PITTSBURGH (AP) — A rainy Saturday night was dreary for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they lost another game as well as more ground in the standings and possibly leadoff hitter Josh Harrison for an extended period.
Joey Votto celebrated his 33rd birthday with four hits, including a home run, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the collapsing Pirates 8-7.
Votto led off the ninth inning with his 23rd homer, a drive to right off Juan Nicasio that gave the Reds a two-run cushion. The 2010 NL MVP is hitting .427 in 51 games since the All-Star break and could become the first major leaguer to hit .400 in the second half since Ichiro Suzuki had a .429 average in 2004 with the Seattle Mariners.
The Pirates’ flickering hopes of a fourth consecutive postseason berth took another hit as they dropped 5½ games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card with their 10th loss in 12 games.
When asked in his post-game press conference if he would call a meeting in an effort to spark his team, manager Clint Hurdle gave a terse answer.
“The one thing I do is when I talk to guys, I don’t tell you I talk to them,” he said.
Francisco Cervelli hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth for Pittsburgh, but Tony Cingrani held on for his 17th save. With runners on first and second, Jordy Mercer bounced into a fielder’s choice for the final out.
“We always talk about add-on runs being so big,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “That solo shot by (Votto) gave Tony some breathing room, which we needed.”
Harrison left in the sixth inning after injuring his right groin while legging out a two-run double that got the Pirates within one at 7-6. He is 17 for 42 (.405) with six doubles during a 10-game hit streak.
Harrison began limping after rounding the first base on the ball hit into the right-center field gap. He was able to slide safety into second base then pounded the bag with his left fist in frustration before walking gingerly off the field.
Hurdle said he had no update on Harrison.
Brandon Phillips had three of Cincinnati’s 15 hits, helping the Reds rally from an early 4-0 deficit for their second straight win following nine losses in 11 games. Tucker Barnhart drove in three runs.
Phillips is hitting .365 (19 for 52) with four homers and 10 RBIs in 14 games against the Pirates this season.
The Reds jumped in front with three runs in the fifth against rookie reliever Trevor Williams (1-1). Scott Schebler had a bases-loaded walk before Barnhart made it 7-4 with a two-run double.
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.
“It comes down to one pitch,” Williams said. “Unfortunately, I hung a slider a little bit (to Barnhart).”
Jung Ho Kang’s two-run homer off rookie starter Robert Stephenson gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Kang finished with two hits and three RBIs.
Josh Smith (3-1) got the win despite allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Stephenson threw 43 pitches during a two-run first inning and made it through just three innings, getting tagged for four runs and five hits.
Acquired in an Aug. 1 trade with Toronto and assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis, Drew Hutchison gave up four runs — all scoring in the fourth inning — and eight hits in four innings in his Pirates’ debut.
“I wasn’t sharp in the first but I thought I did a good job and started to get going in the second and the third,” Hutchison said. “The fourth was just frustrating and disappointing.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: LF Starling Marte (back spasms) sat out for a fifth straight game and there is no timetable for his return.
KUHL SET FOR RETURN
Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl will return to the rotation Thursday night and start at Philadelphia. The rookie was originally supposed to start Saturday but the Pirates decided to give him a break after working 134 1/3 innings between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis this season.
UP NEXT
Reds: LHP Brandon Finnegan (8-10, 4.17 ERA) will start Sunday in the finale of the four-game series. He is winless in his last three starts despite a 3.00 ERA in that span.
Pirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong (3-4, 4.07 ERA) has allowed a combined 10 runs in nine innings in his last two starts while going 0-1.
