CINCINNATI _ The tag team in the heart of the lineup neutralized Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova in the Cincinnati Reds' 4-2 win on a rainy Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. Joey Votto cracked RBI doubles in the fourth and fifth innings. The cleanup hitter, Adam Duvall, followed by driving Votto home with a single and a triple, respectively.
One day after Nova was named National League pitcher of the month for April, he was shelled for 10 hits and four runs. He recovered to go six innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Cincinnati has had his number recently, with 11 earned runs in the past 15 innings against him.
"If you don't make pitches, you're going to get hit," Nova said. "It's the second time (this season) I've given up four runs against them. I've got to do something different next time out."
The Reds (14-14) took three of four games in the series. They are 6-1 this season against the Pirates and 8-13 against other opponents. The puzzling Pirates won the game started by combustible rookie Tyler Glasnow, and lost those pitched by Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Nova.
Cincinnati seemed to have a new hero each night this week. Billy Hamilton walked off in the 10th inning Monday. After Votto smashed a three-run, first-inning homer Tuesday, Eugenio Suarez did the same Wednesday. Hamilton added a three-run bomb that night, too. On Thursday, Votto and Duvall played double trouble with matching two-hit, two-RBI games.
"Everybody there has contributed something," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We've got to do a better job of execution. We've got to mix some things up and change some sequences, obviously."
The Pirates offense offered little backing, cobbling together seven hits _ two by Francisco Cervelli, two by Josh Bell. Nova is accustomed to minimal run support. In the six games Nova has started this season, the offense has contributed 16 runs, an average of 2.7 runs per game.
"We've got to hit, man. We've got to hit," said the catcher Cervelli, who singled and doubled. "We cannot put everything on Nova. This guy gave us six innings and we couldn't score runs."
The Pirates (12-16) have lost four of their past five games. They return to Pittsburgh for a weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers. They'll "go home and unload the dirty clothes," Hurdle said, and then head for Los Angeles and Phoenix. The Pirates do not play another National League Central division team until June 16. They have a 5-11 record in the division.
Nova, whose ERA floated from 1.50 to 2.13, said erratic command of his four-seam fastball led to missed locations. The arsenal was sharp, and the only three-ball count was on Votto's first RBI double. The Reds, however, managed to make good contact when behind in the count.
"The thing that got flipped, I think, is of the 10 hits, seven came when he was ahead in the count," Hurdle said. "I don't think the movement was as late life down. It seemed to be working a little more east-west. They were able to catch more of the ball."
Reds right-hander Tim Adleman had the Pirates swinging. Pumping strikes, he allowed six hits and two runs in six innings. It was, in a way, a predictable result. In three starts against the Pirates in the past year, Adleman has thrown six innings of two-run baseball each time.
"It's a long season," Cervelli said. "We're going to see him again."
The Pirates' bright spot Thursday was Cervelli's return to the lineup after he missed four games because of a lingering right foot injury. He provided most of their offense. Cervelli singled in the second and scored from first on Gift Ngoepe's double. In the sixth, Cervelli and Bell doubled back-to-back.
"(Could I) run pretty well? No," Cervelli said, smiling. "I felt like I had a piano behind me."
Hurdle, hurting for bench help, resorted to shuffling rookies in the ninth inning. With a runner on base and trailing by two, Hurdle pinch-hit Jose Osuna for Alen Hanson. Osuna's line drive was dropped but turned into a force out. Elias Diaz pinch-hit for Gift Ngoepe and struck out.
Osuna and Diaz are capable of tying the game with a home run, Hurdle said. With Jung Ho Kang, Starling Marte, David Freese and Adam Frazier unavailable, the Pirates bench is a combination of Osuna, Hanson, Ngoepe, Diaz, John Jaso, Phil Gosselin and Chris Stewart. None are ideal options.
