Chase Burns was brilliant for the Cincinnati Reds as he set a record for strikeouts by a rookie, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to get to the bullpen late as the lifeless offense for the road team couldn’t come up with an answer. The Pirates 3-2 come from behind win earned them a split in the series at worst as they’ve now taken the first two games in the 4-game set.
Final
R
H
E
Cincinnati Reds (60-57)
2
8
0
Pittsburgh Pirates (51-66)
3
5
0
W: Nicolas (1-0) L: Santillan (1-4) SV: Santana (7)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
The Cincinnati Reds would start out the 2nd inning in the right way, picking up back-to-back singles. Tyler Stephenson then walked to load the bases. Jake Fraley came up and grounded into a double play, but it did bring in the first run of the game.
A walk for Miguel Andujar in the 4th inning was followed by a double off of the bat of Tyler Stephenson into right-center. Jack Suwinski played the ball off of the wall and turned around and fired a strike to second baseman Liover Peguero, who took the cutoff throw and sent a bullet to the plate to beat Andujar and keep the Pittsburgh deficit at one run.
Chase Burns had been cruising through the Pirates lineup, striking out six batters in the first three innings. But in the 4th inning he gave up back-to-back doubles that tied the game up before getting a fly out and two more strikeouts to end the inning.
In the top of the 6th inning the Reds would get a 2-out rally going when Gavin Lux lined a double into left field. After Miguel Andujar walked, Pittsburgh went to the bullpen to bring in former Red Dauri Moreta to face Tyler Stephenson. Cincinnati’s catcher hit a soft liner down the line in right field to plate Lux and put the road team up by a run.
A ground out would start the bottom of the 6th inning for Chase Burns. He then struck out Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz on seven pitches to end the inning and give him 10 strikeouts for the day.
After a perfect 7th inning by Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan was called in to take over to begin the 8th. A 1-out walk to Isiah Kiner-Falefa would come back to haunt the Reds. Tommy Pham would keep the inning alive with a 2-out single and that set the table for Bryan Reynolds to hit one down the right field line that not only tied the game up, but when Noelvi Marte tried to barehand the ball after it hit the wall and came to a stop in front of him he came up empty and likely allowed Pham to score on the play as Pittsburgh took a 3-2 lead. Somehow it was ruled a triple rather than a double and an error, but that makes little difference in how things played out.
Dennis Santana took the mounded in the 9th to try and pick up the save. He would get a groundout from Tyler Stephenson and then get Jake Fraley to fly out. That set up Ke’Bryan Hayes as the last hope against his former team. He struck out on four pitches as Pittsburgh grabbed a second win in as many days against the Reds.
Key Moment of the Game
Bryan Reynolds 2-run triple in the bottom of the 8th inning that gave the Pirates a lead for the first time all day.
Notes Worth Noting
Chase Burns struck out 10 batters for the 4th time in his last five starts. The one in which he didn’t was in Bristol when he pitched one inning before the rain continued for the umpteenth hour and then MLB finally decided they shouldn’t play the game any longer that night.
Gavin Lux had three hits and scored two runs on the night.
The Reds are 4-15 in Pittsburgh since the start of 2023.
Hunter Greene gave up five runs on two hits – both home runs – and three walks in 5.1 innings for Louisville. He struck out seven and threw 79 pitches on what was likely his final rehab start.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Saturday August 9th, 6:40pm ET
Nick Martinez (9-9, 4.66 ERA) vs TBA
