PITTSBURGH — Andrew Heaney and four relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Pittsburgh Pirates edged Cincinnati 3-1 on Wednesday.

Heaney (3-3) allowed a run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings of work to win for the first time in nearly a month. Dennis Santana worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save as the Pirates took two of three from Cincinnati.

Henry Davis had two hits for Pittsburgh, including an RBI-single in the fourth off Brady Singer (5-3). The top pick in the 2021 draft also turned in a pair of big defensive plays, slapping a tag on Spencer Steer at home plate to end the sixth and throwing out Will Benson at second base in the seventh when Benson represented the tying run.

Bryan Reynolds drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled with one out in the eighth and scored on a run-scoring single by Adam Frazier as the Pirates won despite failing to score five runs for a 26th straight game, tying a Major League record.

Austin Hays had an RBI single for the Reds. Tyler Stephenson had Cincinnati’s only extra-base hit.

Singer gave up two runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings.

Key moment

Davis’ improved defense — and rare timely hit (he entered batting .150 on the season) — made sure another excellent start by the rotation didn’t go to waste.

Key stat

5 — the number of teams that have gone 26 games without scoring at least five runs.

Up next

Reds: Return home for a three-game weekend series against the first-place Chicago Cubs. Hunter Greene (4-2, 2.36 ERA) is expected to be activated off the 15-day injured list (groin strain) in time to start the opener.

Pirates: Welcome Milwaukee for a four-game series starting Thursday. Mike Burrows will make his first career start for Pittsburgh.

Jones out

Jared Jones’ second season in the big leagues is over before it even began.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Wednesday and will miss 10 to 12 months.

The 23-year-old Jones initially complained of elbow pain in mid-March. Jones was in the process of rehabbing the injury when he felt discomfort in the elbow last week while doing long toss (100 feet).

The decision to have surgery was made on Tuesday after Jones met with Dr. Keith Meister. The surgery revealed the extent of the damage, which will force Jones to miss the rest of the season, but leaves open the door for him to return sometime in 2026.

“Obviously, Jared means a lot to all of us, the whole team and organization,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said after a 3-1 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. “But just know that he’s going to be working hard, and he’s going to be back next year.”

Jones made the Pirates out of spring training in 2024 and pitched well, going 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA. Pittsburgh had hoped Jones would be featured near the top of the rotation, along with reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and veteran Mitch Keller.

Tomczyk said surgery was one of the options presented to Jones at the time of the injury, but Jones, with the support of the club and other medical experts, opted for rehab to give him a “fighting chance” to pitch in 2025.

“When a professional athlete is committed to a process, whether it’s surgery, committing to a new plan, they have to have it in the front of their minds that ‘this is the best decision,’ and at that point, Jared wasn’t ready for that,” Tomczyk said. “We didn’t think it was the right thing or appropriate (either).”

Jones was shut down for six weeks, then began throwing from 60 feet in late April without issue. It wasn’t until the program was extended to 100 feet that Jones felt discomfort, which Tomczyk said is a distance where the true severity of the injury might “manifest” itself.

First baseman Enmanuel Valdez will also miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left shoulder.