Bullpen blows up as Reds pound Pirates for 14 runs for 4-game series split

There was a long stretch of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates when a four-run deficit would have been insurmountable even if their pitching was impenetrable.

Those roles were reversed Sunday afternoon, when the Pirates got offensive production but their bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding as the Cincinnati Reds scored 10 runs against their relievers.

After dropping the first two games against the Pirates, the Reds relied on three home runs for a 14-8 win in a 3-hour, 23-minute game before 21,239 at PNC Park to split the four-game series.

It didn’t help that the Reds hit right-handed relievers Yohan Ramirez (three runs) Dauri Moreta (two) and Cam Sanders (five) hard, after the Pirates went deep into the bullpen in all four games. Or that the Pirates were without bulk relivers Braxton Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski, who had combined to cover 6¹⁄₃ innings in Saturday’s 2-1 loss.

“As far as the bullpen goes as a whole, they’ve been worked,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “It’s been a tough stretch for us, especially in the ’pen with covering the game (Saturday). These guys are giving us everything they got out there. And it’s a hot day today for a day game after a night game. It was tough to keep the Reds off the board.”

It was the second-most runs scored in a game against the Pirates (51-68) this season, trailing the Colorado Rockies’ 17 on Aug. 1. It marked the seventh time this season an opponent scored double-digit runs. The Pirates (16) had more hits than the Reds (14) but went only 4 for 18 with runners in scoring position and stranded a dozen.

The Pirates twice left the bases loaded without scoring.

The first occurrence came in the second inning, when Nick Gonzales and Jack Suwinski hit singles and Jared Triolo reached on a fielder’s choice. But Reds starter Zack Littell struck out Henry Davis and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to escape unscathed.

The Reds responded with a four-run third against Mike Burrows, who struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced. Burrows allowed four runs on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts in five innings.

Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled to the left-center gap, Gavin Lux drew a two-out, full-count walk and Elly De La Cruz drove in Hayes with a single to right for a 1-0 lead. Miguel Andujar followed by sending a 1-0 slider at the top of the strike zone 384 feet to left field for his seventh home run, a three-run shot that increased the Reds’ lead to 4-0.

“Just unfortunate,” Burrows said. “One pitch that kind of missed. It slipped, just kind of stayed up and he was able to do something with that. I thought it was going to be foul, just based off the location of the pitch. I didn’t think there was much else he could do with it, but he did.”

The Pirates cut into their deficit in the fourth. Suwinski and Triolo reached on successive singles, and both scored when Kiner-Falefa hit a two-out double to the left-field corner. Spencer Horwitz singled through the middle to drive in Kiner-Falefa and cut it to 4-3.

They tied the score in the fifth, when Bryan Reynolds led off with a single and Gonzales doubled to left to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Suwinski drove in Reynolds with a groundout to second, prompting Reds manager Terry Francona to pull Littell with two outs and the go-ahead run on third. Scott Barlow (6-0) threw seven straight sliders, getting Triolo to swing with a full count to end the inning.

The Reds pulled away with a four-run sixth against Ramirez (1-1). Noelvi Marte drove in De La Cruz with a ground-rule double to left field to give Cincinnati the lead, and Spencer Steer doubled to center to score Andujar and Marte for a 7-4 lead.

After pinch hitter Andrew McCutchen drew a four-pitch walk against Luis Mey with the bases loaded in the seventh to cut it to 7-5, the Reds pulled another pitching change. They brought in Graham Ashcraft, who got Kiner-Falefa to fly out to center and strand three runners again.

After Marte led off the eighth with a single, Steer sent Moreta’s 2-1 slider 439 feet and into the left-field bleachers for a 9-5 Reds lead.

The Pirates answered when Horwitz hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on Tommy Pham’s single and scored on a single by Oneil Cruz to cut it to 9-6. Gonzales walked to load the bases for Suwinski, whose lineout to second base caused chaos.

Matt McLain tried to double up Gonzales, who was leading off second. Instead, his throw sailed over the 6-foot-5 De La Cruz and into left field, allowing Pham and Cruz to score and make it a one-run game.

That didn’t last long. After Andujar walked and Austin Hays singled, Marte crushed Sanders’ 1-1 slider 427 feet into the center-field hedges for a three-run homer and 12-8 lead. The Reds weren’t done. TJ Friedl drew a full-count walk with the bases loaded to drive in Steer, and McLain hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Jose Trevino.

“They had some big hits today, in big moments,” Kelly said. “It’s just tough giving up 14. We scored eight. On most days, that’s going to be enough, especially with the way that our pitching has been all year. I’m confident we’re going to get back to that.”