CINCINNATI — Andrew McCutchen was angry that plate umpire Jeff Kellogg wouldn’t let him call time to get ready to hit in the fourth inning.

McCutchen didn’t need Kellogg’s help in the fifth.

The Pittsburgh center fielder snapped a 0-for-15 slump with a run-scoring single, helping the Pirates to a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

McCutchen argued with Kellogg in the third after Kellogg wouldn’t let him call time to slow down Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle.

“I thought he was quick to the plate,” McCutchen said after the game. “I asked him three times, and I got one. It’s all about safety for me. They’d buzzed me earlier. I want to be ready.”

He made sure he was ready with Starling Marte on second base and out in the fifth, singling to center field for a 3-1 Pirates lead.

“I wasn’t going to try to let anyone get in my head,” he said. “I was ready. He left one out over the plate, and I was able to get an RBI. I was able to be victorious for one at bat.”

John Jaso and Starling Marte each drove in two runs against the Central Division last-place Reds, who left 11 runners on base, including three in the ninth, while slipping to 2-4 on their nine-game home stand. They have scored two runs in their last 19 innings.

“The game was sitting there for us to win and we didn’t do it,” Reds manager Bryan Price said.

Mahle (0-1), promoted from Triple-A Louisville to start, walked four Pirates and hit another.

Marte capped a three-hit day with a two-run single in the ninth.

The Reds scored both of their runs on outs. Scott Schebler drove in Scooter Gennett with an unearned run set up by catcher Elias Diaz’s throwing error in the second, and Zack Cozart scored on Gennett’s groundout in the fifth.

Pirates starter Jameson Taillon again had control problems. The right-hander walked four Reds while giving up five hits and two runs. Manager Clint Hurdle replaced his pitcher with A.J. Schugel with runners on first and second and nobody out in the fifth, leaving Taillon ineligible for a win.

Schugel (3-0), with the help of Diaz throwing out Schebler trying to steal second to end the sixth, faced the minimum six batters over two innings for the win. Felipe Rivero pitched the ninth for his 16th save.