Simon Wins It for Pirates, 1-0

Randall Simon hit his first home run of the season in the top of the ninth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended the Cincinnati Reds’ three-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory Saturday night.

Simon hit the first pitch from Todd Jones (5-2) into the right-field bleachers, giving the Pirates their second victory in nine games.

Mark Corey (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 17th save in as many tries to set a team record for consecutive saves in a season without a blown save.

Ken Griffey Jr. went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 20 at-bats to extend his slump to one for 23 since hitting his 500th career home run last Sunday in St. Louis.

Pittsburgh starter Oliver Perez went seven innings for his third no-decision in his last four starts. He matched his career high with 13 strikeouts, the most by a Pittsburgh pitcher since Jose DeLeon struck out 14 against the New York Mets on April 16, 1985.

Perez escaped bases-loaded jams in the third and fifth innings. He got Sean Casey to line out to first baseman Simon to end the third, and struck out Casey swinging to end the fifth.

Two of Perez’s three previous wins had come against the Reds.

His strikeout of Griffey leading off the sixth inning gave him 10, the eighth time in his career that he has reached double figures in strikeouts. Four of those eight games were against Cincinnati.

The Pirates put runners on base in all but the first inning, but they got just one past second.