Pirates prevail in Cincinnati, win 3rd straight game

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds entered Friday night’s game at Great American Ball Park with incompatible objectives.

Cincinnati sought to avoid anything similar to what happened to the Cubs over the last several days, when the Pirates marched into Chicago and took two of a three-game series, dealing a late-season dent to the wild card aspirations of their NL Central foe.

The Reds, in the thick of that race themselves, thus seemed adamant to deny the Pirates another opportunity to play spoiler.

In a game that featured five home runs and as many lead changes, the Pirates prevailed 7-5, winning their third straight.

“(Players) keep going, they keep picking each other up, and we saw that today,” said manager Derek Shelton on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “We had the lead, gave it away (and) kept going.”

With their loss Friday, the Reds (79-76) now sit a half-game behind Miami and a game-and-a-half behind the Cubs in the NL wild card hunt.

As for the Pirates, (73-81), Ke’Bryan Hayes, Henry Davis, Jared Triolo and Endy Rodriguez hit solo homers in the win.

David Bednar overcame a shaky appearance in the ninth to notch his 37th save of the season.

Triolo, moving from second to first base to begin the bottom of the ninth, also made a potentially game-saving play, scooping a one-hop throw from Liover Peguero for a key double play.

Peguero had a rough night defensively.

In the fifth, he was involved with several infield mishaps that allowed Cincinnati to score a pair of runs, putting the Reds up 3-2.

TJ Friedl got things started with a single into right field and advanced to second after Spencer Steer hit a sharp grounder to shortstop, which Peguero played, attempting to turn a double play with Triolo at second.

Second base umpire Mark Wegner ruled the sliding Friedl out at second base, but the Reds challenged the call and it was overturned, with Triolo’s throw to first also not in time to retire Steer.

Then, Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled, loading the bases with one out for Joey Votto.

When Votto hit a weak ground ball to Triolo, a routine double play seemed forthcoming, but Peguero made an errant throw to first base that dragged Connor Joe off the bag, allowing Friedl to score.

The next batter, Noelvi Marte, sent another grounder the way of Peguero.

Peguero made the split-second decision not to charge the chopper off the bat of Marte, who hustled to first base and beat Peguero’s one-hop throw while Steer scored from third, handing the Reds a 3-2 lead.

Friday’s starter, Andre Jackson, lasted just one inning, with Luis Ortiz taking over from there.

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the second when a Jonathan India RBI flyout scored Elly De La Cruz.

Ortiz pitched 3 2/3 innings Friday, the most of the seven pitchers used by the Pirates, allowing three runs on four hits while walking a pair and striking out five.

Hayes hit his 15th homer of the year in the fourth, a solo shot off Reds starter Andrew Abbott, that tied the score 1-1.

Davis followed suit in the fifth, with Triolo and Rodriguez going deep in the sixth, putting the Pirates up 4-3.

The Reds retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Friedl hit a two-run homer off of Hunter Stratton (1-0, 3.00 ERA), who was Friday’s winning pitcher.

Facing yet another deficit in the seventh, the Pirates scored two, courtesy of RBIs from Bryan Reynolds and Miguel Andujar.

In the top of the ninth, Jack Suwinski gave the Pirates an insurance run, collecting an RBI on a flyout with the bases loaded, helping to secure the win.

“I think we’re just having a lot of fun doing it,” Triolo said. “We show up to the park and only have a couple games left, but we’re having a lot of fun.”