It wasn’t that the Pirates outplayed the Reds on Saturday night. Actually, it was anything but. If you watched the game, the Pirates were outplayed in every facet. Fortunately for the Pirates and the fans, the Pirates were able to win the only category that mattered in a 2-1 victory.
Looking at the match up, it wasn’t in the Pirates favor as they entered PNC Park. Johnny Cueto, one of the top pitchers in baseball, was going for the Reds. Jeff Locke, a mystery at this point, was taking the bump for the Pirates. The Reds had every opportunity to score against the Pirates southpaw, but despite having multiple runners reach base in five of the first six innings of the game, the Reds could only muster one run. To make matters worse for the Brandon Phillips-less lineup of Cincinnati, they were 0-11 with RISP for the game.
For the Pirates, they’ll take the win anyway they can.
“The staples that you wanted off the mound we didn’t have other than we didn’t let people score,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “That’s never not good. Not letting people score.”
The Buccos caught a break in the fourth inning after Cueto appeared to come up lame following the first pitch of an at bat to Travis Snider. Almost immediately, Cueto left the game and was done for the night. The Reds reported it was a right triceps strain for Cueto. The Pirates were able to score one run off Cueto in the fourth when Garrett Jones drove in Andrew McCutchen with an RBI double.
Despite an overall shaky outing from Locke, he was able to hold the Reds offense to just one run off a solo homer from Zack Cozart in the third inning.
“The pitch was supposed to be in. It’s another one of those issues I’ve had in spring training and early on this season when the ball is supposed to be in, it has to be in for purpose, not just a strike,” Locke said. “He was ready for it and is a good hitter. Right when it left my hand, I knew it was going to be trouble.”
The Pirates were able to break the tie in the fifth inning off of Alfredo Simon – who came in for Cueto – as Starling Marte drove in Travis Snider with an RBI single. Jose Tabata added the final run for the Pirates with an RBI double scoring Pedro Alvarez in the bottom half of the seventh.
“He [Locke] competed – and he had too – all night,” Hurdle said. “He was able to make pitches, a couple of balls were hit at people, it’s just the way it worked. Anytime you leave after five innings and leave seven on base, his walkaway was good. A ball had to be hit out of the ballpark for them to score off of him.”
The Pirates, winners of four out of their last five games, will finish the three-game set against the Reds tomorrow as Mat Latos (0-0, 4.05 ERA) will take the hill for the Reds. While the Pirates haven’t made it official, it’s expected that Phil Irwin will make his Major League debut for the Pirates replacing the injured Wandy Rodriguez.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:35.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
