Poor pitching plagues Pirates in 9-5 loss to Reds

The Pittsburgh Pirates looked to end the weekend on a winning note, but thanks to a poor outing by reliever Manny Banuelos, the Cincinnati Reds walked out of PNC Park with a 9-5 win and the series.

The Bucs garnered the upper hand in the first as Ben Gamel evened the scoring on a single to center. Rodolfo Castro then continued his hot streak at the plate with double that gave Pittsburgh a temporary lead.

That lead was short-lived as the Reds reclaimed the lead in the third thanks to a two-run home run by Mike Moustakas.

Then came the nightmare inning.

Banuelos, who was riding a wave of success coming into today, came in to relieve Zach Thompson in the sixth and coughed up four runs. He gave up back-to-back walks to start the frame, then allowed a single to Jake Fraley that scored two. Jonathan India followed him with a triple to left.

Let’s also not forget ole’ Shelty leaving Colin Holderman in too long in the eighth!

Tucupita Marcano and Jason Delay closed the gap in the sixth after driving in three runs, but a stout Reds bullpen halted the scoring there.

Yet again, poor pitching plagues the Pirates and they are now closer to another 100-loss season. Cheers!