Jason Grilli proves human in 2-1, 13-inning loss

Jason Grilli finally blew a save as the Pirates lost, 2-1, in 13 innings to the Reds Wednesday.

Jeff Locke pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out three and walking three in an outing typical of his season so far. He didn't dominate, and instead just stranded everyone he needed to, reducing his ERA to 2.01. He also got a break when Starling Marte and Neil Walker gunned down Zack Cozart when he tried to score on Ryan Hanigan's double in the second. And all that was good, because the Pirates' offense didn't do much at all, scoring only in the third, when Marte tripled to the gap and came home on Bronson Arroyo's error.

Locke handed a 1-0 lead to Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli, which ... automatic, right? Well, not this time. Melancon got through his inning, but Grilli left a fastball up for Jay Bruce to hammer, tying the game in the ninth. (Bruce had also pulled back what would have been an Andrew McCutchen home run in the seventh.) It was an incredible run for Grilli, whose blown save today was his first of the year.

As the game headed into extra innings, the Bucs turned to Justin Wilson, who pitched two scoreless innings. But in the meantime, the Pirates continued to be unable to score -- and Brandon Inge's double play with two men on in the 12th didn't help. The Reds finally got to Vin Mazzaro in the 13th, as Mazzaro gave up singles to Derrick Robinson and Shin-Soo Choo, then intentionally walked Joey Votto before giving up the walk-off hit to Brandon Phillips.