The Pittsburgh Pirates hit four home runs and the Cincinnati Reds couldn’t come up with hits all night when they needed them the most. All of that combined for a Reds loss as Pittsburgh evened up the series at 1-1 with an 8-3 win.
Brandon Williamson’s first time on the big league mound since 2024 didn’t get out to the start he was looking for as he gave up a leadoff single and followed it up with a walk. But he buckled down to retire the next three batters without allowing either runner to score.
The next inning he wasn’t able to wiggle of of a jam. Williamson allowed the first three batters to reach before a sacrifice fly produced the first run of the day. Ryan O’Hearn came through with a 2-out, 3-run home run. Bryan Reynolds followed up with a home run of his own to cap off a 5-run inning.
Cincinnati got back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the 3rd inning. That brought Ke’Bryan Hayes to the plate and he hit a ball into the left-center gap. Both Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz called for the ball and as the two came together the ball clanked off of the glove of Reynolds and fell the the ground. Noelvi Marte raced around from second to score on what was initially ruled a hit, but later changed to an error. Matt McLain would draw a 2-out walk to keep the inning alive for Elly De La Cruz and he laced the ball at 111.3 MPH but Brandon Lowe made a diving stab on the 1-hopper and came up firing to first to end the inning.
Pittsburgh got that run back almost immediately as five pitches into the top of the 4th Cruz hit a 444-foot solo homer to lead off the inning to make it 6-1. Cincinnati would find themselves in a good spot to make something happen in the bottom of the 5th when they walked three times to load the bases and had just one out with Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz due up, but both would strike out to leave the Reds hitless.
The Reds would pick up their first hit of the game when Jose Trevino singled into left field with one out in the bottom of the 7th. TJ Friedl would draw a 2-out walk to give the team yet another scoring chance but Matt McLain struck out to strand the runners.
Cincinnati’s second hit of the game came off of the bat of Elly De La Cruz to lead off the bottom of the 8th inning. Hitting from the right side, he got an elevated fastball and went the other way for a home run that just barely stayed fair. Three pitches later it was Sal Stewart going the other way for a home run of his own to make it a 6-3 ballgame.
Eugenio Suarez had his at-bat interrupted when a check-swing call went his way when even he thought he went because he was two steps back to the dugout before the call came back. That eventually led to Pirates manager Don Kelly being ejected after telling the home plate umpire to “watch the game” twice from the dugout. Suarez came back and lined a single into right and that led to a pitching change after three straight hits to begin the inning. Dane Myers followed up with his own single into right, leaving runners on the corners with no out and the tying run at the plate.
Noelvi Marte would pop up to shortstop. That led to Nathaniel Lowe coming off the bench to pinch hit for Jose Trevino. He battled for eight pitches before hitting a soft looping liner that Brandon Lowe made a diving catch on and then easily turned a double play with a toss to first as Dane Myers got a poor read on the ball and never had a shot to get back to the bag.
Much like earlier in the game the Pirates got the run back the very next inning. And once again it was on a home run by Oneil Cruz, but this time a runner was on and his 2-run shot made it 8-3 for Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati wasn’t quite ready to roll over in the bottom of the 9th. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a single and Matt McLain was hit by a pitch with one out to put two men on for the middle of the lineup. Elly De La Cruz hit a grounder into the hole, but Nick Gonzales fielded it and his throw to third beat the runner for a force out. Sal Stewart drew a walk to load the bases for Eugenio Suarez, but he would strike out to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
The 5-run 2nd inning for Pittsburgh. But you could also point to multiple times the Reds failed to come through with multiple runners on base.
Notes Worth Noting
Cincinnati went 0-10 with runners on base and they stranded 11 runners. The Pirates only stranded two runners on the night.
Sal Stewart got on base twice. It’s the first time this season he’s failed to reach base safely three times. He is now 9-16 (.563) with six walks and three strikeouts on the year.
Brandon Williamson struggled in his return to the mound, giving up six runs in 4.2 innings on six hits, two walks, and he gave up three home runs. He threw 94 pitches but only 53 of those were strikes.
Reds batters walked eight times on the night, but they had 12 strikeouts and plenty of those came in key situations.
Despite Sal Stewart being the hottest hitter in baseball, the Reds are now hitting just .193 on the season.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday April 1st, 12:40pm ET
Paul Skenes (0-1, 67.50 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
