Pittsburgh– Todd Frazier sent a Jason Grilli fastball off the batters eye in the top of the ninth inning to give the Reds a 6-5 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday night.
Baserunning errors cost the Pirates (34-36) early chances to knock Johnny Cueto out of the game as Andrew McCutchen was thrown out at home in the third on a fly ball to Reds centerfielder Billy Hamilton. Josh Harrison ran into an out in the sixth inning when he tried for third on a grounder to short and Jose Tabata was also thrown out trying to steal second in the inning.
“We missed a couple of opportunities,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “We did what you needed to do to put yourself in position. [Cueto’s] one of the elite pitchers in the league. We jacked the pitch count up, we got out there in position to score and we weren’t able to capitalize and it cost us in the end.”
The missed opportunities had the Pirates trailing 5-2 in the seventh before Starling Marte started the inning off with a one out single and McCutchen followed with a walk. Ike Davis and Russell Martin followed with RBI singles and Harrison then tied things up with a two-out single up the middle.
Jason Grilli then gave up the dagger in the ninth when he fell behind Frazier 2-0 on two sliders. He then left a fastball belt-high allowing the Reds (34-35) third basemen to deposit the ball off of the batters eye.
“You can’t fall behind the first guy you face,” said Grilli. “Especially in a tie ballgame. Frazier is a guy that dives over the plate and it didn’t work tonight.”
The Pirates didn’t go down silently against Reds closer Aroldis Chapman as they pushed the tying run to second with one out. Jordy Mercer then struck out on a 102 mph fastball and Clint Barmes took a 101 mph fastball to the left field warning track to end the game.
Brandon Cumpton didn’t have his best stuff on the night,but only allowed three runs in six innings. Leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton reached and scored in the first and the Reds struck for two more in the fourth when Ryan Ludwick and Brayan Pena each recorded RBI after Brandon Phillips started the inning with a single and moved to third on a Jay Bruce double.
“I felt like I finished pretty strong,” said Cumpton. “I started getting after guys a little bit more and getting ahead in the count. Early on in the game, I wasn’t getting ahead of guys.”
Billy Hamilton ran all over the Pirates stealing three bases and scoring twice.
“He finds ways on,” said Cumpton. “He hit a chopper over Pedro’s head in the first inning and he reached on two bunts against us.”
Final Score: Reds 6, Pirates 5
Worth Noting
With his third inning single, Gregory Polanco tied Roberto Clemente with a seven-game hit streak to start his Major League career as a Pirate. Clemente had his seven-game streak back in 1955.
Starters Lines
Cumpton (ND): 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K’s. 99 pitches (63 strikes).
Cueto (ND): 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K’s. 117 Pitches (74 Strikes).
These two will be back at it tomorrow evening in the second game of the three-game set.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Edinson Volquez (PIT): 4-5, 3.89 ERA
(RHP) Alfredo Simon (CIN): 9-3, 2.95 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
