—The Pirates loaded the bases with no outs and didn’t score.
They filled the bases a second time in the seventh inning and this time Miguel Andujar unloaded them with a three-run double against Reds relief pitcher Buck Farmer.
That was the difference as the Pirates scored a 4-1 victory, their sixth straight win over the Reds. And it enabled the last-place Pirates to creep within two games of the fourth-place Reds.
It was Cincinnati’s 15th loss in 19 games and their 95th loss for the season. With seven games remaining, the Reds need to win three to avoid 100 losses.
As they do so often this season, the Reds wasted a superb pitching performance by Hunter Greene. He gave up one unearned run, four hits, walked three and struck out 10. His reward was nothing more than a big ol’ hang with ‘em.
The Reds scored a run in the first against Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller. Jonathan India walked, Kyle Farmer singled, and India scored on a wild pitch.
The Pirates tied it, 1-1, without a hit in the third. Ji-Hwan Bae was hit by a pitch, O’Neil Cruz reached on an error by second baseman India and Bae scored while Bryan Reynolds rolled into a double play.
Cincinnati filled the bases with two outs in the third and Aristides Aquino struck out. They filled them again in the fifth with two outs and this time Aquino flied to center. That put Aquino at 3 for his last 35.
The Pirates loaded them up in the fifth when Greene gave up a single to Bae, a double to Cruz and hit Reynolds with a pitch. He then struck out Rodolfo Castro and Jack Suwinski.
Miguel Andujar shot one over the third-base bag and Farmer saved at least two runs, maybe three, with a diving backhand stop and a perfect peg to first.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases again in the seventh against Farmer and this time cashed in big with three runs.
Farmer gave up a leadoff single to Cruz and walked two. Andujar then hit one where Kyle Farmer couldn’t get it. He hit one off the top of the left-center wall, a three-run double and a 4-1 Pirates lead.
The Pirates recorded seven hits and the Reds had six. Reds Rookie Michael Siani had two hits, his first major league hits. He left the game with two outs in the eighth after slamming his face into the ground trying to catch Bae’s two-out double.
The Reds were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
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