07/13/23 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_Ethan on Twitter
Game One
The first game of the double-header on Sunday was a pitcher’s duel in the early innings, as Mitch Keller and Brandon Williamson pitched three scoreless innings before the Reds drew first blood on a Christian Encarnacion-Strand RBI-single.
Cincinnati would score another in the fifth, gaining a 2-0 lead from a Matt McClain double that scored Will Benson.
Pittsburgh would finally get on the board in the bottom of the fifth as Alika Williams scored Henry Davis to bring the Pirates within one.
The turning point and ultimate decider of the first contest came in the seventh inning. With two runners on, Jared Triolo would secure his first MLB home run as a pinch hitter on a 3-2 count as he sent a line-drive over the left field wall to give the Pirates a surprising 4-2 lead.
At that point, the Pirates offense only had three hits, but Keller’s quality start kept them within distance to allow the comeback effort.
Colin Holderman and David Bednar would have identical outings as the duo pitched a scoreless inning a piece with four combined strikeouts to shut the door on the Reds in the first game of the double header. It was Holderman’s 18th hold and Bednar’s 24th save on the season and Angel Perdomo was credited with his third victory of the season.
Game Two
Game two of the double header had a much different feeling than the first game.
After a mostly quiet game offensively for both squads, the Pirates brought home two runs in the bottom of the first against Luke Weaver, who only pitched 3.2 innings, thanks to a Bryan Reynolds homer and Henry Davis sacrifice fly.
Luke Maile and the Reds answered back immediately against Andre Jackson, as Maile doubled to score Henry Ramos and Wil Benson.
In a game of back and forth, Liover Peguero homered in the bottom of the second to give the Pirates the lead right back. Elly de la Cruz would follow suit in the third, tying the game at three a piece with a solo shot.
Peguero struck again in the fourth, picking up an RBI single to score Henry Davis and giving the Pirates the lead again.
After some disagreements on ball and strike calls, Derek Shelton, Oscar Marin and Don Kelly were all ejected from the second contest of the night. Despite this, the Pirates would escape the sixth inning with their lead intact.
Reynolds added to the Pirates lead in the seventh on an absolute moonshot over the Clemente wall for his second homer of the evening to make it 5-3.
Cincinnati, as they did for most of the second game, fought back and tied the game at five in the eighth with Joey Votto starting the inning with a double and a couple wild pitches helping the Reds tie things up after a Stuart Fairchild ground-rule double.
Pittsburgh would threaten to break the tie in the eighth, with Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez reaching before Cincinnati brought in Alexis Diaz from the bullpen, effectively shutting the door and keeping the game tied heading into the ninth.
Colin Selby came on in the ninth, ending a scoreless frame by freezing Votto on a beautiful pitch, giving Pittsburgh a chance at a walk-off victory in the final frame.
Diaz would set down the side in order, sending the game to extra innings.
Thanks to a bloop single, Cincinnati would score off Osvaldo Bido in the top of the 10th as Stuart Fairchild would beat out a tough double play attempt from Peguero and Triolo. Cincinnati would enter the bottom of the 10th up 6-5.
Pittsburgh would fail to score in the 10th, losing a tough one to Cincinnati in a game where Cincinnati only led for one-half inning.
Pittsburgh ends the week 53-65 and heads to Queens to take on the New York Mets.
News & Notes
- Keller: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 K
- Holderman: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 18th hold
- Bednar: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 24th save
- Jackson: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- Borucki: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K
- Bolton: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB
- Hatch: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER
- Hernandez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, O ER, 2 K
- Selby: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- Bido: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 K
- Reynolds: 2 HR
- Triolo: 1 HR
- Pirates move to 53-65
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