Miguel Andujar's 3-run double lifts Pirates past Reds, as David Bednar earns 18th save

Miguel Andujar took a strong swing and slowly strolled out of the batter’s box with both hands wrapped around his bat, watching the ball soar toward left-center field with hopes it would clear the wall.

If the newest Pittsburgh Pirates player thought he’d hit a grand slam off Cincinnati Reds reliever Buck Farmer, he wasn’t the only one. The fans at PNC Park — where the announced attendance was 8,723 — reacted with cheers, even when the ball bounced off the bullpen fence.

Andujar’s three-run double in the seventh inning lifted the Pirates to a 4-1 win Tuesday night for their second straight victory to pull within two games of their NL Central rivals for fourth place in the division.

“I hit it good. I think it was going out,” Andujar said. “The guys were like, ‘Welcome to the Pirates.’ So, joking around with me in the dugout, but I feel happy for that moment.”

Wil Crowe got the win, and All-Star closer David Bednar earned his 18th save — his first since July 23 — as the Pirates (58-97) improved to 11-7 against the Reds (60-95) this season. They have a chance for a three-game series sweep when they play at 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday.

After being stifled for six innings by Reds starter Hunter Greene, who recorded 10 strikeouts and allowed one unearned run, the Pirates took advantage once the rookie right-hander was removed from the game.

Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff single to right, and Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski drew walks to load the bases for Andujar, who was claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees on Sunday. Andujar, the Pirates’ designated hitter, hit a 3-1 fastball 400 feet off the padding atop the bullpen door.

“Off the bat, I thought it was clearly out,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He hit it about as flush as you could hit it. I think you see cold nights in this ballpark and left field. I don’t know how much better you can get it because he looked like he got every bit of it.

“You’re seeing a guy that has been in some big moments. … Anytime you join a new team, when you have a moment in the first few games where you impact the game — he had the hit that won the game — it’s really important.”

After achieving baseball history by throwing eight no-hit innings in a 1-0 loss to the Pirates on May 15 — Rodolfo Castro scored the winning run on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice — Greene gave up four hits this time, but none of them led to a run.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder gave up three walks and two hit batsmen in six innings, with an error leading to the Pirates’ first run. It was 52 degrees at first pitch, but Greene topped 99 mph on 15 of his 97 pitches, touching triple digits three times while getting 31 called strikes and whiffs.

Pirates starter Mitch Keller allowed one run on five hits and three walks as his control was erratic and his wounds were self-inflicted. He hit two Reds and threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score but also worked his way out of a pair of bases-loaded situations.

“I think we got lucky — not we, me — I kind of got a little bit lucky getting out of some of that stuff I put myself in,” Keller said. “Just looking back, not really happy with the outing. Just kind of all over the place, nothing really crisp, nothing clean. But, at the end of the day, kept us in it and we ended up getting a win and that’s all that really matters.”

Keller struggled with his fastball command from the start. He walked Jonathan India on a full count then gave up a single to Kyle Farmer. Jake Fraley hit into a forceout at second, but Ji Hwan Bae shuffled his feet before his throw and didn’t turn the double play. India scored on a wild pitch to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.

Keller got himself into a bases-loaded jam in the third after hitting India with a pitch, walking Farmer and hitting Spencer Steer but escaped by striking out Aristides Aquino.

Greene hit Bae with a pitch to start the bottom of the third, and Bae raced to third when Cruz’s grounder skipped off India’s glove for an error. Bae scored when Reynolds grounded into a double play at second, tying the score 1-1.

Keller got into another bases-loaded jam in the fifth after surrendering two-out, back-to-back singles by Farmer and Fraley and walking Steer on a full count. But Keller escaped again, getting Aquino to fly out to right to end the Reds’ rally.

“When you see a starter that doesn’t command his fastball like he struggled with, to be able to go and execute other pitches, to be able to get himself out is extremely important,” Shelton said. “Again, I think this is the sign of Mitch continuing to take steps forward as an effective major-league starter.”

Bae started the bottom of the fifth with a single and sprinted to third on Cruz’s double to left before Greene hit Reynolds in the right foot with a pitch to load the bases. Greene responded by striking out Castro and Suwinski — touching 100 mph on the final swing — and got an outstanding diving backhand stop and throw by Farmer at third to get Andujar out and end the inning.

Andujar’s next at-bat went far better, giving the Pirates the lead.

“That’s important,” Shelton said. “When you get good quality starting pitching — that was a good quality pitcher there — when you’re able to get him out of the game, then you have to take advantage of the bullpen.”

Crowe tossed two scoreless innings, and Duane Underwood Jr. protected the lead with a 1-2-3 eighth. After spending seven weeks on the injured list with a low back strain, Bednar pitched the ninth for the first time since July 29 and struck out the first two batters he faced before getting a groundout to end the game.

“I thought the ball came out of his hand well. He’s just getting back to moving down the mound the way we saw him before the injury, which is extremely encouraging,” Shelton said. “It was a combination of both with what we had available and how we wanted to use him. We wanted to make sure the first couple of times we got him in clean innings. Tonight, it just worked that the ninth was his.”