PITTSBURGH -- Trevor Williams’ 106th pitch on Saturday night was a four-seam fastball located at the top of the strike zone, away -- and apparently just a bit too far away -- from the left-handed-hitting Shogo Akiyama. Home-plate umpire James Hoye called it ball four, Akiyama trotted to first base and manager Derek Shelton emerged from the Pirates’ dugout.

Left-hander Derek Holland was ready to run in from the bullpen, standing just behind the gate in left-center field. It was the first time Shelton made a mound visit with no intention of removing his starter. So when Williams moved to hand the ball to Shelton, the manager grabbed his starter around the waist and pulled him back on the mound. After a brief conversation, Williams toed the rubber again to finish the sixth inning of the Pirates’ 6-2 loss to the Reds at PNC Park.

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“I thought he was coming to get me. We had a 'What are you doing?' moment. 'I don't know. What are you doing?'” Williams said. “He said he trusts me to get the last guy out, and I said, 'All right, here we go.’”

Williams threw five more pitches to Jose Garcia -- who hit a harmless fly ball to right fielder Gregory Polanco -- bringing his total on the night to 111. It was the second-highest pitch count of his career, behind only the 114 he threw against Rich Hill on Aug. 23, 2017.

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It was a satisfying conclusion to another unsatisfying night for Williams and the Pirates, who lost for the 26th time in 38 games. The right-hander looked to be in command at times as he struck out six batters, allowed only five hits and put up zeroes in four of his six frames. But the Reds took him deep three times, including twice in a four-run third inning.

Williams has now allowed 10 homers in 40 1/3 innings this season, a big reason why he’s 1-6 with a 5.80 ERA. Those aren't the numbers that Williams or anyone had in mind for this season, not after his disappointing, injury-interrupted campaign a year ago.

“Your numbers are going to be your numbers. If it looks bad, so be it. I know that I’m a good pitcher,” Williams said. “I know that, at the end of the day, I’m executing most of my pitches. And there are some things that I do need to work on, there’s no doubt about that. However, I’m taking as much positive as I can.”

On Saturday, Williams was pleased with his slider and curveball. He unveiled one change he’d been working on with pitching coach Oscar Marin, ditching his windup and pitching exclusively out of the stretch, and he thought that synced up his delivery and improved his tempo on the mound.

“I thought the stuff was pretty good tonight,” Shelton said. “Honestly, tonight I thought he did a good job executing pitches. It was very similar to the Minnesota outing, for me, that he went seven. I think we just have to continue to build on that and work on the execution that he’s had specifically in those two games.”

Pitching from the stretch to begin the game, Williams worked a perfect first inning on 10 pitches. He quickly retired the first two batters he faced in the second, then Josh Bell flipped what would have been the third out over Williams’ outstretched glove for an error that extended the frame by nine pitches.

The pitches the Reds hit out of the ballpark weren’t center-cut meatballs by any means. Tucker Barnhart launched an outside fastball, left up just enough, to center field to begin the third. Eugenio Suárez pulled a sinker located down and in, on the black, out to left field for a three-run homer. Suárez struck again in the sixth, slicing a fastball outside the strike zone into the right-field seats.

"You have to tip your hat to those guys,” Williams said. “Barnhart hit a really good pitch. The first one to Suárez, we went to a spot where we thought we could get them into a double play; it was a similar pitch that we threw to [Nick] Castellanos to get him out, and we thought it was open for us. It's just one of those things, you have to tip your hat to a guy. ... The one he hit in the sixth is one of those where I have to do a better job recognizing my body, my heater up at 100-plus pitches may not play as good as it was earlier in the game.”

Suárez swatted his third home run of the night off Holland in the eighth inning. The last player to hit three homers in a game against the Pirates was Paul DeJong, who did so on July 24, 2019. Former Red Derek Dietrich also went deep three times against Pittsburgh on May 28, 2019.

“He hit three homers today. You tip your hat to him,” Williams said. “Unfortunately, the first one he hit was a three-run homer. It's the crooked numbers you can't really defend. You're swimming uphill after that. You just have to read swings and read certain things. But it's one of those things that you tip your hats to those guys. Barnhart put a good swing on it, and Suarez did twice."