Pittsburgh Pirates fall to Cincinnati Reds 5-4 in 13 innings

After a rain delay of about an hour, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds finally got their game underway, only to play until well past midnight and see Cincinnati take the third game of the series. A.J. Burnett turned in another great performance, however, Arquimedes Caminero was not able to hold the lead and the Pirates were handed a very disappointing loss in thirteen innings.

As with the previous night’s game, the Reds scored first but luckily this time it was only one run. Jung Ho Kang‘s error allowed Brandon Phillips to reach base, who also swiped second, his ninth stolen base of the year. He moved to third on Joey Votto‘s ground out and eventually scored on Todd Frazier‘s single. The Reds added another run in the second inning, using Billy Hamilton‘s speed to help generate it. The Pirates were able to get the first two batters of the inning out but saw Hamilton single and then steal second, giving him 36 on the year. Phillips tripled to right field, scoring Hamilton and giving the Reds an early 2-0 lead.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the second, taking the lead back off of hits by Jordy Mercer and A.J. Burnett. With two outs in the inning, Mercer doubled to right, scoring Kang and moving Francisco Cervelli to third. Burnett came through and helped his own cause with a single that brought in two runs, quickly giving the Pirates a one run lead.

Anthony DeSclafani and Burnett continued to duel, both keeping the opposition from scoring again until the sixth inning when Cervelli’s two out single plated Andrew McCutchen. It’s worth noting that McCutchen walked during his at-bat and most of the pitches were inside, something that has become a pattern as of late. He seems to always end up being brushed off the plate against the Reds.

With a 4-2 lead Burnett handed the ball off to Caminero, who gave up a game-tying two-run home run to Frazier before Burnett probably even got back to the clubhouse. But Clint Hurdle’s bullpen kept them in the game until the 13th inning. Antonio Bastardo, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon kept the Reds from scoring for two and two-thirds inning while Vance Worley added another three innings of zeroes.

However, Rob Scahill came in to pitch the thirteenth inning and promptly served up the fourth home run of the season for Phillips. In the bottom half of the inning the Pirates went quietly and dropped a game that looked to be theirs. The loss put their record at 40-32 and they now sit eight games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals.

What Stood Out

Burnett bounced back from his last start in Washington, but unfortunately did not get a win on Thursday. The defense behind him was not very sharp at times which led to more hits and a high pitch count and he showed visible frustration with the defensive alignment. He was in line for the win until Caminero gave up the home run but he is sporting an ERA better than his teammate Gerrit Cole. His five strikeouts moved him up to 36th place all time, so it will be interesting to see how many other players he can surpass on the list.

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