PITTSBURGH -- With the Cardinals leading the Brewers by one game, the National League Central is going to come down to the final day of the season. The Pirates and Reds technically took their penultimate game down to the season’s final day, too.

After a 65-minute rain delay cut short the pregame ceremony to honor Steve Blass, the length of Saturday’s nearly 4 1/2-hour game tested the limits of Pittsburgh’s expanded but injury-riddled roster. The Pirates pitched well for 11 innings but came up short in the 12th, snapping their four-game winning streak in a 4-2 loss to the Reds at PNC Park.

• Box score

“We’re playing with a different lineup. We’re playing under much different situations, as is the other team right now,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The guys are doing the best they can with what they’ve got with where they are. There have been some different opportunities come along for a lot of different people, a lot of different ways. Tonight, it didn’t end up on the right side for us because we didn’t execute.”

Consider who the Pirates were playing without Saturday night. In their lineup, only Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier could be considered regulars for most of the season. They began the night with a three-man bench. Due to injuries or workload concerns, their bullpen was without Richard Rodriguez, Michael Feliz, Geoff Hartlieb, Yacksel Ríos and Wei-Chung Wang.

In a way, Hurdle said, those constraints made it easier to draw up a plan as the game stretched on past midnight.

“We have limited options,” Hurdle said, “so it’s actually not really hard to navigate.”

Rookie right-hander James Marvel pitched five solid innings in his fourth and final Major League start, capping a season in which he climbed from Double-A Altoona to Pittsburgh. After two rough starts on the road against the contending Cubs and Brewers, the Pirates’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year bounced back and held the Reds to two runs on six hits.

In four starts, Marvel faced the entire slate of NL Central opponents. And, he hopes, he’ll be a better pitcher for having gone through the highs of his debut against the Cardinals and the lows of his starts in Chicago and Milwaukee.

“Getting that experience, knowing what it’s like, now I’ll have a full offseason to not wonder if my stuff plays at the big leagues or wonder what it’s like to face those guys,” Marvel said. “I now know. I faced four really good teams, a couple playoff clubs, and I’ll be able to reflect for the next week, week and a half or so and really formulate a good offseason plan for how to move forward and come back and hopefully come in here to Spring Training to impact this club in any way I can next year.”

Yefry Ramírez, Williams Jerez, Parker Markel, Clay Holmes, Keone Kela, Chris Stratton and Alex McRae combined to work six scoreless innings in relief after that. With their bench completely empty and Steven Brault already deployed as a pinch-hitter, Hurdle let McRae bat for himself with two outs and a man on first in the 11th. McRae lined a 99.3-mph single to left, putting a runner in scoring position, but Jake Elmore flied out to right to end the inning.

Finally, the Reds capitalized on an opportunity in the 12th. With a runner on second and two outs, José Iglesias lined an RBI double to center and came around to score on a single by reliever R.J. Alaniz in his first at-bat since high school.

The Pirates’ best opportunity to put the game away earlier came in the ninth inning. Pablo Reyes walked and Frazier doubled to right to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. José Osuna went down swinging, then the Reds intentionally walked Melky Cabrera to load the bases.

With a five-man infield drawn in behind him, Reds pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out Elmore for the second out. Up came Erik González, who popped out to end the inning.

“If we take care of the ninth inning on our side, we’re not even having the same conversation right now,” Hurdle said.

Injury updates

• Catcher Steven Baron, called up on Sept. 3 to provide depth behind the plate, recorded his first Major League RBI on a second-inning double to left field. But Baron had to exit the game almost immediately after that career milestone.

Reds pitcher Lucas Sims tried to pick off Baron, 28, at second base. But the right-hander’s throw struck Baron on the side of his face, leaving him unable to continue playing. Baron walked off the field with Hurdle and head athletic trainer Bryan Housand, and Jacob Stallings entered to replace him. Hurdle said Baron was still being examined after the game, so he could not provide an update on his status.

Stallings is the Pirates’ only remaining healthy catcher, as Elias Díaz was previously shut down due to a sprained knee. If there’s an emergency, Elmore or Reyes would catch.

• Outfielder Bryan Reynolds (right hamstring) and third baseman Colin Moran (hip discomfort) didn’t play Saturday and likely won’t play in Sunday’s season finale due to their injuries. That left the Pirates with a three-man bench Saturday: Corban Joseph, Cabrera and Stallings, and both Cabrera (thumb) and Stallings (back) have been banged up at times this month.