Pittsburgh Pirates Get Swept By Cincinnati Reds

The Pittsburgh Pirates had their third straight clunker of a game on Wednesday night

For a third consecutive night, the Pittsburgh Pirates played a horrible game against the Cincinnati Reds. As a result, the Reds finished off a three-game sweep to improve to 7-2 on the season. With the loss, the Pirates are now 3-5.

The script on Wednesday night was very similar to one that Pirate fans saw the past two nights against the Reds. Not much offense, poor pitching, and a loss. This time, by a final score of 9-2.

Wednesday night’s game was scoreless through four innings. At this point, it appeared that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds were in store for a pitching duel between Ivan Nova and Amir Garrett. However, in the top of the 5th inning, the wheels would come off the cart.

Ivan Nova allowed back-to-back doubles to Zack Cozart and Tucker Barnhart to start the inning, this gave the Reds a 1-0 lead. Pitcher Amil Garrett then attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt. It was a very poor bunt that should have led to Barnhart being thrown out at third base. However, a David Freese error led to the Reds having runners on the corners with no one out.

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Billy Hamilton would then collect a single and Jose Peraza followed with a two-run double. Just like that, it was 4-0 Cincinnati. Ivan Nova would then retire the next three batters to get out of the inning.

All offseason here at Rum Bunter we warned that what Ivan Nova did with the Pirates last year wold not be sustainable. This is due to the fact he allows too much hard contact and does not strike out enough batters, two issues that plagued him on Wednesday night.

Nova wound up pitching six innings in Wednesday’s loss. He allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, no walks, and just one strikeout.

In the 7th inning, Antonio Bastardo would take over for the Pirates. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, he allowed the next three to reach to load the bases. Eugenio Suarez then hit a bases-clearing double to make it 7-0 Reds.

Felipe Rivero took over for Bastardo and allowed a RBI double to Scott Schebler to make it 8-0 Reds before recording the final out of the 7th inning. It is tough to envision Antonio Bastardo lasting much longer on this roster.

The Pirates generated their lone offense of the night in the bottom of the 7th inning. Andrew McCutchen, who went 2-for-5 with a double, reached on an infield hit to lead off the inning. David Freese would then hit his second home run of the season to cut the Cincinnati lead to 8-2.

Amir Garrett would then retire the next two batters he faced before hitting Josh Harrison with a pitch. this ended Garrett’s night after 6 2/3 innings pitched.

Wednesday night was the second career start for Cincinnati left-handed pitcher Amir Garrett, who entered the season as the 81st best prospect in baseball according to Baseball America.

In his Major League debut last week Garrett pitched 6 scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. He then backed it up with another stellar start on Wednesday. Garrett allowed two runs on five hits, zero walks, a home run, and five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched.

Daniel Hudson would pitch the 8th inning for the Pirates. He allowed a run on three hits and two strikeouts. This set the final at 9-2 Reds.

In the 9th inning, the Pirates turned to Tony Watson to get some work. Watson allowed a walk and a single, but with the help of a double play pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

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This series against the Reds was a forgettable one for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team played some really bad baseball and did nothing well. To be honest, at the end of the season there’s a good chance this series is looked back on as one of the worst of the season by the Pirates.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will jet up to Boston to play the Red Sox tomorrow afternoon. This game is a makeup of last Thursday’s rainout. Chad Kuhl will start for the Pirates, while the Red Sox will hand the ball to Eduardo Rodriguez.

Both pitchers will be making their second start of the 2017 season. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 2:05 PM.

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