PITTSBURGH — Slumping Andrew McCutchen had three hits and hard-luck A.J. Burnett got his first win of the season on his sixth try as the Pittsburgh Pirates ended their five-game losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night.
McCutchen, who won the National League MVP award in 2013 and finished third in the voting last season, had just his fifth multi-hit game of the season. The center fielder raised his batting average to .210, 86 points below his career mark of .296.
Burnett (1-1) went seven innings and allowed two runs and seven hits while walking two and striking out four.
The 38-year-old right-hander brought a National League-leading 1.45 ERA into the game — it went up slightly to 1.66 — but received just five runs of support in his first five starts. He was the first major league pitcher to go winless in his first five starts with an ERA that low since the Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Dempster was 0-1 with a 1.02 ERA in 2012.
Burnett, a 17-year veteran, became the 41st pitcher in major league history to strike out 2,400 when he got losing pitcher Anthony DeSclafani swinging in the third inning.
Second baseman Neil Walker and catcher Chris Stewart each had two hits for the Pirates (13-15), who had a total of 11 while going 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Pittsburgh scored just five runs during its five-game skid and went 2-for-36 with runners in scoring position.
Stewart provided a big hit in the clutch, a two-run single in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs that gave the Pirates a 6-2 cushion. That capped a three-run inning that included a run-scoring single by left fielder Starling Marte, his second RBI of the game.
McCutchen added an RBI single in the eighth.
Cincinnati third baseman Todd Frazier hit his NL-leading 10th home run. He was one of four Reds with two hits along with right fielder Marlon Byrd, shortstop Kristopher Negron and catcher Brayan Pena.
DeSclafani (2-3) dropped his third consecutive start. The rookie right-hander gave up three runs in five innings on seven hits and four walks while recording only one strikeout.
The Reds (14-14), who lost to the Pirates for the first time in six games this season, got within 3-2 in the sixth inning when Byrd hit a leadoff triple and scored on a ground out by first baseman Joey Votto.
The Pirates broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth inning.
Walker hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on McCutchen’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Marte. First baseman Pedro Alvarez drove in McCutchen with a double off the top of the center field fence.
Earlier, Frazier’s two-out solo home run to left in the fourth inning drew the Reds into a tie.
The Pirates scored a first-inning run when right fielder Gregory Polanco led off with a double and scored on Walker’s single.
NOTES: Reds SS Zack Cozart (bruised right wrist) was out of the lineup for a third consecutive game. INF Kristopher Negron again started in place of Cozart, who remains listed as day-to-day. … Pirates C Chris Stewart started in place of C Francisco Cervelli, who got the night off. Manager Clint Hurdle has put a rotation system into effect where Cervelli catches back-to-back games, then Stewart starts the next game. … The Reds open a three-game series against the White Sox on Friday night in Chicago. Cincinnati RHP Jason Marquis (3-1, 5.22 ERA) will face White Sox RHP Hector Noesi (0-3, 6.75). … The Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series beginning Friday night. LHP Francisco Liriano (1-1, 1.95) will start for Pittsburgh against Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (4-0, 1.93).