Brandon Cumpton gave another solid spot start for the Pirates allowing only two runs in seven innings of work, but the run support wasn’t there yet again in a Bucs 2-1 loss to the Reds on Thursday afternoon.
Cumpton experienced trouble in the first by walking Joey Votto and allowing a hit to Brandon Phillips. However, he would get out of the inning clean by striking out Jay Bruce and getting Todd Frazier to fly out. Cumpton would then retire 12 of the next 15 batters he faced until the sixth inning when the Reds took over.
“I felt good,” said Cumpton. “I got out of the gate pretty hot and I let a couple of pitches get away from me in that sixth inning that kind of hurt me.”
Cumpton hit Votto to start the inning before retiring Phillips and Bruce. He then hit Todd Frazier before Ryan Ludwick cast the deciding blow with a double to the notch to give the Reds the lead for good.
“I was being aggressive and going in [on Votto and Frazier] and a couple of those were with two strikes to them, so I cant let that happen, but it’s going to happen because I pitch in a lot. Unfortunately, it came back to haunt me today.”
The Pirates offense with runners in scoring position was non-existent against Reds starter Tony Cingrani as they went 1-for-8 with RISP. The only RBI coming from Pedro Alvarez in the first when he knocked in Neil Walker with two out. It was a rare RBI against a left handed pitcher for Alvarez, who went 1-for-4 on the day with three strikeouts.
Pirate hitters also struck out 12 times on the day and four times in the final two innings.
“There’s a lot of different things to look at besides numbers,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “The quality of the competition, who you’re facing, how you face them. We’ve got some guys here that we need to find some consistency and use the opportunity that’s there while it’s there to get something done and we’ll see where that takes us.”
The loss is the Pirates eighth in ten games and drops them to 9-14. They were never five games under .500 last year.
Starters Lines
Cumpton (L, 0-1): 7 IN, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 K’s, 3 HP. 98 Pitches (68 Strikes).
Cingrani (W, 2-2): 6 IN, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K’s. 103 Pitches (64 Strikes).
The Pirates now take the road for a three-game series in St. Louis and a two-game series in Baltimore.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Gerrit Cole (PIT): 2-1, 3.67 ERA
(RHP) Shelby Miller (STL): 1-2, 3.57 ERA
Tomorrow’s first pitch is set for 8:15.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
