PITTSBURGH -- With their playoff hopes eroding, the Pittsburgh Pirates desperately needed someone to step up Thursday.

Luckily for the Pirates, several players rose to the occasion in a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park. Right-handed starter Chad Kuhl pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the way while David Freese and Andrew McCutchen each had two RBIs.

"(I'm) just learning," Kuhl said. "Going through the growing pains and not trying to do too much. Really simplify it. Execute pitches, stay within myself. Find the clean mechanics that work for me and I just try to roll with it."

Kuhl helped the Pirates avoid being swept for the second time in three series against the Reds this season. Even with the win, Pittsburgh has lost eight of its past 11 games since a six-game winning streak put the Pirates one game above .500 and two games back of the National League Central lead on July 21.

Pittsburgh (52-56) is now 5 1/2 games behind the division-leading Cubs. Cincinnati (44-64) remains in last place, 13 1/2 games behind Chicago.

After allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings in his previous start, Kuhl (4-7) built on that performance Thursday for his first win since July 6. He went seven innings for the second time in 22 starts this season, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six.

Reds right-hander Sal Romano (2-3) wasn't as effective while giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings. However, he shut out Pittsburgh through his final three innings.

"Obviously, we lost so that's the end result," Romano said. "I think I made a lot of progress today as a pitcher. I didn't want to give up on my team. I gave up a lot of ground ball hits that just went through holes today. That kind of stuff happens, but you have to stick through it and keep battling. ... But overall, obviously we lost."

The Pirates struck early with two runs in the first inning, partially facilitated by an error from Reds left fielder Adam Duvall. After Starling Marte led off the inning with a single to center, Adam Frazier singled down the left-field line before Duvall tossed the ball over third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

Marte scored on the error while Frazier advanced to second on the throw and to third once it got past Suarez. McCutchen drove in Frazier with a groundball to third base to make it 2-0.

"My mentality is just making sure I'm getting on base," Marte said, "and making sure they have a chance to bring me in."

Cincinnati had similar struggles two innings later, when the Pirates tacked on two more runs.

Marte led off with a double to left-center before advancing to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a hit by McCutchen. Josh Bell followed with another single before a third straight single, from Freese, scored McCutchen to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 4-0.

"They were able to bundle the at-bats together individually," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "It started with Marte tonight. Good swing after good swing in that first at-bat. ... Took what the pitchers gave us. It was good hitting."

Despite those early struggles for Romano, Reds manager Bryan Price was impressed with his pitcher's outing.

"I thought he threw the ball well," Price said. "You have to acknowledge early in the game, he was a little vulnerable with the command. He's throwing strikes, but a little more generic in the zone."

After Romano exited the game, Bell made it 5-0 on a sacrifice fly and Freese extended it to 6-0 with a single in the seventh inning.

A.J. Schugel and Dovydas Neverauskas each pitched a scoreless inning to cap the four-hit shutout.

NOTES: Pirates 2B Josh Harrison did not start for a third consecutive game due to lower-leg discomfort. He grounded out in a seventh-inning pinch-hit at-bat Wednesday but did not appear Thursday. ... Pirates LF Starling Marte has hit safely in 10 of 14 games since returning from an 80-game suspension stemming from testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He was 3-for-5 with three runs Thursday. ... Reds CF Billy Hamilton was ejected after striking out to end the fifth inning. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Thursday. ... Reds rookie RF Jesse Winker went 0-for-3 with a walk after hitting a home run in each of his previous two games.