Reds blast slumping Pirates
PITTSBURGH -- Four Cincinnati pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout and Tyler Holt drove in three runs Sunday as the Reds blasted the sagging Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 at PNC Park.
The Reds, far out of the playoff chase, scored five runs in the second and never looked back. They won three of the four games in the weekend series against Pittsburgh, which fell 6 1/2 games behind a National League wild-card spot.
The Pirates have lost three in a row and 11 of their past 13.
The win was the 200th of Cincinnati manager Bryan Price's career.
Brandon Finnegan (9-10) started for the Reds and held Pittsburgh at bay. He threw five scoreless innings, giving up five hits, striking out seven and walking five. He has allowed two or fewer runs in five straight starts.
Jumbo Diaz pitched two innings, Ross Ohlendorf one and Wandy Peralta the ninth inning.
Pirates starter Ryan Vogelsong (3-5) got rocked in four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, with three walks and no strikeouts. Fewer than half (34) of his 72 pitches were strikes.
Vogelsong has given up 16 earned runs in 12-plus innings over his past three starts and is 0-2 in that span.
It took Vogelsong just eight pitches to set the Reds down in order in the first.
Then came the second. Cincinnati batted around and scored four times.
Adam Duvall led off with a triple off of the wall in center. He scored on a single by Brandon Phillips, who advanced to third on center fielder Andrew McCutchen's error. Scott Schebler's grounder brought Phillips home to make it 2-0.
Vogelsong walked Ramon Cabrera and hit Ivan De Jesus Jr., and they advanced on Finnegan's bunt.
Holt followed with a two-run triple for a 4-0 lead, and he scored on Eugenio Suarez's single for a 5-0 lead on four hits.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no outs in its half of the second on a single and two walks, but Finnegan struck out Chris Stewart and Vogelsong, and got Jordy Mercer to pop out.
The Reds added another in the third on back-to-back doubles by Phillips and Schebler for a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Gregory Polanco was called out on strikes with two on to end the Pirates inning. Polanco argued the call and was ejected.
In the fifth, with Pittsburgh rookie Tyler Glasnow making his first relief appearance, the Reds made it 7-0 when Cabrera singled home Phillips, who had doubled.
The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Finnegan struck out David Freese and Adam Frazier.
Cincinnati loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, chasing Glasnow. Jared Hughes relieved Glasnow and gave up an RBI single to Holt to make it 8-0.
NOTES: Pirates 2B Josh Harrison, who left Saturday's game because of right groin discomfort, was not in the lineup. SS Jordy Mercer replaced him as the leadoff hitter. General manager Neal Huntington said Harrison could miss "significant" time. ... Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte (back spasms) was out of the lineup for the sixth game in a row. ... Cincinnati CF Billy Hamilton (oblique) missed his seventh straight game. His original time frame had him coming back this weekend. ... The Reds gave CF Jose Peraza and SS Zack Cozart the day off from the starting lineup. ... With Pittsburgh managing some members of the rotation's workloads in case it makes the playoffs, the scheduled starters the next five days are RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Ivan Nova, LHP Steven Brault, RHP Chad Kuhl and RHP Ryan Vogelsong.