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Daryl Thompson struggled in his third Major League start
and put the Reds in a hole they couldn't get out of, as Cincinnati dropped a 9-5
decision to the Pirates on Wednesday.
Thompson allowed the first five batters he faced to
reach base, and Pittsburgh had a 2-0 lead before he even recorded his first out.
He gave up four runs in the first inning and home runs to Xavier Nady in the
third and fifth innings before he was taken out after just 4 1/3 innings.
The Reds have lost seven of their last eight at Great
American Ball Park and haven't won a series at home since sweeping the Braves
from May 30-June 1.
Jay Bruce hit a leadoff home run in the first, and he
and Adam Dunn each homered in the third to give the Reds a 5-4 lead, but Nady's
two-run homer in the fifth scored Ryan Doumit and handed the lead back to
Pittsburgh.
The Pirates added another run in the seventh, when
Jeremy Affeldt hit Doumit with a pitch and Adam LaRoche drove him in with a
triple to right.
