Al Behrman, Associated Press Adam LaRoche connects for his first home run as a Pirate in the fourth inning against Cincinnati's Aaron Harang yesterday at Great American Ballpark. Click photo for larger image. Looking ahead Opponent: Cincinnati Reds, 1:15 p.m., Great American Ball Park. TV, radio: FOX Sports Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Starters: LHP Zach Duke (0-0, 2.57) vs. LHP Eric Milton (first start). Key matchup: Jason Bay lifetime against Milton is 8 for 19 with three home runs and seven RBIs. Of note: This will be the first time the Pirates face a left-handed starter this season. Last year, the Pirates were 13-36 when a left-hander started against them, including 6-20 on the road. Inside the boxscore: Chris Duffy went 2 for 3 against Cincinnati starter Aaron Harang yesterday, bringing his career totals against the right-hander to 9 hits in 18 at-bats. Related articles Inside the Pirates: Things look fine for 2009 Pirates Notebook: Sanchez returns to team Paul Meyer's Baseball Rankings Baseball Tech: A whole new ballgame, or is it? Cook: Nady back on highlight shows; not happy about it

CINCINNATI -- All those warm and fuzzy feelings the Pirates produced in the comfort of Houston's Minute Maid Park quickly have been packed into the deep freeze here.

Their 7-5 loss against the Cincinnati Reds at chilly Great American Ball Park yesterday was their second defeat in 21 hours after their heady three-game sweep of the Houston Astros.

"That was miserable," said shortstop Jack Wilson, whose fielding gaffe in the fourth inning helped the Reds take the lead for good. "Standing out in that cold for three hours? It would have been much, much nicer if we'd won."

The forecast for Cincinnati last night was so bone-chilling that the Reds' management changed the starting time of the game yesterday from 7:10 to 1:05 -- while the game Friday night was in progress.

"An awesome idea," outfielder Nate McLouth said.

But even with the change in start time, the elements were anything but spring-like. The game-time temperature was 30, and a strong breeze made the chill factor 22.

And the Pirates -- like those who actually were in the announced attendance of 15,825 -- felt every icy annoyance.

Right fielder Xavier Nady had a ball pop out of his glove for a two-run home run by Adam Dunn in the first inning. Wilson's failure to catch a wind-blown pop fly in short left field in the fourth helped the Reds score two more runs.

Those misplays rendered fifth starter Tony Armas' first start as a Pirate a mixed bag. The right-hander struggled through four innings and was charged with six runs on eight hits and five walks (one intentional). He threw 89 pitches -- only 48 of them strikes.

The Pirates struck for two runs against Aaron Harang in the first. Chris Duffy began the inning with a line-drive single to right. Duffy stole second -- his first stolen base of the season -- but Wilson struck out trying to hit the ball to the right side.

Jason Bay, off to a cold 4-for-21 start, struck out, but Adam LaRoche joined the offense with a run-scoring double to right-center field on a 1-2 pitch. On Harang's next pitch, Nady shot a double inside third base, and the Pirates led, 2-0.

In the bottom of the first, though, pesky Ryan Freel opened with a single to right. Dunn lofted Armas' next pitch into right field for what seemed a fairly routine -- albeit deep -- high fly ball for Nady.

The wind, however, carried the ball deeper and more toward center field than Nady anticipated. That brought Duffy into the play, but Nady had called for the ball. As the ball neared the top of the right-center field wall, Nady leaped and caught the ball.

For a nano-second.

"He had it in the pocket of his glove and it popped out," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said.

And plopped right into the stands.

"I couldn't believe it -- it shot right out," said Nady, who initially reacted as if he had caught the ball. "I didn't see it go out [of his glove]. The ball kept drifting. But no excuses. I've got to make that play. The ball was in my glove."

"In freezing cold weather, you see strange things happen," Tracy said.

Two outs later, the Reds went ahead, 3-2, on a single by Edwin Encarnacion, a walk to Scott Hatteberg and a single by Alex Gonzalez.

Brandon Phillips drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second.

The Pirates took a short-lived, 5-4 lead in their half of the fourth.

LaRoche led off with his first home run as a Pirate. Two outs later, Don Kelly walked and scored on Humberto Cota's double to left-center. Armas, 3 for 50 last season with Washington, flared a single over first base to give himself a lead.

Armas got the first out of the bottom of the inning, but then walked Dunn. Phillips lifted a pop fly into short left that Wilson seemed to have tracked. The wind blew the ball toward center, and Wilson could not make a lunging catch to his left. Bay compounded the problem when he promptly picked up the ball and threw to second, where he would have forced Dunn. But his low throw into the dirt eluded Kelly, and the Reds had gift-wrapped runners on first and second.

Armas walked Ken Griffey Jr. on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Encarnacion's single to center gave the Reds a 6-5 lead.

Harang, 9-3 lifetime against the Pirates, left with two outs in the sixth. He allowed eight hits, but minimized the damage by walking just one.