Joey Bart went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs to help the Pittsburgh Pirates rally for a 6-5 win against the visiting Cincinnati Reds in the second game of a four-game set on Friday.
Bart is batting .338 with 16 RBIs in his past 20 games.
Pittsburgh reliever Dennis Santana (3-1) threw two scoreless innings before closer David Bednar escaped a ninth-inning jam for his 23rd save.
The Pirates went out in order in each of the first four innings and trailed 5-0 before finally breaking through in the fifth and sixth to take a 6-5 lead.
In the fifth, Joey Bart connected for Pittsburgh’s first hit, a leadoff single and Rowdy Tellez added a single. Bryan De La Cruz’s double brought in Bart to get the hosts on the board, and Tellez scored on Billy McKinney’s groundout.
Jared Triolo drove in De La Cruz with a single to center, narrowing the gap to 5-3. He went to second on a fielder’s choice, advancing to third on a throwing error by Reds first baseman Ty France and then pulled the Pirates within one when Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to short.
Pittsburgh went ahead for the first time in the sixth off reliever Justin Wilson (1-3). Bart drove in Oneil Cruz, who led off with a double, to tie it 5-5, and scored to put the Pirates in front on a sacrifice fly from De La Cruz.
After Tyler Stephenson put the Reds ahead 1-0 with his career-high 17th home run of the season in the first, Cincinnati extended its lead in the fourth. Stephenson led off with a single and Spencer Steer followed with a double. France brought in Stephenson with a sacrifice fly, and Stuart Fairchild drove in Speer with a sacrifice bunt to push the lead to 3-0.
Amed Rosario singled and stole second, and then he and Fairchild scored to make it 5-0 when Santiago Espinal knocked a single to left field.
In the ninth inning, the Reds’ Will Benson led off with a double and moved to third on a flyout. Jonathan India drew a two-out walk before Elly De La Cruz lined out to left to end the game.
Pittsburgh starting pitcher Bailey Falter allowed five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four in five innings.
Buck Farmer threw two perfect innings as Cincinnati’s opener.
The Pirates have won the first two games of the series and three out of four overall. The Reds have just two wins in their past eight games.
–Field Level Media
