Reds Play Longball, Romp In Nightcap 8-1 For Split

Bryan Reynolds doubled with two away against Sonny Gray for the first round damage. Mitch Keller walked his first batter after being up 0-2, followed by a rap to bookend Reds. Another walk loaded the sacks; ump Jansen Visconti behind the plate isn't giving up any low strikes. A whiff was followed by a rap to make it 1-0. Jose Iglesias cleared the bases with a granny *ugh*. After another out, a double on fan interference, an infield knock by the pitcher, and single plated another run before his second K ended it, after 41 tosses. Jake singled with two gone in the second to no avail. Mitch calmed down his pulse rate in the second and tossed a clean, two-strikeout frame. It was a 1-2-3 third for Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. It was a quiet fourth for the Pirates; the Reds managed a two-out knock. The Buccos loaded the bases in the fifth on a Joey O leadoff double and a pair of two-out walks before Gregory fanned; so much for igniting a comeback. Alex McRae got the ball; he bopped the first hitter, then served a pop up and around-the-horn DP; you won't see many Osuna-Moran-Bell double dippers scooped...

Josh is raking; he's hitting .340 - 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter

Bryan Reynolds singled and J-Bell doubled to open the sixth, and a Joey O bouncer chased a run home between a pair of K. McRae got through with just a two-out single. Cody Reed got the call in the seventh. McRae singled off him with an out; Starling rolled into a DP. McRae got two outs and was 3-2 on Derek Dietrich; the next two pitches to DD and Yasiel Puig both left the yard (and Dietrich put on quite the "look at me, I'm all that" show). Gregory and J-Bell singled around an out in the eighth, again leading to nothing. Ric Rod toed the slab for the second time today and tossed a clean frame. Matt Bowman was the ninth-inning guy and turned out the lights.

The Reds jumped Mitch in a hurry, but were pretty well tamed after the first frame. Alex McRae did well enough, except for a two-pitch sequence, and saved dinging the pen. Still, eight runs is a lot to overcome, especially when you're 0-for-9 w/RISP, but when you throw out the Sunday lineup, that's a pretty likely result. So a long day ended in a split with two more to go in Queen City.

Notes:

• Bryan Reynolds and J-Bell had two hits each; no other Buc reached base more than once.
• Mitch Keller retired 10 of his last 11 hitters after being toasted in the first inning, and fanned seven in four frames. He has a history of rough debuts at each level; we'll knock on wood that butterflies were the jinx in the first inning.