Cincinnati would like to keep Pittsburgh from finding its footing Sunday, when it counters with right-hander Dan Straily, who has been on an uptick of his own.
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PITTSBURGH (AP) – From the get-go, Billy Hamilton could not be contained Sunday.
Gerrit Cole gave up four runs, Jared Hughes and newcomer Curtis Partch gave up three more, and the Pirates’ offense wasted opportunities in Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Reds.
“My job is to get on base and get into scoring position for these guys behind me to drive me in”, Hamilton said.
“That’s my job. I felt like I did my job”. Hamilton led off with a double to the right-field corner, stole third and scored an out later on Votto’s sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-0. He finished the day with 43 steals this season.
Hamilton helped the Reds avoid a series sweep with his bat and legs. The center fielder also made a leaping, backhanded catch that drew applause from the Pittsburgh fans at PNC Park.
“We weren’t where we wanted to be with it”. Manager Clint Hurdle said there is no room for Locke in the rotation following the trade for Nova and the activation of RHP Ryan Vogelsong on Thursday from the disabled list. “It’s my responsibility to take care of that and everybody has different jobs to do”.
“Through all the challenges that he’s had offensively, the defense has kept him in the big leagues, to be honest, more so than the stolen bases”, Price said.
Pirates catcher Eric Fryer crushed a ball to center field that turned Hamilton around twice.
“It’s hard for me to come into that situation at that point and let us down”, Ohlendorf said. “That ball, it started off over one of his shoulders, kind of knuckled back”.
“A walk to start off the game is pretty much a triple within four or five pitches”, Cole said. I hung a slider. He hit the ball well. “I was very fortunate”. Buccos starter Ivan Nova won his first start since coming over from NY with all three runs allowed on six hits through seven innings.
The Pirates won their second game in a row following a 1-5 stretch while the Reds lost back-to-back games for the first time since dropping three in a row from July 8-10.
After making short work through the first four innings, Straily needed 26 pitches to get out of the fifth.
Nova lasted only 4 1/3 innings in his final start with the Yankees, giving up five runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs.
The Bucs scored a run in the bottom of the inning on Josh Harrison’s fourth homer of the season, but the Reds opened the floodgates against the weak end of the Pirates’ bullpen in the seventh. Straily has been one of Cincinnati’s best pitching options with a 6-6 record in 18 starts with a 3.80 ERA.
The Cincinnati Reds’ manager makes a call to the bullpen and a reliever comes into the game and promptly gives up a home run to the first batter he faces. “That’s not going to get the job done”.
Brandon Phillips led off the inning with a home run to left, his first home run in 72 games and 286 at-bats, the longest home run drought of his career.
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The Pirates scored again off of Bailey in the third, when Harrison led off the inning with a bunt single and went to second on Eugenio Suarez’s throwing error. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, among Pirates players to debut in the past 40 seasons, only three totaled 200 extra-base hits with the club in fewer games: Barry Bonds (465 games), Andrew McCutchen (493 games) and Aramis Ramirez (564 games).
