Pirates fall 3-1, lose series to Reds

The Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to bounce back from a 6-2 defeat yesterday at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, but an old nemesis returned, as the Bucs couldn’t get going with the bats and fell to the Reds 3-1.

Vince Velasquez, who was making his first start with the Buccos, went four and two thirds, giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk and took the loss after giving up solo homers to Jason Vosler and TJ Friedl.

He got off to a good start in the game before the letting the Reds have some success. After the game, he said he felt good:

“I felt phenomenal. I felt like the ball was coming out good. I made a couple of mistakes. I had trouble putting them away. I need to close the door and shut them down. I have to minimize the damage.”

The Pittsburgh bullpen kept the Reds scoreless the rest of the way, but with the Bucs bats unable to get anything going, the damage was already done.

The Pirates got their only run off of a Bryan Reynolds solo homer in the top of the fourth, his first of the year.

Pittsburgh would threaten again in the eighth, but they finished with only six total hits on the day and were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a famaliar refrain from last season. Connor Joe was the only multi-hit Bucco, as he went 2-for-4 on the day.

The Bucs now fall to 1-2 on the year after winning the season opener, and they’ll travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox tomorrow night. It’s a 7:10 EST start with Johan Oviedo scheduled to take the mound for the Buccos.