Reds Blanked By Morton Again Fall In Pittsburgh 2-0

A rain delayed start put a damper on the evening and Charlie Morton drowned the Reds.

Morton authored a pair of complete games against the Red in Cincinnati.  He nearly pitched complete game shutouts twice.  Only a Jay Bruce home run with two outs in the ninth blemished his outings at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds waded through an rain delay of an hour before the game started but put Morton in trouble once it started.  Drew Stubbs was hit by a pitch.  With a full count on Zack Cozart, Stubbs was running as Cozart grounded a single through the hole at shortstop. Stubbs reached thirdbase to put runners on the corners with no outs.  Normally, with Joey Votto at the plate, Cincinnati can rely on getting the run home but Votto topped the ball back to the mound.  Morton accepted the gift and threw Votto out as Votto kicked the ground in disgust.  Morton struck out Brandon Phillips with a nasty sinker. The Pirates walked Jay Bruce intentionally. Miguel Cairo, the veteran came to the plate.

Morton got ahead in the count 1-2 when it started to rain again.  The delay lasted an hour and 20 minutes.  When it cleared Cairo fouled off two pitches and hit a hard grounder up the middle. Shortstop Chase d'Arnaud made a diving stop, flipped it Neil Walker barely in time to beat Bruce and save a run.

The lack of a key hit has been the reason the Reds have floundered around the .500 mark all year.

Dontrelle Willis the Reds starter singled with two outs in the second and Stubbs walked.  Cozart popped out and the Reds stranded five base runners in the first two frames.

Willis matched zeroes with Morton until the fourth.

d'Arnaud single to start the inning.  Walker followed with a single to right.  Bruce showed his strong arm and was just late with a throw to get d'Arnaud.  Walker went to second because Bruce missed the cut off man..  Pittsburgh didn't get a hit with runners in scoring position either.  Andrew McCutcheon grounded to short to plate d'Arnaud.  Matt Diaz flied to right to  score Walker.

Willis finished with 4 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits and striking out five.

The bullpens dominated from there.

Tony Watson replaced Morton, who left because the rain delay took a toll on his arm.  Watson pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.  Daniel McCutcheon got Cairo to pop foul to the catcher with two men on.  Joel Hanrahan recorded his 27th save in 28 chances.

Jeremy Horst, Sam LeCure and Aroldis Chapman kept Cincinnati in the game.

The loss put the Reds four games behind the Pirrates, who took over first place in the NL Central alone.  Milwaukee lost and St. Louis was off.  The Pirates have won six of the seven games between the two rivals.