Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Cincinnati Reds

62-67, 31-33 Away

Final
5 - 6

Pittsburgh Pirates

61-67, 31-32 Home

Pirates take advantage of overextended Cincinnati bullpen to rally for a 6-5 win

The Pirates had dropped nine straight one-run games since the July 30 trade deadline before coming back from five down to beat the skidding Reds for the sixth time in eight meetings so far this season.

“Very excited about it, we’ve lost too many of them," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said after his team improved to 20-26 in one-run contests. “But it was good. They continued to battle.”

Joey Bart and Rowdy Tellez had two hits each for Pittsburgh, which is 5-3 since a 10-game slide dropped it to last place in the NL Central and effectively ended its playoff chances.

De La Cruz, acquired from Miami to help spark an offense that has struggled most of the year, is finding his footing with the Pirates. The right fielder is batting .351 (13 for 37) with eight RBI in his last 10 games.

“At the beginning there was a little struggle,” De La Cruz said through a translator. "I wasn’t hitting like I wanted to, but now I’m in a good spot.”

Dennis Santana (3-1) worked two scoreless innings in relief. David Bednar earned his 23rd save when left fielder Billy McKinney made a sliding grab on a liner by Elly De La Cruz with two on and two out in the ninth.

Tyler Stephenson hit his 17th home run of the season for Cincinnati. Santiago Espinal had three hits for the Reds but was also thrown out at second base in the seventh while trying to advance on a fly ball to center field, one of a handful of miscues by Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's battered starting rotation took another hit Friday when the club placed Andrew Abbott on the 15-day injured list with a strained left shoulder. Reliever Buck Farmer got the start in Abbott's place and Farmer, Sam Moll and Tony Santillan held the Pirates without a hit for four innings.

Alan Busenitz, called up to take Abbott's roster spot, wasn't so fortunate. He gave up a leadoff single to Bart leading off the fifth and the floodgates opened. Bart scored on a double by De La Cruz as part of a surge that eventually pulled the Pirates within 5-4.

Pittsburgh took the lead in the sixth when Oneil Cruz led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Bart. Tellez followed with a hit-and-run single that moved Bart to third and Bart jogged home on De La Cruz's sacrifice fly off Justin Wilson (1-3).

Holding leads in tight games has been difficult of late for Pittsburgh, but Santana breezed through two frames and Chapman escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth by striking out Stuart Fairchild.

Bednar, who had given up at least one run in seven of his previous nine appearances, surrendered a leadoff double to Will Benson and walked Jonathan India with two outs before McKinney's slick grab let Pittsburgh exhale.

“He stayed in aggressive mode,” Shelton said of Bednar. “I think in the past we’d seen him when guys got on base, maybe (he'd) be a little tentative. Today was kind of like the David Bednar we’re used to where he just stayed right after and it highlights that he went right after Elly.”

Pirates starter Bailey Falter gave up five runs in five innings, including four in a sloppy fourth. Shelton stuck with Falter for the fifth. The left-hander responded by throwing a scoreless frame that keeping the Pirates within striking distance before the offense erupted against a Cincinnati bullpen that's been stretched thin.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (right elbow soreness) is expected to rejoin the team this weekend after having his elbow examined in Los Angeles. ... Cincinnati also transferred C Austin Wynns (right shoulder) to the 60-day injured list.

Jake Woodford (0-5, 6.67 ERA) will start for Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Reds have yet to announce a starter. Before the game, the Pirates will induct manager Jim Leyland, outfielder Barry Bonds and catcher Manny Sanguillén into the club's Hall of Fame.

How can I watch Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Reds at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Apple TV+.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Pirates: 45.9%

Reds: 54.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	De La Cruz lined out to left.
	9th Inning	India walked.
	9th Inning	Friedl lined out to right, Benson to third.
	9th Inning	Friedl hit for Marte
	9th Inning	Espinal struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Benson doubled to right.

Statistics

CIN		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
6	Ground Balls	9
10	Strikeouts	8
5	Runs Batted In	6
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
9	Hits	8
1	Stolen Bases	3
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
5	Runs	6
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	1
32	At Bats	32
1	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
11	Runners Left On Base	11
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
3	Doubles	2
18	Fly Balls	16
1	Caught Stealing	0
143	Pitches	137
0	Games Started	0
1	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	1
15	Total Bases	10
38	Plate Appearances	35
162.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
4	Extra Base Hits	2
5.5	Runs Created	3.6
.281	Batting Average	.250
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.469	Slugging Percentage	.313
.313	Secondary Average	.219
.351	On Base Percentage	.286
.820	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.598
0.3	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
5.7	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.9
39.0	Batter Rating	39.0
32.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.50	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.76	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.91
.188	Isolated Power	.063
0.40	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.25
.105	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.057
.031	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.031
10.0	Runs Produced	12.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.3
86.3	MLB Rating	82.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0