Pittsburgh Pirates Beat Reds and Snap Four Game Losing Streak

The Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their four game losing streak on Saturday night

On Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 5-0. With the win, the Pirates are now 64-72 on the season. Furthermore, they have now three of their last four against the Reds after starting the season 2-9 against Cincinnati.

The Pittsburgh Pirates now have a shot at earning their second consecutive series victory over the Reds on Sunday afternoon. While the Pirates have nothing left to play for this season but pride, it would still be nice to finish the season strong to build momentum heading into the offseason and the 2018 campaign.

Jameson Taillon started for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night while Tyler Mahle got the ball for the Reds.

Pirate killer Billy Hamilton doubled to start the game and the Reds appeared ready to take an early lead. However, Jameson Taillon had other ideas.

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Taillon got Zack Cozart to strike out looking, he got Joey Votto to pop out on the infield, and then Adam Duvall struck out swinging. This was fantastic work by Taillon to strand Hamilton after a lead off double and Cincinnati’s three best hitters coming up.

While the Pirates failed to score in the bottom of the 2nd inning, it was still a worthwhile half inning. With two outs Jordan Luplow reached on an infield hit, this was Luplow’s first career Major League hit.

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not put a threat together until the bottom of the 5th inning. With two outs in the inning Jameson Taillon singled and Josh Harrison was hit by his league leading 23rd pitch of the season. Starling Marte then reached on an infield hit to load the bases. However, Andrew McCutchen then flew out to left field to end the inning.

When Harrison was hit, it was in the hand. This led to him exiting the game in the top of the 6th inning. Sean Rodriguez would replace him at second base.

After struggling his previous six starts Jameson Taillon was fantastic on Saturday night. He pitched like the pitcher Pirate fans had come to expect him to be and it was great to see Taillon get back on his horse after recent struggles.

Jameson Taillon pitched 6 scoreless innings on Saturday night. He allowed just four hits, the lone walk he issued was intentional, and he struck out four.

With one out in the bottom of the 6th inning David Freese joined the hit in the hand by a pitch club. However, Elias Diaz would fly out and Jordan Luplow struck out to end the inning. The Luplow strikeout brought Tyler Mahle’s night to the end.

Saturday night was just the second career start for Mahle, and it went much better than his first which came last Sunday against the Pirates. Mahle allowed six hits, he did not issue a walk, he hit a pair of batters, and he struck out a pair in 6 innings pitched.

In the top of the 7th inning A.J. Schugel entered the game out of the Pirate bullpen. With runners on first and second, one out, and facing a 3-0 count Schugel was able to get Stuart Turner to hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play. This sent the game to the 7th inning stretch still scoreless.

Michael Lorenzen was the new Cincinnati pitcher in the bottom of the 7th inning. With one out, he walked pinch-hitter John Jaso. Then with two outs, things got fun. Starling Marte blooped a base hit into shallow center field. Right fielder Phillip Ervin then uncorked a horrific throw for the Reds that instead of going to the cut off man went to the plate. This throw was also about halfway up the third base line, causing catcher Stuart Turner to give chase. Furthermore, Lorenzen failed to cover home on the play allowing Jaso to trot home from third base to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Starling Marte blooped a base hit into shallow center field. Right fielder Phillip Ervin then uncorked a horrific throw for the Reds that instead of going to the cut off man went to the plate. This throw was also about halfway up the third base line, causing catcher Stuart Turner to give chase. Furthermore, Lorenzen failed to cover home on the play and instead tripped over a sliding Stuart allowing Jaso to trot home from third base to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Daniel Hudson entered the game in the top of the 8th inning looking to protect the 1-0 Pirate lead. Hudson struck out Scott Schebler to start the inning and then walked Billy Hamilton. Zack Cozart then lined the ball to center field but had a hit taken away via a sliding grab by Andrew McCutchen. Joey Votto then flew out to left field to end the inning.

Jordan Luplow would add to the Pirate lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. With one out and two on, Luplow crushed a three-run home run to the deepest part of PNC Park. Luplow’s first career home run made the score 4-0 Pirates.

After Jordy Mercer walked, the Reds pulled Wandy Peralta in favor of Alejandro Chacin who immediately gave up a base hit to the pinch hitting Jose Osuna. Sean Rodriguez then collected a base hit to load the bases. A Starling Marte fielder’s choice then made the score 5-0 Pirates.

In the top of the 9th inning, it was Felipe Rivero time.

To start the inning, Rivero got Adam Duvall to ground out to Sean Rodriguez. Next, he struck out Scooter Gennett. Rivero then finished off the game by getting Eugenio Suarez to bounce out to Rodrgiuez. This capped off a 5-0 Pirate victory.

Next: Pirates to Skip Nova's Next Start

The third and final game of this series is at 1:35 tomorrow afternoon. Trevor Williams will start for the Pirates, while the Reds will hand the ball to right-handed pitcher Sal Romano. The Bucs will be looking to earn their second consecutive series victory over the Reds with a win on Sunday.