Reynolds’ Late HR Lifts Pirates Past Reds, 1-0
Bryan Reynolds hit a crucial home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Reynolds connected on an 80 mph changeup from Nick Martinez (2-5), sending it over the center field wall for his 10th homer of the season. This helped the Pirates win two out of three games against Cincinnati.
Reynolds’ hit extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a Pirate since 2019. He is batting .357 during this streak, with three home runs and 10 RBIs. Historically, Reynolds performs well in June, with a career average of .345 in the month.
“I’ve got a good history in June, I guess,” Reynolds said with a shrug. “So, need to make it a longer month.”
Colin Holderman (3-0) retired the three batters he faced in the eighth inning after relieving Mitch Keller. David Bednar secured a perfect ninth inning for his 16th save.
Keller pitched seven-plus innings, giving up only two hits while striking out seven. He has pitched at least five innings in 46 consecutive starts, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Reds couldn’t get a runner to third base against Keller, Holderman, or Bednar.
“I don’t know if we’ve pitched better than we did in this series,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. The Pirates allowed only three runs in the three-game series against Cincinnati.
Hunter Greene pitched well for the Reds, striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings without allowing a walk. However, he did hit two batters, adding to his season total of 11, the highest in the majors.
“Hunter’s been working really hard in between starts to train himself to go deeper into games, just one more thing he’s doing to get better,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He’s put a little extra effort toward that.”
Greene allowed only two hits: a double to Yasmani Grandal in the second inning and another double by Rowdy Tellez in the seventh.
Tellez initially thought his hit in the seventh inning was a home run and began trotting, but he had to scramble to reach second base when the ball hit the wall.
Shelton joked afterward that Tellez owed him a new bottle of wine for his wine fridge.
“He got to second base,” Shelton said. “I don’t think Rowdy’s getting to third base really ever … But, he knew he screwed up.”
The hit ended Greene’s day but continued his impressive streak. Greene has recorded at least five strikeouts in each of his 15 starts, the longest stretch by a Reds starter to begin a season since 1901.
Trainer’s Room
Reds: Center fielder TJ Friedl (hamstring) was held out of the lineup for the second straight day after tweaking his hamstring while making a spectacular catch on Monday night.
Pirates: Activated infielder Alika Williams (wrist) from the injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis.
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