McCoy: Reds win fourth straight, move within 1/2 game of second place -- playoff spot -- in NL Central

Suddenly the Reds are only two games under .500 (24-26) and the Les Miserables Pirates, losers of seven straight, are 14-33.

While all the talk is about a wild card spot, the Reds are only a half-game behind St. Louis for second place in the National League Central, which would give them a higher seed in the playoffs.

And the Reds get one more crack at the Pirates on Wednesday night, with Luis Castillo on the mound.

Then the Reds finish the season with three at home against the Chicago White Sox, three at home against the Milwaukee Brewers and three on the road against the Minnesota Twins — nine games against the big boys.

With a doubleheader Monday and with Sonny Gray on the injured list, the Reds needed a starter and called on relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen.

Lorenzen began his Reds career as a starter before they turned him into a relief pitcher, but he has said from Day One that he prefers starting assignments.

And he acquitted himself magnificently — five innings, one run, four hits, no walks, six strikeouts.

“I used the same approach, just throw more pitches,” said Lorenzen, who threw 76 pitches in his first start in more than two years. "Kudos to the bullpen to keep the score where it was (4-1 when Lorenzen left) and to the offense for giving me that wiggle room early (four runs in the first two innings). That obviously allowed me to attack the strike zone alot more, go right 'em.

“I was plannig to go seven or eight tonight, but they didn’t let me go past five,” he added. “Of course I wanted to stay in, but what (manager) David Bell says goes. I love playing baseball so whenever they tell me I can’t play baseball I get a little bit of an attitude.”

His attitude was on a high latitude for five innings.

The Reds scored three in the first and one in the second to give Lorenzen a 4-0 lead and he guarded it ferociously in the first three innings, giving up one hit.

He pitched out of trouble in the fourth when he gave up three straight one-out hits for a run, but struck out Gregory Polanco on a full count and coaxed a soft fly ball to left from Cole Tucker to leave two stranded.

Lorenzen bounced back in the fifth with a 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts and turned the 4-1 lead over to the bullpen.

—TeJay Antone pitched the sixth and gave up a walk.

—Lucas Sims pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and a no-runs, one-hit eighth.

—With closer Raisel Iglesias unavailable after extensive work in Monday’s doubleheader, Amir Garrett pitched the ninth in quest of his first career save. It wasn’t easy, but he got it.

Colin Moran made a bid for a leadoff home run, but center fielder Brian Goodwin went above the wall in right center to snag it.

Garrett walked Josh Bell and after getting ahead of Gregory Polanco 0-and-2, he walked him, too.

That brought up the potential tying run in Cole Tucker. After falling behind 3-and-1, Garrett struck him out on a slider out of the strike zone. He fell behind pinch-hitter Kevin Newman 3-and-1 but ended it on a pop fly to right field.

“It was a grind today, for sure it was a grind,” said Garrett. "It isn’t always pretty and I had to find a way to get it done. We got the job done and that’s all that matters.

“We’re right where we need to be and it is an exciting time,” he added. “Hopefully we can find a spot in the playoffs because that’s what Cincinnati wants, that’s what the fans want and that’s what we want. So we’re trying to give everybody what they want.”

The Reds filled the bases with no outs in the first against Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove. One run scored when Musgrove hit Mike Moustakas with a pitch, the second run scored on Brian Goodwin’s sacrifice fly and the third scored on a two-out single by Freddy Galvis.

A fourth run was provided by Tucker Barnhart, a leadoff home run in the second.

From the third through the sixth Musgrove gave up nothing but an infield hit to Shogo Akiyama and he struck out the side in the fifth. Along the way he had heated words with Jesse Winker and Mike Moustakas.

The work of Lorenzen and the bullpen was needed because after Barnhart’s home run in the second, the Reds collected only two more hits from the second through the game’s end.