The Reds pulled out all the stops and added a plunger to pull out an extraordinary 14-8 victory Sunday afternoon.
If a six-run victory sounds easy, well, Reds manager Tito Francona put in perfect perspective during his post-game interview.
“At one point I looked a Millsy (bench coach Brad Mills) and said, ‘I feel like I’ve been in a dentist’s chair all day,’” he told reporters. “And he looked at me and said, ‘Well, I’m in the next room over.’”
That’s because the Pirates were like a blood-sucking bug, they just wouldn’t go away.
The Reds led, 4-0. The Pirates tied it, 4-4. The Reds led 7-4, the Pirates came to 7-5. The Reds led, 9-5, the Pirates came back to 9-8.
They finally tucked it away with five runs in the ninth to split the four-game series.
The Milwaukee Brewers came from 5-0 behind to beat the New York Mets, enabling the Reds to sneak to within 1 1/2 games of the Mets for the third wild card spot.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Asked about how it feels to be 1 1/2 behind the Mets, Francona said, “I don’t know. The Novocaine hasn’t worn off yet.”
In a nutshell, Miguel Andujar slugged a two-out three-run homer in the third to give the Reds the 4-0 lead.
After the Pirates tied it, 4-4, against Reds starter Zack Littell in the fifth, Spencer Steer’s two-run double in the sixth gave the Reds a 7-4 lead.
When the Pirates crept to within 7-5 in the seventh, Steer struck again, this time a 430-foot two-run homer to push it back to 9-5.
Pittsburgh scored three in the eighth, two on second baseman Matt McLain’s throwing error and it was 9-8 heading into the ninth.
With one out in the ninth, seven straight Reds reached base and five scored, three on Noelvi Marte’s mammoth home run, 427 feet to dead center and it was 14-8.
Francona made some lineup adjustments and it worked like a Rolex.
Former MLB pitcher Joaquin Andujar once said while talking about baseball, “I’ll say it in one word. Youneverknow.”
Miguel Andujar and Joaquin Andujar are not related, but also in Miguel’s case, say it in one word, youneverknow.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Reds acquired the man called Papa from the Athletics at the trade deadline, a right-handed bat to offer strength against left-handed pitchers.
But for the last three games, Francona removed Austin Hayes from the clean-up spot and put Andujar in it, even against right-handers.
And it was right-hander Mike Burrows against whom Andujar hit his three-run homer. In the last three games he is 4 for 8 with a homer, double, three walks, a hit by pitch, three RBI and three runs scored.
Francona moved Marte up in the batting order, from eighth to sixth Sunday and in his last two games he is 6 for 9 with a homer, three doubles, four RBI and three runs scored.
Spencer Steer was given Friday off, then came back Saturday and Sunday to go 5 for 9 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and four RBI.
His two-run double in the sixth and two-run homer in the eighth were the most significant of the 14 hits the Reds collected — three homers and three doubles.
“The series didn’t go our way in the beginning (two losses), but this was a huge bounceback for us,” said Steer. “We need every game, obviously, at this point of the year. It was a great job by our guys not to be deflated after losing three straight.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Steer, a notorious breaking ball hitter, launched his home run off an 85-miles an hour slider offered by former Reds pitcher Dauri Moreta.
“He has a weird slider,” said Steer. “One of the weirdest sliders you’re gonna see. He wants to go to it, so I stuck to my approach and put a pretty good swing on a hanging breaking ball.”
Entering the game the Reds were 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position over the last four games. On Sunday they were an efficient 5 for 13.
It was the Pirates who struggled, despite their 16 hits. They were 4 for 18 with runners poised to score and stranded 12.
There were a couple of major hiccups that could have cost the Reds dearly.
Francona brought in Luis Mey in the seventh inning and he walked three straight, forcing in a run.
And in the eighth inning, the Pirates had two on with one out. Jack Suwinski hit a line drive to second baseman Matt McLain. He snagged it for the second out and all he needed was a routine throw to second base to double off Tommy Pham. But he threw the ball over the very tall Elly De La Cruz and two runners scored that cut the lead to 9-8.
And the Pirates had the tying run on second, but Graham Ashcraft struck out Jared Triolo to end the mess.
Even though he pitched only one-third of an inning and gave up a pair of hits, relief pitcher Scott Barlow was credited with the win and is 6-and-0.
It was that kind of day for the Reds, who now go home to host the Philadelphia Phillies in Great American Ball Park Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
NEXT GAME
Who: Philadelphia at Cincinnati
When: 6:10 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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