On a 90+ degree day in a rubber match at PNC Park, the Pirates hosted the Reds in a series-deciding game between the NL Central rivals.
The Pirates had won the opening game on Monday 4-1 before dropping last night’s affair in a much tighter 2-1 score.
Pittsburgh called upon Mitch Keller to face off against the Reds’ Hunter Greene in what turned out to be an incredible pitching duel. The first run of the game was not scored until the eighth inning (although Rowdy Tellez though he had it sooner than that), coming off the bat of Bryan Reynolds, who continues his absolutely dominant streak in the month of June.
Keller outlasted Greene by just a hair, going 7.0 innings and starting off the eighth before a leadoff walk prompted Derek Shelton to go to the bullpen. The hook on Keller, who had only thrown 83 pitches at the time. But the decision worked; Colin Holderman pitched a scoreless eighth in relief.
Keller struck out 7 and only allowed 2 hits (while walking 2 as well) for another terrific start from him. It was one if, if not his most efficient outing of the season, and the Pirates needed every bit of it against Greene, who was phenomenal in his own right.
Greene went 6.1 innings, giving up 2 hits while striking out 9, which matches his season high. Greene threw 106 pitches and didn’t really show any signs of slowing down until Rowdy Tellez nearly took him deep into center field, only to be robbed by the wall.
Had Tellez not admired that ball for as long as he did, it’s possible that he winds up with a triple on this play, but instead he barely eked out a double. I saw a lot of people get on him for that, and while yes he should have hustled until he knew exactly where that ball was going, him getting safely into third was not a guarantee.
Regardless, that hit moved the Reds to take Greene out of the game, and replace him with Fernando Cruz. Despite issuing a walk, Cruz got out of the inning keeping the 0-0 tie in tact.
After Holderman’s scoreless eighth, the Reds responded with Nick Martinez, who lasted 0.2 innings and did get a strikeout, but made this game’s only crucial pitching mistake.
Cincinnati’s Sam Moel came on for the final out, but a David Bednar appearance in the top of the ninth inning ended the game at 1-0.
While the offense for the Pirates (once again) struggled to really get going, I think today’s efforts were less about poor execution and more about facing a really good opposing pitcher. Greene’s ERA now falls to 3.35 on the season, and the righty only seemed to throwing at a higher velocity the longer the game went on.
In the end, thanks to Keller, Holderman, and Bednar, a home run by Reynolds was all they needed. I wrote about the dominance of Bryan Reynolds in the month of June, both this year and over his career, a few days back, and with each passing game he only solidifies his standing as one of baseball’s best this time of year.
That homer extended his hitting streak to 17 games, a streak that has now seen him notch 24 hits, 11 extra base hits, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI.
In June, Reynolds is slashing .343/.395/.600 for an OPS of .995. The Pirates meanwhile, are 10-7 in June as they try to keep pace in the NL Wild Card race.
(Featured photo by Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)
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