Former Pirates pitcher Connor Overton shuts out old teammates in Reds' 4-0 win

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton was impressed with how Connor Overton kept the Pirates’ bats under control Thursday night.

“Second time in a row, he kept us off the barrel,” Shelton said after the Cincinnati Reds almost effortlessly defeated the Pirates, 4-0, in front of a crowd of 9,470 at PNC Park.

“He used his breaking stuff effectively, used it behind in the count.”

Congratulations, Connor. You helped defeat your former teammates for the second time in six days. He was the starting pitcher last Saturday in the Reds’ 9-2 victory at Great American Ballpark.

Thursday night, he looked nothing like the pitcher who compiled an 0-1 record and 8.31 ERA in five games for the Pirates last season.

But Overton’s success was far from the most significant story of the night.

The Pirates (13-18) managed only four hits (all singles), including one by Ke’Bryan Hayes that didn’t leave the infield in the ninth inning.

The game marked the 15th time this season the Pirates scored two or fewer runs. It was only the Reds’ eighth victory in 32 games – three wins coming in the past week against the Pirates.

“We didn’t have too many good at-bats,” Shelton said. “We have to do a better job with our approach.

“It’s one of those things you get a ball that drops or a ball that goes down the line or a ball that hits the bag or something. All of sudden, it seems like it opens up. We need one of those.”

Three singles and four walks were the only blemishes on Overton’s stat line while he cruised through 6 1/3 innings.

With the help of a double play grounder by Bryan Reynolds and a pickoff of Ben Gamel, Overton faced the minimum 12 batters from the third through the sixth innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.59.

Meanwhile, Pirates starter JT Brubaker didn’t pitch badly, but ended up with his third loss in three decisions.

Brubaker worked the first five innings, but was victimized only by Tyler Stephenson’s RBI single in the second and his fourth home run in the fourth.

Stephenson homered on a 3-2 count after laying off two sliders.

“I was trying to repeat the same pitch that he check-swung on,” Brubaker said. “It became a cement mixer and it sat right there in the middle for him to swing at.

“When you throw three in a row, he’s on time for it. When you do throw a bad one, he’s on time and that’s what happens.”

He allowed only two other hits – a double by Mike Moustakas in front of Stephenson’s RBI and a leadoff single by Matt Reynolds in the fifth.

Brubaker committed a balk in the third after walking Tommy Pham, but he ended the inning by striking out Moustakas with an 87-mph slider.

“I thought he pitched well enough to win,” Shelton said.

Brubaker said he believes he has improved since the beginning of the season.

“I’m in the zone with all my pitches, utilizing all my pitches and going after hitters. Making them swing,” he said.

After Brubaker’s five innings, Shelton used relief pitchers Cam Alldred, who made his major-league debut, Heath Hembree and Duane Underwood Jr.

It was Underwood’s first appearance since April 7 after coming off the injured list earlier in the day (hamstring strain).

He pitched the final two innings and allowed two runs on three singles and a double in the eighth before striking out four of the Reds’ last five batters.

“He looked like he came out and he was not in attack mode,” Shelton said. “It looked like he was kind of feeling for it a little bit.

“In the second inning, he came out and it looked like the fastball was exploding out of his hand. The guy that pitched the second inning is the guy we need to see on a consistent basis.”