Too Little, Too Late: Pirates Fall To Reds Again 9-5

Robert Stephenson struck out the first six Bucco batters; a double-triple-sac fly combo in the second off Ivan Nova gave the Reds a quick 2-0 lead. The Pirates cut the lead in half in the third when Fraze singled home Cervy, who had walked; unfortunately, Marte ended the inning caught in a rundown trying to advance to third on the hit. Oh, and Fran's out of the game - he blew a wheel; looks like Eli's coming again. JJ tied it in the fourth when Billy Hamilton had trouble getting to his ball, allowing it to drop for a double to score J-Bell, aboard on an infield single. Cincy came right back; a J-Hay boot followed by three straight singles made it 3-2 and left the bases jammed with no outs. Ivan took care of that by K'ing the next three Redleg batters with an unfortunate wild pitch (with two out and two strikes, smh) thrown in to make it 4-2. The wheels came off completely in the fifth. Adam Duvall went long, then with two gone and the bases clean, a walk and a Scott Schebler dinger put the Fat Lady on notice.

J-Bell is still ringing loud and clear (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

With two away and the bases loaded, Tim Adleman replaced Stephenson and Joey O hit for Ivan. He K'ed, swinging through a changeup. Huddy came on and struck out the side. A walk, double and J-Bell dinger chased Adleman in the seventh. Hudson loaded the bases via a walk and back-to-back two-out plunks and Schugs was called on to face pinch hitter Patrick Kivlehan. Unlike the Bucs, the Reds cashed in on the opportunity when Kivlehan dinked a hit 'em where they ain't double the opposite way to plate a pair. A walk filled the bags again but the third time was the charm for AJ. The rest of the game went by quietly. Can't pitch, can't win.

Notes:

• Per the Pirates: "Francisco Cervelli was removed from this evenings game due to left quad discomfort. His status is day-to-day."
• J-Bell had four hits, Jordy added a pair with a walk, Fraze had a knock and two walks while JJ had a rap and a walk.
• The Buc batters struck out 15 times.
• Josh Bell should be the Bucs top rookie HR hitter in franchise history when the smoke of the season clears. He has 22 bombs, behind just Jason Bay (26-2004), Ralph Kiner (23-1946) & Johnny Rizzo (23-1938).
• Pittsburgh has lost 10-of-13 despite scoring five or more runs in six of the last seven games. In those last 13 contests (116 IP), Pirates pitching has given up 81 runs (74 earned/5.74 ERA) on 127 hits (25 homers), 61 walks (two intentional), nine hit batsmen and tossed five wild pitches.
• In a minor league match tonight, ex-Bucco C Mike "The Fort" McKenry was called on to pitch the ninth inning of a mercy-rule match; he faced old matey Pedro Alvarez, who took him deep.  Oh, the humanity...