CINCINNATI — For as swimmingly as Jared Jones’ rookie season started, it’s been the inverse from Independence Day onward.

The right-hander missed nearly two months due to a Grade 2 right lat strain suffered on July 3 and hasn’t been as dominant since. On Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, Jones yielded six earned runs across five innings, as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 to drop the series.

Including Saturday’s start, Jones’ ERA in the second half has ballooned to 6.15, and his seasonlong figure has climbed north of 4.00 for the first time since April 11.

Aside from a couple of walks, Jones’ first two innings went by rather swiftly as he kept the Reds scoreless. But the 23-year-old ran into trouble in the third, as Cincinnati tagged him for three runs, all with two outs in the inning.

Tyler Stephenson drove home the game’s first run by singling on a slider and scored when Ty France turned on a hanging curveball for a two-run shot. Jones encountered further difficulties in the fourth inning via the long ball.

Again with two outs, Jones hung a breaking ball and felt the consequences. Elly De La Cruz got a slider that caught too much of the plate and yanked it down the right-field line for a no-doubt, three-run homer that traveled an estimated 423 feet, per Statcast.

Jones, who finished the afternoon with 90 pitches to his credit, responded from the two forgettable frames with a 1-2-3 fifth that was briefly interrupted by a mound visit. Both assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo and manager Derek Shelton attended to Jones after his fifth and final strikeout of the afternoon, but the hurler stayed in the contest.

Though Jones’ afternoon didn’t go as he or the Pirates intended, the right-hander at the very least set a new career high for innings in a professional season. Including his trio of rehab starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, Jones has thrown a combined 128 1/3 innings this year, which is two more than all of the 2023 campaign.

There’s a caveat with that development, though, in that Jones hasn’t looked nearly as sharp in the second half of the season as before the All-Star break. With only seven games remaining in the campaign for the Pirates, there’s room for Jones to make one more start.

It remains to be seen how the Pirates will handle one of their most prized hurlers, who would surely benefit from going into the offseason with some more recent success to build upon.

On the mound

David Bednar responded from a challenging last outing against the Cardinals in which he gave up three runs (two earned) across 1/3 of an inning. The former Pirates closer tossed a scoreless seventh inning, though he did issue a two-out walk.

Left-hander Ryan Borucki, whose season has been derailed due to injury, also blanked the Reds in the eighth. Such couldn’t be said for fellow southpaw Jalen Beeks, though, as he gave up the Reds’ seventh and final run in the sixth.

At the plate

Less than 24 hours removed from struggling mightily against Reds starter Nick Martinez, who tied a career high with nine strikeouts, the Pirates again labored at the plate.

Cincinnati right-hander Rhett Lowder had his way across five scoreless innings, only running into trouble in the fifth when the Pirates loaded the bases. That threat proved fruitless when Bryan De La Cruz flew out to right field to strand a trio.

Billy Cook made sure the Pirates weren’t shut out, though, cranking a solo shot in the top of the ninth for his second career MLB home run.

Up next

Sunday: Pirates at Reds, 1:10 p.m. ET, Great American Ball Park

Probable pitchers: RHP Paul Skenes (10-3, 2.07) for Pirates; RHP Hunter Greene (9-4, 2.83) for Reds

Key matchup: Skenes has faced the Reds twice in his rookie season and dominated the National League Central foe, yielding only one earned run across 12 innings.

Hidden stat: Bryan Reynolds is tied with Brendan Donovan for the most hits (14) against the Reds this year.

Monday: OFF

____

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.