Cincinnati Reds’ Tyler Holt (40) drives in a run with a single off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Jared Hughes in the eighth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. Harrison was injured on the play and left the game. The Reds and Pirates don’t really get along very well.
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Thursday night, Ivan Nova was absolutely brilliant as he has been with the Pirates.
Kang’s homer came with a man on and two outs in the bottom of the third and staked the Pirates to a 4-0 lead.
When asked if he would call a meeting in an effort to spark his team, manager Clint Hurdle gave a terse answer.
“I didn’t do a good job making a pitch to get out of it”, Hutchison said.
Cincinnati pulled back ahead in the fourth as pitcher Tim Adleman had an RBI single to right. With runners on first and second, Jordy Mercer bounced into a fielder’s choice for the final out.
Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (elbow inflammation) threw a 32-pitch bullpen session before the game and said he is ready to be activated from the DL on Monday night and start at Philadelphia. “That solo shot by (Votto) gave Tony some breathing room, which we needed”.
The rookie was originally supposed to start Saturday but the Pirates made a decision to give him a break after working 134 1/3 innings between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis this season. Joey Votto has managed 146 hits with 85 runs, 22 homers and 81 RBI. “He can hit the ball out of the ballpark, hit the ball all over the field and has such great plate discipline that he gets on base at a.430 clip”.
“There’s some things there that you like”, Hurdle said. The Pirates have dropped 11 of 13 overall to fall off the pace in the NL wild-card race. Tucker Barnhart drove in three runs.
Pirates starter Drew Hutchison was effective through the first three innings, but ran into big trouble in the fourth when he gave up four runs on five hits, allowing the Reds to tie the game.
Williams took over in the fifth and allowed the first three batters to reach safely, including a bunt single by Brandon Phillips when nobody recorded an out.
Williams took the loss in his second major league appearance after allowing one unearned run in three innings on Wednesday in a win over St. Louis. “Unfortunately, I hung a slider a little bit (to Barnhart)”. It was Polanco’s first career ejection.
Cincinnati (60-82) finished with 13 hits.
Kang went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a walk in the losing cause. The Pirates left 10 runners on base and went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
“My vision is to get us playing better”, Hurdle said. “The fourth was just frustrating and disappointing”. Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte (back spasms) was out of the lineup for the fifth game in a row. The rookie was originally supposed to start Saturday but the Pirates chose to give him a break after working 134 1/3 innings between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis this season. In 21 career games against the Reds, he’s 5-5 with a 4.34 ERA. He is winless in his last three starts despite a 3.00 ERA in that span.
Pirates: RHP Drew Hutchison (1-0, 4.97) will make his debut with Pittsburgh after being called up Tuesday from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in seven games following his acquisition from the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade August 1.
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