Reds Vs. Pirates: Joel Hanrahan Blows Ninth-Inning Lead As Bucs Lose 5-4

The Pirates lost 5-4 to the Reds as Joel Hanrahan took his second loss in the last three days.

The Bucs jumped out to an early lead off Reds starter Mike Leake on a two-run homer by Andrew McCutchen in the first. The Bucs' James McDonald got through the first five innings without incident, but he needed a lot of pitches to do so, and as has been his typical pattern, he fell apart in the middle of the game, allowing a three-run homer to Joey Votto in the sixth. 

Jose Tabata led off the bottom of the inning with a triple, though, and Garrett Jones homered on a low Leake breaking ball to put the Pirates back up 4-3. That remained the score until the ninth, when Hanrahan came on and struggled to throw strikes, putting on several runners via singles and walks until the Reds were up by one. 

The Bucs started a rally in the ninth when Ryan Doumit led off with a single, but pinch-runner Josh Harrison got thrown out on a close play while trying to steal second, and Neil Walker's double went to waste. (Clint Hurdle got tossed while arguing the Harrison play.)

The Pirates have a doubleheader Monday, and both Hanrahan and Jose Veras have pitched all of the last three days, so the Bucs will have an adventure on their hands getting through 18 innings. Hanrahan in particular probably needs to be shut down for at least a couple days - he hasn't been good at all recently.

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