Cincinnati Reds jump out early but Pittsburgh Pirates win 7-6

61. 7. 4. Final. 6

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night 7-6 thanks to a big fourth inning that led to seven runs.

Jeff Locke

was not able to go deep into the game because of a high pitch count, but luckily the bats that fell asleep in Washington woke up and went to work.

Locke put the Pirates in a bad spot early by allowing the first four Cincinnati hitters to get on base. Todd Frazier came around to score when Eugenio Suarez hit the ball to Pedro Alvarez and he threw to second to get Marlon Byrd out. Jordy Mercer‘s throw from second was off target and Jay Bruce was able to score, giving the Reds a three-run lead before the Pirates came up to bat.

The Reds tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Bruce hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Billy Hamilton, who had stolen second earlier in the inning. With the score now 4-0 in favor of the Reds, the Pirates’ offense came up big in their half of the inning.

Pitcher Josh Smith for the Reds started the inning by issuing a walk to Neil Walker, the sixth walk of the game for the pitcher who made his MLB debut last night. Josh Harrison moved Walker to second with a single. Pedro Alvarez followed up with a double to the top of the outfield padding in center that scored Walker. Francisco Cervelli then cleared the bases with his third home run of the year.

Cincinnati brought in Pedro Villarreal to relieve Smith and the Pirates did not let up against the new pitcher. After Jordy Mercer and Jose Tabata both got out, Gregory Polanco immediately put himself in scoring position with his second triple of the year. Starling Marte hit a ball to Suarez at shortstop, but his throwing error allowed Marte to reach and Polanco to score. Andrew McCutchen added his ninth home run of the year, a two-run shot that gave the Pirates and 7-4 lead heading to the fifth inning.
Rob Scahill relieved Locke and only lasted two-thirds of an inning in the sixth. Tucker Barnhart doubled to center and moved to third on Chris Dominguez‘s infield hit. Hamilton’s sacrifice fly allowed Barnhart to score but Brandon Phillips was retired after him. Scahill walked Joey Votto and Clint Hurdle had seen enough so Jared Hughes was brought in to finish the inning.

After a quiet bottom of the fifth, the Reds got another run back when Jay Bruce homered off of Arquimedes Caminero. Caminero was able to strike out two batters around a lot of noise that inning and the Reds only came away with one run. In the seventh inning the Reds were able to get the tying run in scoring position with the speedy Hamilton, but failed to score him. Marte saved the inning and probably the game with a fantastic diving catch off the bat of Todd Frazier to end the inning.