Pirates' rally falls short against Reds on Opening Day

CINCINNATI — The noise from a crowd of 44,049 bounced all over Great American Ball Park in a tense ninth inning Thursday, but Corey Dickerson tried not to hear it.

Pitch after pitch, foul ball after foul ball — 12 of one, seven of the other — the Pittsburgh Pirates’ last hope on Opening Day battled Cincinnati Reds reliever David Hernandez.

Finally, with the count at 2-2, bases loaded and potential tying and lead-changing runners on base, Dickerson grounded out to second base to end the game. It resulted in a 5-3 loss to their National League Central rivals.

“I felt like I had a few pitches good to hit that I fouled straight back that I could have squared up,” said Dickerson, who homered in his previous at-bat an inning earlier. “(Thursday) wasn’t my day.”

Between pitches, he debated what Hernandez might throw in that situation.

“I rarely hear anything, so focused on trying to decide what I want to do,” he said. “I was just missing them.”

“Pretty epic battle,” manager Clint Hurdle offered. “They won this one.”

The game came down to Dickerson vs. Hernandez, who was the Reds’ third pitcher in the ninth.

But it turned in the Reds’ favor in a four-run seventh inning when Pirates starter Jameson Taillon made a few bad pitches, followed by an unusually bad one by relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez to left-handed pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich, who hit a three-run homer.

It was the preferred matchup, considering left-handed hitters have hit .146 off Rodriguez in his career compared to .312 for righties.

Taillon was in command for most of the game, throwing only 75 pitches through the first six innings as the Pirates took a 2-1 lead on Jung Ho Kang’s two-run single in the sixth.

“At six and 75, there was no reluctance,” Hurdle said.

In the seventh, however, Taillon allowed Jose Peraza’s second hit of the day — a leadoff, tying home run — and then walked Tucker Barnhart.

Peraza has hit Taillon well in previous seasons, too.

“Maybe he has X-ray vision to see through my glove to see what I’m throwing,” Taillon said.

In any event, Hurdle allowed Taillon to pitch to Jose Iglesias, who had an RBI double in the second inning. But the trust didn’t turn out well.

Iglesias doubled just inside third base to put two runners in scoring position, and Rodriguez got the call to pitch to Dietrich.

Overall, Taillon said he felt good about the start, even though he gave up six hits, two walks and four runs. But he went to only four three-ball counts and retired 10 hitters on three pitches or fewer — two pitching metrics Hurdle likes to reference.

“I was feeling good, rolling well, pitch count was in check, going deep into the game,” Taillon said. “I’m not going to lose too much sleep over it. I made a lot of really good pitches. A couple of bad pitches they take advantage of.”

Iglesias’ double was a topic of conversation in the Pirates clubhouse after the game. Some thought it was foul.

“It was close,” Taillon said. “(Catcher Francisco Cervelli) had a pretty good view of it. He felt pretty strongly one way.

“Right on right. I like that matchup,” he said of pitching to Iglesias. “I put him on the ground. I did my job. A foot away from where it needed to be.

“I’m usually pretty good at putting righties on the ground. That’s something I’m pretty good at. In that situation, if that ground ball goes to Jung Ho (the third baseman), we’re talking about a different game.”