Big hit eludes Bucs; 'We have to score'

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates quieted the Reds’ potent offense through nine innings for a second straight game, as Trevor Cahill worked 5 1/3 strong frames as he and five relievers held Cincinnati to just one run through nine innings.

But an inability to hit with runners in scoring position early in the game reared its ugly head late when the Reds jumped ahead in extras and won, 5-1, in 10 innings.

“I don’t think we could ask for any more,” manager Derek Shelton. “We have to score. We have to find a way to get runs across.”

Pittsburgh had a tough draw in Sonny Gray, who entered the game with a Major League-record 48 consecutive starts allowing six or fewer hits. At least it seemed tough on paper.

But the Pirates had runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, thanks in part to some wild pitches by Gray, who became the first Reds pitcher since 1900 to throw four wild pitches in a game.

Only once did the Pirates’ bats capitalize against Gray. Gregory Polanco, who returned from the injured list on Tuesday, broke Gray’s historic streak of starts when he hit an RBI single on the first pitch he saw in the fifth inning to score Kevin Newman. It was the seventh base hit the Reds starter allowed on the day.

Gray was effective when it mattered. In fact, Newman stood at second base twice prior to being knocked in by Polanco in the fifth on the Bucs’ third try at driving him in.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of going out there and competing,” Newman said. “Sonny made some good pitches when it really counted today, and we weren't able to get those runs in ultimately. Obviously, we want to, we do our best to get them in, but sometimes you've got to tip your cap.”

Shelton said the Pirates’ batters, who finished 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, “got a little big” at times, expanding the zone against Gray, who threw his two-seamer and slider effectively with opposing in-and-out movements.

“It’s just one of those things where we’ve got to pick better pitches,” Shelton said, “and when we get the pitches, stay under control, and we got a little out of control in those spots.”

The Pirates are playing with a revamped lineup due to injuries and roster moves. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran are on the injured list. Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds were left out of the starting lineup with scheduled days off, though they both entered the game late -- and partly due to injury, as Phillip Evans left the game in the fifth inning with left hamstring discomfort.

The inability of the newly constructed lineup to hit in opportunistic situations came back to bite the Pirates when the game went to extra innings. Duane Underwood Jr., the seventh pitcher used by Pittsburgh, struggled in the 10th, allowing an RBI single to Jesse Winker and a bases-clearing double to Eugenio Suárez.

Despite Underwood’s struggles, pitching was not the problem. Cahill allowed a loud homer to Mike Moustakas in the second inning, but he was phenomenal around that. The Pirates’ starter allowed only three hits with no walks in 5 1/3 innings, marking one of his most effective starts of the season. Five pitchers backed him up with 3 1/3 blank frames through regulation.

“It 100 percent came down to [missed scoring chances],” Shelton said. “... We had opportunities, especially against Sonny Gray, to put people on base, which people have not done in the last couple of years. We gave ourselves opportunities, then didn’t capitalize on them.”