Pirates Cruise Past Reds 6-2 For Eighth Straight Win

Still raining in Cincy, but they got this one off on time even as the drops fell.

The Bucs opened by lining one off Anthony DeSclafani; he was OK and a fortuitous ricochet turned it into an out. Starling kept on keepin' on with a knock, but was gunned out at second after oversliding, confirmed by review, and a fly made it a 1-2-3 frame. Nick Kingham walked the first two Reds he saw on 3-2 pitches; the rain is prob not helping him. He fell behind Joey Votto 2-0, then got him to roll one to S-Rod to start a 4-6-3 DP on a good feed and turn. Another grounder ended the frame. After a pair of whiffs in the second, J-Bell bled an 0-2 pitch to short for an infield knock, but DeSclafani finished by striking out the side. Cincy went down in order. With two gone in the third, Corey D caught a curve and sent it into the batter's eye to draw first blood. The Redlegs wasted a two-out double. El Coffee opened the fourth with a two-bagger and Red Beard walked. After a meeting at the mound, J-Bell doubled home a run on the next pitch. S-Rod's grounder froze them, and Jordy was given a free pass before The King K'ed.

Nick did it all tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Then the umps sent everyone off the field as the tarps came out; it resumed 45 minutes or so later. Nick stayed loose during the delay, giving up just a two-out single. DeSclafani returned for the fifth; Corey D knocked his first pitch out of the park, bringing on Kyle Crockett. Eli doubled with two outs and moved to third on a wild pitch but died there. The Reds went down quietly, getting a runner to first on Kingham's throwing error. Michael Lorenzen took the bump for the sixth and J-Bell singled. An out later, Jordy doubled him to third.This time Nick helped himself, bouncing a soft single into center with the infield in to plate the pair. Corey D hit into a force and stole second, but Starling left him there. The Redlegs had no response. Amir Garrett toed the slab in the seventh and put Pittsburgh away. With an out and a runner at first, Curt Casali got a belt-high heater on a 3-2 pitch and dropped it barely into the stands for your classic GABP dinger to make it 5-2 and bring in Edgar Santana. He gave up a knock, fanned Billy Hamilton ("strike five, you're out" noted Joe Block correctly) and cruised out.

Jared Hughes got the eighth inning work order. J-Bell opened with a knock and S-Rod dropped a bunt single. Jordy sacrificed them up. Freeser's bouncer to second got Josh thrown out at home, but a wild pitch brought S-Rod in before the frame ended. Kyle Crick took the ball. Two K's around a Votto liner took it to the ninth and Raisel Iglesias. He sailed through the frame. Felipe Vazquez came on, and after a whiff, he gave up a double and bopped a batter. Then he settled in and took it home. RTJR.

Corey D is getting his power stroke back (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The team's hitting on all cylinders now; it'll be an interesting series when they get to first-place Cleveland on Monday.

Notes:

• J-Bell had four hits and is batting .267 now. He was at .243 on June 23rd.
• Starling's hitting streak is now a career-high 14 games after his first-inning rap.
• Corey Dickerson has homered in three straight games. He's done that once before in 2014. Today was his seventh career multi-homer game.
• Max Moroff said that his slide that landed Alex Blandino on the DL was caused when his spikes got caught in the muddy infield, twisting him into Blandino. He added that he apologized to the Reds' infielder after the play and was surprised to learn that he was hurt so badly (torn ACL) per Steven Nesbitt of the Post Gazette. 
• Cervy has been cleared to resume baseball activities and was taking infield at 1B this afternoon, although he swears he wants to keep on catching.
• Indy's Chris Bostick is back at AAA after rehabbing following appendicitis surgery.