Sal Stewart singled and drew two walks to set a new Major League Baseball record and Chase Burns struck out seven batters as the Reds youth stepped up in a big way once again as Cincinnati picked up a 2-0 shutout win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win is the third in a row for the Reds and moves them to 3-1 on the year.
FinalRHEPittsburgh Pirates (1-3)040Cincinnati Reds (3-1)240W: Burns (1-0) L: Ashcraft (0-1) SV: Phillips (1)Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
The Reds were threatening in the bottom of the first after Elly De La Cruz drew a 2-out walk and took third base on a single by Sal Stewart, but a ground out would strand them both. In the bottom of the 4th the Reds would add on. Sal Stewart walked, moved to third base on a single by Eugenio Suarez, and then a sacrifice fly by Spencer Steer made it 1-0. Will Benson then tripled into the right field corner and Suarez raced around from first to score and tack on another run.
While the offense gave him a lead, Chase Burns came back out and fired off another shutout inning in the top of the 5th. It would be his last inning, but he was outstanding much of the evening as he allowed just one hit and struck out seven. Burns did have to work around three walks, but got through his day with just 78 pitches.
Jose Franco took over on the mound in the 6th for his Major League Baseball debut. He would give up a single to start his career, but one pitch later got Bryan Reynolds to ground into a double play. Another grounder followed as he got through the first inning of his career unscathed. The following inning saw him give up a single to start the frame and then a 2-out single before he was removed from the game and replaced by Graham Ashcraft. It took him four pitches to strike out Henry Davis to strand both runners to hold onto the 2-0 lead. Ashcraft returned for the 8th and set the Pirates down in order.
Still up by two runs the Reds called on Connor Phillips to try and seal the win. The inning got off to a shaky start as he walked Marcell Ozuna on four pitches to bring the tying run to the plate. It continued as he walked Ryan O’Hearn on eight pitches, and that drew a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. Whatever he said seemed to work as Phillips struck out the next batter on three pitches and then retired the next two batters on five pitches – culminating with Matt McLain making a nice over the shoulder catch in shallow right field just as he made contact with a sliding Will Benson. Everyone was fine and Phillips notched his first big league save of his career.
Key Moment of the Game
Connor Phillips turning things around after the mound visit from Derek Johnson in the top of the 9th inning and stranding the two men he walked to begin the inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart is just the 4th Red since 1990 to reach base safely three times or more in the first four games of the season. Sarah Langs of MLB.com notes that he’s the youngest player to do that since 1900 in all of MLB at age 22 and 113 days, and that no one else has accomplished it before the age of 24.
Chase Burns was credited with the win in the game. It was his first big league win.
Jose Franco’s Major League debut saw him throw 1.2 shutout innings. He threw 35 pitches with 23 strikes.
The 42 fastest pitches of the game were all thrown by Reds pitchers. Graham Ashcraft and Chase Burns both topped out at 99.6 MPH, while poor Connor Phillips could only manage to hit 99.0 with his fastest pitch of the night.
Elly De La Cruz was caught stealing in the 4th inning. The throw to the bag from Henry Davis was the 2nd fastest throw of the season thus far from a catcher. The throw that was faster also came from Davis in his game on Sunday.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday March 31st, 6:40pm ET
Bubba Chandler (4-1, 4.02 ERA in 2025) vs Brandon Williamson (DNP in 2025)
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