Reds Embarrass Bucs In Opener 14-1

Today's Game: Holy moly - a 1-2-3, six-pitch start for Mitch Keller! The first two Bucs walked, but only one counted as Adam Frazier was caught stealing. Tyler Mahle cruised through the next pair of Buccos. With two gone in the second, Eugenio Suarez banged a big fly to start the scoring; Kells responded with a K. It took Jake Stallings two pitches to knot the score when he went long over The Notch to leadoff. Mahle helped himself with an infield single with one away in the third; a 3-6-3 DP cleaned that up. Fraze continued his streak with a one-out knock followed by a walk. A free pass with two down juiced the sacks, but Jake looked at a third strike. The Redlegs opened the fourth with a flare into center and a walk, followed by a single and two-bagger to make it 3-1. A short fly provided a brief reprieve before another double chased home two more. Another rap and walked filled the bases before Duane Underwood was waved in. He surrendered a two-run knock before settling in. Pittsburgh went without a peep.

B-Rey was aboard four times tonight - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

It was quiet in the fifth for the Reds. Fraze doubled and B-Rey dropped a single into center with an out (Frazier stayed at second, as the ball looked catchable) but it lead to nothing. Luis Oviedo got the ball in the sixth and a leadoff double/single/grounder triplet produced another score. Heath Hembree replaced Mahle with an out (he was at 96 pitches and this was his longest outing of the season) to tuck the Bucs in. A double, single and Tyler Naquin homer that kissed the RF pole piled it on Oviedo in the seventh to the tune of 11-1. After an out, Amir Garrett took the hill to face Ben Gamel, making his first Bucco appearance. He K'ed looking and Fraze whiffed swinging. Geoff Hartlieb worked the eighth, and a couple of walks and couple of doubles later, the scoreboard read 14-1. The Bucs got a B-Rey double and Jake walk but again no cigar. The Reds had a bopped batter and walk to start the ninth, but a DP and bouncer saved any further embarrassment. Sal Romano wrote the final chapter.

Notes:

• B-Rey had two knocks and two walks, Fraze had two knocks and a walk and Jake homered and walked.
• Mitch Keller's odd odyssey continues - in his four odd # starts, he's labored through 12 innings and given up 21 runs (15.75 ERA); in his three even # outings, he's lasted 15-2/3 IP and surrendered three runs (1.72 ERA). His overall slash is 2-4/7.81.
• Duane Underwood Jr., has inherited eight runners out of the Pirates bullpen and allowed seven of them to score. He's let nine of the 23 runners that he's put aboard to score. Shelty might consider starting the inning with him rather than having him try to bail someone out...
• The Pirates have lost 9-of-11. The Reds have won all four 2021 meetings by a combined score of  44-9.
• Tonight's attendance was 4,065.

Tomorrow's Game: Game time is 6:35 and the contest will be aired by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. JT Brubaker goes for the Bucs and Jeff Hoffman for the Reds.