If you wanted to show your local youth team a well-played game, this wasn’t the one to fire up. Early mistakes put the Reds behind early. Cincinnati would have to come from behind multiple times on the day but it was Sal Stewart who came through in the clutch once again in the 8th inning as he tied things up and then scored the winning run as the home team beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for a second straight night.
The Cincinnati Reds defense in the top of the 1st inning was offensive. A 1-out single into right field saw Noelvi Marte misread it and then jog towards the ball. Bryan Reynolds then hit a tailor made double play ball but Matt McLain bobbled it and that led to just enough time to get the force out at second base. Hunter Greene would then walk Esmerlyn Valdez to keep the inning going. Ryan O’Hearn then hit a grounder to first base where Sal Stewart opted to try and beat him to the bag rather than toss to Greene and O’Hearn beat him there. A 2-run single then followed to put Pittsburgh up early.
In the bottom of the 1st the Reds got a walk from Elly De La Cruz to start things off, but Sal Stewart hit an absolute laser 1-hopper that Jacob Gonzalez snagged and turned into a double play. JJ Bleday walked to keep the inning going and then scored on a double by Tyler Stephenson. Nathaniel Lowe then singled him in to tie the game up.
The game wasn’t tied for very long as Jake Mangum lined a 2-out solo home run in the top of the 2nd to put Pittsburgh back in front. That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the 3rd inning when JJ Bleday crushed a Paul Skenes fastball about 10 rows deep into the seats in right field to tie things up.
The next inning the Reds would take the lead after Elly De La Cruz tripled and then scored on a home run to center by Sal Stewart. The Pirates got a run back in the next inning after Brandon Lowe doubled and then scored later in the frame on a sacrifice fly.
Cincinnati maintained their 1-run lead until the top of the 8th inning. Caleb Ferguson took over to begin the inning and after getting a groundout to begin the frame he gave up back-to-back singles. That led to a pitching change as the Reds brought in Pierce Johnson. He would pick up a strikeout to start his outing but then gave up a bloop single to Henry Davis that brought in the game-tying run. The next batter singled just past a diving Elly De La Cruz to bring in the go-ahead run as Pittsburgh took the lead. Another single, this time just by a diving Matt McLain, brought in another run.
The next inning the Reds tied the game back up. Noelvi Marte and Matt McLain led off with singles and then Sal Stewart came through with a 2-run single into right-center. After taking third base on a groundout, Stewart came in to score the go-ahead run when the Pirates defense made a big time blunder as Nick Gonzales fielded a grounder at third and threw to second base for what would have been an inning-ending force out, but second baseman Brandon Lowe flat out missed the ball for an error that allowed the inning to continue.
Holding onto an 8-7 lead Cincinnati turned things over to Emilio Pagan to try and seal a win. He retired the first two hitters before hitting the third batter of the inning. Pagan then struck out Endy Rodriguez that saw both Tyler Stephenson and Rodriguez tap their helmet to challenge the call before either knew the result. The call of a strike was upheld and the Reds made it two wins in a row to guarantee at least a split of the series with two games left this weekend.
Key Moment of the Game
Sal Stewart’s 2-run hit in the 8th. It not only tied the game up but he would later score the game-winning run.
Notes Worth Noting
Emilio Pagan entered the 9th inning with an 8-7 lead. He was credited with the win and not a save. Likely a scorer’s decision given that the previous pitcher was on the mound when the Pirates scored three runs to take the lead before the Reds scored three in the bottom of the 8th to take it back and deciding that performance didn’t warrant a “win”.
As shown on the Reds television broadcast, Sal Stewart’s 84 RBI before the end of July is the most by any NL Rookie since 1920 when RBI became an official stat. Worth noting, though, that the season starts much earlier now than it used to. Still, pretty good for Stewart to be at 84 RBI with two months left.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Saturday August 1st, 6:40pm ET
Braxton Ashcraft (10-4, 4.05 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (5-6, 3.85 ERA)
