The Cincinnati Reds didn’t exactly make it easy on themselves Thursday night, but they found the one path that mattered most.
After wasting chances all game and striking out 12 more times, the Reds still pulled out a 3-2 walk-off win over the Pittsburgh Pirates when the visitors failed to finish off a routine inning-ending double play in the ninth. It wasn’t a home run, a clean single, a walk-off walk or even an error that officially crossed the line. It was a fielder’s choice, with the winning run scoring when the Pirates couldn’t turn the twin killing.
For eight innings, Cincinnati kept banging into the same wall. The Reds went 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and struck out six times in those spots.
They put their leadoff man aboard in six of the first seven innings and got only one of them home. Somehow, they still had enough left to survive the final frame.
Elly De La Cruz set the whole thing in motion against Pittsburgh closer Gregory Soto. He ripped a 97 miles an hour fastball into left for a single, then turned it into a double with his speed. It was his third double of the night, all from the right side, and he added two stolen bases and a walk.
Sal Stewart was then walked intentionally, JJ Bleday struck out, and Tyler Stephenson worked a crucial walk to load the bases. That brought up Nathaniel Lowe against the left-handed Soto, and Lowe chopped the ball past the mound with the infield in.
Shortstop Jared Trillo got to it in front of second, but his flip back was awkward and second baseman Brandon Lowe had trouble with the relay. De La Cruz kept coming, and Lowe beat the throw home for the winning run.
“Speed kills, whatever that means,” Lowe told reporters after the game.
When manager Tito Francona was asked what he was thinking on the play, he said, “Run faster.”
The Reds had built their early lead behind Rhett Lowder, who turned in a steady outing in six innings. Cincinnati struck first in the third after Matt McLain, back on the roster before the game off rehab, opened the inning with a bloop single to right on a full count. De La Cruz followed by doubling with two strikes to score McLain, and Stewart then singled to right to bring home De La Cruz for his 80th RBI.
Pittsburgh answered in the fifth when Nick Gonzales doubled, moved to third on Endy Rodriguez’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jacob Gonzalez. The Pirates tied it in the sixth on Brandon Lowe’s first-pitch, 402-foot homer to right off Lowder’s 77 miles an hour slider.
Lowder was still sharp overall, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He said the slider was working because he kept it down and stayed in good counts.
“I was executing it and keeping it down,” he said. “Usually when I’m getting it down under lefties, it’s pretty good.
“We were getting into advantage counts a lot, which is what you want to do.”
He also liked the way he started the night, rolling through a 1-2-3 first inning on nine pitches, eight of them strikes.
“That helps a ton,” he told reporters. “Getting ahead, getting good counts early.”
Cincinnati’s offense never found a rhythm. When Stephenson struck out in the first inning, he became the Reds’ 1,000th strikeout victim of the season.
The total is now 1,010, most in the majors. De La Cruz walked and stole second in the first but was stranded there.
Lowe opened the second with a double and stayed there. Dane Myers singled in the fourth, got to third and was left there.
De La Cruz doubled again in the fifth, and even with two walks loading the bases, Lowe grounded out. In the sixth, the first two Reds reached, but Noelvi Marte and McLain both struck out before De La Cruz grounded out, the only time he didn’t reach base.
Francona praised De La Cruz’s night after the game.
“Three doubles right-handed. Those were really good swings, nice and short to the ball.
“Like good baserunners, he smells it out of the box, always gives himself a chance (for the extra base),” he added. “With his speed and his strides, he puts himself in position to take advantage of all that.”
The Pirates had their own opportunities but couldn’t cash them in. They loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh against Brock Burke, and he escaped by striking out Brandon Lowe.
Emilio Pagan handled the ninth for Cincinnati and gave up a two-out single to Jhostynxon Garcia before striking out Jake Mangum.
The win was the Reds’ fifth walk-off of the season and dropped Pittsburgh to its sixth loss. Cincinnati improved to 13-12 in one-run games. The Reds are now 9-23 against National League Central teams, while Pittsburgh sits at 19-12.
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