After dropping the first game of the doubleheader in the afternoon, the Reds needed to come from behind in the second game to earn a split on the day. Cincinnati rallied for two runs in the top of the 8th to tie the game up and then took the lead against Pittsburgh in the 10th. The Pirates couldn’t bring their free runner around and the Reds earned a doubleheader split and a series victory on Sunday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (62-58) |
6 | 12 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (53-65) |
5 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Diaz (4-4) L: Bido (2-3) SV: Duarte (1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Pittsburgh didn’t take their time to pounce on Luke Weaver and the Cincinnati Reds. Bryan Reynolds hit a 3-1 cutter that was middle-middle 428-feet for a solo home run to put the Pirates on top in the 1st. Andrew McCutchen followed with a walk and moved to third on a double by Jack Suwinski. Henry Davis came through with a sacrifice fly to pad the lead for the home team to 2-0.
Cincinnati got both runs back in the top of the 2nd inning with a 2-out rally. Henry Ramos doubled into right field and Will Benson followed with a walk. Luke Maile then came through with a 2-run double to tie things up.
Luke Weaver immediately gave up the lead when Liover Peguero hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. He would then strike out the next three batters to get out of the inning. Elly De La Cruz hit a 442-foot solo home run in the top of the 3rd to tie the game back up.
In the bottom of the 4th inning the Pirates went back to work, getting a double and back-to-back singles to bring in the go-ahead run before Luke Weaver recorded an out. He would rebound from there and retire the next two hitters, but with a lefty due up the Reds called on Sam Moll and he got the job done as he induced a ground out to end the inning and strand two runners.
The Reds got things going in the right direction in the 5th following a double play. Henry Ramos singled, Will Benson singled, and then Luke Maile walked to load the bases. After the final pitch to Maile, the Pirates dugout began yelling at the home plate umpire and it led to the manager, pitching coach, and bench coach all being ejected from the game. TJ Friedl lined out to end the inning as the Pirates held onto their 4-3 lead.
Ian Gibaut took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 7th inning. After picking up a strikeout to the first hitter he faced, Bryan Reynolds clobbered his second homer of the game to make it 5-3 for Pittsburgh.
The Reds got that run back in the top of the 8th rather quickly. Joey Votto led off the inning with a double to deep center. He took third base on a wild pitch and then he would score on a single from Henry Ramos with one out. TJ Hopkins then pinch ran for Ramos. Pittsburgh then made a pitching change to bring in a lefty to face Will Benson, but the Reds countered by calling Stuart Fairchild in to pinch hit for him. Hopkins took second base on a wild pitch and then scored when Fairchild hit a ground rule double that tied the game up.
Buck Farmer came out of the bullpen to start the bottom of the 8th inning and immediately ran into trouble. Henry Davis led off with an infield single and then Farmer walked Endy Rodriguez. He would rebound by striking out Liover Peguero on a fouled off bunt with two strikes. Cincinnati called on Alexis Diaz to try and put out the fire and he got a little bit of help from Luke Maile, who picked off Rodriguez at first base for the second out of the inning. Diaz then walked Jared Triolo to put two men back on the bases. That led to Pittsburgh calling on Ke’Bryan Hayes to pinch hit, but he grounded into a force out to end the inning.
After the Reds couldn’t push across the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th, it was up to Alexis Diaz to keep the Pirates off of the board in the bottom of the inning. He needed just two pitches to get the first out, but Bryan Reynolds battled him for seven pitches before striking out. Diaz needed six more pitches to get Andrew McCutchen out, but he’d get a fly out to end the inning and send the game to extras.
Cincinnati pinch ran Tyler Stephenson for Joey Votto to begin the 10th inning in a move that left the Reds with no players remaining on their bench. Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a shallow fly ball to start the inning. TJ Hopkins blooped a single just over the second baseman into right field, but Stephenson could only get to third as he had to wait to see if the ball would be caught. Stuart Fairchild then hit a grounder to shortstop, but he beat out the relay throw to first that would have ended the inning and instead allowed Stephenson to score and put the Reds up 6-5.
Daniel Duarte was tabbed to pitch the bottom of the 10th inning. Andrew McCutchen began the inning at second base as the free runner. Duarte would strike out Jack Suwinski to start the inning. He then got a ground out, but McCutchen advanced to third base. He would be stranded there as Endy Rodriguez flew out to shallow center to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Daniel Duarte recording the final out of the game, stranding Andrew McCutchen on third base.
Notes Worth Noting
Daniel Duarte picked up his first big league save.
Henry Ramos took advantage of his start, going 3-3 with a walk, double, run, and an RBI.
The Cincinnati Reds are 62-58. Last season they were 62-100. The odds seem good that they will top last year’s win total.
Elly De La Cruz reached 10 home runs and 15 stolen bases in the first 58 games of his career.
The only player to debut since 1900 and get there faster was Barry Bonds (57 games). pic.twitter.com/KeMinSZ48d
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 13, 2023
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Guardians vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday August 13th, 6:40pm ET
Logan Allen (5-5, 3.55 ERA) vs Graham Ashcraft (6-7, 4.95 ERA)
