Pittsburgh Pirates Take Game 2 In Cincinnatti

The Pittsburgh Pirates earned a blowout victory on Tuesday night

On Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to bounce back from a frustrating loss on Monday night in Cincinnati. One night after losing in extra innings, the Pirates defeated the Reds by a score of 12-3 to even this series at a game apiece.

With the win, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 12-14 on the season. It was also the Pirates first win over National League Central rival Cincinnati this season. The Bucs are now 3-2 on this current 7 game road trip.

Early on, things did not look good for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tyler Glasnow was extremely shaky in the 1st inning and this led to a 3-0 hole for the Pirates.

Glasnow issued back-to-back walks to Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart to start the game. Then, Joey Votto hit a 3-run home run to make it 3-0 Cincinnati. Tyler Glasnow would then walk Adam Duvall.

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At this point, it looked like Glasnow’s outing would be short lived. However, the Pirate rookie was able to quickly turn things around.

After walking Duvall, Glasnow would hold the Reds scoreless while allowing just 3 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 5 over the course of the next 22 batters he faced. Tyler Glasnow would finish the night with a career-high 6 innings pitched. Glasnow keeps improving as a Major League starting pitcher and Tuesday night was his best start yet.

The ability of Glasnow to settle in after the rocky start was incredibly impressive. This was a very encouraging sign. As has been said, there will be ups and downs with Glasnow this season but his growth will be a lot of fun to watch.

After falling behind early, the Pirates got on the board in the top of the 3rd inning. Alen Hanson tripled to lead off the inning, and this was followed by a Jordy Mercer double. This cut the Reds’ lead to 3-1.

Then in the top of the 4th inning, the Pirates would explode for 6 runs to take a lead they would not give up.

Andrew McCutchen walked to lead off the inning, John Jaso doubled, and then Jose Osuna reached on a run producing fielder’s choice to make it 3-2 Reds. After Alen Hanson singled with two outs and stole a base, Jordy Mercer was intentionally walked.

This loaded the bases with two-outs for pitcher Tyler Glasnow who ripped a two-run singled up the middle to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead. Glasnow finished the day 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and 2 RBI on Tuesday night.

Josh Harrison then hit his 5th home run of the season, and 3rd in this series, to make it 7-3 Pirates. The Bucs would never look back after this.

In the top of the 7th inning, the Pirates would bust the game wide open. John Jaso’s second double of the game, a two-run single by Gift Ngoepe, 4 walks, and a pair of Blake Wood wild pitches all helped lead to 5 Pirate runs to give the Bucs a 12-3 lead.

The top of the 7th inning included an infield hit for catcher Elias Diaz. This was the first career hit for Diaz. Congrats, Elias!

Wade LeBlanc would pitch a trio of scoreless innings for the Pirates behind Glasnow. In 3 innings of work LeBlanc allowed a single, he walked Joey Votto, and he struck out 3 Reds’ hitters. This gave LeBlanc his first save of the season.

Next: Minor League Roundup: May 1

Game 3 of the 4 game series is at 7:10 PM tomorrow night. Jameson Taillon will start for the Pirates, while Bryan Price and the Reds will hand the ball to Rookie Davis. There is no reason the Pirates should not be victorious tomorrow night.