#fourth inning

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PITTSBURGH | Votto gets fan's shirt, vote; Reds get 5-1 loss vs Pirates

PITTSBURGH — This trade was too good for Joey Votto to turn down.

The Cincinnati Reds star first baseman spotted a fan sitting along the first base line Monday at PNC Park wearing a T-shirt that read “Votto for President.” It was from a Nike promotional campaign in 2012 and Votto hadn’t kept any of the shirts.

Votto got the shirt, but wound up with little else, shut down by Trevor Williams and the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1.

In the middle of the fourth inning, Votto walked over to the fan and asked for the shirt, offering an autographed jersey in return. The man agreed and the suddenly bare-chested fan and Votto exchanged first bumps along with Labor Day gifts.

“I was trying to find (the T-shirt) for a while and I was excited to see if I could trade a jersey for a shirt and he obliged,” Votto said.

“He was willing to take his shirt off in the middle of the stands and thanks to him for being willing to do that,” he said.

That was the highlight of the day for Votto, who went 1 for 4 and grounded into a double play as the Reds lost for the ninth time in 12 games.

Trevor Williams (12-9) continued his stretch of strong starts by pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed five hits while striking out four and walking one.

Williams improved to 6-2 with a 0.66 ERA in his last nine starts, giving up four runs in 54 2/3 innings. It was his ninth outing of at least five innings without allowing a run this season.

“It’s trusting my stuff and being able to put the fastball where I want to put it,” Williams said. “We go into every start knowing the fastball command is going to be there and everything comes off that. It’s fun to throw the ball to all four quadrants of the strike zone.”

Adam Frazier had career high-tying four hits, including a solo home run off Matt Harvey (6-8) in the first and a two-run single in the seventh that stretched the Pirates’ lead to 5-0. Frazier also had a double and three RBIs.

Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco and Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett homered and had two hits each.

Polanco hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning that made it 3-0. Gennett, the NL batting leader with a .320 average, broke up the Pirates’ shutout bid with a solo drive off Kyle Crick in the eighth.

Gennett also doubled in the first inning, but Williams worked out of a second-and-third jam with one out by striking Eugenio Suarez and getting Scott Schebler to fly out.

“He’s kind of like the guy who can get you a stolen base when you need a stolen base,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of Williams. “He had four strikeouts today, but he can get you a punchout when you need a punchout.”

Harvey surrendered three runs and seven hits in six innings with three strikeouts and no walks.

“It was one of those (starts) where you look back and the numbers obviously don’t go with how the game went but two pitches definitely cost me,” Harvey said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: C Elias Diaz (strained right hamstring) missed his third straight game.

TRAHAN DEBUT

Reds SS Blake Trahan was 1 for 3 in his major league debut, hitting a single off Williams in the seventh inning. He was promoted from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Reds: LHP Cody Reed (0-1, 3.26 ERA) will make his third start and 13th relief appearance of the season Tuesday night after limiting Milwaukee to one run in 4 2/3 innings in his last outing.

Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (5-8, 3.80 ERA) is 1-4 in his last six starts despite a 3.65 ERA.

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BOSTON | Red Sox starter Price leaves after line drive hits left hand

BOSTON — Red Sox starter David Price has left the game against Miami in the top of the fourth inning with a bruised left wrist after taking a line drive back to mound to end the previous inning.

Price, who had been Boston’s best pitcher since the All-Star break, was hit by the liner from Miami’s Austin Dean. The lefty tried to depend himself, raising his arms quickly in self-defense. He scrambled after the ball to the right side of the mound, but ended up covering first when first baseman Steve Pearce picked it up and tossed it over to him for the final out of the top of the third.

The team announced the injury before the next inning started.

When the play was over, Price looked at his hand as he walked to the dugout and headed straight down the dugout steps into the clubhouse. He was followed by a team trainer, pitching coach Dana LeVangie and manager Alex Cora.

When the top of the fourth started, Hector Velazquez replace Price.

AL East-leading Boston, which owns the majors’ best record, is already minus ace lefty Chris Sale, who has missed all but one start the last month with mild left shoulder inflammation.

Price had gone 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA in six starts since the break.

The Marlins led the Red Sox 3-2 after three innings. Price was charged with all the runs and five hits, striking out three without walking a batter.

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MINNEAPOLIS | Cahill, A's fall 6-4 to Twins, take 2nd straight loss

MINNEAPOLIS — Mitch Garver didn’t have time for any warmup swings, summoned as an injury replacement for Minnesota in the fourth inning.

After two strikes by Oakland starter Trevor Cahill, that’s when Garver found his groove.

With a two-run, pinch-hit double by Garver , the Twins overtook Cahill on their way to a 6-4 victory Thursday night that gave the Athletics consecutive losses for only the second time in more than two months.

“It’s the hardest thing to do in any sport, come into a baseball game and pinch hit cold off the rack,” said Garver, who’d never before faced Cahill.

Even still, Garver gave the Twins a 4-2 lead with his big hit after catcher Bobby Wilson sprained his right ankle backing up first base in the top of the inning.

The A’s haven’t been cold all summer, so they’ll face a mild test in trying to recover. Having lost Wednesday afternoon to last-place Texas, Oakland dropped 1½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. The A’s are four games ahead of Seattle for the second wild card.

“They don’t really worry about what happened the day before,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve been on a nice little roll.

When they take the field, no matter who we’re playing or who we’re starting, they feel like we’re going to win.”

The A’s are 42-16 since June 16. Their only other losing streak since the turnaround began that day was a three-game sweep by Colorado from July 27-29.

“Use it as motivation,” catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. “I don’t think there’s any other way to take it.”

Joe Mauer drove in Garver with a single that tied him with Rod Carew for second on the club’s career hits list. It was Minnesota’s fourth straight hit against Cahill (5-3), who took his first defeat since May 16.

The A’s lost with Cahill on the mound for the first time since June 2.

He spent most of June and part of July on the disabled list.

“They’ve got a tough lineup over there, and they put together some good at-bats,” Cahill said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap.

They made me work.”

Khris Davis moved into the major league lead with his 39th home run , a no-doubt drive to start the second inning against Twins starter Kohl Stewart, who lasted until the fifth. Stewart threw two wild pitches that contributed to A’s runs, one in the fifth that allowed Matt Chapman to chug home.

Alan Busenitz (4-0), the first of five Twins relievers, gave up a single to Marcus Semien later in that inning that Eddie Rosario fielded in shallow left field. Rosario threw out Matt Olson trying to score from second to end the inning with the Twins leading 5-3, with an assist to Garver for disguising the arrival of the ball.

Trevor Hildenberger shook off Jed Lowrie’s two-out homer in the ninth to finish his fourth save in as many opportunities since closer Fernando Rodney was traded to the A’s two weeks ago.

“It’s kind of the mystery ‘pen,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

“You don’t really know when you’re going to pitch.”

Not so much for the A’s, who’ve bolstered an already strong bullpen for the stretch run.

The last sign this wasn’t their night came in the eighth when All-Star closer Blake Treinen, who had not allowed a home run over his previous 58 innings since Justin Upton connected April 6 for the Angels, was taken deep by Max Kepler. Treinen had pitched 12 scoreless innings since July 21.

DINGERS FOR DAVIS Davis hit his fifth home run in the last five games. That put him within one of becoming only the second player in A’s history to go deep 40 or more times in three straight years and joining Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who did so from 1932-34 when the franchise was located in Philadelphia. Mark McGwire (1987, 1992, 1996) is the only other A’s player with three 40-homer seasons.

MAUER MILESTONE Mauer, who has 2,085 career hits, trails all-time Twins leader Kirby Puckett by 219. Carew, who amassed 3,053 career hits after playing his final seven years with the Angels, spent 12 seasons with the Twins, like Puckett. This is Mauer’s 15th year with the club. Mauer is also one run short of becoming the third Twins player since the franchise arrived in Minnesota in 1961 to reach 1,000 runs with the team.

TRAINER’S ROOM Athletics: LF Matt Joyce, on the DL with a lower back strain for a second time this season, will play every other day on his rehab assignment as a precaution.

Twins: 3B Miguel Sano, rested for the second time in 25 games since returning from his reconditioning assignment in the minor leagues, is in an 0-for-14 slide.

UP NEXT Athletics: LHP Sean Manaea (11-9, 3.70 ERA) pitches Friday night against the Twins. He gave up six runs over four innings in his last start, a loss at Houston that marked the first time in 14 turns he’d allowed more than three runs.

Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi (5-7, 4.55) takes the mound in the second game of the series. He has logged only 18 2/3 innings over four starts in August.