Joey Votto homers twice as Reds rally from 5-run deficit to pound Pirates

When the Pittsburgh Pirates were stomped and swept by the Cincinnati Reds in April, Derek Shelton didn’t hide his disdain for the bandbox known as Great American Ball Park. The Pirates manager even grumbled that he was “definitely ready to get out of Cincinnati.”

Shelton believed the Pirates were playing better baseball this time, and Yoshi Tsutsugo and Bryan Reynolds showed it by hitting back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Shelton, however, warned that winning in Cincinnati would require pitch execution.

That proved to be a problem for the Pirates.

The Reds rallied from a five-run deficit, taking the lead in the fifth inning on back-to-back homers by Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez before cruising to a 9-5 win Monday night after an 85-minute rain delay.

“I never feel safe in this ballpark. Especially with this lineup, with their ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, no lead is safe,” Shelton said. “We did a nice job jumping out front. We didn’t execute pitches. When you don’t execute pitches against this lineup, they can score runs in a hurry.”

The Pirates (56-94) have now lost 13 consecutive games in Cincinnati, including all eight this season on the strength of 21 home runs. The Reds added four more, as 3-4-5 hitters Nick Castellanos, Votto and Suarez combined to go 8 for 13 with seven RBIs and five runs scored.

“The middle of their order, especially Votto and Castellanos, killed us,” Shelton said. “They got the ball up. They hit the ball hard. They ended up hitting them out of the ballpark.”

The Reds (78-73) remain three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals — who beat the Milwaukee Brewers for their ninth win in a row — for the NL’s second wild-card berth.

The Pirates got off to a strong start when Tsutsugo and Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning for a 2-0 lead, sending Vladimir Gutierrez fastballs into the right field seats. After Tsutsugo drove a 375-foot shot with a 106.6-mph exit velocity, Reynolds followed by launching a 390-foot moonshot at 107.2 mph.

The Pirates increased their lead with a three-run third inning, which started with left-hander Dillon Peters drawing a four-pitch walk and Cole Tucker singling to right. Tsutsugo got his second RBI with a single to right to score Peters to make it 3-0, and Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Tucker for a 4-0 lead.

With the bases loaded and one out, Kevin Newman drove in Tsutsugo by beating Jonathan India’s throw from second to prevent a double play to give the Pirates a 5-0 edge.

The Reds responded in the bottom of the third as India drew a two-out walk and Kyle Farmer singled to center, the first of four consecutive hits that registered an exit velocity over 101 mph. Castellanos drove in both runners with a 409-foot double off the center field wall to make it 5-2. Votto crushed an 0-1 curveball to right field for his 32nd home run, a two-run shot that cut it to 5-4.

“That’s a pretty powerful lineup right there. You’re gonna run into trouble when you’re not able to finish pitches, and that’s what I was not able to do in that inning,” Peters said. “I just wasn’t able to follow through on my pitches, and I left some balls up and over the middle of the plate. I’m better than that, and they punished me for it.”

Shelton pulled Peters after allowing four runs on four hits and two walks on 64 pitches in three innings, opting for the bullpen.

Reds manager David Bell followed suit after pinch hitter Anthony Alford singled, yanking Gutierrez after giving up five runs on seven hits and one walk on 56 pitches in 3⅓ innings. Reds relievers Luis Cessa, Lucas Sims and Michael Lorenzen, however, combined to retire 13 consecutive Pirates batters.

“Their bullpen pitched well against us,” Shelton said. “I thought we did a nice job against Guitierrez. We came out, swung the bats and stayed right with our approach – and then their bullpen executed pitches and we couldn’t get anything going.”

After giving up a leadoff double to Delino DeShields, Cody Ponce retired the next five batters before giving up back-to-back homers. Votto smacked a 2-2 slider 388 feet to right field for his 33rd home run, and Suarez hit a full-count curveball 399 feet for his 27th homer and a 6-5 Reds lead.

The 38-year-old Votto, a six-time All-Star and former NL MVP, reached base all five at-bats, going 3 for 3 with two homers, two walks and three RBIs.

“This guy knows how to hit,” Shelton said. “He’s hit a bunch of different ways, and he really understands the strike zone. It’s obvious by the pitches he takes and the pitches he swings at. The ability to adjust his swing at this point in the career just shows how elite he is.”

Farmer joined the home run party, hitting his 15th off Kyle Keller to give the Reds a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning. Keller loaded the bases before being yanked for Enyel De Los Santos, who walked DeShields on six pitches to score a run for an 8-5 Reds lead. Castellanos singled to right to score India in the eighth for a 9-5 lead.

The Pirates have no answer for their abysmal play this season at Great American Ball Park, where they have been outscored, 70-22.

“I don’t think you can go into the start wishing you were pitching in a different ballpark,” Peters said. “You’ve still got to execute pitches. (If) they’re gonna hit it hard, it’s probably going to be extra bases or a home run anyway. So I don’t think too many of us are worried about the dimensions of the ballpark out there.”