Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Cincinnati Reds

63-67, 32-33 Away

Final
10 - 2

Pittsburgh Pirates

61-68, 31-33 Home

Elly De La Cruz drives in 2 runs as Reds crush Pirates 10-2

Jonathan India and TJ Friedl added two hits apiece for the Reds, who beat the Pirates for just the third time in nine meetings this season.

De La Cruz hit an RBI single in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the sixth. The 6-foot-5 shortstop also boosted his stolen base total to a major league-leading 61 by swiping second base after a one-out walk in the first inning. De La Cruz eventually scored on a single by Stephenson as part of a four-run outburst against Jake Woodford (0-6).

“The style of play, I think, is exactly what we want,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Always playing hard. It was nice for it to work out. Aggressive baserunning. Big at-bats offensively, it was a good game."

Rookie Julian Aguiar (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings to pick up his first career victory. The 23-year-old right-hander, Cincinnati's minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2023, struck out four against two walks in his second start since being called up to help the Reds' injury-depleted pitching staff.

“My mentality wasn’t to come up here and think ‘I’m going to be here for a week,’” Aguiar said. "It’s ‘Come take a spot.’”

Casey Kelly, recalled from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday, pitched three innings for his first career save. It was the first major league appearance for the 34-year-old right-hander since 2018.

Rowdy Tellez hit his 11th homer of the season for the Pirates, a towering shot off Aguiar that became the 80th ball to reach the Allegheny River when it splashed into the water following a bounce.

The shot was the lone highlight for the Pirates on a night when the club inducted outfielder Barry Bonds, catcher Manny Sanguillen and manager Jim Leyland into its Hall of Fame.

The Reds wasted little time pouncing on an ineffective Woodford, whose time in the rotation may be nearing an end. Cincinnati touched Woodford for four in the first and added four more in the fourth as Woodford's ERA soared to 8.01.

Unlike Friday night — when the Reds let a five-run lead slip away in what became a 6-5 loss — this time there would be no meltdown.

Instead, it was the Pirates who scuffled, making errors in the field and on the basepaths, most notably in the fourth inning when Oneil Cruz was tagged out trying to advance from second to third on a grounder to third base by catcher Joey Bart.

Santiago Espinal easily tagged out a sliding Cruz, who drew a groan from the sixth sellout crowd of the season on his way back to the dugout.

“We didn’t play good baseball tonight,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "We made baserunning mistakes, we made defensive mistakes, we didn’t play well.”

Things grew so bleak for Pittsburgh late that Tellez made his second career appearance on the mound in the ninth. The left-handed Tellez pitched a scoreless frame and induced Luke Maile into a double play on a 70 mph fastball.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (right elbow) said he is dealing with inflammation but the UCL in the elbow remains in good shape. Greene, who has been out since Aug. 13, will not throw for at least another two weeks while the swelling goes down.

Pirates: Shelton said the team is trying to figure out when rookie RHP Jared Jones (lat strain) will make his next start. Jones, who has been out since July 3, has made three rehab starts for Triple-A Indianapolis. ... RHP Hunter Stratton ruptured the patella tendon in his left knee after falling awkwardly while trying to retrieve the ball near the backstop following a wild pitch.

The series wraps up on Sunday. Luis Ortiz (5-4, 3.56 ERA) starts for the Pirates. The Reds have yet to announce a starter.

How can I watch Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

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

Matchup Prediction

Pirates: 42.0%

Reds: 58.0%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Tellez flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Bart grounded out to third.
	9th Inning	Cruz popped out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Friedl flied out to left.
	9th Inning	Maile grounded into double play, shortstop to first, De La Cruz out at second.
	9th Inning	De La Cruz singled to left.

Statistics

CIN		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
16	Ground Balls	7
7	Strikeouts	6
8	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
12	Hits	3
2	Stolen Bases	0
3	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
10	Runs	2
2	Ground Into Double Play	1
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
36	At Bats	30
0	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
7	Runners Left On Base	8
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
4	Doubles	1
14	Fly Balls	17
0	Caught Stealing	0
149	Pitches	129
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
16	Total Bases	7
40	Plate Appearances	32
0.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
4	Extra Base Hits	2
5.9	Runs Created	0.2
.333	Batting Average	.100
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.444	Slugging Percentage	.233
.250	Secondary Average	.200
.375	On Base Percentage	.156
.819	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.390
1.1	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.4
5.9	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.2
58.0	Batter Rating	16.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	30.0
1.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.73	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.03
.111	Isolated Power	.133
0.43	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.33
.075	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.063
-.083	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.100
18.0	Runs Produced	4.0
0.8	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.5	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.1
98.8	MLB Rating	65.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0