Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Pirates left fielder Jason Bay fails to come up with David Ross' line-drive in the fifth inning last night at PNC Park.

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fact is, it did not matter -- not much, anyway -- that Pirates catcher Ronny Paulino made a highly dubious defensive decision in their 8-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds last night at PNC Park.

Nor was it terribly relevant that Tom Gorzelanny finally looked mortal after four superhuman starts.

Not when the team's hitters continue to put up zero after zero and make just about every opposing pitcher seem like some freakish hybrid of Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.

"Once again, we didn't do too much offensively," manager Jim Tracy said, citing a familiar lament. "It's hard to do a whole lot with one run, especially when your first hit comes in the bottom of the sixth inning."

On this night, the role of dominating opposing pitcher was played by Matt Belisle, a converted reliever who never topped six innings in the first 11 starts of his career. He was perfect through 5 1/3 innings -- yes, perfect -- and wound up going the distance - yes, the distance - while limiting the Pirates to five hits, no walks and six 1-2-3 innings.

	Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez collides with Adam Dunn after a steal in the fifth inning. Click photo for larger image. Today Game: Pirates (LHP Paul Maholm 1-2, 3.96) vs. Cincinnati Reds (RHP Aaron Harang 3-0, 3.86), 1:35 p.m., PNC Park. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Key matchup: Chris Duffy finds a way on base vs. Harang, batting 9 for 18 in his career with - this is important against Harang - only three strikeouts. Of note: To approach the efficiency of his previous outing - a complete game - Maholm needs a good start. Opponents are 8 for 15 against him this season in his first 15 pitches of a game. Related articles Inside the Pirates: A 'Comedy Central' revival? Pirates Notebook: Starting pitching two levels deep Paul Meyer's Baseball Rankings

His final pitch count was 91, roughly 10 per inning.

Some of the Pirates offered praise for Belisle, and there was merit to it: His rising, 94-mph fastball fooled a few hitters early in the game, after which he stepped up the offspeed material.

Still ...

"It's just not happening for us," center fielder Chris Duffy said. "Guys are doing the prep work, they're going up there with a plan and ... it's hard to explain."

"He had his stuff," first baseman Adam LaRoche said of Belisle. "He was in a position to put every hitter away and did a great job. But, when you're going against someone like that, you've got to get some breaks, some walks, some bloopers, something."

Or nothing.

There are signs that the heart of the order is beginning to beat, from LaRoche and Jason Bay swinging well to Freddy Sanchez breaking an 0-for-13 slump with an infield single. But the numbers as a whole bear out the Pirates' futility: Their 78 runs are fewest in Major League Baseball, and their .299 on-base percentage - the prime indicator of offensive production - ranks last, too.

Even in the five-game winning streak that ended last night, they mustered only 24 runs and 13 extra-base hits.

All of which magnifies every miscue, as was the case in this one.

Gorzelanny was perfect through three innings, but Cincinnati nicked him in the fourth on Josh Hamilton's two-out walk and Jeff Conine's RBI double.

Next came a calamitous fifth that undoubtedly will be remembered most by the 29,514 in attendance.

Adam Dunn walked and, one out later, stole second before David Ross singled him to third. Belisle tried on two consecutive pitches to get Dunn home with a suicide-squeeze bunt, but each went foul. The squeeze sign was off with the next pitch, but Belisle bunted again in hopes of advancing Ross to second.

The bunt dropped just in front of home plate, and Paulino quickly scooped it up.

From there, as Tracy would explain later, Paulino had two good options:

1. Throw it to second and start an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. The slow-footed Ross would have been no threat to beat it out, and neither would Belisle, who, thinking the ball was foul, had stayed put in the box. Dunn's run would not have counted.

2. Tag Belisle, then turn to the left and try to catch Dunn, who was down the line between third and home, in a rundown for another potential inning-ending double play. Or, at the least, keep him at third.

Well, Paulino did tag Belisle, but he hesitated for a moment after that, then threw to second when he saw Ross running. Shortstop Jack Wilson, unaware Belisle already was out, did not attempt a tag on Ross. He simply kept his foot on the bag and flicked to first to try for a double play that now was impossible.

And Dunn? He sprinted across home plate while all this was going on, despite Gorzelanny shouting to call Paulino's attention to him.

So, the end result: A run scored, Ross was safe, only two outs, and Cincinnati went on to score three more times to take a 5-0 lead.

Ouch.

"There was a good possibility we could have been out of that fifth inning," Tracy said. "That's one of the tough things about tonight."

Paulino left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters.

Gorzelanny, brilliant in starting 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, would be charged with five runs over his six innings. And his lowlight undoubtedly was that the Belisle bunt was followed by three consecutive hits - including Hamilton's laser of a double off the center-field wall - and a run-scoring balk.

Did Gorzelanny get rattled?

"If he did, that's something to learn from," Tracy said. "You can't allow that to happen."

Gorzelanny shrugged off that notion.

"I tried to put the inning down," he said. "And some things didn't work."

The Pirates will try to climb back above .500 and take the three-game series this afternoon. That will not be easy -- especially given their offense -- against defending National League strikeout champion Aaron Harang.