KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Win Series in Pittsburgh

For the first time this month the Cincinnati Reds have won a series. After losing eight of their last nine games going into the series, the Reds picked up a pair of wins in Pittsburgh over the Pirates. Sunday night’s come-from-behind win was incredibly important to keep pace in the National League Wild Card standings. The Reds are tied with the Cubs sitting half a game behind the Miami Marlins. In the National League Central, the Milwaukee Brewers hold a three and a half game lead.

Now sitting at 62-58 on the season, Cincinnati will return to Great American Ball Park for two games against in-state rival Cleveland. After Monday’s off day The Ohio Cup will commence 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday with Graham Ashcraft taking the ball against the Guardians. Andrew Abbott is slated to pitch on Wednesday evening. Then, the Reds will get Thursday off as well before welcoming the Toronto BlueJays into town for a three-game weekend series.

Reds Offense Breaks Out for Series-Opening Win

Losing eight of their last nine games had morale at a season low for the Cincinnati Reds. However, the offense got hot on Friday night in Pittsburgh to put the club back in the win column. Elly De La Cruz wasted no time contributing some excitement with a first inning two-run triple. The rookie sensation would then come around to score on a double by Spencer Steer. That early 3-0 lead would prove to be enough, but that didn’t keep the Reds from continuing to tack on runs.

In the top of the fourth inning, Luke Maile connected on a three-run home run that officially put the game out of reach. Andrew Abbott was able to go into cruise control on the mound as he picked up his seventh win of the season. The rookie left-hander pitched five and two-third innings allowing two runs on four hits while striking out nine batters. Derek Law and Brett Kennedy were excellent in relief behind Abbott to nail down the 9-2 victory.

At the plate, De La Cruz added another RBI in the eighth and once again came around to score on a hit from Steer. The pair of Reds rookies drove in a combined five runs in the game. It was also a three-hit day for Will Benson. In total, Cincinnati put up nine runs on 11 hits while going an impressive 6-12 with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, that timely hitting wouldn’t carry over to the next game of the series.

Walks Haunt in Game One of Sunday’s Doubleheader

Sometimes cliches become cliche for a very good reason. The common baseball manta of “walks haunt” certainly rang true for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon. Five walks were issued in game one of the doubleheader and three of those Pittsburgh Pirates would come around to score. It was a pair of walks, issued by Lucas Sims and Alex Wood, that eventually set up the go-ahead three-run home run by Jared Triolo in the seventh inning. That one swing of the bat, bolstered by the free passes, was enough to give the Pirates a 4-2 victory.

The Reds bullpen will catch a lot of the blame for the loss in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. However, starter Brandon Williamson, let a lead-off walk come back to haunt him as well. Williamson issued a free pass to begin the bottom of the fifth inning. Then, a wild pitch followed by a groundout to the right side moved the Pirates baserunner around to third base. Ultimately, Alika Williams drove in Henry Davis with single up the middle to get Pittsburgh on the board. The Reds would hold onto that 2-1 lead though until Triolo’s three-run blast in the seventh inning.

While Pittsburgh made the Reds pay for issuing walks, Cincinnati had no such similar luck when it came to timely hitting. The Reds were an embarrassing 2-15 with runnings in scoring position compared to the Pirates 2-4 mark. In fact, the Pirates collected just three hits overall in 4-2 series tying win.

Reds Win Game Two to Take the Series

The Cincinnati Reds had not won a series yet in the month of August. However, that changed on Sunday night in Pittsburgh as Stuart Fairchild led a late-inning come-from-behind effort to defeat the Pirates 6-5. Fairchild pinch-hit in the eighth inning and drove a game-tying RBI double down the left field line. Then, in the top of the 10th, he legged out a could-be double play ball that allowed the go-ahead run to score. Ultimately, Daniel Duarte shut the door and gave the Reds a 6-5 victory that also was the series clincher.

The late inning heroics will catch the headlines, but there was an earlier comeback by the Reds as well. Bryan Reynolds hit a home run in the first inning and Henry Davis came through with a sacrifice fly to spot the Pirates an early 2-0 advantage at home. However, Luke Maile erased that lead with a two-out, two-run double in the top of the second inning. Pittsburgh would find the long ball once again in the bottom half of the frame, but Elly De La Cruz answered with a blast of his own to tie the game at 3-3. Cruz’s home run was recorded at 442-feet and nearly cleared the Reds visiting bullpen.

Prior to Fairchild’s heroics, recently promoted Henry Ramos came through with a RBI single that made it 5-4. Pittsburgh had gotten another home run from Bryan Reynolds to build a little cushion. However, that was erased when Fairchild followed up Ramos with his game-tying ground rule double. On the mound, Alexis Diaz was awarded the win while Daniel Duarte recorded his first save of the season in the 6-5 victory.