CINCINNATI -- Billy Hamilton didn't even know how long it had been since he circled the bases.
The Reds' speedy leadoff hitter ended one of the major leagues' longest home run droughts with a three-run shot, and Devin Mesoraco hit his first in more than two years, powering Cincinnati to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
The Reds have won five of six from their Ohio River rivals.
Eugenio Suarez started the Reds' surge with a three-run homer in the first inning off Jameson Taillon (2-1), who hadn't allowed a homer on the road this season. Hamilton hit his first homer since June 28 -- a streak of 319 at-bats that was the third-longest active drought in the majors -- just inside the right-field pole for a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning.
"I had no idea," Hamilton said of his long streak. "I know now. It could've gone 300 more as long as I was getting base hits and getting on base."
He's found plenty of ways to hurt the Pirates, including his game-ending double in the 10th inning for a 4-3 victory on Monday.
"It was an ambush fastball we tried to get in tight that didn't get in tight," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He continues to be more than a rock in our shoe."
Tallion gave up eight hits and six runs in five innings. He had allowed only one earned run in his three previous road starts.
"I was putting guys on after putting myself in a good position," Tallion said. "If there's no runners on, then home runs don't beat you, but two three-run homers do."
Mesoraco missed most of the last two seasons because of surgery on his hip and shoulder. He connected for a solo shot in the sixth off Trevor Williams, the catcher's first homer since Sept. 23, 2014 -- a span of 117 at-bats.
Rookie Davis (1-1) repeatedly escaped threats to get his first victory in the majors. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the second and the fourth. Davis lasted five innings, allowing four hits and three walks. He threw 91 pitches.
"He had to work for it," manager Bryan Price said. "Nothing came easy for him. The Pirates don't go away. They grind it out. Some big offense certainly helped."
One day after they matched their season high with 12 runs, the Pirates couldn't get a hit with runners in scoring position, going 0 for 8. Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Cody Reed.
STATS
Hamilton's last homer was off the Cubs' Jon Lester. The major leaguers with longer homerless streaks entering the day were the Rangers' Pete Kozma (536 at-bats) and the Marlins' Adeiny Hechavarria (407 at-bats). ... Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison was hit by a pitch for the seventh time in 26 games. ... The Pirates have homered in seven consecutive games. ... McCutchen's homer was his 18th at Great American Ball Park, matching Aramis Ramirez for fourth-most by an opponent.
BACK-TO-BACK
Mesoraco caught his second straight game for Cincinnati, the first time he's gone back-to-back since he was activated last week. Mesoraco missed the start of the season while completing his recovery from hip and shoulder surgery last year.
WOOF
About 400 dogs were in the stands for the first of the Reds' four "Bark in the Park" promotions.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli missed a fourth straight game with a sore right foot that was improving with treatment. The Pirates have no plans to put him on the DL. ... LHP Antonio Bastardo has started playing catch. He's been sidelined since April 25 by a strained left thigh.
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey will begin throwing in the bullpen every third day at the team's spring training complex in Arizona. He had bone spurs removed from his pitching elbow in February. He's not expected back before late June at the earliest.
UP NEXT
Pirates: Ivan Nova (3-2) was named the NL's pitcher of the month for April, when he threw two complete games and a shutout. Nova pitched a three-hitter for a 4-0 win against Miami on Saturday. He has more complete games than walks allowed this season, with only one batter getting a base on balls.
Reds: Tim Adleman (0-1) gave up a season-high eight hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 7-5 loss at St. Louis on Friday.
---
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball




Final
Series: Game 3 of 4

Pirates 2

(12-15, 6-9 away)

Reds 7

(13-14, 7-9 home)





7:10PM,EDT,May 3,2017
Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati,Ohio 

123456789 R H E
PIT 000000200 2 5 0
CIN 30030100 - 7 10 1
W: R. Davis (1-1)
L: J. Taillon (2-1)





View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Pittsburgh - Top of 1stSCORE
Rookie Davis pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Harrison grounded out to second.00
Jaso grounded out to first.00
McCutchen fouled out to first.00
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Jameson Taillon pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Hamilton lined out to second.00
Cozart singled to left.00
Votto walked, Cozart to second.00
Duvall flied out to right.00
Suárez homered to left (373 feet), Cozart and Votto scored.03
Schebler struck out swinging.03
3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 2ndSCORE
Rookie Davis pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Polanco popped out to shortstop.03
Bell singled to center.03
Díaz doubled to deep right, Bell to third.03
Mercer walked.03
Ngoepe struck out swinging.03
Taillon grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Mercer out at second.03
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Jameson Taillon pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Peraza singled to center.03
Mesoraco struck out looking.03
Davis struck out bunting foul.03
Hamilton struck out looking.03
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 3rdSCORE
Rookie Davis pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Harrison doubled to deep left center.03
Jaso popped out to shortstop.03
McCutchen flied out to right, Harrison to third.03
Polanco walked.03
Polanco stole second.03
Bell popped out to first.03
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Jameson Taillon pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Cozart popped out to third.03
Votto singled to right.03
Duvall doubled to deep left, Votto to third.03
Suárez struck out swinging.03
Schebler grounded out to pitcher.03
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 4thSCORE
Rookie Davis pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Díaz flied out to right.03
Mercer doubled to left.03
Ngoepe walked.03
Taillon sacrificed to catcher, Mercer to third, Ngoepe to second.03
Harrison hit by pitch.03
Jaso struck out swinging.03
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Jameson Taillon pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Peraza singled to center.03
Mesoraco hit by pitch, Peraza to second.03
Davis sacrificed to catcher, Peraza to third, Mesoraco to second.03
Hamilton homered to right (371 feet), Peraza and Mesoraco scored.06
Cozart struck out swinging.06
Votto lined out to center.06
3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 5thSCORE
Rookie Davis pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
McCutchen grounded out to shortstop.06
Polanco reached first base on catcher's interference.06
Bell grounded into double play, first to shortstop, Polanco out at second.06
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Jameson Taillon pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Duvall singled to left.06
Suárez grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Duvall out at second.06
Schebler grounded out to second.06
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 6thSCORE
Cody Reed pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Reed relieved Davis.06
Díaz lined out to right.06
Mercer walked.06
Ngoepe walked, Mercer to second.06
Osuna hit for Taillon.06
Osuna grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Ngoepe out at second.06
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Trevor Williams pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Williams relieved Taillon.06
Peraza grounded out to second.06
Mesoraco homered to left (392 feet).07
Reed struck out looking.07
Hamilton popped out to shortstop.07
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 7thSCORE
Cody Reed pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Harrison grounded out to third.07
Hanson hit for Jaso.07
Hanson walked.07
McCutchen homered to left (425 feet), Hanson scored.27
Polanco grounded out to first.27
Bell walked.27
Díaz flied out to center.27
2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Trevor Williams pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Hanson in right field.27
Cozart lined out to left.27
Votto walked.27
Duvall grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Votto out at second.27
Suárez walked, Duvall to second.27
Schebler fouled out to third.27
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 8thSCORE
Drew Storen pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Storen relieved Reed.27
Mercer grounded out to pitcher.27
Ngoepe struck out swinging.27
Gosselin hit for Williams.27
Gosselin grounded out to pitcher.27
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Cincinnati - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Tony Watson pitching for PittsburghPITCIN
Watson relieved Williams.27
Peraza doubled to right center.27
Mesoraco popped out to second.27
Kivlehan hit for Storen.27
Kivlehan struck out swinging.27
Hamilton struck out swinging.27
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Pittsburgh - Top of 9thSCORE
Raisel Iglesias pitching for CincinnatiPITCIN
Iglesias relieved Storen.27
Harrison flied out to center.27
Hanson struck out swinging.27
McCutchen grounded out to pitcher.27
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors




Pittsburgh Pirates

HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Harrison 3B40100011.308.385.527
Jaso RF3000019.157.259.275
b-Hanson PH-RF
11001110.231.259.385
McCutchen CF51120019.235.321.439
Polanco LF20001018.229.319.313
Bell 1B30101020.235.340.407
Díaz C40100020.250.333.375
Mercer SS20102014.220.324.319
Ngoepe 2B20002218.385.579.538
Taillon P1000008.100.100.100
a-Osuna PH
1000004.303.395.515
0000000.000.000.000
c-Gosselin PH
1000003.125.160.167
0000000.000.000.000
Totals2925274154   
a-grounded to second for J Taillon in the 6th
b-walked for J Jaso in the 7th
c-grounded to pitcher for T Williams in the 8th
BATTING
2B: Díaz (1, Davis); Harrison (3, Davis); Mercer (3, Davis)
HR: McCutchen (5, 7th inning off Reed 1 on, 1 Out)
RBI: McCutchen 2 (15)
S: Taillon
GIDP: Bell, Osuna
Pirates RISP: 0-7 (Bell 0-1, Osuna 0-1, Taillon 0-1, Ngoepe 0-1, Jaso 0-2, McCutchen 0-1)
Team LOB: 10
BASERUNNING
SB: Polanco (6, 2nd base off Davis/Mesoraco)
FIELDING
DP: 1 (Mercer-Ngoepe-Bell).

Game Information

StadiumGreat American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
Attendance14,297 (33.8% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time2:48
Weather56 degrees, overcast
Wind7 mph
UmpiresHome Plate - Tom Hallion, First Base - Mark Ripperger, Second Base - Phil Cuzzi, Third Base - Vic Carapazza