The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates had to deal with stubborn rain and stubborn umpires once again on Sunday at Great American Ball Park. This time around it was the Reds who took care of business as the pummeled the Pirates and watched Chase Burns dominate on the mound for six innings in a 10-2 win that gave them a series victory.
The Cincinnati Reds didn’t waste much time to get on the board on Sunday afternoon. Sal Stewart got things going with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st. JJ Bleday followed up with a single and then scored on a double by Tyler Stephenson. He then scored on a single by Nathaniel Lowe as Cincinnati pushed the lead to 3-0. The next inning the Reds tacked on another run when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a long home run into left-center to push the lead to four runs.
Much like Saturday night, the rain showed up in a heavy way in this one. The bottom of the 3rd inning saw the skies really open up and Mitch Keller struggled to do much as he tried pitching through it. He gave up a leadoff double then walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases. That led to a pitching change and things didn’t exactly go a ton better for reliever Noah Murdock he allowed a sacrifice fly, threw a wild pitch, then gave up a 2-out, 2-run hit to Elly De La Cruz as the home team pushed their lead to 7-0.
Chase Burns then had to deal with the rain and it didn’t do him any favors, either. He hit the first batter on the first pitch of the inning. Then he got a tailor-made double play ball to Matt McLain, but McLain couldn’t field it cleanly and he was only able to get the out at first base. Bryan Reynolds then singled in the runner to put Pittsburgh on the board.
After that the grounds crew came onto the field to work on the muddied and puddled infield. They poured bag after bag after bag of quick dry on the field and it kept on going and going. After about 10 minutes of the grounds crew working on the field and the game not being put into a delay despite no play, Pirates manager Don Kelly went out to talk to the umpires and he was clearly upset about the field conditions and got ejected from the game. He was seen screaming “LOOK AT THE FIELD” and “IF SOMEONE GETS HURT IT’S ON YOU”.
Despite the game never actually seeing the tarp put on the field, the game was not played for 25 minutes before it resumed. Chase Burns headed back to the mound and walked Esmerlyn Valdez before getting a strikeout and a grounder to get out of the top of the 4th having allowed just the one run.
The bottom of the inning saw Cincinnati play add. JJ Bleday led off the bottom of the 4th with a walk before Nathaniel Lowe and Dane Myers hit back-to-back RBI doubles to tack on two runs and make it 9-1.
With a low pitch count, Burns was back out there for the 5th and 6th innings and he shut down Pittsburgh, striking out five batters in a row to keep them down 9-1 and end his day. After Brock Burke fired a perfect 7th inning the Pirates got to Tejay Antone in the 8th. The reliever gave up a leadoff double before a 2-out RBI single brought in the second run of the day for the visiting club.
Cincinnati would get that run back in their half of the inning. After JJ Bleday flew out to right field to begin the inning Tyler Stephenson came through with a ball that flew over the right fielders head and landed on the steps beyond the wall in what could be his final at-bat with the club as the trade deadline looms. Zach McCambley took the ball for the top of the 9th inning and retired the side in order to seal the win by the score of 10-2.
Key Moment of the Game
The bottom of the 1st inning that saw the Reds put up three runs and set the tone in the early part of the game.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart’s home run in the 1st inning gave him 24 on the year. That ties him with Joey Votto for the second most in a season by a Reds rookie. He’ll have to really go on a tear to catch Frank Robinson’s 38 from 1956.
Nathaniel Lowe had a big game, going 3-4 with a walk and two doubles. Tyler Stephenson doubled, walked, and homered on the day, too.
Mark Sheldon of Reds.com noted that Tyler Stephenson homered in his first at-bat with the Reds back in 2020. It’s possible he also homered in his final at-bat with the team.
Chase Burns moved his record on the season to 13-1. His ERA dropped to 2.35 on the season where he’s now thrown 118.2 innings and struck out 137 batters.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
(Sacramento) Athletics vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday August 4th, 6:40pm ET
TBA vs. Brady Singer (5-10, 4.35 ERA)
