Cincinnati Reds lose fifth straight despite Dan Straily’s strong outing

The road woes continued for the Cincinnati Reds on Friday evening, falling to the Pittsburgh Pirates in PNC Park, 4-1. Juan Nicasio baffled Reds hitters throughout his seven innings of work, allowing only three hits and a walk, while striking out eight — including five in the first two frames.

With their fifth straight loss, the Reds drop to an abysmal 1-9 away from Great American Ball Park and 9-14 overall, sitting only half a game above the Milwaukee Brewers for last place in the NL Central.

Here are some observations from the game:

Straily solid again

Bryan Price and company are going to have a hard time moving Dan Straily out of the starting rotation. Though he took the tough-luck loss, the right-hander was impressive again on Friday night, allowing just two runs on five hits in six innings. He also struck out five while walking three. In 15 2/3 innings as a starter, Straily has surrendered only six runs, 11 hits and eight walks, while punching out 14. Unfortunately for him, he’ll likely be rewarded by being moved back to the bullpen with Anthony DeSclafani, Homer Bailey and John Lamb due back from the disabled list soon.

Offense can’t capitalize

The Reds gave themselves plenty of opportunities to score, but couldn’t come through against Pirates pitching. In four of the first eight innings, they managed to get the leadoff batter on base, including two doubles by Jay Bruce and Jordan Pacheco, but were unable to bring anyone home. They finally came through in the ninth, but it was too little too late when Tucker Barnhart brought home Brandon Phillips on an RBI double.

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Votto stays hot

While the bats were mostly silent on the night, Joey Votto continued to work his way out of his season-opening slump, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Over his last seven games, he’s 9-for-22 with four walks. While he has just one extra-base hit in that span, it’s safe to say he’s putting that 0-for-19 drought well out of everybody’s minds. If only the rest of the offense could heat back up…

Notes:

• For only the second game all season, Zack Cozart did not notch a hit, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
• J.J. Hoover continued to struggle, allowing a two-run home run to Matt Joyce in the seventh inning to raise his season ERA to 15.58.
• J.C. Ramirez, however, pitched a scoreless eighth inning, walking one and striking out one.
• DeSclafani threw what should be his final rehab start for Low-A Dayton, throwing five innings of no-run, three-hit baseball. It stands to reason that he’ll replace Alfredo Simon in the rotation next week.