A couple of poor efforts by starting pitchers led the Pirates to shuffle their bullpen Thursday.
Right-hander Bryan Bullington was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis to serve as a long reliever one day after left-hander Tom Gorzelanny lasted just two-thirds of an inning in a loss at Cincinnati. That forced manager John Russell to use right-handed reliever Franquelis Osoria for a career-high 4 1/3 innings. On Tuesday night, right-hander Ian Snell's start lasted just four innings, which also put stress on the bullpen. Bullington was just 3-6 with a 5.68 ERA in 11 starts for Indianapolis. However, he had won three of his last four starts and was named International League Pitcher of the Week last week.
Bullington had a simple explanation for his turnaround.
"I just got back to believing in my stuff," he said. "It was just having confidence again."
The Pirates did not need Bullington on Thursday night, as starter Phil Dumatrait worked seven innings in a 7-2 win over the Reds.
Right-hander Marino Salas was optioned to Indianapolis to make room for Bullington. Salas was 1-0 with a 7.00 ERA in seven relief appearances.
PIRATES 7, REDS 2: Jason Bay and Xavier Nady have always hit well at Great American Ball Park, and they continued that trend as each had a home run and a double to help the Pirates salvage the finale of a three-game series at Cincinnati. Bay has a .374 career batting average at Great American in 147 at-bats, and Nady is hitting .372 in 86 at-bats.
Phil Dumatrait (2-2) allowed one unearned run and two hits for the win while walking two and striking out nine. He shut down the team that lost him to the Pirates on a waiver claim last October.
