It was Clemente Day around Major League Baseball, and to mark the occasion all members of the Pittsburgh Pirates wore the number 21, along with all players who were nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award. On the field, Pittsburgh was looking to take this series from the Cincinnati Reds after winning game one last night. This back-and-forth game started with runs by Cincinnati, but the final run was plated by the Pirates in the ninth on their way to a 5-4 win.
The Reds jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first inning. Jonathan India scored on a Joey Votto groundout to get things started. A single by Mike Moustakas would score Max Schrock to close out the scoring. Pittsburgh would take the lead in the third with three runs. It would all start with a Yoshi Tsutsugo RBI double to left center field. Tsutsugo would advance to third on a fielding error and then score when Bryan Reynolds tripled to right. A sac fly by Colin Moran brought home Reynolds for the final run of the inning.
Tsutsugo struck again in the fourth on an RBI single to left center to drive in Hoy Park. Down two runs, Cincinnati would use runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game at four. India would come through with a sac fly in the seventh, and Kyle Farmer would smack a 385 ft. home run to left in the eighth. This would all lead up to a strange bottom of the ninth and Pirates victory.
The craziness started when a Wilmer Difo pop up landed just out of the reach of Reds left fielder Max Schrock and bounced over the left field foul territory netting for a ground rule double. Cincinnati then walked Reynolds to put a runner at first and second for Colin Moran. Moran hit a hard ground ball to Joey Votto, Votto bobbled the ball and threw on to first for the out. Difo didn’t stop running after rounding third and slid head first into home plate for the win.
Great win and series win by Pittsburgh tonight. They even got a strong five innings from Mitch Keller which is always a plus. Keller has been pitching much better since his most recent call up from AAA. Hopefully he finishes the year strong and can carry that over to a full season in 2022. The Pirates will once again try to get their first sweep in over a year tomorrow. The finale of this three-game series will begin at 12:35pm.
Record vs. Reds: 3-9
Record vs. N.L. Central: 19-47
Record at Home: 34-40
Overall Record: 54-91
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
