CINCINNATI _ Following a stretch during which the Pirates lost 11 out of 13 games, the scheduling gods granted them eight games against bad pitching staffs in hitter's ballparks.
For a sense of how they handled the opportunity, look no further than Sean Rodriguez. Pressed into full-time service with Josh Harrison out and a doubleheader Saturday, Rodriguez lined one homer to right-center in the first game and crushed one into the second deck in left-center in the second. Making up two games in one day, the Pirates smacked the Cincinnati Reds around Great American Ball Park with 10-4 and 7-3 victories to even their record at 74-74.
The Pirates are 5-2 on their 11-game road trip, which began in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park this week. They have scored 50 runs, including 41 during their four-game winning streak. Their streak of consecutive games with a home run increased to six, and Rodriguez homered for the fourth time in six games.
"This has been a great road trip," Game 1 starter Jameson Taillon said. "I feel like one through eight, one through nine, there's no easy, free outs. Tough at-bats, making guys throw pitches. I don't know what the number is, but we've hit a lot of home runs, too."
As much as the Pirates used power, they used patience. Reds pitchers issued 19 walks and Cincinnati's defense committed four errors in 18 innings Friday, and the Pirates converted. Anthony DeSclafani walked three batters in the first inning of the first game and two of them scored. Brandon Phillips made two errors, both of which led to runs, and Adam Duvall dropped what should have been the third out of the sixth inning in left field to allow a run to score.
Taillon batted before he threw a pitch in a four-run first inning, and he drove in a run in the fifth. "Two-strike approach," he deadpanned. Rodriguez homered for the third time in his past five games. Alen Hanson, starting his first major league game, reached base four times, Josh Bell doubled twice and Francisco Cervelli reached in all five of his plate appearances.
"They're just stringing at-bats together," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "They're seeing balls. They're not missing pitches."
Patience also allowed the Pirates to see 83 pitches in 21/3 innings from Game 2 starter Brandon Finnegan. They sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs in the second inning, with Andrew McCutchen's two-run single capping the scoring.
Taillon spent a good portion of his five innings pitching out of the stretch. He stranded runners in scoring position in the first and second innings. Adam Duvall curled a curveball around the left-field foul pole in the third, cutting the Pirates' lead in half.
Taillon then stranded more runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth. He allowed nine hits and a walk.
"Not many one-two-three innings for both sides," Taillon said. "I was able to limit the damage a little bit better than they were and that's what it comes down to."
In his first major league start in Game Two, 24-year-old Trevor Williams faced the minimum through four innings, but did not record an out in the fifth. Scott Schebler and Ramon Cabrera hit back-to-back homers, and after two more hits, Hurdle removed Williams.
