Reds take advantage of Johan Oviedo's command issues to pound Pirates

After a string of seven consecutive losses was followed by three straight strong starts, the Pittsburgh Pirates were seeing some consistency and signs of growth from Johan Oviedo.

That came crashing to a halt Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds, when the 24-year-old right-hander struggled from the start and couldn’t overcome command issues.

The Reds scored six runs off Oviedo, who allowed five hits and two walks and also hit three batters and threw a pair of wild pitches, in cruising to a 9-2 win Friday night before 31,523 at PNC Park.

“I think in the first and throughout the game, he just had a hard time getting against his arm side,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Everything was running back to the middle or running back to the middle and running back to his arm side. … I think the biggest thing was he just couldn’t command the ball to the other side of the plate.”

After giving up only two runs over his previous three starts — all wins — Oviedo gave up three in a rough first inning that began with him walking leadoff batter TJ Friedl and giving up a single to Matt McLain before facing rookie shortstop sensation Elly De La Cruz.

Oviedo got behind in the count after the first two pitches against the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder before a mound visit by catcher Endy Rodriguez, where they discussed the next pitch. De La Cruz smacked the 0-2 slider to the right-field corner and sped around the bases for a two-run triple, then scored on Spencer Steer’s double to left to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.

“We were trying to execute a slider, make it down more like strike to ball and stay in and clip the zone a little bit so that even if he went a little bit in front, we still had a chance to get to it,” Oviedo said. “He’s got long arms so he put a good swing on that pitch.”

In the fourth, Oviedo hit Stuart Fairchild with a pitch and gave up a single to Will Benson before leaving a 2-2 slider over the middle for Luke Maile, who hit a 410-foot shot to left-center for his fifth home run to make it 6-0.

“We’ve talked about it throughout the year: We cannot give away free bases, and tonight we gave away, I think he gave away two walks and hit three guys,” Shelton said. “So we just can’t give away free bases like that because it just adds up.”

The Pirates had no such success early against Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott (7-3), who retired the first 10 batters before Bryan Reynolds singled to third. But Reynolds was stranded when Andrew McCutchen flew out to right and Connor Joe went down swinging.

Abbott had nine strikeouts without a walk by the time the Pirates got another hit in the sixth, when Ke’Bryan Hayes continued his hot streak by driving a two-out fastball 409 feet to center for his eighth home run to cut the Reds’ lead to 6-1. Over his past four games, Hayes is 8 for 17 with a double, a triple, three homers and 10 RBIs.

Hayes credited his work in the batting cage for correcting his setup to minimize his movements and catching the ball in his bat path, something he started incorporating into his swing Monday.

“I feel like being behind the ball better allows the barrel to get out in front a little better,” Hayes said. “You have a little room for error. You can be a little early, a little late, even.”

Shelton said the difference has been noticeable this week.

“When he’s on time, you see pull side in the air or in the air on the pull side,” Shelton said. “Today was in the air in the middle of the field, but I think that’s the biggest component.”

Reynolds followed by hitting a sharp grounder down the third-base line and off Steer’s glove for a double, then scored on McCutchen’s single to left to make it 6-2. Derek Law, a Seton LaSalle graduate, replaced Abbott and gave up a single to Joe before getting Henry Davis to ground out to third to end the rally.

The Pirates couldn’t muster much offense, as the bottom four hitters in their order combined to go 0 for 13 with seven strikeouts. By contrast, the Reds recorded 11 hits and the last three hitters in their order went 5 for 10 with three RBIs and five runs scored.

The Reds tagged rookie right-hander Colin Selby for three runs on five hits in the eighth inning, on RBI singles by Friedl, De La Cruz and Steer to increase their lead to 9-2.

Oviedo just wanted to put the loss behind him.

“It’s a little bit frustrating,” Oviedo said. “Today was not what I expect. I feel like I prepared really good for this outing. I had a really good plan. Things didn’t go the way I wanted to, but definitely after tonight everything is going to be over and I’m going to push forward.”