Pirates’ offense comes alive as Reds’ home streak ends

Pittsburgh piled up six doubles and two homers to beat Cincinnati, 7-2.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jason Bay and Xavier Nady each had a homer and a double Thursday night, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-2 victory that ended the Cincinnati Reds’ home winning streak at nine games.

The Pirates salvaged the finale of a three-game series by taking it more than one base at a time. They piled up six doubles and the two homers off a pitching staff that’s still out of kilter from a marathon game.

The Reds couldn’t extend their best home winning streak in 28 years because they couldn’t do anything against Phil Dumatrait (2-2). The left-hander allowed one unearned run and two hits in seven innings, beating the team that let him get away last October.

He was 0-4 in six starts for Cincinnati last season with a 15.00 ERA, prompting the Reds to put him on waivers. The Pirates claimed him, and he’s gone 2-1 in six starts.

Dumatrait’s seven innings and nine strikeouts against Cincinnati were career highs.

The Reds’ pitching staff was in disarray following an 18-inning loss in San Diego on Sunday. Starters Aaron Harang and Edinson Volquez wound up pitching in relief, throwing everybody’s routine off.

Harang (2-7) wasn’t very sharp on three days of rest. He threw four scoreless relief innings on Sunday, striking out a season-high nine Padres, and couldn’t keep his pitches down against the Pirates.

Harang lasted only four innings and give up a season-high six runs. He also matched his season high by allowing 10 hits.

No surprise that Bay and Nady had the biggest ones.

Bay doubled and scored on Nady’s double in the third, then hit a two-run homer off Harang in the fourth. It was Bay’s 14th homer at Great American Ball Park, his most any place on the road. Houston’s Lance Berkman is the only visiting player with more, having hit 18.

Nady hit a solo homer off reliever Jeremy Affeldt in the fifth, extending his tear in Cincinnati. The outfielder has hit safely in his last nine games at Great American, where he has a .372 career average with six homers.

Cincinnati’s lineup was missing right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. and third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who got a day of rest to work on their swings. Encarnacion pinch-hit and struck out. Griffey has only one homer in his last 115 at-bats, leaving him two shy of 600.

Outfielder Jay Bruce went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. The Reds called up their top prospect for the start of the series, and he was 4-for-9 with four walks in the three games.