Schebler, Reds end 6-game skid

Published 1:29 am Monday, May 2, 2016

Cincinnati Reds’ Billy Hamilton (left) slides safely across home plate ahead of the tag by Pittsburgh Pirates’ catcher Francisco Cervelli in the fifth inning. The Reds beat the Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings on Sunday. (Courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds.com/Gene J. Puskar (AP))

Cincinnati Reds’ Billy Hamilton (left) slides safely across home plate ahead of the tag by Pittsburgh Pirates’ catcher Francisco Cervelli in the fifth inning. The Reds beat the Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings on Sunday. (Courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds.com/Gene J. Puskar (AP))

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Scott Schebler’s first turn at deciding the game didn’t stick. So he did it again.

Schebler hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, then delivered another RBI double in the 11th as the Cincinnati Reds broke a six-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Sunday.

“Opportunity presented itself, and I just happened to put a good swing on two balls today,” Schebler said.

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The Reds stopped Pittsburgh’s six-game winning string.

Schebler entered the game via a double-switch a half-inning before driving in Adam Duvall with a double in the ninth.

Eugenio Suarez led off the Reds 11th with a triple past diving left fielder Starling Marte. Schebler hit a liner that right fielder Gregory Polanco misjudged and the ball went over his head.

“(Schebler) hasn’t gotten off to a great start, but he got a chance today to come in and make a difference,” Reds manager Bryan Price said.

Schebler’s hit off Ryan Vogelsong (1-1) gave Cincinnati only its second win since being no-hit by the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta on April 21.

Blake Wood (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings, including a perfect 11th.

Polanco and John Jaso homered for the Pirates. Pittsburgh committed a season-high four errors and misplayed other balls.

“We got in our own way a couple times, but we battled, and everybody kept playing,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “We scored late, they scored late. It was like throwing punches at one another — and they were able to throw one more than we were.”

Jaso hit a solo home run with two outs in the ninth off Ross Ohlendorf that made it 5-all. The drive landed in the first row of seats atop the 21-foot wall in right field.

Polanco led off the fifth with his third homer. It became the 39th home run ball to reach the Allegheny River in the 16 seasons of PNC Park.

The Pirates rallied to tie the game during each the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

Cincinnati turned to 28-year-old Tim Adleman to make his major league debut after putting scheduled starter Raisel Iglesias on the disabled list earlier Sunday because of an impingement in his right shoulder.

Adleman was pitching in independent leagues in 2012-13 before working his way up the Reds organization from Single-A over the past two-plus years. He allowed five baserunners over six-plus innings and was lifted with a 3-1 lead after allowing a leadoff single to Marte in the seventh.

Adleman’s chance at his first major league win were dashed when, after one out, Sean Rodriguez hit an RBI triple and scored on pinch hitter Matt Joyce’s broken-bat single.

“It was a dream come true,” Adleman said. “I just wanted to go out there and try to slow things down, make pitches and give the team a chance to win.”

Pirates starter Jeff Locke gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: About Iglesias, Price said, “it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a long-tenured stint on the DL.” … Price said RHP Homer Bailey (Tommy John surgery) had “a slight setback” during a rehabilitation outing in Double-A. “We’re going to let it cool down and not throw for a few days and then get him back going,” Price said. … Duvall remained in the game after colliding with the outfield wall attempting to make a play on Rodriguez’s triple in the seventh. Duvall was checked by the training staff for several minutes after he made a dive into the left field corner.

Pirates: Hurdle waited longer than usual to post the lineup. Marte was hit in the left hand by a pitch Saturday; Andrew McCutchen, who started in center, had “a cranky knee” late Saturday night, general manager Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show. … Huntington also said on KDKA-FM on Sunday that 3B Jung Ho Kang will likely play “two of every three” games once he rejoins the Pirates from his rehabilitation stint in Triple-A that followed a major knee injury late last season.

UP NEXT

Reds: Cincinnati heads back home to host a familiar face in RHP Johnny Cueto, who will start for San Francisco on Monday at Great American Ball Park. Cueto (4-1, 2.65) spent eight seasons with the Reds, making his first 213 starts before being traded to Kansas City last summer for, among others, LHP Brandon Finnegan. Finnegan (1-1, 3.86) will start vs. Cueto.

Pirates: Pittsburgh faces the Cubs for the first time since the teams met in last October’s wild-card game. The three-game series between the top two teams in the NL Central begins in Pittsburgh with Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole (2-2, 2.78) facing Chicago RHP Jason Hammel (3-0, 0.75).