PITTSBURGH _ It's a bad recipe. The Pirates fell behind, pitched poorly in relief and struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. It resulted in three losses to the Cincinnati Reds, who beat the Pirates 9-2 at PNC Park Wednesday to complete the sweep.
The Pirates went 0 for 24 with runners in scoring position in the series and stranded 25 runners on base. The issues with runners on base hardly mattered against Reds starter Amir Garrett, who allowed two runs in 62/3 innings.
After beginning the season with three runs in 21 innings against the Boston Red Sox, the Pirates got a reprieve at home against the Atlanta Braves. They scored 17 runs in 28 innings during the three-game sweep. Then the Reds came to town.
Last season, that would have likely meant good things for Pirates batters. The 2016 Reds pitching staff was the only one in Major League Baseball to record, as a unit, negative Wins Above Replacement. Their 4.91 ERA ranked 27th in baseball, and their 3.97 walks per nine and 1.61 homers allowed per nine were dead last. The bullpen was even worse: a 5.09 ERA, worse than everyone but the Colorado Rockies, and minus-3.6 WAR.
This year's staff looks different. The rotation features young pitchers like Wednesday starter Garrett, Rookie Davis and Brandon Finnegan. Two converted starters, Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, are in the bullpen.
"They've got two young left-handers," Hurdle said. "There might be more power as far as fastball velocity. ... There's some youth out there. You've got to like the arms, you've got to like the skills that they have, especially early, the versatility of the bullpen."
Monday night, after Finnegan recorded six outs, the Reds bullpen pitched seven perfect innings. Tuesday, the unit allowed one unearned run in five innings.
The road ahead gets harder. After traveling late Wednesday to Boston for a makeup game against the Red Sox, the Pirates head to Chicago, where they'll see Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.
A four-run fifth inning tarnished an otherwise solid night for Ivan Nova. He didn't allow a runner to reach scoring position until there were two outs in the fourth. Consecutive doubles from Zack Cozart and Tucker Barnhart in the fifth put one run on the board, and when David Freese couldn't catch Francisco Cervelli's throw on Garrett's bunt, the lineup turned over with runners on the corners and nobody out.
Billy Hamilton's single and Jose Peraza's double extended the Reds' lead.
One out away from a clean inning, Antonio Bastardo made a mess in the seventh. He walked two batters to load the bases before allowing a three-run double to Eugenio Suarez. Bastardo has allowed a run in all four of his appearances and has not finished the inning in two of them.
