CINCINNATI — As if having a second baseman strap on catcher’s gear wasn't difficult or unlikely enough, the Pirates' subsequent trick Saturday at Great American Ball Park was a real doozy: They decided to go on a home run-hitting binge.
This from a group that had a National League-low 14 dingers when it took the field for the first game of a doubleheader earlier in the day.
Admittedly helped by one of Major League Baseball's most hitter-friendly venues, the Pirates socked four home runs during an 8-5 victory against the Reds, a flash of power that helped Pittsburgh eclipse its home run total from the previous 11 games combined (3).
Bryan Reynolds, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Diego Castillo and Ben Gamel all went deep, as the Pirates salvaged a split and raised their record to 11-15. Saturday's win was just Pittsburgh's second in its past 17 trips to Cincinnati.
The Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one, tacked on three more in the fourth and let their bullpen carry the team the rest of the way following a so-so start from Mitch Keller after the right-hander had looked really good his past couple times out.
Called up as the 27th man for the doubleheader, Max Kranick made his 2022 Pirates debut and worked a pair of scoreless innings, the sixth and the seventh, while walking two, striking out three and averaging 96 mph with his fastball and touching 98.
Chris Stratton and David Bednar finished it off with six relatively quick outs in the eighth and ninth, the latter striking out the side to close it out.
Pittsburgh’s offensive onslaught started early, with the Pirates cranking three home runs in the first inning of a regular season or postseason game for the first time in franchise history.
Furthermore, it represented the first time the Pirates have hit three homers in an inning since May 23, 2019 (Josh Bell, Reynolds and Starling Marte) and the first time they’ve gone back-to-back this season.
Reynolds got the party started with his third of the year and first since April 14. The center fielder had gone 17 games without a home run before Saturday. Terrific swing, too, as Reynolds took a 96 mph fastball the opposite way out to left.
Tsutsugo helped the Pirates stretch their lead to 3-0 with his first of the season, connecting on a 91 mph heater up in the zone after the Reds made an early pitching change. The next batter, Castillo, got a down-and-in fastball and cranked it out to left for his second home run of the season.
Spotted a four-run lead, Keller gave two back in the bottom half. Third baseman Brandon Drury drove a low-and-away fastball to the gap in right-center for a double. Two batters later, designated hitter Mike Moustakas drove in another run when he singled by tomahawking some 97-mph heat up in the zone.
The Pirates and Reds then exchanged three-run fourth innings. Entering the game hitting .163 and tracking toward make-a-move territory, Cole Tucker was looking for the slightest sliver of good news when a second-inning bloop found some grass.
In the fourth, Tucker capitalized on a sinker that was left middle-middle and ripped it to the gap in right-center, an excellent piece for hitting. That made it 5-2, and Ben Gamel — one of the hottest hitters in the National League at the moment — crushed a homer to right for two more runs.
What a heater Gamel has been enjoying of late. He went 5 for 8 in Detroit and had three hits in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Thrown a changeup from Reds pitcher Robert Dugger, Gamel definitely didn’t miss. He pummeled the ball 414 feet at 108.9 mph into the deck above the Pirates bullpen in right.
Cincinnati continued to chip away in the bottom half of the fourth and got three back when Drury homered off Keller. Like his double in the first, this came with Keller again pitching behind in the count (2-1). Keller let a changeup leak out over the plate, and Drury smacked it the opposite way out to right.
Keller benefitted from a couple of sparkling defensive plays in the outfield, which has seemingly become the expectation. Both came against former Pirate Colin Moran, too. Jack Suwinski robbed a home run at the wall in right in the first inning, while Reynolds dove to snare a sinking liner two innings later.
