Bryan De La Cruz drove in two runs, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates come back to beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Friday night.
The Pirates had lost nine straight one-run games since the July 30 trade deadline but managed to overcome a five-run deficit to defeat the struggling Reds. This win marked their sixth victory in eight games against Cincinnati this season.
“Very excited about it, we’ve lost too many of them,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said after his team improved to 20-26 in one-run games. “But it was good. They continued to battle.”
Joey Bart and Rowdy Tellez each had two hits for Pittsburgh, which has gone 5-3 since a 10-game losing streak dropped it to last place in the NL Central and ended its playoff hopes.
De La Cruz, who was traded from Miami to boost the offense, is finding his rhythm with the Pirates. The right fielder is hitting .351 (13 for 37) with eight RBIs in his last 10 games.
“At the beginning there was a little struggle,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “I wasn’t hitting like I wanted to, but now I’m in a good spot.”
Dennis Santana (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings in relief. David Bednar secured his 23rd save when left fielder Billy McKinney made a sliding catch on a line drive by Elly De La Cruz with two runners on base and two outs in the ninth.
Tyler Stephenson hit his 17th home run of the season for Cincinnati. Santiago Espinal had three hits for the Reds but was thrown out at second base in the seventh inning while trying to advance on a fly ball to center field, adding to Cincinnati’s list of mistakes.
Cincinnati’s already weakened starting rotation took another hit on Friday when Andrew Abbott was placed on the 15-day injured list with a strained left shoulder. Reliever Buck Farmer started in Abbott’s place, and he, along with Sam Moll and Tony Santillan, kept the Pirates hitless for four innings.
Alan Busenitz, who was called up to replace Andrew Abbott, didn’t have much luck. He allowed a single to Joey Bart at the start of the fifth inning, and things went downhill from there. Bart scored on a double by Bryan De La Cruz, which was part of a rally that brought the Pirates within 5-4.
Pittsburgh took the lead in the sixth inning when Oneil Cruz hit a double and scored on an RBI single by Bart. Rowdy Tellez then hit a single that moved Bart to third base, and Bart scored on De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly off Justin Wilson (1-3).
Pittsburgh has had trouble holding onto leads in close games recently, but Dennis Santana pitched two strong innings, and Aroldis Chapman got out of a two-on, two-out situation in the eighth inning by striking out Stuart Fairchild.
David Bednar, who had allowed at least one run in seven of his previous nine games, gave up a leadoff double to Will Benson and walked Jonathan India with two outs. However, Billy McKinney made a great catch to help the Pirates secure the win.
“He stayed in aggressive mode,” Shelton said about Bednar. “I think in the past we’d seen him when guys got on base, maybe (he’d) be a little tentative. Today was kind of like the David Bednar we’re used to where he just stayed right after and it highlights that he went right after Elly.”
Pirates starter Bailey Falter gave up five runs in five innings, with four runs coming in a rough fourth inning. Shelton kept Falter in for the fifth inning, and he responded by pitching a scoreless inning, keeping the Pirates in the game until the offense broke through against a Cincinnati bullpen that has been overused.
