PITTSBURGH — The easy thing to do would be to blame what happened Wednesday on one or two bad pitches. Sure, Duane Underwood Jr. missed a spot in the 10th. Maybe he regrets where he put another fastball, this one whacked by third baseman Eugenio Suarez for a three-run double, although it wasn’t terrible.
The issue the Pirates encountered Wednesday during a 5-1, 10-inning loss to Cincinnati at PNC Park was their repeated failure to make hay while the sun was still shining, their inability to convert a bunch of baserunners into anything meaningful on the scoreboard.
Pittsburgh lost for the second time in this three-game set against the Reds because the Pirates went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine, eight of them in the first five innings. After that, the Reds put their bullpen to work, and that was that.
In the 10th, left fielder Jesse Winker singled on a fastball that Underwood left up in the zone, scoring the automatic runner, Nick Senzel, from second base. After a single and a walk, Suarez cleared the bases by rocketing another fastball 111.5 mph to the gap in left center.
The loss dropped the Pirates to 15-21 on the season. It also marked the fifth consecutive series they’ve lost or tied. What happened Wednesday was also not a one-off. The Pirates have the worst OPS with runners in scoring position (.631) in the National League.
The shame of what happened Wednesday was that it wasted a solid start from Trevor Cahill, who has experienced a lot of first-inning trouble this season. Only two MLB pitchers have allowed more runs in the opening frame, while Cahill had retired the side in order just once — April 24 at Minnesota, where he picked up his only win of the season.
The right-hander rode another strong, 1-2-3 first inning to a quality outing on Wednesday, as he worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits. How the 33-year-old got there was a familiar recipe.
Four pitches prioritizing movement over velocity. Avoiding the middle of the plate. And keeping the ball on the ground, recording 11 groundouts compared to just two flyouts.
Cahill was cruising until Pirates manager Derek Shelton made the curious decision to turn things over to the bullpen with one out in the sixth inning, with his starter at just 74 pitches.
Normally you might see this when a manager doesn’t want his pitcher to face an order for the third time, but Cahill has actually been better this season the longer he pitches. His OPS against the first time through has been 1.015 compared to .731 the second time and .426 the third.
Clay Holmes got pinch-hitter Shogo Akiyama to bounce back to the mound for a key out ending the sixth. Chasen Shreve, making his first appearance as a Pirate, relieved Holmes and stranded two with a walk and a flyout to right in the seventh.
Mike Moustakas has hammered the Pirates for years, and the Reds first baseman was up to his old tricks in the second inning Wednesday, going down to get a pretty good curveball from Cahill and sending it on a line over the right-center field fence for a solo home run.
It was the eighth home run for Moustakas in career 22 games (21 starts) at PNC Park. The former Royal and Brewer has 18 home runs all-time against the Pirates in 47 games (46 starts).
The Pirates had a couple chances to score early but failed to get a two-out hit with runners in scoring position, stranding six through the first four innings.
Twice, Michael Perez and Cahill — the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters — made back-to-back outs. Phillip Evans and Gregory Polanco both struck out with a runner on second in the third.
The Pirates finally broke through and tied the game in the fifth inning thanks to a run-scoring single from Polanco, who was making his first start since returning from the injured list because he violated COVID-19 protocols.
Kevin Newman and Evans had back-to-back singles to start before the Pirates right fielder turned on middle-in fastball and drove it to right at 109.7 mph. It was just the third RBI for Polanco in his past 14 games (12 starts).
That rally ending a fairly sizable streak for Reds starter Sonny Gray, who came into this one with 48 consecutive regular-season starts where he did not allow more than six hits. Polanco’s single was No. 7.
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Another concern Wednesday now revolves around the status of Evans, who left in the fifth with left hamstring discomfort. He was replaced by Adam Frazier, with Wilmer Difo shifting from second to third and Erik Gonzalez going from third to first.
The bigger question now is who plays there if Evans is out for any substantive period of time? The Pirates designated Todd Frazier for assignment on Monday. They could also ride it out with Gonzalez or try Ben Gamel there.
A third option might be giving Will Craig a chance. The 2016 first-round pick has three home runs through seven games with Class AAA Indianapolis. Craig also knows what he’s doing defensively, having won a minor league Gold Glove in 2019.
