Williams leads Pirates past Reds

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Trevor Williams looked like himself on the mound.

He looked like somebody else at the plate.

Williams pitched six effective innings and drove in two runs, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the sloppy Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Sunday.

“He was just efficient,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “His fastball was his go-to pitch today. He had excellent command.”

Williams picked up where he left off last season, when he was the only major leaguer to make 10 starts of at least six innings without allowing a run. The right-hander gave up three hits, struck out six and walked one.

Williams said he benefited from watching Jameson Taillon’s six-plus innings in Thursday’s 5-3 loss to the Reds on opening day.

“We just stuck with the game plan,” Williams said. “I watched what [Taillon] did and we carried that over.”

The Reds put runners on the corners with two out in the sixth, but Williams struck out Yasiel Puig to end the inning. Puig is 0 for 7 with four strikeouts and a walk in two games after he was acquired in an offseason trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Puig also misjudged Francisco Cervelli’s fly ball to right in the ninth inning, but recovered in time to make a diving catch.

Adam Frazier and Melky Cabrera each had two hits as Pittsburgh earned its first win of the season. Saturday’s game was postponed by rain.

Sonny Gray struggled in his Cincinnati debut, allowing three runs, two earned, and five hits in 22/3 innings. The right-hander walked four and struck out none.

“I didn’t throw strikes from the get go,” said Gray, a Nashville native who grew up following the Reds. “I just didn’t throw enough strikes. It was an opportunity, and I didn’t throw strikes.”

Gray (0-1) was acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Yankees, and then agreed to a new contract with Cincinnati.