It took until the bottom of the sixth inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates to get ball out of the infield, as they lost 3-0 Wednesday night to the Cincinnati Reds.
In the game, one Pirates player reached third base. This occurred in the aforementioned sixth inning. The Reds scored two runs in the fourth inning and their other in the fifth.
Gerrit Cole [4-1] allowed a lead-off triple to Todd Frazier. Frazier was inches away from his second home run to center field. Andrew McCutchen had a bit of trouble getting the ball off the wall, which helped Frazier advance to third base. The next batter, Brandon Phillips cued a ball down the third base line. Frazier crossed home plate as Josh Harrison moved back in an effort to get a foul ball call. With two outs, Cole walked Tucker Barnhart to pitch to pitcher Mike Leake [2-1]. Leake had a hard hit ground-rule double, which allowed Phillips to score.
In the fifth inning Marlon Byrd led off the inning with an 0-1 pitch that landed in the Reds bullpen for his fifth home run of the season. In two games this series, Byrd has two homers and five RBI.
Cole pitched five innings allowing eight hits, three runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Cole threw 91 pitches, 55 of which were strikes.
“Gerrit pitched a good ballgame,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We got in a couple of tough spots, he battled, had good stuff, his command at times were left out. I picked the wrong hitter to go at [Leake double] and that’s on me. He battled, he went after people, they were able to work some counts to elevate his pitch count. There was no shame with what he went out there and got after it like he always does.”
“I was just missing with the fastball off the plate consistently today,” Cole added. “I wasn’t getting count leverage early and I had to work out of some jams.”
The Pirates had an opportunity to score in the sixth inning with Walker on third base after Starling Marte reached base by error but Pedro Alvarez struck out looking on a 1-2 knuckle curve.
Rob Scahill lowered his ERA to 0.73 with two scoreless innings after Cole was removed from the game. He allowed one hit and struck out a batter.
With two outs in the seventh, Francisco Cervelli and pinch-hitter Corey Hart each singled. The next batter, Gregory Polanco, hit a soft ground ball. Leake tried to make a play on it. The ball appeared to hit Polanco as Cervelli crossed home plate, however the run was disallowed. Hurdle came out and home plate umpire Chris Conroy told him that Polanco was ruled out of the baseline. The fans applause over the potential run quickly turned into boos.
“The only way we get that call is if there’s a no-call instead of a call of out because it’s also a non-reviewable play,” said Hurdle. “He was not in the box I thought he was on the line. I was arguing that he was in the box in some degree but he was on the line.”
For the second consecutive game, Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth inning, this time in a save situation. Jung-ho Kang, who got the Pirates first hit of the game, got a double which deflected off Kristopher Negron’s glove, however he was stranded. Chapman recorded his sixth save of the season in as many chances with this appearance.
This series concludes Thursday when Anthony DeSclafani [2-2 2.03 ERA] takes on A.J. Burnett [0-1 1.45 ERA]. DeSclafani is 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one career start against the Pirates. Burnett is 7-6 in 17 career starts against the Reds. He pitched against DeSclafani and also received a no-decision in the Apr. 9 loss.
Of note:
Pirates top-rated prospect Tyler Glasnow got injured sliding into second base and was removed prior to the fourth inning of Wednesday’s Altoona Curve game.
“I’ve done it before,” Glasnow told Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror. “It’s not that bad, it hurts right now but it’s like a normal sprained ankle.”
Photo courtesy: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
