CINCINNATI — The Pittsburgh Pirates were struggling with runners in scoring position through their first four games, following a 6-for-39 showing in their series at the New York Mets by going 0 for 6 in their opener at the Cincinnati Reds.
Ryan O’Hearn reacted to that statistic with a shrug.
“It’s about getting as many guys hot at one time as possible,” O’Hearn said before Tuesday’s game against the Reds. “I think we’re fine. Guys are going to get hot. We’re going to get the big hit with runners in scoring position and all that. We’re going to click.”
O’Hearn backed up his talk by hammering a three-run homer to spark a five-run second inning. It proved contagious as Bryan Reynolds hit his first home run of the season and Oneil Cruz homered twice in an 8-3 win Tuesday night before 22,390 at Great American Ball Park.
“Everything gets so magnified early,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “I know we had struggles last year with runners in scoring position. It starts to become this thing. Guys press even more because of it. We just did a really good job.”
Pirates rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler averaged 99.1 mph on 60 fastballs and touched triple digits 16 times for six strikeouts without giving up a hit but surrendered six walks in 4 1/3 innings. The Pirates flirted with a no-hitter for six-plus innings until Jose Trevino singled to left off lefty reliever Hunter Barco with one out in the seventh.
Reds lefty Brandon Williamson allowed six runs on six hits, two walks and a wild pitch in 4 2/3 innings. The Pirates had two runners in scoring position in the first inning, when Jake Mangum hit a leadoff single and O’Hearn followed with a full-count walk, but Reds starter Brandon Williamson got Reynolds to fly out to right then struck out Marcell Ozuna and Brandon Lowe to escape unscathed.
Williamson wasn’t as fortunate in the second. Nick Gonzales hit a line drive to left-center, Joey Bart drew a four-pitch walk and Cruz singled to right to load the bases. Nick Yorke hit a fly ball to shallow center, where TJ Friedl made a sliding catch for a sacrifice fly that scored Gonzales to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
After Mangum popped up to short, O’Hearn sent a 2-2 fastball 401 feet to center for his second homer of the season and a 4-0 lead. It was just the offensive boost the Pirates needed, and it helped activate two of the most important hitters in their lineup.
“It is definitely contagious,” Reynolds said. “If you see guys up there getting hits and putting the barrel on the ball, it just gives you that much more confidence.”
Reynolds, who was 3 for 19 (.158) with eight strikeouts, made it back-to-back homers when he drove a 2-1 fastball 417 feet to left field for his first of the season. It was the 139th career homer for Reynolds, tying him for ninth place in Pirates history with Jason Bay.
“It was great to see everyone else hitting the ball,” Lowe said. “It was only a matter of time for these guys. O’Hearn has been the pillar of consistency, and what you expect from seeing his production over the years. We knew Bryan was going to find it. It’s not a question of if. It was a question of when.”
Chandler pumped heaters to strike out four of the first six batters he faced. But he started the third inning with an eight-pitch walk of Noelvi Marte, the first free pass issued by Chandler after facing 66 batters without one. Chandler then walked Jose Trevino on four pitches, setting up a disastrous play in the outfield.
Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a high fly ball to left-center, where Reynolds and Cruz avoided a collision but allowed the ball to drop. Reynolds was charged with an error on the play, which saw Marte beat the relay throw from Gonzales to score from second and cut the Reds’ deficit to 5-1.
Chandler then turned a double play, fielding Friedl’s line bunt and spinning to throw out Trevino at second base.
“I came up to him after and told him, ‘Who told you that you could be an athlete?’ ” Lowe said. “Honestly, in my head, I was, ‘No, don’t throw that!’ Then he threw it, and that could not have been a more perfect throw. I went back and watched the replay, and one foot is going this way, an arm is going this way. To be able to make that play, it was a huge moment in the game, as well. For him to take it upon himself and do it, it was pretty cool to watch.”
But Chandler walked Matt McLain on four pitches, then got bailed out on a diving stop by second baseman Lowe to get Elly De La Cruz out.
It was Cruz’s turn to get in in on the action in the fourth inning. After going 2 for 10 in his first three games, Cruz crushed a 3-1 cutter 444 feet to right-center — at a 111.1 mph exit velocity — for his first homer of the season and a 6-1 Pirates lead. It tied Seattle’s Dominic Canzone for the longest homer in the majors this season.
Chandler was pulled with one out in the fifth after he walked the bases loaded. Yohan Ramirez came on in relief and struck out McLain and De La Cruz to snuff out the Reds’ scoring chance. Ramirez has allowed one hit against 14 batters faced and stranded all six inherited runners this season.
After Cruz’s homer, however, the Reds retired 14 of the next 15 batters. Mangum was the lone Pirates player to reach base, drawing a one-out walk in the seventh only for O’Hearn to ground into a 5-6-3 double play.
The Reds responded with back-to-back homers by De La Cruz and Sal Stewart off Barco to cut it to 6-3 in the eighth. De La Cruz sent a 2-1 fastball at the top of the strike zone 334 feet just inside the right-field foul pole, and Stewart followed by blasting a 1-1 fastball over the middle 376 feet to right.
Kelly was ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker when he argued a check-swing call on Eugenio Suarez, who then singled to center. Dennis Santana replaced Barco, only to give up a single to Dane Myers that put runners on the corners. But Lowe made another impressive defensive play with a diving catch to rob Nathaniel Lowe of a hit, then doubled up Myers at first base to end the inning.
“It was awesome to do that for the guys up there on the mound,” said Lowe, who went 0 for 4. “I wasn’t getting it done on one side of the ball, so I might as well get it done on the other side.”
After Gonzales hit a leadoff single off righty Pierce Johnson to start the ninth, Cruz crushed a first-pitch curveball 403 feet to right for an 8-3 lead. It was his first multi-homer game since hitting two in a 12-1 win over the New York Mets on June 29 at PNC Park and the third of his career.
The Reds attempted one last rally in the bottom of the ninth. Friedl reached on a fielder’s choice, and McLain was hit by a pitch by lefty Gregory Soto to put a pair on for De La Cruz, who grounded into a forceout at third. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch by Soto, who then walked Stewart to load the bases before striking out Eugenio Suarez to end the game.
“It speaks to who we are as players and as a team,” Reynolds said. “We’ve had some tough losses early, got a win, dropped the one yesterday and bounced back and put up a bunch of runs and played good.”