With the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the Cincinnati Reds by one, Todd Frazier came to the plate against Arquimedes Caminero.
Frazier came into the contest batting .375 against the Pirates in 2015 and hit a sinking liner. Starling Marte came in and dove headfirst to record the third out of the seventh inning stranding Billy Hamilton. Caminero celebrated with a fist pump and Frazier slammed his helmet in disgust.
“I didn’t know he was so shallow,” Caminero said. “When I saw that play it was great. Every time you see a play like that, you have to enjoy it.”
“My hands were up,” Andrew McCutchen said. “That’s definitely a T-Mobile Game Changer, so I’ll be looking for that tonight.”
The book on the Pirates has been that it looked hopeless against rookie pitchers, however, one inning changed that Tuesday night.
A seven-run fourth inning allowed the Pirates to defeat the Reds by a 7-6 score. This was a back and forth game in which neither starter reached the fifth inning.
Jeff Locke surrendered nine hits, walked another two batters and saw his defense commit two errors in four innings. He allowed four runs, two of which were not earned.
Josh Smith did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, but struggled with his control allowing six walks and four runs. The Pirates had three hits off Smith.
The Pirates started the fourth inning with a Neil Walker walk. Josh Harrison’s single ended Smith’s no-hit bid and the next batter, Pedro Alvarez doubled off the center field wall to bring the first Pirates run home. The fans got back into the game when with Smith yet to record an out, Francisco Cervelli homered into the Reds bullpen to tie the game. It was Cervelli’s third homer of the season.
Pedro Villarreal [0-2] then relieved Smith and did not fare much better. He retired his first two batters, however Gregory Polanco tripled and scored when Marte reached first base by error. Andrew McCutchen brought the final two runs home with a home run to left field, his ninth of the season.
The Reds raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and scored an additional run in the top of the fourth inning. The first four batters reached base by single with Jay Bruce’s base hit plating the first run. Two batters later, Eugenio Suarez’s fielder’s choice scored two after Jordy Mercer committed an error trying to turn a double play. The fourth run came home after Bruce hit an RBI ground out.
With the score 7-4 the Reds scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Billy Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly and Bruce struck for a solo home run off Caminero in the sixth.
Caminero came in to pitch the seventh inning and the speedy Hamilton singled to leadoff the inning. A Brandon Phillips grounder advanced Hamilton to second and the speedy center fielder stole third base. With one out, Caminero struck out Votto which led him to face Frazier. A line out to Marte ended the threat and got Caminero out of the jam.
“I saw the line drive coming out and I tried to catch that one,” said Marte. “I ran full speed, dove and caught the ball. “
Tony Watson pitched a scoreless eighth inning striking out the side and Mark Melancon earned his 24th save of the season. It his 22nd consecutive save converted.
All of the Reds starters and Pirates starting position players reached base. Rob Scahill [2-3] picked up the win pitching two-thirds of an inning.
This series continues Wednesday evening when Gerrit Cole [11-2 1.78 ERA] faces Mike Leake [4-4 4.01 ERA]. Cole is 0-2 with a 4.70 ERA in four starts against the Reds. Cole lost 3-0 to Leake May 6 at PNC Park. Leake is 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 22 career starts against the Pirates.
Photo credit: Gene Puskar/AP Photo
