Dmitri Young gets tangled up with Pirates pitcher Jimmy Anderson at first base. Young was safe on an infield single. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PITTSBURGH — Where has the pop gone? The Reds are suddenly looking like a punchless bunch at the plate.

        The Reds lost 5-2 Saturday to the Pittsburgh Pirates before a sellout crowd of 38,638 at PNC Park. Cincinnati managed eight singles and a double off Jimmy Anderson.

        Anderson began the game with a 5.61 ERA, a 6-16 record and a seven-game losing streak. He still pitched the second complete game of his career and first in 2001.

        In the series, the Reds have three doubles and 23 singles. They've gone five games without hitting a home run. That ties their longest streak of the year.

        “We haven't hit much in a while,” Reds manager Bob Boone said.

        Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, who combined for 23 home runs in August, have zero in September. In fact, Todd Walker is the only regular with a homer this month.

        The Reds have scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last 11 games. That's a telling statistic because the Reds are 1-37 when they score three or fewer.

        “We're just not hitting right now,” first baseman Sean Casey said. “It's nothing you can pinpoint.”

Pokey Reese fails to make a diving stop on Jimmy Anderson's third-inning single. | ZOOM |

        The Reds took the field Saturday a few minutes after the San Francisco Giants completed their 7-3 victory over Colorado. The significance? The Reds were officially eliminated from playoff contention. The Giants' win meant the Reds' magic number came up in the wild-card race.

        The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Walker doubled and came around to score on pitcher Elmer Dessens' single to right. Right fielder Rob Mackowiak made a strong throw and had Walker easily, but catcher Jason Kendall dropped the ball as he moved to make the tag.

        The Reds added a run in the fourth. Aaron Boone singled and went to third when Walker singled for his ninth hit in 18 at-bats. Boone scored when Jason LaRue grounded into a fielder's choice.

        The Reds would manage only three singles after the fourth. Was that a reflection of Anderson's effectiveness or the Reds' futility?

        “We swung at an awful lot of bad pitches,” Boone said. “We didn't have many good at-bats.”

        The Pirates tied the score, 2-2, in the fifth. Mackowiak led off with a single. Kevin Young followed with his 13th home run of the year, a high drive to left field that barely cleared Dmitri Young's glove.

        Aramis Ramirez made it 4-2 an inning later with a two-run homer. The blast gave Ramirez 32 homers and 101 RBI. The home run also was the 31st allowed by Dessens this year.

        “We've allowed a lot of home runs as a club,” Boone said. “Most of them have been fastballs out over the plate and up. There haven't been a lot that weren't mistakes.”

        Dessens admitted that his were mistakes.

        “I threw sinker, sinker,” he said. “Then I tried a fastball.”

        Dessens went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. It was the most hits Dessens has allowed in 11 starts.

        Dessens, like every other pitcher in the Reds' rotation, has reached a career high for innings pitched. He has thrown 181 this year, exceeding his previous high of 162 in 1997.

        “I don't think he's tired,” Boone said. “He was strong early. He lost his stuff a little at the end.”
       

Pirates 5, Reds 2 Hamilton likely to join rotation Boone back in full swing Fans-eye view of the Reds Pirates starter ends 7-game slide Reds box, runs

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