The end of the world is coming! The Cincinnati Reds took the (shortened) series against the Pirates. What was scheduled to be 4 games played in 3 days turned into only 3 games as weather postponed game 1 planned for Friday.
Game 1 saw Cincy grab a 2 run lead in the 1st inning. The only difference between this one and all of our other games this season is that we did not immediately give up said lead. Yes, Pittsburgh did tie it up, but it took them 6 innings to do it. It remained that way until the 8th inning where the Reds took off, scoring 7 runs. All they needed was 1, as Pittsburgh could not bring home a run in the 9th. Anyway, win #4 of the year finally came.
I don't the reasoning behind it, but David Bell decided to make it a bullpen game for the nightcap of the doubleheader. Maybe he didn't want to use 2 starters in one day and throw off their schedule? That was a mistake as the Buccos struck early with 4 runs in the 1st. Cincinnati responded with a pair themselves. Pittsburgh added another 3 runs three innings later. Undeterred, the Redlegs returned the favor with 3 of their own. Unfortunately that was all they could muster the rest of the way, while the opponent tacked on 1 more. A 3 run loss was the result.
It was 2-0 Pirates for a good portion of the battle in game 3. I switched over to the F1 race and promptly forgot about the game.
I assumed it would be a similar score or worse by the end of the game. Boy was I surprised when I checked the final afterwards! Cincinnati hung 5 runs on the poor buccaneers in the 6th inning, helped by a grand slam by former Pirate, Colin Moran. He added another 2 run bomb in the 8th in response to a Pirate score and fend off any comeback. Pittsburgh failed to score in final inning, and the Reds took their 5th win of the season.
Game 1: 9-2 CIN
Game 2: 8-5 PIT
Game 3: 7-3 CIN
It was nice to see the bats come alive for a change. We didn't look completely lost at the plate, not striking out a billion times or hitting into multiple untimely double plays every game. And other than game 2, the pitching was solid. I believe Luis Castillo is going to make his season debut tomorrow, having been on the IL since the start of the season and finishing up a rehab stint. That should help some of our pitching woes. That's good, because we're going to be entertaining the Brew Crew for 3 games.
As an aside, the result of the series meant the 5 wins came before the 30 losses.