singled him home to knot the score. Joaquin Benoit made his first Bucco appearance in the seventh and gave up a homer to Winker who has became the newest Redleg Pirate-killer. Pittsburgh went quietly again. Juan Nicasio worked the eighth. He had a bumpy time surrendering a double and walk but kept the Reds off the board. Raisel Iglesias took the ball and Fraze worked him for a one-out walk followed by a Cutch rap, but that was it. Felipe got the ninth inning call and gave up a leadoff knock to Billy Hamilton. After a couple of whiffs, Adam Duvall deposited a changeup into the seats and the Red curse continued. JJ walked with two outs (hard to do, as the strike zone has opened up considerably; can't really blame ump Bill Miller for looking to call it a night) to prolong the game by a batter.

Not much to say except the Pirates seem on a mission to lower ERAs around the league. The lack of power is a killer; the Reds scored three times on long balls while Pittsburgh is on a station-to-station treadmill. They're 2-8 in the last 10 games, scoring 17 runs in the two wins and 17 runs in the eight losses.

At least Andrew knows what the wood is for (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Cutch had two of the Pirates five hits; Freeser had a walk and a knock.
• Adam Duvall's homer was the first that Felipe Rivero's given up since May 13th. It's the first time he's been scored on since June 27th and just the sixth time he's given up run(s) in 51 outings.
• J-Hay should be close to returning to action; he got in to pinch-hit tonight, grounding out.
• The crowd tonight was 22,367.