Chad Kuhl rusty in return; Kevin Newman keeps hitting as Pirates lose to Red Sox

It wasn’t so much that Chad Kuhl missed a start in spring training as it was that the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander skipped it to be with his wife Amanda for the birth of his first child, a boy they named Hudson.

With 11 days between starts, it was no wonder Kuhl was worried about his pacing like an expecting father. He found his rhythm with a 1-2-3 first inning against the Red Sox but needed to settle down in the second.

Kuhl faced eight batters, allowing one run on one hit and two walks while striking out two in two innings in a 7-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., his final tuneup before the regular season.

“First start coming back after being away because of the baby, I thought he was good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The second inning he got sped up and slowed himself back down. It was nice to see him. Not only did he do that, he was able to go onto a back field and finish up so we were able to lengthen him out a little bit in a controlled setting. First time out, I thought he threw the ball well.”

Kuhl walked the first two batters of the second inning before giving up a Marwin Gonzalez single that scored Rafael Devers to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. But Kuhl recovered, getting Bobby Dalbec to pop out. Pirates catcher Michael Perez threw out Hunter Renfroe at third, then Kuhl struck out Christian Arroyo to end the inning.

“I felt really good,” Kuhl said. “I just felt a little bit of rust. Knocking off that rust there in that second inning. I just felt a little bit slow. A little out of sync, but got in a stretch, got a popout and a strikeout there to finish it to kind of recapture kind of what I had going in that first inning. I feel good, just knocking some rust off.”

Where Kuhl was rusty, shortstop Kevin Newman continued to hit like a well-oiled machine. Newman went 3 for 4 with two runs, boosting his batting average to .714 (20 for 28) this spring. Newman has hit safely in six consecutive games, and his 20 hits lead the Grapefruit League and rank second in MLB to Arizona’s Josh Rojas (22). Newman has six doubles, five walks and has yet to strike out in 11 games.

“He’s had a great spring, obviously,” Shelton said. “I didn’t realize he hasn’t struck out yet, which is phenomenal, but it seems like he’s gotten a hit in almost every at-bat, so that kind of makes sense.”

Newman singled in the third and scored on Gregory Polanco’s RBI single. Phillip Evans singled to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Polanco scored on an error by Devers at third to make it 3-1. Newman doubled in the fourth, scoring on an RBI single by Bryan Reynolds, who went 3 for 3, for a 4-1 lead.

The Red Sox responded with a six-run sixth, getting five singles and a walk off Geoff Hartlieb to take a 7-4 advantage. David Bednar struck out three in the final inning, raising his total to 17 strikeouts with only three hits allowed this spring.

The Pirates optioned right-handed reliever Tyler Bashlor after the game, reducing their big league camp to 35 players (20 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and five outfielders).

“We have some decisions to make,” Shelton said, “and we’re running out of time, so we’re going to need to make them rather quickly.”

Mitch Keller is scheduled to start Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.