Cincinnati, OH – The Pittsburgh Pirates handed Cincinnati's Mat Latos his first regular-season loss since August 24 of last year.
Pedro Alvarez knocked in two runs and Charlie Morton tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Reds, 4-0, in the second contest of a four- game series.
Latos (6-1), who was unbeaten in his previous 21 non-playoff starts, gave up three runs on three hits in the first inning. The right-hander settled down after that and ended with nine strikeouts and three walks over five full frames. He fell to 4-1 lifetime against Pittsburgh.
On the other hand, Morton (1-1) allowed just three hits in his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
"I didn't play baseball," Morton said. "I threw, but I wasn't out there pitching competitively for a year. That's one of the things, guys that bounce back better, they'll tell you it's rest and strengthening. We're in there a lot doing a lot of strength work. It doesn't necessarily surprise me."
Russell Martin and Starling Marte each had an RBI and run scored for the Pirates, who bounced back after taking a 4-1 loss in the series opener on Monday.
The Pirates gave Morton all the support he would need in the first inning. Latos, who brought a 10-game winning streak into Tuesday's game, gave up a leadoff triple to Marte. Martin's infield single allowed Marte to score. Garrett Jones and Neil Walker walked to load the bases with one out. Alvarez followed with a two-run single to left to make it 3-0.
"I got aggravated with myself. I didn't feel too well in the bullpen," Latos said. "I kind of took it into the first inning. I beat myself today."
Morton retired 10 straight batters after hitting Shin-Soo Choo to start the bottom of the first. Joey Votto singled with two outs in the fourth to give the Reds their first hit of the contest.
Cincinnati left men on second and third in the fifth and sixth frames.
The Pirates tacked on another run in the seventh. Curtis Partch walked Jordy Mercer, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Marte's single up the middle.
The Reds had zero hits after the sixth.
Game Notes
The Pirates recorded NL-leading 12th shutout of the season ... Pittsburgh agreed to terms with catcher Reese McGuire, the club's first-round selection and 14th selection overall in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft ... The Reds went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six.
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