Brault makes pitch for starting job

CINCINNATI -- A lot has been discussed and written about the Pirates' depleted rotation, but on Wednesday, Steven Brault did his part to shift the conversation from what's lacking to what worked well.

One day after starter Jordan Lyles left his outing prematurely with a leg injury, Brault stepped in to contribute 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the Pirates' 7-2 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. The game, which started two hours and 13 minutes late because of rain, allowed the Pirates to leave town with a split of the four-game set between the NL Central rivals.

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“It was a good day,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The sun came out, the bats showed up. We know what it's like to win and we know what we need to do to win. That's why we don't overlook it when some of these games have gotten sideways. We understand why. We're going to stay together and we're going to keep playing.”

Here are four takeaways from a convincing win on a getaway day in downtown Cincinnati:

1. Efficient outing for Brault

Based on his past two outings, Brault, who was strong in 5 2/3 innings of relief in his prior appearance vs. the Dodgers on May 24, is a key candidate to remain a part of the starting five, maybe even after Pittsburgh's injured pitchers get healthy.

“You never want to get an opportunity because of injuries, but yeah, when an opportunity presents itself, you have to take advantage of it,” Brault said. “I do want to be a starter. I know that as people come back there will be less spots. For now, I'm just focusing on starting whenever I get the ball and go as deep into games as possible being effective.”

How dire have things been for the Pirates lately? Something as innocuous as retiring the side in the first inning was a notable event. When Brault recorded three quick outs in his first frame vs. the Reds, it marked the first time since May 19 any Bucs starter pitched a 1-2-3 to begin his outing.

Turns out, that efficiency was a forecast of what was to come.

Brault did not allow a Reds baserunner until the fourth, when leadoff hitter Nick Senzel singled to right. Brault held Cincinnati to three hits, while fanning five.

“Today was a day when I was able to get ahead of hitters,” Brault said. “When I can move my fastball to both sides of the plate, I can be effective. Today was one of those days where we have a good defense -- I'm just going to let them hit it.”

2. Walk Puig, pitch to...Dietrich?

The most interesting segment of Brault’s outing arrived later in the fourth, when he opted to intentionally walk Yasiel Puig to face the Reds’ hottest hitter, Derek Dietrich, whose past six hits were all home runs.

The Pirates gambled on the lefty-on-lefty matchup, rather than worry about the way Dietrich has tortured Pittsburgh’s pitchers this year. They wagered correctly -- Dietrich, who had two hits in 10 at-bats this season vs. southpaws entering this game, struck out for the second time.

“We saw things in the first at-bat with Dietrich pulling off a little bit that we felt confident that we were going to be able to get him to do it again and get him to chase another slider,” Brault said. “So really, when it came down to it, lefty-lefty, it's just harder [to hit].”

3. Bell, Moran provide the thump

The game was scoreless for five innings, before Colin Moran’s three-run homer off Anthony DeSclafani in the sixth broke the game open. Josh Bell added a three-run homer off Michael Lorenzen the next inning.

Bell now has 12 homers in the month of May, tying a club record set by Jason Bay in 2006. Bell has also hit safely in 27 of his past 29 games.

“We had a bit of a rocky stretch there, so to come through and help build on that lead we had was awesome,” Bell said. “Anytime we can establish a lead of four or five runs is nice.”

4. Tense moment

Based on prior events, it’s fair to say the Pirates and Reds have a bit of hostility between them. So when Clay Holmes hit Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez on the left hand in the eighth inning, there was some question if this would escalate into an all-out brawl.

Suarez and Holmes exchanged words during Suarez’s walk to first base -- in fact, Suarez walked toward the mound to talk to the Pirates pitcher. But the conversation was cordial, and nothing came of it, though an unhappy Reds manager David Bell did get ejected after the incident.

“We just clarified that it wasn't intentional and he kept going to first,” Holmes said. “The first pitch of the inning, it got away from me. I was definitely not trying to hurt him or hit him. It was one of things where it's part of the game. I hope he's healthy and I hope he's good to go.”

Said Suarez: “I don’t know if they are going to hit me on purpose. That’s why I walked up to him and asked him if he hit me on purpose,” Suarez said. “He said, ‘No. Definitely not.’ I just said ‘I wanted to make sure because I don’t like that pitch up and in, right on my face.’ He said ‘No.’