Gregory Polanco misplayed a Marlon Byrd line drive in the ninth inning allowing Todd Frazier to score the winning run in another Reds walk-off of the Pirates to complete a three-game sweep in Cincinnati.
The dropped liner finished off a disastrous ninth inning by Pirate reliever Rob Scahill as he allowed Frazier — who hit two home runs and knocked in four RBI in the first two games of the series — to lead off the inning with a double. The Reds (3-0) then received a gift when Frazier was able to advance to third on a Devin Mesoraco soft ground ball to short.
Scahill then intentionally walked Jay Bruce before allowing Byrd to hit a sharp liner out to right. The ball hit off of Polanco’s glove and dropped allowing Frazier — who wasn’t trying to tag if the ball had been caught — to easily score to end the game.
The walk-off overshadowed a solid start by A.J. Burnett, who made his first appearance in a Pirates uniform since Game 1 of the 2013 NLDS.
Burnett allowed two hits through five innings while striking out seven before being removed with one out in the sixth after allowing a two-run home run to Joey Votto that barely cleared the center field wall.
The Pirates bullpen — who threw 5.2 innings of relief only 12hours earlier — threw 2.2 innings of shutout ball until Scahill’s appearance in the ninth.
The Pirates (0-3) started the scoring with Polanco in the fifth when he beat out an infield hit with the bases loaded and two out to score Pedro Alvarez to make it 1-0.
Alvarez made it a 2-0 game in the sixth when he took an Anthony DeSclafani first pitch fastball over the left field wall. Two of Alvarez’s three hits this season have gone to the opposite field.
The Pirates will now travel to Milwaukee to face the winless Brewers starting Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. EST with Jeff Locke making his 2015 debut against Mike Fiers.
Starters Lines
Burnett (ND): 5 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K’s, 1 HR. 87 Pitches (58 Strikes).
DeSclafani (ND): 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HR. 73 Pitches (47 Strikes).
(Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
