PITTSBURGH _ Ivan Nova looked right at home at PNC Park. The right-hander acquired by the Pirates at the non-waiver trade deadline Tuesday was back in the saddle Saturday night working with Francisco Cervelli, the catcher he rose the ranks with in the New York Yankees farm system.
Behind seven strong innings from Nova, the Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3. The Pirates improved to 55-53 this season and will go for a series sweep Sunday afternoon.
Nova scattered six hits and three runs over seven innings, using just 76 pitches. He walked none and struck out five. He improved to 8-6 this season, and 1-0 with his new team.
Nova, who will be a free agent this fall, was traded for two players to be named. He moved into the rotation spot and the clubhouse locker spot vacated by Francisco Liriano, who shipped to the Toronto Blue Jays. Nova and Liriano grew up together in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.
Reds right-hander Homer Bailey, who once threw a no-hitter against the Pirates, lasted only three-plus innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits, two hit batters and a walk. The Pirates offense managed just one hit the rest of the way, but it already had all the runs Nova would need.
The only Reds batter who seemed to solve Nova was Brandon Phillips. After 286 consecutive at-bats without a home run, a powerless stretch that reached back to May 7, Phillips lobbed two solo shots into the left-field grandstands. They were the 20th and 21st homers off Nova this season.
Pitching at pitcher-friendly PNC Park rather than the bandbox Yankee Stadium should suit Nova.
"It's shaped a lot differently than Yankee Stadium," manager Clint Hurdle said before the game. "The ball gets out of Yankee Stadium in a heartbeat. Let's tell it the way it is: we like going there to hit."
After Phillips' leadoff homer in the second, Eugenio Suarez doubled to center and scored on Tucker Barnhart's single, taking advantage of Andrew McCutchen's weak arm on both plays.
Nova bent no further. Starting with pitcher Homer Bailey bunting into a 2-6-4 double play directly after Barnhart's RBI single, Nova retired 11 hitters in a row before Zack Cozart singled in the sixth. Cozart was erased on the next pitch when Joey Votto bounced into a double play.
The pinnacle of Nova's night was him striking out the side on 10 pitches, 10 strikes, in the fifth.
Nova chipped in on offense, too. In the fourth, Nova caned a fastball back up the middle for a single, his second hit in 20 career at-bats. He moved to second when Josh Harrison banged a base hit high off the Clemente Wall, knocking Bailey from the game. The runners advanced on a wild pitch from reliever Josh Smith and scored on Starling Marte's RBI single.
It was Marte who got the Pirates on the board in the first inning, too. He doubled to left and scored on McCutchen's sharp single to center. In the third, the Pirates added two more runs on a bunt base hit and a throwing error, a walk, consecutive hit by pitch and a Cervelli single.
David Freese was removed from the game in the seventh inning with left elbow discomfort. He was replaced by Jung Ho Kang, who helped right a wobbly eighth inning by turning a slick 5-4 double play on a grounder smashed toward third base by Reds leadoff man Billy Hamilton.
One night after blowing his first save as Pirates closer, Tony Watson jogged in to Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" and worked a smooth, 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save this season.
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