Neil Walker’s two out single in the bottom of the ninth capped off a back-and-forth battle between the Reds and Pirates that saw the Bucs get the last laugh in a 6-5 victory on Monday night.
It was a game that saw the Reds take control early thanks to RBI’s by Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier in the first and third innings only to see the Pirates strike back on four straight pitches in the fourth that was capped off by an Ike Davis grand slam.
“I don’t think we had him breaking the bat on the swing,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s hit one earlier and I think it was against the Reds and it was off Hoover late in the game to help them walk-off, so two in one month against the same team is kind of cool.”
Those four pitches from Reds starter Mike Leake ended up becoming a single by Andrew McCutchen, double to Pedro Alvarez, hit by pitch to Walker and the slam by Davis.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Davis is the third player in Major League history to hit two grand slam’s against the same team for two different teams (Mike Piazza, Ray Boone).
The Reds would not give up though, as they pushed across an unearned run against starter Francisco Liriano in the seventh and knocked him out of the game with two straight hits to start the eighth.
It was a solid start for Liriano though, as he held the Reds to only three runs over his first seven innings of work.
“I was trying to relieve the bullpen,” Liriano said. “I know some of the guys were out because of the long game last night, so I tried just to give it everything I had and it didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but at least I tried and it’s part of the game.”
Justin Wilson came in to try and hold the Pirate lead, but gave up RBI’s to Jay Bruce and Devin Mesoraco allowing the Reds to regain the lead at 5-4.
Just like a week before though, the Pirates would answer back immediately as Cutch sent a Manny Parra pitch over the right-center field fence to tie the game at 5.
Jared Hughes, fresh from a trip up from Indianapolis this afternoon, worked the ninth inning getting two quick outs before allowing back-to-back singles by Phillips and Frazier. He would however, get Jay Bruce to fly out to center to end the threat and set up the walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.
Hughes would end up getting the win which caps off a pretty good two days for him in which he saw the Indians win from the bullpen.
“It feels awesome,” said Hughes. “Yesterday being in Indianapolis and getting the win today in Pittsburgh is great and it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
With one out, Russell Martin and McCutchen walked. Alvarez followed with a pop out to third and Walker followed with a bloop single to right. Bruce was able to field it cleanly and get off a strong throw to the plate, but the ball short-hopped Mesoraco’s glove and rolled to the backstop allowing Martin to slide in safely for the victory.
For Walker, it was a nice ending to a game where he’s hit into some tough outs the past few days.
“Anytime you can not hit a barrel and find some grass and score a run, especially to win a game feels good, needless to say, so that was a pretty good retribution for some balls that were hit hard that were caught.”
Final Score: Pirates 6, Reds 5
Starters Lines
Liriano: 7+ IN, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K’s, 1 HP. 101 Pitches (66 Strikes).
Leake: 7 IN, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K’s, 1 HP, 1 HR. 84 Pitches (55 Strikes).
These two will be back at it tomorrow evening in the second game of this four game set at 7:05.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Edinson Volquez (PIT): 1-0, 1.71 ERA
(RHP) Johnny Cueto (CIN): 1-2, 1.50 ERA
Follow @TBerardi_OVA
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
